I spent the day with Exe Valley String Quartet on Saturday playing at the wedding of Andy and Zaria. It is always nice to play the Canon in D in a church with the lovely acoustics. Then we went off to Rockbeare Manor to play for the drinks reception. We played a wide variety of upbeat songs and pieces including the very popular Don't look back in Anger which is one of our new arrangements.

It was nice to spend the morning yesterday directing my rock choirs at Bovey Castle. This is venue that I play at often with the Exe Valley String Quartet but this was a choir gig this time. We sang live on BBC Breakfast to help the legend that is Tom Daley on his final leg of his challenge for Red Nose Day. It was nice that the BBC acknowledged the link between our string quartet, Bovey Castle and us playing for the wedding of Tom and Lance back in 2017. Both of these events were awesome experiences that I will always remember and cherish.

I don't think I have ever played outside in January before! Just look at the weather though - it was beautiful. Congratulations to Faye and Philippe on a really beautiful ceremony and drinks reception in this gorgeous corner of South Devon Thurlestone Hotel. Faye walked into the very popular Canon in D and then I played a variety of musical styles outside on the balcony. #musiciandevon #devonviolinist

I had a lovely day yesterday playing for Lizzie and Williams Christmas wedding. That was the last gig for 2021. St Audries Park Wedding Venue is a stunning location for a wedding. I played electric violin for the drinks reception only. Nice to play through the repertoire including the theme tune from Jurassic Park.. #musiciandevon #freelanceviolinist #devonviolinist. It has been a very unusual year.  No gigs for the first half of the year due to the pandemic and then suddenly all goes mad and I have lots of gigs both as a soloist and also with the string quartet.  New weddings, existing weddings and of course fitting in all of the postponed weddings.  2022 is shaping up to me a little bit more controlled!  Happy new Year.

'Having you at our wedding was the cherry on the cake. All my guests loved it and you soothed my son to sleep so he didn’t cry during the ceremony so 11/10 by far. I just loved it so much. '

Thank you Jodie and jack for your lovely feedback.  It was a lovely wedding in a beautiful venue.

I had a great afternoon with my friends in the Exe Valley String Quartet yesterday. Another trip to our most popular wedding venue of 2021 Rockbeare Manor. We played for the drinks reception only which gave us the opportunity to play some of our new more modern arrangements including a very funky/jazzy version of L-O-V-E (Frank Sinatra), Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and On Melancholy Hill (Gorillaz). We really pride ourselves on being versatile and the guests really appreciate it.

Our final gig before Christmas and what a cracker it was. We sang in Torquay for the Christmas shoppers and it was awesome. The Torquay folk were singing and dancing along with us and we all had such a good day. It was lovely to see other rockies in the audience supporting and again we were raising much needed funds for Guide Dogs South West. Well done to Torquay Rock choir (and guests). You were all brilliant! Rock Choir.

I am really really enjoying our Christmas Gigs this year. Last night we performed at the Mayors Carol Service in Newton Abbot. This is a real community and festive evening with traditional carols and readings and of course the amazing Newton Abbot Rock Choir (with a few friends to help). The Rockies performed brilliantly and created a lively and happy atmosphere in the town. All of the gigs have been superb this year. One more to go in Torquay on Saturday which Im very excited about as well. Well done everybody!

Last Tuesday I travelled up to Westward Ho in North Devon for a wedding ceremony. It is always lovely to play in an old church like this because the acoustic is gorgeous. Congratulations to Beth and Connor. Beth made her grand entrance to Canon in D by Pachelbel. During the signing of the register I played 'Can't help falling in love with you' and 'Perfect' and then the wedding party and guests make their exit to the Beatles classic 'All you need is love'. I also got to play a new request - 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' by The Verve which is a great one to practice your skills in improvisation!

We had a fabulous day in Teignmouth today singing for the local Christmas Shoppers.  We were raising money for the Guide Dogs Southwest as we remain on course to raise £5000 so we can name a puppy. On a cold grey morning we cheered up the town and the shoppers with two contrasting sets of uplifting pop and rock songs and of course Christmas classics.  The choir were awesome and made me incredibly proud today. When you consider what everyone has been through to be out in the local community singing live again was wonderful.  Love Rock Choir! next Rock Choir gig is in Newton Abbot on Wednesday.

