The week after that Moody Ruse gig, I went to Scotland with The Stones. We were booked for two nights at “The Ferry” on the Clyde, and I sat in for Paul, their regular keyboard player. An unusual lineup this, because Chris (who usually plays Keith) stood in for the […]
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I’ve had a very rock and roll few weeks. After a final band practice, the Moody Ruse hit the stage for the first time. The venue was Fairycroft House, in Saffron Walden, where we’ve been rehearsing for the last few months. The facilities – and the people who run the […]
Since coming to the UK in September, I’ve been looking for a band. I joined a few websites and Facebook pages, and responded to a few possibilities… Mark replied to one of my comments, asking if I’d be interested in joining a Moody Blues tribute band. I had a listen […]
When I was in France, my winters were all about learning songs for the next wedding season, rehearsing with SouthWest every other Monday, and teaching a few students. The first gig of the year was in May, at the earliest. It’s different this year. School 1 Last Thursday morning, I […]
About seven years ago, when I was living in a yurt in the woods, in southwest France, I did some tutorials on my YouTube channel. The lighting isn’t great and I was struggling with a barely adequate camera. But I wanted to give something back to the You Tubes, by […]
On Saturday, I drove into central London for a wedding at the Foundling Museum, in Brunswick Square. (It took days to try and register my French-registered car for the congestion charge and I’m still not sure I was successful. I figure they’ll find me if they want some money. I […]
Moving to the UK was easy, but not without stress points. I’ve moved countries before — a few times — but France was home for the last 15 years. The country is familiar, obviously, but changing absolutely everything around you has quite an impact. And launching a new business — […]
Four weeks ago last Saturday, I returned to the wonderful Chateau du Doux for the end of my French wedding season. (And the end of my 15 years as a French resident.) Daniel and Charlotte FINALLY tied the knot — after years of Covid delays. I was in the hot […]
My knowledge when I wrote this post, claiming a wedding near Montauban was the furthest south I was going this summer, was incomplete. I was, in fact, going much further south than that. Beyond Carcassonne, to Chateau Rieutort, near Montpellier. If you don’t know Carcassonne (or the excellent board game […]
On Saturday, I headed south, to play for Charlotte and Sam, during the wedding feast part of the day. It was hot, when I arrived, as you might be able to feel from this image… I don’t normally play during dinner, and I’d been a bit worried about this for […]
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 […]
One of my regular clients has a beautiful chateau, about 20 minutes away from me. When they got married, last year, Enrique Iglesias was one of the artists chosen for their big event. So I was quite flattered that, for their first anniversary, they chose… me. And the most expensive […]
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, […]
Last Saturday saw me drive 3.5 hours south to Chateau la Commanderie. (This is the furthest south I’m going in 2022 – to my knowledge.) I got there three hours before I was due to play, just to be on the safe side. Which meant there was plenty of time […]
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 […]
After the last gig, I was going to take a week off, to rest my hands. But then, someone I played with in London DECADES ago (my emphasis), asked if I was available to play a gig on July 9th – this year – in England – for a well-established […]
On Sunday, I drove through the rain (again – which wasn’t falling only on the plain) to Chateau de la Couronne. Matt and Emma (my first Olympian bride!) had waited so long for this day that they were joined by their new baby! And Reggie, the most well-behaved (and photogenic) […]
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 […]
Last Saturday saw a return to Chateau La Durantie, in the north of the Dordogne. It’s an absolutely spectacular venue – a gorgeous, honey coloured stone mansion with palatial rooms and extensive grounds. This time, it wasn’t an Irish wedding – it was an Irish/British affair. Before the evening party […]
After Friday’s gig, I was expecting a couple of weeks’ rest. We’re not normally this busy, this early in the season, but… Covid. The weddings from 2020 were pushed into 2021, which were then pushed into 2022. Not a huge surprise, I’m sure you’ll agree, and very welcome after two […]
Very rarely, a gig comes along that, for one reason or another – possibly both – is not much fun. The last one I remember was this one, from a few years ago. (A postscript on that gig, by the way: I filmed and recorded it, but the guy doing […]
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 […]
On Wednesday evening, I played piano at a private party at the Chateau de Rouffillac. What a spectacularly beautiful place! Here’s the outside (these photos don’t do it justice – the ones on their website are far better): And here’s the courtyard with fountain. Still in awe of this place: […]
Last Saturday, I returned to Chateau de la Couronne for the first time since Covid. When I’m there, I usually set up in the garden. But this time, April showers said, “No”. Which meant I got to play the baby grand piano again! (Even when you have the best digital […]
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 […]
I went to see the new James Bond last Sunday and was pleased to hear a Louis Armstrong song that I was playing, a few years ago. So I’m revising that to fit for the next video… Here’s one I made earlier today. It’s a good discipline, having to record […]
After trying various bits of software, I’ve settled on a relatively easy and educational new video style for my YouTube channel. The app I’ve gone with is called See Music. I have my main keyboard plugged into a mixing desk, which is plugged into this confuser with a USB cable […]
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 […]
A few clients have asked me about my solo piano set list, recently. I’ve been avoiding this, because my music pile has looked like this for months (taken earlier this morning): Following some prompting from a hairstylist and make up artist, I waded through the pile just now. And here […]
A potential wedding client asked to see some more of SouthWest playing with Andy Wilson-Taylor, who will be fronting the band for any gigs in 2021. So I put this montage together from his first gig with us in August 2019. I think is works pretty well.
