Back in summer 2018, I had the pleasure of playing drums with Jade MayJean and her fantastic band at ButeFest on the Isle Of Bute, performing songs from the album 20SIXTY which debuted last year.
Despite the weather – just an hour or two after Jade’s set on the main stage, the festival site was formally closed due to high winds making it unsafe! – it was lovely to see people come out to watch the show, and to get so much brilliant feedback afterwards about Jade’s original music.
I am delighted to be able to report another term of exam successes for my students – with candidates taking exams on piano and on drums, ranging from Initial Grade up to Grade 5, with a 100% pass rate once again.
Big congratulations to all my students for their hard work and perseverance, and for their fully-deserved exam success. Now, keep practising – and onto the next exciting new challenge!
Delighted to be back at the King Charles Hotel in Gillingham tonight, to celebrate the legacy of the legendary Excalibur Nightclub – which, in its heyday between 1989 and 1998, hosted artists such as The Prodigy, Salt N Pepa, Rick Astley and Bros, amongst others.
A few of the great pictures from three consecutive nights of Ultra ’90s Fresh at the ’90s Weekender at Hunters Quay in Argyll. All photos by Ken Clark.
I am delighted to announce that I’ll be playing percussion in a live orchestral performance for The Pisces Rising – a popular YouTube channel which re-orchestrates well-known theme tunes into large, epic-sounding masterpieces – at this year’s Summer In The City YouTube festival at the ExCel in London.
The performance will be on the main stage at half-past-five this Saturday, 11th August.
I don’t generally make ‘New Years resolutions’ – but one thing I did want to do as of the start of this year was to update this page more, and be more active here. So far, not so good…!
So what has been going on? Lots of work with Sistema in various local schools, which I am still enjoying and finding really rewarding. And lots of gigs with Ultra ’90s – in all it’s various flavours (Original, Fresh and Jam), both on drums/percussion and as a keys player and MD.
And in between all of that, we have had the eleventh annual Keyboard Camp this year, just one week ago. (More on that in a later post…) And I have been trying to get my studio setup and fully functional at my new house!
Beginnings of the new studio
Having moved house at the end of summer last year, it has taken a little while to move all my gear across and start to get myself familiar with the new studio space. The big plan for this year is to get my recording work properly up-and-running, so I am going to try and start pushing that online a little more as I get everything finalised. Expect pictures and sound clips from the new studio sometime later this year!
Soundtrack recording session on marimba
There are also a few other exciting gigs and other opportunities coming up soon, which I shall be writing more about due course. I am currently writing this in a Costa just off the M5, on my way to another run of gigs in Devon on drums with Ultra ’90s – I’ll be home on Thursday night for a day or so, before heading straight back out on the road.
And as the year goes on, I hope that I’ll be able to stick to my ‘non-resolution’ of writing here more – and uploading ‘on-the-go’ a bit more! And, most importantly, that I’ll keep playing, keep teaching, and keep learning.
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