April was yet another month of changes to the proposed schedule with Italy being postponed due to the Icelandic volcano going nuts! At the time of writing this GORR, no rescheduled date has been set but as soon as it is it will appear on the website.

It was also a month of very much making preparations for the latter part of the year. Erik Jordan and I did quite a lot of recording of guide parts of the music that is going to be added to the original Journey to the Centre of the Earth of which the first concerts could be as soon as August in South America. (There are also concerts planned for Australia and England).

More meetings as regards concerts for the future took place throughout the month and some, such as a proposed King Arthur spectacular, being put into the early planning stages for 2012.

I also met up with my great friend, the artist Rodney Mathews, and quite a few ideas arose from that meeting too.

There were two concerts during the month, both of which were thoroughly enjoyable. One was at Llandudno and the other in Edinburgh where I met up with my good friend Ian Rankin who actually decided to come to the show as part of his 50th birthday celebrations! (I did tell him I could think of far better ways to spend a birthday than listening to me)!

The David Croft and Jimmy Perry tribute lunch was tremendous. Loads of actors and actresses that had appeared in such gems as Hi-De-Hi and Dad’s Army paid tribute to them. Amongst those there were Paul Shane, Sue Pollard, Frank Williams, Bill Pertwee, Ruth Madoc & Vicky Michelle.

Bobby Davro put on a spectacular fund raising event in Woking for the Woking Hospice. There was a cast of millions and I was really proud to be part of it.

One of the most enjoyable evenings was spent at the Keyboard Tech department of Thames Valley University where Jon Lord and I did a Q&A with some of the students. The hour and a half seem to race by and both Jon and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and it was great to be amongst musicians who are genuinely keen on honing their skills and learning about their art.

Jon and I also talked about some future joint concerts together which hopefully will happen next year. We both love the use of orchestras and it seems a very natural progression.

So we head into May …..and very much a mixed bag again with a lot of preparatory work being done for future projects. More recording in order to finish the piano works at The Granary, and talking of pianos, delivery of one extremely lovely Petrov Grand Piano which will be arriving from Dubai …..as a present from my great friend Jim Davidson.

There’s also some “leisure” in for a change as well. I’m playing in one of the Comedian’s Society Golf days and also will be attending the blue plaque unveiling or Sir John Mills at Pinewood Studios. Sir John was a lovely man who I was most privileged to get to know in his later years and the family as well.

There are three piano concerts planned …all details on the website. They are at The Parc and Dare Theatre in Treorchy on Saturday 8th, Southend Palace on Sunday 23rd and the Hinkley ACT on Sunday 30th.

On Monday 10th I will be part of a big concert at the Royal Albert Hall. I am led to understand that the Russian Premier, Mr Putin, will be in attendance. He could be in for a shock!!

It’s possible that the cancelled Rome show could be rescheduled for the month as well as mentioned earlier.

At the end of the month it’s The 4 Churches Festival, again, all details on the site. This is our fourth festival in five years and is extremely popular and great fun too. Everybody welcome ….if they buy a ticket of course!!!

Finally, May the 18th sees another year fly by for me as I hit 61. Last year I locked myself away for the entire day, but this year I might just go out for dinner!

All in all it’s a very busy time. The new self-publishing book company is taking shape nicely as is the radio production company. Both should be fully functional by the end of the summer.

It’s May the 1st as I write this, and once I’ve finished I’m going to spend the rest of the day gardening!…..that’s what aging rockers do !……The prog-rock rockery needs attending to and the new borders are a bit “Close to the Veg”…………sorry, dreadful pun, it must be the “Fragile” nature of the soil!

More next month!

Cheers,
Rick

Previous Editions

August 2026
July 2026
June 2026
May 2026
April 2026
March 2026
February 2026
January 2026
December 2025
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009