All the weddings from 2020 have been pushed into 2021 and beyond. And for a while, it looked like this year would be totally free of gigs. But the band’s public gigs have gone ahead—and we played twice this week! Here’s the view from my keyboard of Thursday’s gig in […]
The first week of 2020 saw me travelling from London to Amsterdam, to record some songs with a singer I haven’t worked with since [unintelligible]. Ideally, before recording, I’d know the songs well—and maybe even gigged them for a while. Not so, this time. But I did have a couple […]
December sees me out and about with the wonderful Katia (not pictured), doing a Christmas show for children, in schools and village halls around Nouvelle Aquitaine. I snapped a few pictures for this blog, to show I do actually do something over the winter months, apart from teaching and learning […]
After they liked they Boby Lapointe video I put together in this post, Histoire de Jouer asked if I could make a video of another show starring Pascal Destal. Of course, I said yes. I’ve only got songs to learn and videos to make for the next few months (apart […]
Here’s a video I finished this morning, shot at SouthWest gig a few weeks ago. It’s a two-camera video, with stereo recorded in the auditorium. The picture quality isn’t MTV—I think they have better cameras. There’s be more of these coming over the next few weeks and months. Next up […]
I should probably write this in French. Here’s a video I’ve been working on for the last few days, showing a montage of shots from some of the Boby Lapointe gigs I did with Pascal Destal over the last 12 months. It shows the show fairly well, although some of […]
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 […]
I’m not naming names, but one among one of the bands I play with agreed to do a gig for charity. For no money. For people who have money. Everything about it was not OK, and I explained my reasons to the whole band but said I would do it. […]
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 […]
Busking is not something I’ve ever done before. (The piano is not the most portable instrument, although some street-friendly keyboards are now available.) The idea has appealed to me for a while, in that you’d know whether you are playing something people actually want to hear, or if you need […]
Last Christmas Eve, I played for a family party in a nearby chateau. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited back for the last night of a work-related event. The baby grand in the lounge had just been tuned… I took a self portrait to show I’m not bluffing—but […]
At least once a year, I get to play with the astonishing Phyllipa Scammell—singer, cellist, double-bass player and entertainer extraordinaire. This year, it was for a wedding at Chateau Soulac. We played the ceremony in the chapel, including a special request, followed by the drinks party in the garden. Because […]
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 […]
And a couple of days after THAT gig, I went to Chateau Picon with Purple Rock. This was a kind of soirée gourmand that you get around here throughout the summer. As will almost all the gigs I play over the summer, the venue was beautiful… I shot some video […]
It’s OK, I won’t write this in French… A couple of days after that last post, I went back to the regular Boby Lapointe gig over towards Les Eyzies. I did shoot some video here, which I’ll cut into an end-of-season video after our next gig—in Bergerac next week. Do […]
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 […]
I played at Le Barrage hotel and restaurant in Mauzac a couple of years ago. (Mother’s Day, if memory serves.) A couple of weeks ago (I’m catching up with missing blog posts today), I was invited back to play for the birthday party of Amanda, the owner. She’d asked me […]
A couple of days after that last gig, I went to Argentat with Purple Rock. They set up a stage just for us, and I snapped this panorama just after we arrived. Yes, it was hot. There will be a video of this gig, when I get round to it. […]
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 […]
I’ve fallen behind with the blog posts, but the rush of gigs is easing up now, so I’ll be able to catch up soon… Here’s a screen grab of the Boby Lapointe gig on August 5th. I’ve put a video together when I’ve got more time. As always, a joy […]
Last night, I accompanied the Dordogne League of Improvisation for a typically hilarious show at La Bachellerie, near Thenon. It’s impossible to prepare for one of these evenings, because the subjects are provided by the audience. Highlights of the evening were many—I always end up with face ache—but Pascal’s cockerel […]
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 […]
On Wednesday, I went with Purple Rock to Terrasson to play at a café overlooking the river. We have quite a lot of gear, so started setting up before the road was officially closed, which meant the police rocked up. We didn’t give them too much of a hard time […]
This weekend saw Purple Rock take to the stage under La Halle in Villeréal for the annual Bodega day. We had to set up early, as they closed the town to traffic, but this gave us plenty of time to hang out and see some of the many other musicians […]
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 […]
