I’m sure you all know how ludicrously busy it’s been, which is why there was no May GORR as such and indeed I’m writing this one whilst waiting for six consecutive phone interviews to come in from America regarding ARW! So continuing with the ARW situation, as many of you will know the tour of America has been announced and full details can be found on the ARW website.
It’s going to be a very busy tour with a lot of rehearsing and preparation, but I’m sure it will all be well worth it and thanks to so many of you who have sent such wonderful messages of support for what we are doing.
Before I get to America though, there is much happening here and next on the agenda is the O2 and the performance of King Arthur. The 88-minute album is finished and mixed and I’m thrilled with the end result. It has all the ingredients of the original but much more of a symphonic rock sound which I love.
The double album, in many formats, is released on the day of the O2 concert, June 19th.
And as for other things happening this month, I have already recorded for the BBC, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip which was just wonderful fun to do as you can see from the two photographs of myself, Ian Lavender and the two antiques experts, Raj Bisram and David Harper. I am not sure when the show is going to be aired, but I can tell you it’s a cracker!
On the 3rd and 4th I will be doing the one man show at Evesham which is a lovely place to play and nice to be back there after just a year. On the 8th I will be filming for a celebrity television documentary which should be hilarious ...if they let me say what I want it should be!!!
On the 8th and 10th, I will be preparing my keyboard rig for the O2 concert which is never quite as easy as it may at first appear as it doesn’t just mean getting sounds that I want to use, but also on which keyboards they have to go on for different pieces.
On the 12th we have the playback party for the King Arthur album at Essex University which is going to be tremendous. Starting at midday and finishing around 4.30pm. There are still a few spaces available through PledgeMusic too.
Straight after the playback party we are all off to start two days of band rehearsals which are immediately followed by two days of full rehearsals with the orchestra and choir. It really is full on all the time and then of course it’s the big one being the concert at the O2 on the Sunday.
It will seem strange that almost nine months of solid work culminates in just one concert but hopefully there will be some more over the years.
On Wednesday the 22nd I am playing a one man show at the Regent Theatre in Christchurch and then on the 24th, with the strings of the Orion Orchestra and a girls’ choir augmented with singers from the English Chamber Choir, I will be doing a concert at the Marylebone Festival with relaxation music especially written with autism in mind as it is something that for many reasons is close to my heart.
The concert, (more details on the Marylebone Festival website), is called Symphony for the Spectrum with the main music being titled The Rainbow Suite and it is hoped to record this as well.
On Saturday the 25th I will be playing at the Southwold festival which is nice and close to my home so not far to travel!
On the 27th I will be in Tenerife as part of the Starmus Festival honouring Stephen Hawking and just slipping into July, on the 3rd I am playing the Sevenoaks Festival.
All in all, a very busy time and with ARW looming close I can see Xmas is just round the corner!!
That’s it for now .............more news in July.
Cheers,
Rick