March and April were quite a roller coaster ride in many respects. It was great to be out with the English Rock Ensemble, who I was so proud of as they all worked so hard and gave their all to the 5 shows. The only sadness is that there weren't more. Problem is that it's so hard to make this kind of show financially viable these days, plus the musicians I want to use are so heavily in demand, trying to slot them all in together is not easy!
May looks like being a bit of a "bitty" month, but there's no shortage of things to do.
On Saturday the 7th I am off to Lowestoft to see The Ipswich Hospital band perform, and I will also be plonking the odd piece during their performance as well. All in aid of raising money for the children's ward at Ipswich hospital.
The band are by no means small… 60+ including the choir and I am very proud to be their patron. They raise a lot of money and awareness for hospitals in the region whilst thoroughly enjoying themselves at the same time.
On Tuesday 10th, I will be attending a special Masonic Lodge to collect a donation for Lifelites, the great charity that does such incredible work for Children's Hospices around the country.
On Thursday 12th, I will be filming for a Channel 5 documentary about Les Dawson and others as well as great sitcoms. I love doing this kind of television show. They will be future historical documents for students of entertainment and quite priceless.
I then have loads of writing to do to prepare for my final stuff in the studio with Erik in order to finish the album and have it delivered by mid June and I go into the studio from the 23rd onwards with Erik to complete all the keyboard parts… well I hope to complete them anyway!!!
On the health front, I am still struggling with osteoarthritis and diabetes, but am slowly getting them under control, but it has meant some changes in my life, which when it comes to food… I am finding extremely difficult!!!… so much that I enjoy I can't have and stuff I really dislike… apparently I can have!!… I'll dedicate a whole chapter to this subject when the new book comes out at Xmas… "Ramblings of a Grumpy Old Rock Star" and this book is not to be confused with the official biography which will be completed sometime next year by my great friend Jerry Ewing.
That's it for now… time to walk the dogs!!!
See you next month… Rick