After a thoroughly rewarding three years I am stepping down from being leader for the Saltash Rock Choir.  We have had three fabulous years together and I am so proud to be leaving the choir in such a strong position.  On Saturday we had our final gig together.  It happens to also be one of my favourite Christmas gigs as well.  The Christmas festival in beautiful Polperro. There is always a great atmosphere and a great crowd in Polperro. (I think the mulled wine helps!) We always finish off the evening with a singing party. A great gig!

What a fabulous day! There was so much that was so good about todays gig with Miss Ivy Events at Plymouth Albion RFC. It really is so good to be back doing what we enjoy so much. It was so emotional hearing all of those beautiful harmonies 'Live!' and with an appreciative audience. Great to see so many new Plymouth Rockies singing today as well. You were all fab! Every song was strong and full of colour and emotion but 'Angels' was something else. It was full of passion and love. Well done everybody. I feel very proud this evening to be part of your choir! Rock Choir After a difficult 18 months rock choir are back!

It was great to be back with my rock choirs yesterday.  We had a big sing together in the Spanish Barn, Torre Abbey, Torquay. Two 90 minute sessions with 100 singers in each choir.  It was truly a very special and highly emotional experience for all of us.  We haven't been able to sing like this for over 18 months so the emotional release of singing our favourite songs LIVE and in harmony will be a memory I will treasure for a very long time.  It was great to see everybody all looking so well.  Choir members travelled from all over Devon and Saltash and Cornwall to be with us yesterday. I love the variety in my job.  One minute I am a violinist and then next I am a choir leader.  Either way I am a performer so to have my audiences back is impossible to put into words.  Great day!

Well it has been a very long time to wait but after 16 months and over 470 days of having to sing in our front rooms, kitchens and garden sheds all by ourselves with only a computer as our friend we finally got to sing all together again outdoors last weekend.  It was awesome and such an emotional time.  You don't know what it means to sing with other people until you are told that you are not allowed to sing with other people.  We could all hear each other and hear all the fantastic harmonies and feel the music running through our veins.  Everybody who came along had a thoroughly enjoyable and uplifting experience and this marked the beginning of our journey as a choir back to live and fabulous rock choir sessions in September.  Loved it!

On saturday 22nd August I was invited to join other Rock Choir leaders and a few local Rockies to go to the stunning Eden Project and record some songs for upcoming Songs of Praise programmes in the Autumn.  It was a new experience as we had to adhere to Covid 19 regulations so we had to stand 2 meters apart when we were singing. The BBC looked after us and kept us safe during the 3 hour recording session in one of the spectacular Domes at the Eden Project.  It was so nice to meet up with some of my Rock Choir colleagues and to be involved in music making again.  We still cant meet as a choir but I am hoping that it won't be too much longer - my fingers are crossed!  Thank you BBC and Songs of Praise for a lovely evening.

We spent a lovely afternoon yesterday visiting a school for children of all ages who have both learning and physical disabilities. We were invited to perform because three of our rockies are teaching staff at this amazing school. What a wonderful and extremely humbling experience it was for us all! The kids, aged from about 5 up to 18 loved it! They sang and clapped and danced throughout the set and were totally engaged with the choir. One young girl signed the entire performance of 'All of me' - stunning. I love these small, intimate and personal gigs as do all the rockies who by the way were awesome! Thanks everyone and well done to the four rockies performing their debut gig! You were amazing!

What a great way to start the new year and the new century!  200 singers came together in Newton Abbot with one thing on their mind - The amazing music from Les Miserables!  The enormous choir was made up of rock choir members from all Devon and Cornwall and we also welcomed a large number of singers from other choirs as well as people who just fancied to start the new year with a good sing!  It was amazing!  It was emotional!  It was so uplifting!  Richard arranged bespoke versions of the hits 'I dreamed a dream', 'Bring him home', 'Castle on a cloud' and 'At the end of the day'.  The choir rose to the challenge as we knew they would!  There were many many beautiful musical vocal moments in the three and a bit hours we spent together.  We sang, we laughed and we cried together.  Les Miserables Vocal Workshop 2020 was a huge success!  What shall we do next time?

On Sunday we had another trip to Tavistock with the Rockies from Plymouth and Saltash.  Following on from our successful visit in November and the Tree Lights switch on event we joined Miss Ivy Events again to sing in the Christmas market and festival.  It was cold and wet and very windy but in true Rock Choir fashion we just got on with it and sung our hearts out!  Well done everyone and Happy Christmas.

Well, in all my years in the music business I have performed and conducted in some wonderful venues but this is my first ever performance in a YURT in December!! A huge shout out and well done to Rockies from Saltash and Plymouth with one or two very dedicated rockies from Torquay and Newton Abbot for not only turning out to sing in awful weather - well done for finding the Yurt!! I have to say though it turned out to be a cracking night with a great audience. I know I am biased but I think we sounded particularly good last night. The singing was full of passion, intensity and energy. Really good! On to Tavistock on Sunday. Thank you Miss Ivy Events for a gig with a difference!

Wow Wow Wow!!! What a sound, what a gig, what a choir! We had a brilliant day in Newton Abbot singing for the Christmas shoppers and raising some serious money for Guide Dogs South West. 100 Rockies singing passionately is a privilege to stand in front of and direct! You were all awesome and I am very proud of you all this evening. Huge thanks to Phil at Prosound Solutions SW Limited for doing us proud again with the sound. A wonderful Rock Choir vibe today. We go again at Cockington Court tomorrow at 1pm. Harrison is putting together a video of the day which I will share with all when finished!