Corporate Drinks Reception - St Elizabeth's House, Plympton.

Corporate Violinist for the evening last night. Drinks reception for Armoric Freight as they celebrated together at St Elizabeth's House in Plympton. Love gigs like this. Playing through my repertoire to complement the mood of the evening with a few ballads and then a few more upbeat songs as the champagne flows. I had the nicest of compliments as well last night. 'I love the way you add your own personality to these well known songs'. He said that my style was 'unique' - I think that's a good thing! #corporateviolinist #musicandevon #dawlishfiddler

  538 Hits

Winter Wedding at Rockbeare Manor.

One final wedding today at Rockbeare Manor this time as a solo violinist. Lovely atmosphere and decorations to make it feel very festive. Some beautiful music choices today including Taylor Swift's 'Lover', Beauty and the Beast and Can you feel the love tonight. Lovely audience who were very appreciative, we even had a couple have a dance as well. Time to give the violin a well earned rest now until next year.

  425 Hits

Corporate Violinist Job at Somerset CCC.

What a lovely gig tonight. Playing the violin for a drinks reception for the Devon and Somerset Law Society annual dinner. I serenaded Sir Ian Botham, Viv Richards and big Joel Garner in the cricket museum at Somerset CCC. (Well carboard cut outs anyway!). I enjoy playing for the corporate dinners and drinks receptions, always a good crowd in a great mood! usually having a drink!

  510 Hits

Autumn Vibes at Deer Park Hotel.

A lovely autumnal wedding today. Off to Deer Park Hotel nr Honiton again today to play in the October sunshine in their beautiful summer garden. 'I can't help falling in love with you' for the brides entrance, 'Runaway' by The Corrs and 'Kiss Me' by Sixpence non the Richer for the signing of the register. The Corrs music suits the electric violin perfectly! L-O-V-E to finish and then a set of lively upbeat pop and rock tunes while the guests had photos and drinks. Nice to be back at Deer Park Hotel again.

  577 Hits

Congratulations to Vikki and Ian.

It was an absolute privilege to play for the wedding of Vikki and Ian yesterday at Deer Park Country House. Vikki is a good friend of mine from the music scene in the South West of England. It was a beautiful day in a stunning setting. Music requests included 'One Day Like This', 'We Have All The Time In The World' and 'Paradise'. Congratulations to you both and best wishes for your future together.

  660 Hits

Traditional Devon Wedding - Lovely!

August has been a super busy month full of wonderful gigs at wonderful venues. Saturday 10th August I had the privilege to play for Emily and Will's wedding. The ceremony was a traditional ceremony in Shobrooke Parish Church where I played a new arrangement of Sail Away by David Gray. Afterwards we drove through some good old Devon country lanes to Pitt Farm near Thorveton where I played for the drinks reception. Gorgeous wedding in stunning Devon countryside. Always feel very privileged and lucky to do what I do for a living! Looking forward to a short break now - back in a couple of weeks!

  733 Hits

Another road trip to beautiful Salcombe.

On Friday I played violin for a beautiful wedding in the very stunning Harbour Hotel Salcombe for Laura and Josh. It was an electric violin day with 'Wildest Dreams' from Bridgerton for the entrance of the bridal party. I particularly enjoyed arranging and learning 'Going Home' from the film The Local Hero for the signing of the register. This was for Josh and all the Newcastle Fans in the guests! Everybody exited to 'I believe in a thing called Love' by The Darkness on Violin! It was awesome! I then played for a couple of hours while guests had canapes and drinks. Lovely day. Thank you to Laura Louise Hall for being a brilliant wedding planner on the day.

  695 Hits

Exe Valley String Quartet back at Rockbeare!

Another fabulous afternoon playing at a beautiful wedding at the very beautiful Rockbeare Manor. Thanks to Steph and the staff as always for looking after us. We had an afternoon of classical music which is always nice. We played the very gorgeous 'La Califfa' for the brides entrance - what a melody that is! We played for just under 4 hours today for the guests who were very appreciative. #weddingquartet #exevalleystringquartet #devonquartet

  778 Hits

Exe Valley String Quartet at Upton Barn.

Lovely Wedding at Upton Barn & Walled Garden near Collumpton last Friday. We are becoming regular visitors to this venue now and it is set in the beautiful Devon countryside. We played Pachelbels Canon for the Bridal party to enter, Arrival of the Queen of Sheeba and Marry You by Bruno Mars for the signing of the register an then we played one of our new arrangements 'The Theme Tune from Friends' for the exit of the guests. A very appreciative crowd with lots of lovely feedback.

  827 Hits

Busy June for Exe Valley String Quartet!

