Back to the solo gigs this weekend. Friday 6th August I went off to a new venue for me - Barons Hill Farm. Lovely to play in the great outdoors and I even had a tractor in the audience - now that's a first. Congratulations to Laura and Tom on your wedding. I enjoyed arranging and learning "Old Pine' by Ben Howard for Laura's entrance. I also played Shotgun and Don't stop me now' in the signing of the register and then the happy couple exited to 'I will wait' by Mumford and Sons. I loved the venue and the festival vibe to the occasion.
I know that I say this a lot but I really do get to play at some beautiful places. I started August with a wedding just down the road at The Great Barn Devon with the Exe Valley String Quartet. We played for the ceremony only today in a beautifully converted barn with a really lovely acoustic. The bride and bridesmaids walked into 'Can't help falling in love with you'. We played 'What a wonderful world' and 'Moonriver' for the signing of the register and then 'God only knows' by the Beach boys for the exit of the bridal party and guests. Lovely venue and lovely weather.
I ended a very busy July with a road trip up to North Devon and the stunning Tawstock Court with the Exe Valley String Quartet. Wow. This was our first visit to this venue and it was a lovely place to play. The wedding was outside over looking the gorgeous North Devon countryside. We played some of new arrangements today including I Giorni (Einoudi), Photograph (Ed Sheeran) and Always remember us this way (Lady Gaga). The happy couple made their exit to the very popular Viva La Vida (Coldplay). We went inside then to accompany the first part of the wedding breakfast. Another lovely wedding. Onto August!
I had a weekend away from my solo gigs last weekend and a lovely weekend with the Exe Valley String Quartet. On Friday 23rd July we played at Deer Park Hotel nr Honiton. This was an outdoor wedding in very hot conditions down by their amazing summer house. We played a selection of classical favourites before the ceremony and then a selection of pop music and film themes for the rest of the ceremony and the drinks reception. On Saturday we drove up to Somerset and to a new venue for us Forde Abby nr Chard. The ceremony was indoors so it was really nice to play in such a great acoustic. We then went outside for the drinks reception. Again we played a mixture of genres including 'Can you feel the love tonight' from The Lion King and our brand new arrangent of 'Royals' by Lorde which works really well for a string quartet. The guests at both weddings were very appreciative of our playing which is always nice to hear.
July 18th 2021. My extremely busy (but totally enjoyable) July continued with a return to Rockbeare Manor but this time as a solo violinist. Congratulations to Megan and Ben on a beautiful wedding in the glorious sunshine. Megan wanted 'My Heart will go on' just before her entrance in memory of her Nan. Megan walked into my new arrangement of Let it go (James Bay). I played 10,000 hours and Pompeii during the signing and then the bridal party and guests 'danced' out to Came here for love (Sigala, Ella eyre). A really lovely gig and its always nice to get lots of positive feedback on the day. Thank you.
On Wednesday 14th July we returned to Rockbeare Manor for our third wedding in just over a week. We played outside this amazing building in the glorious sunshine and then accompanied the guests during their drinks reception on the lawns. Congratulations to Ellie and Bradley on a lovely wedding. Amongst the repertoire today was our new arrangement of 'Wings' by Birdy which is a lovely track. Other requests included 'Thinking our loud' by Ed Sheeran and 'Whatever' by Oasis. Thank you to Rockbeare and their staff for looking after us - see you very soon.
The weekend continued on Sunday 11th July this time in Torquay and the very beautiful The Osborne Hotel. What a stunning backdrop for a wedding ceremony! Congratulations to Razan and Ahmad on your wedding day. You both looked amazing and Im so sorry it rained on your big day. A first for me though - playing Canon in D under a brolly in Torquay!
On Monday 5th July we returned to Rockbeare Manor for the wedding of Dan and Lauren. Very different technique of playing needed on Monday as the ceremony and the drinks reception were both outside. Always fun though! Lauren walked down the isle to 'When you say nothing at all' which is one of our brand new arrangements. During the signing of the register we played a couple of beautiful melodies from Love Actually and then the bridal party made their exit to 'One day like this' by Elbow. We played a wide and varied selection of pieces and songs during the drinks reception including a request to play the theme tune from Superman which seemed to go down very well! It's great to be back. It is always nice to receive positive feedback from the bride and groom. Dan and Lauren said 'We just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for your incredible performance at our wedding on Monday. You guys were amazing and really moving, we loved the selection.' We are really happy with the last bit of this feedback mentioning how much they enjoyed what we chose to play. It is so important to choose music that captures the spirit of the wedding and compliments the atmosphere being created. Every wedding is different.
July 3rd 2021. My busy week of gigs continued down in Wembury by Plymouth with a lovely wedding in a private garden. Congratulations to Liam and Emily on such a lovely and unique wedding ceremony. It was a pleasure to be a small part of your wonderful and special day. Music requests included 'All of me' by John Legend, 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen and of course Pachelbel's Canon for Emily's entrance.
