The long and winding road...

After being off before the holidays with suspected death, I have returned to college early this week determined to finally attack and destroy remaining DAW assignments. Unfortunately, it seems all I have achieved so far is a mild-mannered poke in their general direction and the necessity of having to come to terms with the crushing realisation that my George Clooney impression is somewhat ... um... lacking. Nevertheless! I soldier on, pleased that I can now finally open CuBase without a panic-attack, time-stretch without feeling the urge to run outside and indulge my nicoteen habit to calm the nerves and even quantize without feeling overcome by that all too familiar queaziness that had become an almost inevitable reaction brought about by close proximity to Apple Macs.

So it'll be back to the holy trinity of John, Paul and George (not forgetting Ringo) first thing tomorrow. Then first band rehearsal for the panto tomorrow night, secured only by the promise of the provision of food for the band members (to include no beef or beef derivitaves I am informed.) Expect a report progress and a possible critique' of on-sight catering before the weekend.

The wonderful world of Promotions...

First meeting with Craig Frazer, manager of Roca Blu, The Loft, etc.... He's interested in reviving the Sunday Social which used to be a monthly event at The Twa Tams many-a-moon-ago. Perth's music scene died a death a few years ago when the Tams changed hands but is slowly picking up although it's become pretty fragmented. At the old Sunday Social you would have 8 or 9 acts on throughout the day into the evening - a really ecclectic mix of artists. It's be great to bring it back and hopefully bring all the different scenes together. Should provide a good showcase for some of the college bands too. It's been a few years since I put gigs on but I'm hoping I'll be able to pull it off and maybe it'll be able to provide some evidence as to my ability to organise (ha!) and communicate for Graded Unit. Have to get back to Craig with figures and a possible line-up for next week.

Trial By Fire....

25 unimpressed adolecents..... scary but not that scary. First rehearsal actually went not too badly! Phew.

The pantomime 'Unmasked' are doing is called 'Calamity John' and was written by one of the groups directors. Therefore there is no actual musical score for this production, although I do have a note of songs they have used for previous productions. They have also never worked with a live band before. I have my work cut out for me....

It's funny how they have the guts to stand up on stage and deliver lines with confidence and really act but all of them say "I can't sing!" I would have thought that acting would be far more nerve-wracking! Anyway, we've managed to get through the two biggest numbers for the show - 'Man I Feel Like A Woman' and ' Crazy Little Thing Called Love'.

I've managed to pull together a great pit-band comprised mostly of the country band from last year - which is great - we've all worked together before and in the genre of music from the panto. I just need to rope in some fiddle players and we'll be sorted! I plan to rehearse the music with the band and kids seperately until after the October holidays so we won't be wasting time working stuff out as we go in rehearsals... as per the advice from Marlisa and Fiona.

No Dame this week - let's hope he's happy dueting 'Stand By Your Man'!

Story Time with Gav !

Session Skills.... or 'What it's really like to be a session musician' ......Watched a film about The Funk Brothers - the session musicians behind the success of Motown Records. A lesson that being a session artist can be a thankless task even for the most talented.

24 hours till D-Day....

First rehearsal with the drama group looms and I'm feeling a little outta my depth. Kids, like dogs, can smell fear. I am absolutely certain they will know I haven't a clue what I'm doing! Most of my experience of working with kids has been leading singing with Primary Ones to Threes. They're pretty content with a rousing rendition of 'Ten In The Bed'. My drama lot average an age of around 13 and I'm pretty sure 'Ten In The Bed' ain't gonna wash with them.

Luckily, we had a presentation today with Fiona MacKenzie from Centre Stage in Kilmarnock. She was head of music at Grange Acadamy and a principle teacher at only 23. After becoming disillusioned with the education system she decided to set up a theatre training school - no small feat when you consider that to do so they had to build a theatre first. Fiona has experience in all of the jobs listed as possibilities for Graded Unit and was able to give us some great advice. You have to be willing to take risks and realise that you create your own luck. Nothing is going to get handed to you on a plate and you must strive to achieve at make the most of opportunities that arise. Fiona has loads of enthusiasm and obviously completely loves what she does which I found really inspiring. What sticks out most from class though is the assertion that confidence is key. Looking like you know what you are doing is half the battle! Gonna give this a go at rehearsal tomorrow night and hope that it works!

Good Day Sunshine...

How come it rains all summer and then the weather becomes glorious as soon as we have to go back to college, stuck in gloomy rehearsal rooms, ruminating over The Beatles?

We're celebrating the songs of the Fab Four for our first group project which is fine by me. I remember the first time I ever listened to a Beatles album when I was about six after my Dad informed me that he had the theme tune for 'Points of View' on vinyl. Sergeant Pepper was a pretty good introduction to Macca et al, and since then I've been added more scratches to my Dad's Beatles collection than I'd care to admit to. The only one he didn't have on vinyl was 'Let It Be' and that's not really such a bad thing.

Anyway, with such a large source of material it's proving pretty hard to settle on just 5 songs. I think we are all happy with the choice of 'Here Comes The Sun' though which is fitting considering the weather....

Episode One...

Ah, another year, another Graded Unit! This blog is intended to be a diary of work and experience, both in and out of college, (I think!?) that can contribute to our final presentation and interview for Graded Unit 2. I think it's a great idea to collate our evidence as we go along as I can't remember what I had for tea last night let alone remember what we did in college two weeks ago.

We have to pick a career from four different musical fields including Session Musician and Instrumental Instructor and then provide evidence of skills we have gained that would support an application for one of these jobs.

In class we discussed what attributes a candidate would have to display in order to be considered for these positions. I think the final job application I will be working towards is West End Musician. It is not necessarily what I eventually want to do but having recently been asked (strong-armed) into being musical director for a local drama company's pantomime production I'm hoping that the work I have to do towards this will provide a good source of evidence to support an application in this field....