On Friday, I had the great pleasure of playing a wedding ceremony in the church at Limeuil. If you don’t know this part of France, it is one of the most beautiful villages anywhere. At river level, the Dordogne and Vézère meet by a restaurant I’ve played at a few […]
southwest
21 posts
On Saturday, I drove about 20 minutes away for the wedding of Harriet and Leo at Chateau le Tour. Rain had been threatening this long-awaited day for a couple of weeks. And it was still spitting during the morning, as I set my keyboard up for the wedding ceremony. Bravely, […]
Two years ago, just before a gig in Cadouin, we were given our first ever fan art. I published it here. Two days ago, during my final gig in Cadouin (more on that in a moment), we were given our second ever piece of fan art – by the same […]
I think this is a first for me: three gigs in a row with varied set lists. A nice, easy one to start with – with SouthWest, playing our second public gig of the season in Cadouin. Here’s a shot from after we finished… The following evening, a piano & […]
On Saturday, I went east for a wedding at Chateau du Doux. I’m now setting up a bit earlier than I did at the start of the season, which gives me a bit more time to socialise and settle in. It also means, even when I’m not scheduled to play, […]
Five days after playing keyboards and percussion in Hertfordshire with The Stones, and two days after playing solo piano at a private party in the Charente, I played the first of three public gigs in the Dordogne, with SouthWest. As we have for several years now, we set up in […]
On Saturday, I set off in the rain for Chateau du Doux. I’d been watching the forecast for a couple of weeks and it wasn’t looking good. Jason and Chloë had been waiting a long time for this… I drove through light rain, heavy rain, heavier rain and very heavy […]
Once in a blue moon, you get to play a gig that doesn’t involve hours of driving home after packing up. Last Wednesday was just such a night. Domaine de la Fauconnie is new to me and the band. But it’s absolutely perfect, in so many ways. Ceremony, cocktails and […]
On Saturday, SouthWest returned to Chateau du Doux for our second Irish wedding of the year. (Featuring easily the tallest Irish people I’ve ever met.) I got to play the ceremony beforehand, and learnt a new song for the occasion (“The One” by Kodaline). The weather was fantastic – again […]
Last Saturday saw the first wedding of the 2022 season, at the beautiful Chateau du Doux (as seen on TV). The weather (as you can see) could not have been more perfect. It was somewhere in the high 20sC and not a cloud in the sky. Which led to two […]
Is the Nord Electro 6 the perfect keyboard? A few years ago, I found a Nord Electro 4 in a music shop. The most perfect keyboard I’d seen at that point, I bought it and my love affair with Nord keyboards began. Almost perfect Although many of the sounds on […]
This year, I’ve been Instagramming stories on gig days. Which means I’ve totally neglected this blog. Back in June, the band actually got to play a wedding! At a venue we haven’t played before – Chateau Camp del Saltre. It was excellent to get out there again, and Andy fronted […]
And finally—for the summer season—SouthWest played the village hall in Coux-et-Bigaroque last Saturday. Attendance was pretty good and we played a solid couple of hours for a mixture of dancers and sitters. The evening ended in typical French rock and roll fashion, with a selection of cheese followed by kisses […]
Last weekend (nearly up to date with the blog now), I had two weddings in one day. The first was a lunchtime affair back at Château de Lacoste, about 45 minutes east of where I live. The chapel is very small, as you can see from this photograph… So I […]
And later that same week, I went to Chateau de la Côte with SouthWest for a full wedding. To me, that means playing the ceremony, the drinks party, then the evening with the band. The ceremony was wonderful, held in woodland in the chateau grounds. I had to use some […]
Andy Wilson-Taylor has appeared on this blog a couple of times so far—and this wedding was the main reason why. If you’re new to Andy, he’s a singer, drummer, bass player, guitarist, pianist, composer, and frontman for Midgar. Which means he’s perfect for SouthWest when Wil (or, actually, any of […]
Later that week, SouthWest returned to Cadouin with probably the most talented musician in the region—Andy Wilson-Taylor. Singer, drummer, pianist, guitarist, bass player, composer, songwriter, frontman of Midgar and all-round lovely guy, Andy learnt our set to fill in for Wil while he was unavailable on another project for a […]
On Thursday morning, it rained the kind of rain familiar to everyone who has been on a caravan holiday in Scotland, Wales, southwest England—pretty much anywhere in Britain. After lunch, the rain dried up and the decision was made for the SouthWest gig in Cadouin to go ahead. We set […]
For the last few years, SouthWest has played in Cadouin for a couple of the Thursday marché gourmands that take place in July and August. This week, we played the first of those. This Thursday, we were joined by a young female French singer, who did a brilliant performance of […]
You’ll have to put up with the odd painful pun, I’m afraid. (I’m a dad.) While we’re (not) on the subject of comedy, here’s a gag from Gérard, the drummer of SouthWest: What’s the difference between God and a guitarist? God doesn’t think he’s a guitarist. I’m here all week, […]
For non-French speakers, a “filage” is the thing you do to make sure all the cables are working before you go out on the road. We had the filage with SouthWest last week – and here’s a minute of that for your delight and delectation. We’ve got a good few […]