Freelance Survival As A Musician

Freelance Survival as a Musician: Notes and Thoughts based on Panel session at Cult Cymru Creative Industries Fair March 2012

My thoughts and notes compiled here… (warning another very long post!)

The Thin Line

Wire-Walker, Phillipe Petit broke into the twin towers and set up a wire between them, for him to walk on…  (see Man On Wire documentary film or read his book,'To Reach the Clouds' for more info)…

This required: vision, risk, self belief, training, strategic planning, skill, focus, single-mindedness, long hours, years of work, sense of a bigger picture, out sourcing team members, networking, luck and overcoming of many obstacles…

The image of the wire-walker stepping out onto this thin line without guarantees other than personal belief, skill and vision you will get to the other side, resonates with my own journey as a freelancer… it was the lack of safety nets that first made me think of this. No sick pay, no pension scheme, no holiday, etc... and thats just for starters. No guarantees of any revenue or return for the hours that you put in. Yet in order to go free-lance you have to take that first step onto the rope take the risk that you'll be able to keep on walking... one step at a time...

The actual tightrope to me represents something both positive and negative... The negative is the obvious, its a mighty thin line that you walk on and to stay focussed and balanced against the elements, wind, rain, heat, noise, distractions and external pressures etc... takes an awful lot of practice, skill and single-mindedness... However to me that need for practice, skill and single-mindedness is also the positive as it is this that enables you to journey in a way that others don't dare to tread, there is a liberation and freedom in the act of each step defying fear and choosing the line and the direction you want to move forward in...

All sounds a bit extreme, but in so many ways being freelance is. There are no guarantees that the work will come as and when you need it to. As an artist in the freelance world you stick at it because for you personally all other options and choices are more of a death sentence than the choice not to try! To be actively pursuing your art as a vocation is both a passion and the only way you can stay true to yourself, well this is how it is for me at any rate...  .

One The Wire: The Balancing Act : Artist versus Business versus Life

Being Freelance in the arts requires sometimes seemly opposed mindsets.

On the one hand you need to create, and develop your art and in order to do this you must maintain a focused and professional approach to your artistic discipline. You need time to create, experiment, practice, challenge yourself…

You need to be good and keep on getting better at what you do in order for you to build a reputation and get work in the first place…

But you also need an understanding of some basic business and management principles in order to create and maintain viable employment opportunities.

This is a continual balancing act with time and energy as both pursuits are potentially full time endeavours!

Management of time, finance, administration and artistic vision can seem over whelming and often at odds with each other.

Identify weak areas and put in place strategies to over come these.

Seek advice.

Be prepared to change.

Be prepared to work very hard.

Decide how you measure success and what your own value systems are…

ie; will you consider yourself successful if your work means your have no time to maintain healthy relationships with your friends and loved ones? What are your limits? (These may well change over time)

Be prepared to examine and re- examine how best to approach each stage and

Know that you are able to be flexible and where you want to draw the line. As much as you can, try and anticipate the cost and consequences of your life style choices. There are no right ways to any of this. It is entirely up to you how you find that balance and what works best. Be prepared to diversify if necessary and be flexible while maintaining a sense of vision…. Keep taking risks, in the full understanding that there are no guarantees of anything working the way you wanted… but try anyway, as they just might work out even better!

Different Stages Of The Journey…

Stage 1, Building from scratch, say yes to everything!

Start with your own vision and goals but be prepared to saying yes to everything! You need to gain experience, build a reputation, create networks and business relationships and get what ever you can that pays at this stage! This often means diversifying what you do as well as doing favours/mates rates/ loss leaders. Expect lots of hard work for little reward, and keep focused! It can also be fun and exciting stepping out and taking risks and finding your feet as you go…

Sometimes it’s helpful to hold down a part time job along side the freelance work, especially if you have bills to pay…

Stage 2 Developing: upping your game

Use the reputation that you are building to your advantage…

Set more realistic boundaries, Learn to say no.

