Lovely day today with the Exe Valley String Quartet. We played at the beautiful Paschoe House in Devon. It is so nice to play beautiful pieces like Clare de Lune and Greensleeves against such a lovely back drop. Judging by the reaction of the guests 'Sweet Child O Mine' went down well again! Congratulations Amy and Marc on your wedding. Thank you Tabitha for being such a wonderful host.  We had the honour of playing before the ceremony, as the beautiful bride made her entrance, during the signing of the register and then for the exit of the bridal party and the guests.  We then moved up to the patio to play for the drinks reception and we even played for a large part of the wedding breakfast as well,  It was a really lovely gig with a very appreciative audience!

Well what a way to end a mammoth weekend of gigging in Devon!  I took the amazing rock choir to Torbay Airshow to perform to the crowds.  We did two sets today and we opened what was the second day of the airshow.  Unfortunately the weather wasnt great so there weren't too many planes around but we still sang our hearts out and we got the crowds over to listen to us and sing with us. The sound of the choir was excellent and the happy, vibrant energy coming from the choir was stunning. Many people in the corwd commented on how the rock choir performances brightened up a gloomy day!! 

What a great night!  We have just rocked Dawlish at their Arts Festival.  There was a lovely atmosphere in the Strand Centre in town last night and the weather was glorious! We opened the gig with Footloose and the atmosphere and singing and dancing was electric from the very first note!  We shared the gig with Dawlish band, Maddy and the Chaps with their mix of rock, Irish and folk songs which got everyone up singing and dancing.  Cracking night Dawlish!  Well done!

This is the start of a busy weekend of gigs in and around Devon.  I spent the morning down in my home town of Dawlish playing as part of the open mic sessions on the bandstand.  It was a lovely event playing live music to the people of Dawlish, residents and holiday makers alike.  I put my classical head to one side for a bit and played some contemporary tunes on electric violin including Bohemian Rhapsody, Tunes from La La land and A star is born, viva la vida, No Place Id rather be and a bit of Ed Sheeran - Perfect!  Next stop is Rock Choir at the arts festival tonight.  Exciting!!

Last Sunday the Devon and Cornwall Rockies shared a great concert with St Pinnocks Brass Band.  The concert was at STERTS Arts centre just outside Liskeard which is a stunning venue.  It is an outdoor venue anphitheatre with cover.  The sound was so good!  St Pinnocks Band are an excpetionally talented brass band playing a wide range of musical styles from classical through to film themes through to rock and pop.  Over 75 rockies performed brilliantly as part of the concert.  We sang all of our favourites and the crowd were very appreciative as they joined in and sung, clapped and danced along with us!  Well done everybody!

I have just been practising some new repertoire.  There are some really beautiful melodies in the scores from 'La La Land' and 'A Star is Born'.  Sounds great on the Electric Violin with a hint of reverb!!

Well that was a busy Bank Holiday Weekend!!! Three gigs with my amazing Rock Choirs over the weekend in three beautiful places.  We are so lucky living here.  Friday night we sung at a concert at Maker Church to help raise money for Parkinsons mid Cornwall.  It was a stunning venue with a lovely acoustic. There was a variety of vocal groups on the programme and they were all fabulous.  Saltash Rockies and Plymouth Rockies - you were a credit and you sounded great!  On Saturday lunchtime we sung at Saltash May Fair with the river Tamar as a backdrop.  Different gig this time.  We sang on a big stage with a very powerful PA!  Again the rockies from Saltash and Plymouth sounded amazing!!!  Saltash was well and truly rocked!!!! On Monday I came closer to home as we sang at Sefton Hall Nursing Home in Dawlish.  We do this gig every year and its lovely.  We get to sing to the residents and their families which is so rewarding and they love us!!  Again the rockies, this time from Torquay, Teignmouth and Newton Abbot were brilliant - you looked and sounded so good!  All of you make me feel very proud!  Well done everyone.

What a lovely day for an Easter wedding at the beautiful Rockbeare Manor with the Exe Valley String Quartet - one of our regular venues. Congratulations Laura and John on your wedding day. Very contemporary feel with a film flavour as well. 'A Million Dreams' to enter, 'Somebody to love' (Queen) and You only twice (OO7) for the signing and 'Dont stop believing' to exit. We also got to play some of our new tunes including Shotgun and Jurassic Park!