What a fabulous weekend we spent together. Saturday was our very first trip to Higher Egbeer Farm nr Cheriton Bishop which was beautiful and rustic. Sunday we returned to a very familiar venue Rockbeare Manor nr Exeter. Today we played a very special request. 'English Rose' by Paul Weller was very close to the bride's heart and was chosen for her entrance music. We always love writing special arrangements for couples because it makes their day even more special and personal.  5 weddings played at in June with another 3 to go.  Loving our jobs!  #weddingquartet #exevalleystringquartet

  761 Hits

Exe Valley Duo playing at Bradstone Manor.

Another fabulous Devon venue, this time down by Tavistock at the very beautiful Bradstone Manor Farm. Beautiful surroundings and beautiful summer weather. Just a duo today with Richard on the violin and Lucy on the cello. We played a range of special requests including Canon in D, Concerning Hobbits, Everlasting Love, Wildest Dreams and one of our favourites, Teenage Dirtbag! What a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon in June!

  902 Hits

Stunning Wedding at Watermouth Cove.

It's a busy few weeks for the string quartet now as we enter the wedding season. Today was our first visit to Watermouth Cove Weddings in North Devon. Well worth the drive up from Dawlish. What a stunning place to get married. Beautiful grounds and beautiful views. Fantastic staff who were so helpful. Great gig today. Music requests included Concerning Hobbits and 'Married Life' from the film 'Up'. We then got to play through a whole set of rock and pop classics as the guests mingled on the beach!

  831 Hits

Back to Brickhouse Vineyard.

I played at one of my favourite wedding venues yesterday.@Brickhouse Vineyard is such a beautiful setting for a small intimate wedding ceremony and reception. Congratulations to Lizzie and Pasquale! Music requests included the feather theme from Forrest Gump, Everything by Michael Buble and L O V E Nat King Cole. A lovely day!

  971 Hits

Do we need to move into Rockbeare Manor?

This weekend we played for a beautiful wedding at Rockbeare Manor. Not only did we play Pachelbel’s canon for the bride and bridesmaids entrance, but we also played Katy Perry’s Firework for the very exuberant entrance of the flower ‘man’.
I wonder what the most popular wedding entrance music is? What did you make your entrance to at your wedding?

  1152 Hits

Solo @ St Elizabeth's House, Plympton.

Beautiful September wedding at St Elizabeth's House in Plympton. A more contemporary theme today with some Rihanna and Florence and the Machine with Elton John sandwiched in between. #musiciandevon #weddingviolinist #dawlishfiddler

  1121 Hits

EVSQ at The Grand Hotel Torquay.

A new venue for us this weekend at The Grand Hotel in Torquay by the sea. The wedding ceremony pieces included Pachelbel’s Canon in D for the brides entrance, What a Wonderful World and All I Ask of You for the signing and then L-O-V-E for the bride and grooms exit music. We then played a variety of classical and pop for the drinks including the bride and grooms special request of La Vie en Rose. We even played Tale as old as time and Toxic-you can’t say we’re not versatile!

  1150 Hits

Back to Rockbeare for solo summer wedding.

Absolutely fabulous wedding today at Rockbeare Manor which is rapidly becoming my second home. A lovely couple and wonderful guests who were so grateful for my music. Lots of smiles and happy people with a bit of dancing in there as well. I played All I ask of you for the brides entrance followed by Hold my girl and Can’t help falling in love with you for the signing and a bespoke arrangement of Forever by Chris Brown for the exit music. This was followed by an hour of pop and rock tunes to accompany the drinks reception.Lovely summer wedding. Congratulations!

  936 Hits

Violin Solos at a traditional Philippine Wedding.

Probably the most difficult gig in recent years for repertoire and timing. I played for a traditional Philippine wedding ceremony yesterday. Many parts of the service needed solo violin music to cover the silence. The music choices included Meditation, Salut D'amour, Canon, Pavane, Claire De Lune. All unaccompanied to allow for repeats and improvisations. It all went really well and it was followed by some electric violin upbeat tunes out on the deck at The Osborne Hotel. Wedding guests enjoyed dancing along. I had to be on the top of my game yesterday that's for sure!

  1004 Hits

Back to Bovey Castle.

Lovely small intimate wedding today at Bovey Castle Music requests included Ed Sheeran Perfect, Can’t help falling in love with you, At Last, The first time ever I saw your face and Celebrate by Kool and the Gang. I also stayed and played for the drinks reception out on the balcony with the beautiful Dartmoor as the back drop. #musiciandevon #weddingviolinist #devonviolinist

  986 Hits

Solo Electric Violin wedding at Upton barn Collumpton.

Lovely wedding up near Collumpton yesterday. Upton Barn & Walled Garden. The bridal party came in to ‘The Better Half of me’ by Tom Walker. Slightly different arrangement this time as I improvised a subtle violin counter melody around the original acoustic version of the song. I had a good workout on my electric violin playing for almost three hours. Lovely wedding at a lovely venue. #weddingviolinist #musiciandevon #devonviolinist

  795 Hits