October, What Happens on Tour, Stays on Tour

October has been an interesting one. A lot of adventures, a lot of college time missed, but all for the best! I'll try and sum up what's been going on...

So October started with a trip to Essex for me. The RNCM Session Orchestra Rhythm Section travelled down south to workshop an improvised piece with local schools; this is ahead of our performance of the piece with the schools as part of the Music For Youth School's Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in London! We had a very enjoyable few days working with different Young People all across Essex. It was great to see such talent and enthusiasm across the board! It was also great to work alongside Paul (a lecturer at Guildhall School of Music and Drama) to create a really unique and exciting piece. And of course, it was great to be back in the capital.

The following Saturday saw a rehearsal with Classical Crossover singer Mark Llewelyn Jones and the band. This was a great opportunity to work in a different genre of music to what I'm used to. Mark was impressed with our interpretation of his songs from his album and is looking forward to our upcoming gig at The Atkinson in Southport.

Monday the 14th marked the start of the Atom Live tour with James Christy and the band! The whole tour was a fantastic experience, we performed to audiences in York, Darlington, Manchester, Lincoln and London. It was great to experience life on the road in a tour bus with your band mates. A special mention should go to our fellow Atom Live Bands: Vanderjact and Frost-D. Also, our Stage Manager Matt, and Tour Manager Trev were absolutely sound guys. It was a fantastic week, I'd do it all again at the drop of a hat. However, I'm sure the rest of the band will back me up in saying that we never want to have to walk bags and gear through London's Underground System ever again.

JC Band, Vanderjact, Frost-D and Matt on the Atom Live Tour

October including another storming gig with Spinoffs in York! Everyone had a great night, and we're looking forward to a function band showcase in Coventry next month! I'm very excited!

As you'd expect, with the Session Orchestra gig fast approaching we have been rehearsing hard at college! It's going to be an awesome gig, and I'd urge everyone without a ticket to get one for the gig on the 9/11/13 at RNCM! There's no excuse!

And finally I'm just at the start of another Ensemble Week at RNCM! The task this time around is to learn and perform 10 songs from the band... TOTO! Needless to say, I'm absolutely ecstatic about this. I have longed for the day when it would be socially acceptable to play AOR in a band in public. I'm looking forward to the end of the week gig immensely. But until then, there are some tricky unison riffs to see to. Yay.

Alasdair

September, Return to RNCM, Sort of...

Well, it's great to be back in Manchester. It's exciting to be back at the RNCM studying on the 2nd year of my Popular Music Performance Degree!

September started with gigs in Yorkshire, naturally. Mainly working with the New York Brass Band, I enjoyed doing a couple of gigs for the Doncaster Races and a notable club gig at Smokestack which was an absolute riot. Needless to say, it was a load of fun getting my Drum Kit chops back.

Moving on. Returning to RNCM saw me playing in a variety of "Fresher's week" related events. These included a playing for a Jam Session with Keep Swinging on the first night. It was great to see so many first years from my course get up and show off a bit. The confidence in this new crop of pop students is a little bit concerning! But needless to say, everyone had a great night. I also enjoyed playing with Pretty Young Things at the Fresher's Ball at the Palace Hotel in Manchester. We played a variety of Popular Music which went down a storm. A great time was had by all.

A picture from the Fresher's Jam Session. To date, my only picture with my Overwater Aspiration Artist 4 String Bass (Ruby)

As well as the Fresher's Events going on all week, I had the opportunity to play an Acoustic Set with James Christy at Waxy O'Connors Bar at the Printworks Complex. This was great fun to do and it serves as extra practice for our upcoming tour. (SEE BELOW) As well as this, I played with Jack Tinker, Joe Luckin and Matt Wilmot for a Jam Session at the legendary Deaf Institute, and Indigo Bar in Withington. Great well attended Jam Sessions with a fantastic array of talented musicians!

Heptonstall Festival was also a highlight of this month! A great event with some great artists and performers. James Christy and I performed an acoustic set, and we played a set with the full band later on that day! A great practice gig for the upcoming tour... (SEE BELOW) and a great response from new West Yorkshire fans.

The James Christy Band at Heptonstall Festival

More recently, I played a Showcase Event with The Spinoffs in Morley near Leeds! We watched a number of acts perform to earn the chance to get gigs at Havens Holiday Camps. These included two covers bands, a Katherine Jenkins tribute act, a Martha Reeves and the Vandellas tribute act and Katy Kerry (The UK's premiere Katy Perry show.) I really enjoyed the event, and I'm glad to say that The Spinoffs performed well. So we'll keep our fingers crossed for 2014!

And finally, the big one. Last Saturday I performed with Black and Gold function band at an event in Aberystwyth. The event was great! The band played well and the audience had a great time. It also counts as my first gig playing songs to Backing Track which was fantastic experience for me. The elephant in the room being that we didn't get back to Manchester until 3:50 in the morning. Ouch. A great gig all told though!

So, I've been back at RNCM, but still shooting about the places playing for anyone and anything. It can't be bad I suppose? Although, I might go and get some sleep now.

Before that, THE JAMES CHRISTY ATOM LIVE TOUR IS REALLY SOOOOON!

The dates are...

14/10/13 Fibbers - York

15/10/13 The Forum - Darlington

16/10/13 Night and Day Cafe - Manchester

17/10/13 The Platform - Lincoln

18/10/13 British Academy of New Music - London

I'll expect to see you there! Especially for the gig in my hometown of York! You guys have got no excuse!

Alasdair