18/01/14 – Well, the first bit of news is I’ve given my site an overhaul. I hope you like the look of it.
Thankfully there is more news than this though, as I have acquired some very satisfying music projects over the holiday season. First of all I had a fantastic time playing and singing alongside a brilliant young singer called Georgia, at Red Squirrel Brewery shop’s Christmas party in Chesham. A room full of people and beers on every shelf in sight is a recipe for a fun evening!
I have also been working hard on my Gypsy Jazz playing. This style of music has long been a huge passion of mine, and I’m planning to start playing it live more regularly. So watch this space…
If you’ve not heard of Gypsy Jazz before, here’s a fun video of a guitarist called Adrian Holovaty who reworked the Mario Bros. theme tune to fit the style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ti5f-LHp4
And here is me playing Gypsy Jazz 7 years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long!) with my good friend Ryan Wood (left of the video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LIAjJx1DdE
Other than this… I played a gig at The Mead elderly people’s care home in Borehamwood which was fantastic fun. On request I learnt some songs from the early/mid 20th century and so had a rare opportunity to perform everything from Frank Sinatra to The Pine Ridge Boys (they composed the song ‘You are my sunshine’). I’m excited about playing again sometime, and at other elderly people’s care homes too – they are surprisingly lively gigs! More dancing went on than at any of the gigs I’ve done for younger audiences!
Finally I have about 5 new original songs that I keep telling myself I must record and put online. The time will surely come, I just need a few spare days to dedicate to recording and mastering some tracks and then I will happily share them with the world.
So that is all until my next update. I wish everyone a happy and peaceful new year. Behave yourselves!
Tom x