Well I don't think that anybody will really be sorry to see the end of 2020, but what it did show us is the resilience that suddenly came into force with millions of people finding ways to survive, create, believe in the future and also to help others who found themselves in impossible situations.
I saw first-hand the incredible dedication and skill at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in December and the positivity everybody there exuded certainly was a great antithesis for all the doom-mongering that ALL the politicians and indeed some of the so called "experts" have been bombarding us with. I'm on the side of those that believe we will learn from this and slowly the world can become a better place for all living humans and all living creatures.
It's also shown us how important live entertainment and music is to us all……I have missed it terribly and how great it was to be invited to be a small part of Jools Holland's Hootenanny which we pre-recorded early in December. It was great fun to do the boogie woogie piece as a duet with Jools and I would have loved to have done more but it was great to meet old friends who were equally as frustrated as myself as to the disappearance of proper live performances.
Every time we tried to put a socially distanced reduced capacity concert on, another lockdown appeared and eventually, like so many I know, we had to throw the towel in but we did manage to complete the New Year's Rick's Plaice which goes out tomorrow (I am writing this on the 2nd).
I have high hopes for 2021, but in reality, I don't think we are going to be able to really get going until early summer, so the first months are definitely going to be that of "preparing for readiness". We are planning a tour of the USA and Canada, plus some shows in Brazil, Switzerland and the UK with other countries also in the offing.
I will continue to write and record ongoing projects in readiness for release and also sort through old memorabilia, (including tapes and equipment), to see what I have which now need to be moved on. It's time to sort a lot of stuff out and let them have new homes…. but please don't write to the website asking for stuff!
Also this is a great opportunity to thank my great friend Wayne, for the incredible job he does in looking after the RWCC website, Facebook and Instagram. I always feel very proud and do indeed throw the credit Wayne's way, when people tell me what a great site it is.
What do I foresee for 2021?.......well I can't see normality even starting to return until at least 50,000,000 have been vaccinated… as we need confidence as much as anything else that we are protected in some way. I feel a bit of a boom as regards concerts and entertainment by October / November time as we will all want to either perform or enjoy live music again.
The Xmas tour is 65% booked and confirmed and I want to make these shows, as well as anything else I do, a little different to previous years.
I have 6 different musical projects in limbo at the moment, (thanks to the pandemic and lockdowns), and I now have to put these in an order of priority and then knuckle down to finishing them off.
I'd like to thank you all for your unbelievable support throughout 2020 and hope we can continue enjoying ourselves musically throughout this New Year.
Finally…. I am taking part in Q&As at the online Dublin Music Festival celebrating David Bowie where I believe I'm involved with two evenings…the 15th and 17th of January ……some great people taking part…worth a watch for sure.
Thanks again to you all and indeed to the great team I have around me with Brian Lane, Rob Ayling, Wayne Smith, Roger de Courcey and of course my family.
So there you have it….. positive thoughts for us all………… all best wishes
Rick