The first couple of month of any year are always strange for me and 2011 is proving no different. It’s almost like the entertainment industry doesn’t wake up until the year has well and truly started, and so it’s a time that I try and use to prepare as much as I can and try and get some new ideas up and running.
February sees a couple of radio programmes I did last month get aired and these are Just a Minute (February 7th) and It’s Your Round (February 21st). Both of these are on Radio 4.
On Tuesday 1st of February I will be one of the guests introducing the choirs at the O2 for the Voice in a Million concert. I did this last year and this year looks like being an even bigger event. More details can be found on the Voice in a Million website.
On the 13th of the month I will be appearing as a guest, alongside many others, as part of a tribute concert for the late, great Norman Wisdom, who as many of you will know, was a dear friend and neighbour of mine when I lived on the Isle of Man.
Whilst not 100% confirmed yet, it does seem likely that I will be doing a couple of days filming for the television programme Watchdog. I introduced a segment for them last year and I suppose I couldn’t have done that badly or else they wouldn’t be asking me back again!
Saturday the 26th is the day of the first concert of the year which is the Very very Intimate Evening Show at Peterborough at the Broadway Theatre, I think in many ways I’ll feel the year has truly started after I walk off stage after this show.
I plan to go into the studio with Erik during the month to finish off bits and pieces left unfinished from last year. We have already mixed a live album that was recorded on the Out There tour some years ago and the end result is fabulous. There are a lot of pieces on this recording that have never been released as live versions before.
The album is due to be a bonus on a new DVD that will come out later this year. I did a show for Central Television many years ago in a series called Bedrock. Elm Street productions have now acquired the rights and will be releasing it along with the Out There recording as a bonus.
Whilst on the subject of releases, sometime this month, the contract will be signed enabling the release of a very special re-mastered set of all of the A&M product that I released in the 1970s. There will also be additional bonus material with this set and it is all completed and just “sitting” waiting to go, so this is very exciting for me as I’m sure you can imagine.
Plans are continuing in sorting out North American shows for myself and Jon as well as moving forward with the Trevor Rabin/Jon Anderson/Wakeman project which is potentially very, very exciting.
Finally, I’ll be meeting up with Jon Lord again to finalise our plans for some joint appearances with orchestras and hopefully the start of writing a new piece between us as well for future concerts.
As you’ve probably gathered, a lot’s happening behind the scenes and if all of it comes to fruition, then 2011 will be another year where I don’t get a holiday!