I was down in Plymouth yesterday with the very talented Plymouth Philharmonic Choir and their conductor Christopher Fletcher.  The soloists were fabulous and we played to a sold out Guildhall.  This choral piece by Bach has two orchestras and two choirs and six soloists.  It is a gorgeous piece os vocal music with some beautiful arias and lovely string writing.  It was a pleasure to be a part of this concert.  I now have a week off to rest my fingers!

Lovely wedding in beautiful Bickleigh. Gorgeous little village church with a lovely acoustic. A mixture of music requested today from Pachelbel to John Legend to The Beatles. Congratulations to Emma and James. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your special day.  Its been a busy weekend for gigs with St Matthew Passion (Bach) still to come tomorrow.

I have just had the honour to play my violin at a wake in Bradninch. There was a lovely atmosphere at the occasion and I played a wide variety of genres while guests chatted, had a drink and a reminisce. I was asked to play a bit of Clannad which was lovely and we ended on Darude - Sandstorm! Sounds great on electric violin!!!

I have just returned from a great couple of days in Truro Cathedral with Three Spires Singers and Orchestra.  This was an awsome programme as well as being a very challenging one.  The string writing was immense, very high in places and very very fast.  I will be giving my fingers the week off to recover! It was an honour and real musical highlight to accompany Cordelia Williams as she played the Prokofiev Piano Concerto.  It was simply stunning!  A really

Saturday 23rd March was a very busy and very rewarding day of music making.  First of all I ran a Rock Choir session with Bohemian Rhapsody for over 100 singers.  This was brilliant!  It is such an iconic song with many memorable phrases but it was also a real challenge.  The rockies took this challenge head on and did a superb job at the end of the 5 hour session!  After a quick sandwich I then drove up to Exeter to play for Pam's 60th birthday celebrations!  This was a private party for family and friends and I played for an hour and a half to accompany the drinks and fun and laugher.  This was a gig on electric violin where I played lots of Irish tunes and celtic classics.  I was also asked to play tunes from The Greatest Showman and John Legends All of me.  I also tried out some of my new tunes which include Clean Bandit Symphony and Rather Be, Shot Gun by George Ezra and Ed Sheerans gorgeous melody 'Perfect'.  Im a wee bit tired now!

I had a lovely day yesterday down in Truro cathedral playing with the Truro Symphony Orchestra as we accompanied the Truro Choral Society.  We played St Lukes Passion which is a beautiful piece of choral music affiliated with Bach but we are not sure if he actually wrote it or not!  Nevertheless it was a wonderful concert in a stunning setting with exceptional soloists and a great orchestra.  I will be down there again very soon with the Three Spires Orchestra which I am looking forward to.

We had a lovely Rock Choir night last Saturday at Avenue Church as we shared a concert with the Newton Abbot Ukulele band.  There was a great turn out and the audience loved the songs and could be seen clapping and singing along.  The concert was in aid of Teignbridge Home Start and the evening raised over £1000 which is wonderful news.  Well done to all the rockies who came to sing and support the concert - you sounded amazing!  Special well done to the rockies on their first gig!  brilliant!

I spent the afternoon today with the amazing Exe Valley String Quartet at Bovey Castle playing for their open day.  We play at this beautiful wedding venue just on the edge of Dartmoor a lot as we are on their recommended list of suppliers.  This is a 5* venue with all the trimmings as you can see from the pictures.  We played in the stunning Cathedral Room where all the big weddings take place.  This is a venue where we play a lot of our classical music repertoire which is always lovely.  We had lots of people complimenting us on our playing and lots of visitors finding out how to book us for their weddings later this year and in 2020.  This is a special venue for the quartet as in May 2017 we were selected to play for the wedding of Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black which is still up there as a highlight for us as an ensemble.

I had a lovely lunch today with Caroline Redman Lusher the director and founder of Rock Choir.  I joined Vikki Hewitt, choir leader for the Exeter area, at Darts Farm for a meeting where we discussed all things Rock Choir!  There are some very exciting plans in place for rock choir members all over the country and I feel very privildged to be a part of this amazing vocal adventure.  If you want to be a part of this amazing choir experience then visit the website (www.rockchoir.com) and book a free taster session!

I had such a lovely evening with the Exeter Gospel Choir last night. I ran a vocal workshop with them singing lots of lovely close harmony warm ups followed by a look at Swing Low Sweet Chariot and Amazing Grace in three part harmony. A musically rewarding evening with a lovely choir. Best wishes for your future performances!