Become more focused on what you do and stop doing too many things for free.

Begin to out source a little more, decide a pay scale that you will ask (even if its just expenses covered plus donation) You need to begin to up your own expectations and this also helps folks take you more seriously…

Keep on creating the opportunities/ events you want…

Look at branding/re branding

Web presence/

Join PRS. MCPS.

Stage 3, Fine Tuning

You still need to generate and keep developing your material, but at this stage you notice that more invitations begin to come your way… 

You can become a little more choosey in what you say yes to and have more creative and artistic overall control over what you do.

This doesn’t necessarily mean your work load is less, often when the game is upped there is a lot more at stake and success often brings new obstacles and pressures with it.

Continue to be strategic this could mean a higher investment… re pr, look at new league of PR out sourcing while maintaining the relationships you already have with venues, promoters, journalists… keeping an eye on new gate keepers, changing industry, maintain established data base, networks and web presence…

Continue to create the opportunities / events /products you want to make…

Success in one area does not always equal more work, there may be times when the external situations ie: venue closure or key person who has been championing you changes job or change in current trends, recession etc… can all hit and cause havoc! Learning to keep on adapting and rolling with the punches as they come is an on going lifelong process…


And sometimes its just all a matter of being that right person in the right place at the right time!

Ongoing Survival Tactics (in no particular order of relevance!)

Health and Stress Management

Financial insecurity, long hours, being your own boss, continually generating new work and creative products etc… can be incredibly stressful. Stress leads to bad health and that in turn creates more stress as if you don’t work you don’t get paid etc… it can all end up being one overwhelming vicious circle… Stress also drains you so that you have no energy left to be creative…

Finding ways to relax, and as much as possible keep on top of health can be an essential part of surviving as a freelancer, as well as an Artist. It doesn't need to be anything more than just going out for a walk- but its making sure you do that! As a friend has just reminded me- I walk the dog, essential down time away from everything and also forcing me to exercise and get out in the fresh air!

Working for yourself can also be a lonely experience, especially if you are an extrovert who needs to process ideas with other people. If this is the case gather a few folk around you that you can meet up with to chat things through and bounce ideas off, you can make this a formal or informal occasion… This will force you to think outside of your own perspective and may help to clarify goals or just get stuff off your chest! If you are an introvert the challenge may be actually building in down time stopping work and allowing yourself to reconnect back into everyday... this can be difficult as a creative zone is a hard place to leave once you've entered... Also making time for solitude after a heavy week of networking, admin etc... may well be essential to restore creative and personal energy for both extravert or introvert types...

Put down times/ holiday/ days  or at least hours off into the diary and then as far as is possible stick to them! keep the work phone/ emails off during these times!! 

Networking, researching, knowing where and who the ‘Gate keepers’ are…

Understand the nature of the industry and begin to choose how you play.

Learn how to network effectively, ask questions, be interested in the people you want to meet, don’t just pitch and talk about your self.

Data base, emails, names and follow up on any contacts you felt there was a connection with directly…

Maintain healthy relationships with those you network with, this is a key part of survival as you need folks to recommend you or think of you when a potential job offer comes your way

Find Ways of dealing with Criticism… (Essential for survival for the rest creative life) 
How to keep going after bad reviews?!…

When to take on board criticism- don’t invite it when you are too raw straight after a show/ gig… if possible choose a time when you have a bit of distance and clear head. Learn to differentiate between negative blanket statement pointless feedback and constructive criticism. Choose to take constructive criticism on board and work with it ultimately it will only improve your art…

Effective Marketing...