To complete a busy weekend of playing solo violin I had the privilege to play for Katie and Jon’s wedding at Crowcombe Court in Somerset. A stunning location with a fabulous staircase for the bride to enter from. Katie obviously likes Disney as she made her grand entrance to ‘Take as old as time’ from Beauty and the Beast. The wedding party made their exit to ‘Can you feel the love tonight’ from Lion King. I played the lovely 'Rewrite the stars' from The Greatest Showman and The Beatles classic ‘All you need is love’ during the signing. I love a winter wedding! #musiciandevon #devonviolinist

I had the privilege to play at Jodie and Jack’s wedding on Saturday. A beautiful winter wedding at the stunning Trevenna Barns. Jodie came in to ‘More than a woman to me ‘ by Billie Joel. We had ‘How long will I love you’ and ‘This will be’ during the signing and the very beautiful 'Better Together' by Jack Johnson to exit. Great wedding with very appreciative guests. We even had some dancing! #musiciandevon #devonviolinist

Lovely autumnal wedding this afternoon at beautiful @rockbeare_manor_ . Red leaves all over the floor as we walked into the venue. Lovely ceremony. We played our new arrangement of John Barry's 'Somewhere in time' which is just gorgeous. Today was about being versatile. Paganini to Beauty and the Beast to Guns and Roses. #ExeValleyStringQuartet. #weddingViolinist. #DevonViolinist.  The bride walked into "I can't help falling in love with you', and the exit of the bridal party was the 'You and me' song which is really fun and funky.

I had a lovely afternoon playing with the Exe Valley String Quartet at an autumnal wedding.  We were in the stunning Great Barn in Ashton not too far from Exeter and we played to accompany the wedding breakfast. Its so nice just to play through our music and choose some of the pieces that we dont play too often.  We played some classical music including Eine Kleine by Mozart which we dont play too often.  We also played David Bowie's Life on Mars, The Jurrasic Park theme and the really lovely Concerning Hobbits theme.  Fab day!

It isn't everyday you get this close to a limited edition Bentley with John Lennon's artwork on it. I couldn't resist a picture. St Audries Park Wedding Venue.

What a fabulous day we had today at the stunning St Audries Park Wedding Venue in Somerset. Beautiful venue, beautiful couple and beautiful weather. The ceremony was in the Orangey and we played A Million Dreams for Charlotte’s entrance, Hopippola for the signing and then Bittersweet Symphony for the exit. We also played two new arrangements during the drinks reception which went down really well. Blinding Lights and Blue Monday. A thoroughly enjoyable day.  A lovely day out with the Exe Valley String Quartet.

I play at so many lovely venues but this has to be one of my favourites. (The Tunnels in Ilfracombe) To play the violin with the sea crashing against the rocks in front of you is amazing. Great wedding. Congratulations Lauren and Colin. Loved playing Jurassic Park for your entrance and Boccherini. We even had a bit of a dance party while I played a set of modern upbeat dance and pop tracks.

Today I put down the violin and played the piano for a wedding blessing at the Waie Inn nr Crediton.  It made a nice change to play the piano today.  I played one of my favourite Beatle songs for the brides entrance 'Here there and everywhere' and then we had Maestro from Holiday Inn and Glasgow Love Theme from  Love Actually for the exit.  I then played a variety of pieces as background music for the welcome drinks reception.  Phlippa, the bride is a huge fan of Einaudi so I got the chance to play lots of his hits.  I really like Einaudi.

More music and fun with the Exe Valley String Quartet today. We played at our second home Rockbeare Manor (it certainly feels like it anyway!) for todays ceremony and drinks reception. We played our brand new arrangement of 'Beautiful in White' which is a beautiful song based around melodic patterns of Canon in D by Pachelbel. Good day. Congratulations Ben and Rebecca.

Wow! What a stunning September wedding in the sunshine. I joined the Exe Valley String Quartet as we returned to one of our regular venues yesterday Bovey Castle to play for the ceremony and also the drinks reception out on the terrace. Great to play such a wide range of requests from the very elegant 'Flower Duet' to the extravagant 'Tradegy' and yes this was for the entrance of one of the brides! Great fun to play and the guests loved it to.