June 27th 2021 - I had the honour of playing at this beautiful venue in Somerset St Audries Park Wedding Venue last week. Huge congratulations to Becky and Jack on a great wedding. It was lovely to see so many people there as well. The ceremony was in the orangery which had a great acoustic. Becky walked into Canon in D and then I played The river flows in you and Ed Sheeran's Perfect during the signing of the register. The wedding party then literally danced out to 'Shut up and dance'. We then all moved into the main house for the drinks reception where I got to try out my new Michael Jackson medley. Lovely day at a lovely new venue.
The gigs are taking off again now and I am thrilled! It so lovely to be playing 'live' music to a 'live' audience. A lovely wedding at a lovely venue and I got the chance to play some of my new arrangements. June 24th 2021. I played at a beautiful intimate wedding at the gorgeous Brickhouse Vineyard. Congratulations to Sophie and Liam - what a great day. I had a fab time playing some of my new arrangements. I played 'I get to love you' by Rouelle for Sophie's entrance. This is a gorgeous melody! For the signing I played 'A Million dreams' and another new arrangement - 10,000 hours by Dan and Shay and Justin Bieber. This is another great track! The wedding party made their exit to a favourite of mine - 'This will be' by Natalie Cole. I stayed and played a wide variety of songs and tunes while the wedding guests drank champagne and had a chat and a catch up. It is so good to be back playing live!
It was lovely to be back playing live music again in the sunshine on Thursday. Congratulations to Karl and Karen. I played for their short wedding ceremony which was under the pagoda with a stunning view as the backdrop. I arranged 'memories' by Maroon 5 for the brides entrance. This is a really lovely song that is based on Pachelbel's Canon in D. I then serenaded Karl and karen while they had their wedding meal playing a selection of music from a variety of musical genres. Thank you to Carol and her team at Thefollydevon for such a lovely occasion. I also tried out some of my new arrangements today including Love me like you do (Ellie Goulding) and I get to love you (Ruille).
It is April 17th 2021 and it feels so good to be back playing live music for real live people at a wedding. This was my first visit to the very beautiful Baeconside House in North Devon which looked absolutely stunning in the Devon sunshine. Congratulations to Abigail and Chris on a beautiful ceremony. It was small and intimate which I really like. The ceremony was outdoors with the beautiful countryside as the backdrop. Abigail and her bridesmaids walked into 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri. I played 'Perfect' by Ed Sheeran and 'Can't help falling in love with you' by Elvis during the signing of the register. The bridal party then danced out to 'No place Id rather be' by Clean Bandit. I then continued to play a wide range of music to accompany the drinks reception and photos. I love this bit because it gives me the chance to try out some new arrangements. I managed to try out 'Sweet child o mine' by Guns and Roses here. We know it works for string quartet and goes down well but it also works for solo violin as well although note to self - ' Don't get too over excited in the big solo at the end - I nearly broke my E string!'. Great gig, great to be back. Im now looking forward to a very busy summer programme both with the Exe Valley String Quartet and also as a solo musician.
After a challenging year it was so nice to be back playing my violin to an appreciative bride and groom and their guests. It makes such a difference to have a live audience as you can feel the music and feel the love so much. I have missed this all so much. It's the little things like having a chat with the guests afterwards and talking about music and hearing them hum along quietly while you play. 2021 is going to be great for musicians everywhere. We have all missed entertaining you but Im also certain the you have all missed us as well so watch out 2021....the year that music returns in a very big way! It was a bit of a trip today down to Crantock Bay near Newquay but well worth it. A lovely couple, congratulations kerry and Matt, and a lovely group of very appreciative guests. The CBay Cafe bar bistro is a stunning wedding venue overlooking the sea and the bay and the staff where incredibly welcoming and friendly. A really really nice day. Thank you.
I think that may well be me done for 2020 now. Looks like more restrictions are in place on weddings from today. Yesterday I had another short trip up to the beautiful Brickhouse Vineyard. This time to play for Helen and Tom. A stunning day in the sunshine playing my violin whilst people mingle and chatter with a glass of bubbly. What else could you want? I played a new arrangement that I have just done of L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole which went down really well. Congratulations to Helen and Tom on a glorious wedding. More time to practice now over the winter and write arrangements! Cheers.
To complete a busy week I played at a very intimate wedding at the very beautiful Brickhouse Vineyard followed by the cozy Thefollydevon. Congratulations to Milo and Krisna on a romantic occasion. I was asked to write an arrangement of a popular Malaysian folk song for Krisnas entrance which sounded so nice on the violin. Milo entered to 'Theme from a summer place'. It was nice to play a few jazz standards as well today like 'At Last' by Etta James and 'Fly me to the moon'. I even had some lunch as well which was amazing! There is something very romantic about playing at a wedding where the only guests present are the bride and the groom - nobody else! #weddingviolinist #elopementweddingviolinist