I have 10 minutes left to explain April in blog form. So here goes...
Basically, I have spent a lot of time doing arrangements for the RNCM Session Orchestra gig in June. This has proved to be a fun and interesting challenge! However, it now means that I am thoroughly sick of Sibelius, and my laptop. But hey, it is fantastic practice and each time I do it I feel better about developing those skills.
Another fantastic thing from April came in the form of an audition for the James Christy Band. We performed in front of a panel of Access to Music officials at the Jabez Clegg venue to win the opportunity to perform on the "AtoM Live Tour". This exciting event takes an act from each Access to Music centre across the country to perform in a National Final in Birmingham at the 02 Academy. The winners will get to perform on a nationwide tour in October / November of this year. I'm delighted to announce that we won! And as such we will be performing in Birmingham on the 6th of June. We're all very excited!
And finally, a big part of this month for me has been rediscovering the man, the hero, Pino Palladino as a bass player. I'd always appreciated him, but never really gave him the respect he deserves as being the best Session Bass Player of all time. After a couple of sleepless weekends listening to hours of Pino basslines from the late 80s right up to the most recent John Mayer stuff I decided that he was my new hero.
I was so inspired by Pino, that I invested in my first real effects pedal. It is a Boss OC-3 Octave Pedal and I love it to pieces. Expect to hear it in all of my live performances for the forseeable future.
Apologies for the stream of consciousness form of this post. But hey! It was fun to do!
