Another interesting month has just flown by and already July is shaping up to be just as interesting!
Much of June was spent in the studio with Erik working on the album A Gallery of the Imagination and I am genuinely really pleased with the way it is shaping up. It's very different to The Red Planet but that's not really surprising given the title and the fact that it has 8 Hayley Sanderson vocal tracks as well as the instrumental pieces and a real mixture of styles as well… as befitting the album title. Some great performances from Lee Pomeroy, Dave Colquhoun and Ash Soan and I'm quite pleased with my contribution as well… largely thanks to Erik who makes me do stuff again if he's not happy and thinks I can do better! Later this month Hayley completes all the vocals and then it's down to Erik to mix it all and deliver ready for release. I'll do a full report in the August GORR with more details as to what we are planning.
On the 25th of June I also had the pleasure of attending the Opera Night at the Marylebone Festival… which was a sold out stunning performance from the operatic singers and the Orion Orchestra. They could easily have sold 2 nights and I highly recommend going to see it next year. It's all the opera songs you know, but didn't know the titles to!! I had the honour of introducing some of the pieces alongside Robert Rinder who is the Festival's president… and what a truly lovely guy he is too. Uniquely, instead of a normal interval, there was an auction which was brilliantly done by the well known television antique expert Adam Partridge… another really nice guy… so I made two new friends that day!
And finally, to "tidy up" June, I combined a visit to my daughter Jemma's house to see the two grandkids, who seemed pleased to see Grandpa Grumpy!
I then drove to the Lakeside Club in Frimley Green to visit the owner and my great friend Bob Potter, accompanied by a dozen other Water Rats who had made the journey to see him, who at the age of 94, looks closer to 64!
Moving to this month, the diary is already looking extremely busy with the completion of the recording of the album a priority. There are of course the dreaded, but very necessary meetings with management, agents, accountants and other "interesting" people! Actually, I'm extremely fortunate that all the people in these categories are great friends and have a life outside of their professions! Brian Lane my manager has looked after me on and off for more than 50 years.
As you may well know, I am a very proud Liveryman and will be attending a Livery luncheon where awards are given to students from varying colleges and universities. Always lovely to visit different Livery Company halls and buildings too.
As a few of you have kindly inquired about my arthritis, I can report that I am seeing both a foot specialist and also a hand specialist who are both helping tremendously and although playing through the pain barrier is not ideal… I am so far managing okay, and will continue as long as possible.
Family-wise, on the 23rd my son Oscar is marrying the lovely Christina in Sussex which will be a lovely day for sure. Music-wise, Adam has been playing regularly with Tony Hadley and also working on his upcoming Jazz Sabbath tour. Oliver is also recording a new album and you can follow both the eldest boys' current musical exploits, (boys?…they're 50 and 48 for heaven's sake), on their various social media sites. Animal-wise… the three dogs (Puff, Garo and Marusko) are doing great, as are the three pussy cats (Teaser, Cobweb and GT). We are planning some events later in the year to help raise some money and awareness for Saving Suffering Strays and I will post details on the website as soon as we have more details.
That's it for this month although anything of note that comes up will of course be put on the website… you may have noticed that the Xmas Stocking tour is already on sale too.
Bye for now… enjoy the next bit of summer!!!
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