December has been a particularly difficult month as far as health is concerned and that is my genuine excuse for this GORR being so late!
Like so many, I caught the nasty flu bug that was going around and that developed into pleurisy which was not pleasant at all and truly laid me flat, hut there were some commitments I had to meet somehow, and although the old expression “The Show must go on”, springs to mind, in some cases it really only did just about go on!
The Granary shows were tremendous fun and the Tuesday in particular was something special. Oliver, Jemma and Emmie all contribute massively into making it a very special couple of days and these Xmas shows at the Granary, (ten Xmas’s so far), have all been a little bit special and have been concerts that will not be repeated elsewhere and long may they continue.
The Scole Xmas Celebration, also in its tenth year, went ahead as planned and was also a lot of fun and a great way to bring Xmas in, but the result was another trip to the doctors, more antibiotics and stuff, more blood tests to come later in the week and orders that I am not to go anywhere for a few days.......so my tweets were honest...I am a poorly Dicky!!
I always do a bit of a review of the year in December and although there were lots of nice things that happened with concerts of many varieties both home and abroad, in retrospect it was a year to forget for me. Many promises by third parties as regards musical events came to nothing and many were very costly. I lost too many friends to our Maker and add all this to a year of not great health and overall, the diary for 2015 will not be one that I will be keeping and looking through in years to come.
So, having had a good moan about 2015, I now look forward to 2016 as I have never been one to dwell on the past. I believe that the past places how we are in the present, but what we are doing now in the present, shapes and creates the future, so that’s all I’m interested in. I am still learning from mistakes and some of those that happened in 2015 will certainly not be allowed to happen again, but some new rules are now in place that will hopefully be beneficial to the many musical plans I have in the pipeline.
There is one plan in particular that may well get announced in the next few days, but it is not for me alone to announce, but as soon as it can be told, it will be and I will elaborate on the website accordingly....now that’s got you thinking I’m sure!!
There are still a few things left to do this month which include a trip to Radio 2 with Emmie Beckett to perform live on the Simon Mayo show on the 21st. It’s always great to appear on Simon’s show. He’s a lovely guy and has always been very supportive.
The single Welcome a Star with Emmie has received some really lovely reviews and plans for Emmie’s future music career are slowly taking shape.
There are already a lot of one man shows in for next year which is a continuation of the show I did at the beginning of 2015. The Cadbury Sisters will be with me again except for the odd show where Adam Wakeman will be opening up the concert.
Here are the dates currently planned, as and when they are confirmed, the details will appear on the site as usual.
February
Sat 6th - Medina Theatre Newport, Isle of Wight
Wed 10th - Gala Theatre, Durham
Thurs 11th - Arts Centre, Solihull
Fri 12th - Central Theatre, Chatham
Sun 14th - Westcliff Theatre, Clacton
Sat 20th - Stables, Wavendon
Sat 27th - Basingstoke Anvil
Sun 28th - Aberdare Coliseum
March
Fri 4th - John Green dinner event Sheffield
Thurs 10th - Claygate Festival
Fri 11th - Steinway Festival London (with Adam)
Sat 12th - Steinway Festival London (with Adam)
Wed 16th - Rick’s Roast Royal Lancaster
Fri 18th - Rhyl Pavilion
April
Sat 9th - Hunstanton Princess Theatre
Fri 15th - Edmonton Millfield Theatre
Fri 22nd - Camberley Theatre
Fri 29th - Prince of Wales theatre, Cannock
Sat 30th - Customs House, South Shields
May
Fri 6th - Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage
Sat 21st - Harlow Playhouse
June
Sat 4th - Evesham Theatre
Sun 19th - O2 King Arthur
Fri 24th - Linton Festival Ross on Wye
Sat 25th - Southwold Festival
Mon 27th thru July 2nd - Starmus Festival, Tenerife.
July
Sat 9th - Padova Italy piano concert
At the Starmus festival I am likely to be doing a piano concert but may well have a special guest with me. The actual date of the performance is not yet confirmed.
The Rick’s Roast at the Royal Lancaster is a fun event run by the Water Rats and it will be starting up an old tradition of where a former King is “roasted” by his peers, and in my case...his children too!...It will be a hilarious lunch and highly recommended. As soon as tickets are on sale, we’ll let you all know.
There will certainly be new recordings next year and some different events, some of which we’ve touched on in this GORR.
In closing, I would like to thank all of you who have supported myself and the music through thick and thin and have indeed contributed so much to making it feel so worthwhile.
And finally a very special thank you to Wayne Smith, a true unsung hero, who works miracles with the RWCC site and the Facebook stuff, all of which is bewildering to me as to how it works!!
See you next month..........Rick