The weather here has been extremely hot, with temperatures regularly in the low 40s for the last few weeks. This is part of a wider planetary emergency that is beyond the scope of this blog. (There is room for optimism but I am counselling everyone to start a meditation practice […]
The last week has seen two Boby Lapointe events. You will recognise the setting here from before—it’s a holiday village over towards Les Eyzies (a jawdroppingly amazing place and the crucible of modern humanity). The other event was in the street opposite a restaurant in my local town. These evenings […]
On July 15th, I played the dockside in Bergerac with blues/rock band, Purple Rock. We added a few new tracks to the set, so there are some calmer songs to aid digestion. The audience did well to dance on the cobbles, with more serious dancing taking place on the nearest […]
I was delighted to be asked back to the palliative care unit at Perigueux hospital, a couple of weeks ago. (I’m a bit behind with the blog posts—and a rash of posts today will show you why. I played mainly for friends of someone undergoing treatment and gave an impromptu […]
On Monday, I accompanied singer and actor Pascal Destal for an evening of Boby Lapointe. If you’re not French, you’ve probably never heard of him, but Boby wrote and performed songs at about the same time Spike Milligan was being a genius in the UK. Pascal has been performing Boby’s […]
On Saturday, I drove a couple of hours east, to the appropriately named Beaulieu(beautiful area)-sur-Dordogne, for a ceremony and evening party wedding at Chateau du Doux. I don’t have a TV, so I didn’t know the building and owners have been on this year’s Escape to the Chateau. It’s probably […]
Friday night saw Purple Rock play an early season event at Eden et Sens, just north of Bergerac. It was hot and bright, but I did remember to snap a shot of us setting up on my phone. For details of upcoming gigs – and there are many – check […]
On Saturday, I went back to the Chateau de St Paul in Boudy de Beauregard (which isn’t far from where I live). It was a ceremony, then cocktails, then dance party wedding and I tried out the panorama setting on the device I use. I think I’ll make a habit […]
On June 21st every year, France has a music festival everywhere. It’s called the “Fête de la musique” and towns and villages throughout the land put up stages and host bands for the public, for free. With food and bars, too. Obviously. This is France. Yesterday, I fêted la musique […]
Not really. This is the setup before we played a wedding last Saturday. A half-French, half-British affair – I’ve never seen so many bilingual people in one place! Video was shot and sound was recorded, but this week is very busy, preparing for two big gigs on Friday and Saturday, […]
Last Friday, I accompanied Katia for a children’s show to celebrate the end of the school year. I don’t have time to cut a video together now, so you’ll have to wait to see that. As this screenshot indicates, the weather was not what you might expect in June in […]
On Saturday, we played a wedding for a Dutch couple up in the north of the Dordogne. I have very little Dutch, and some of it obscure—Hagelslag, for example, always raises a smile (although I’ve only just seen it written down for the first time and was expecting more As. […]
Alliance 24 is an association that organises volunteers to accompany very ill people to the end of their lives. On Tuesday afternoons, they also organise a musician or musicians to go and play for the people in the palliative care unit at Perigueux hospital. Last week was my first gig […]
Here’s a video of the Purple Rock gig at Lembarzique for the opening of the Bergerac Jazz Festival 2019, with clips of almost all the songs we played that night. The soundtrack was provided by the venue, through the new digital desk. The off-stage camera is also at the venue, […]
This is slightly out of order (not in a bad way), because of the confusion caused by the hacking of this site at the start of the season (which was out of order and not in a good way). It’s a video from the first wedding of 2019, at Domaine […]
I was delighted to witness – and play for – the marriage of George and Andrew yesterday, up at the Chateau de la Couronne. They asked for a wedding version of “Can’t help falling in love”, which I ripped off from this video. And then I played for drinks in […]
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, […]
It’s a busy time at the moment. Here’s a snapshot of the stage at the Lembarzique café near Bergerac, where I made my debut with the new band, Purple Rock. We opened the 2019 Bergerac Jazz Festival (although we’re a blues/rock band – don’t worry) and it was an excellent […]
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 […]
On the last Friday of every month, I usually accompany a bunch of improvisers for an evening of face-achingly funny skits. These skits are prompted by suggestions from the audience in the way you might expect. I usually play between scenes – just a few bars of something upbeat, to […]
On Wednesday, my web host emailed me to say my website had been attacked and was in quarantine. On Thursday, I made the decision to delete it and start again. Slightly annoying that I didn’t have a backup, but this also means I can start again with a clean screen. […]