Flyers Posters/Viral Marketing/Email data-base/ Social Networking Sites

PR, and press releases (employ someone or learn how to write one)

Radio/ Listings/ Adverts/ Magazine/ Papers

Promo videos/ trailers/ demos

Gimmicks/ Give Away /Publicity stunts

Accessing  and utilizing other networks

Be strategic, know the difference between spamming and being effective

Keep on honing your craft... getting better at it and challenging yourself…

Open mics (are often pretty soul destroying, but can be good places to try out new material and get time in front of an audience) Writers circles, safe places to look at the craft of what you’re doing. Jam session with other musicians… etc… Filming/ recording live performances can be a great way to critic your own performance when you watch back and see what works and what needs to be worked on! Just putting in the practice and continually setting aside time to work on new material can help also...

Overcoming obstacles...

Anticipate potential problems, at this stage you’ve probably had your fair share already of nightmare gigs and dodgy promoters etc… bring spare technical equipment with you. Turn up to venue in plenty of time. Know what you want in technical terms for your sound and email promoter, engineer in advance.

Contracts… written confirmation of all details discussed with venue or promoter

colleague, outsourcing agent…

Sometimes you do everything in your power to make things work and something out of your control will sabotage it. You might have everything in place to do a great show, reviewers and guests are invited and your sound engineer turns up to the venue, drunk or stoned, gives you a rubbish mix on and off stage… Gutting… Try and make the very best of it that you can and pull out a professional and slick performance regardless- you come off looking professional and ultimately any discerning audience will say great show- pity about the sound, knowing the difference that lies there in…

Create the opportunities/ product you want...

Hire a venue and put on as close to an ideal version of how you would like your art to be seen as you can manage.

Film/ record/ photograph the event,

Be in control of as much of the environment as you can.

Set the bar high, but work within realistic budgets, a small space packed with 30 people creates far more buzz and energy than an empty hall with 30 people!

Book a studio and record, hire top quality producers, session musicians to work with you, (get an extra job to pay for it if needs be!)

Buy a good microphone and invest in technology to record your own product…
If you have a fan base, utilising their support can also be a good way to go about this, check out the Pledge http://www.pledgemusic.com/ website or Kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com/ for more info on how to go about this...

Continually Seek Help and Inspiration...

Keep filling the well to try and prevent your creative self and ideas from drying up. Go and see stuff live, keep researching listening to, seeking out new material. Read blogs, watch TED talks…don’t get stuck in a rut… Be inspired by other artists and creative folk around you, this can be like a flint keeping you edgy and sharp…

Make use the your union, for advice / training etc its what its there for...

Don’t be afraid to ask advice from folks who you perceive as further down the road that you want to be…

Reading: entrepreneurs/ creative thinkers

Often providing insights and principles that can be transferred to both business and creative practice…

Below re a list of various folks whose ideas I’ve found helpful

Derek Sivers- Blog and you-tube… http://sivers.org/ How to create a movement leadership lessons from dancing guy!

Austin Kleon – How To Steal Like An Artist http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/30/how-to-steal-like-an-artist-and-9-other-things-nobody-told-me/

Hugh Mcleod- Ignore Everybody http://gapingvoid.com/2004/07/25/how-to-be-creative/

Malcolm Gladwell- The Tipping Point http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html

Other Indie models and folks doing good things worth checking out...

Bandcamp…/Jon Gomm/Amanda Palmer/Tom Robinson Freshnet blog/Chris TT 

Life is Fight : A Tribute To Jackie Leven

The Spiral Earth website invited me to write a tribute to the great singer songwriter Jackie Leven
Jackie was a highly talented and respected singer songwriter, whose commercial success sadly did not reflect his widespread critical acclaim... he will be much missed! Below are the thoughts that I wrote.... www.spiralearth.co.uk

Yesterday (Tuesday 15^th Nov) at 2pm I was sitting by a wood-burning stove in the open plan kitchen of Gill Stevens, a dear friend and current musical collaborator. We’d spent the morning working on pieces for our new project and had just stopped for a well over-due lunch break. I was in the middle of a discussion with Gill’s partner Dylan Fowler about rock n roll and the state of punk music and the parts it did and didn’t play in politics, when out of nowhere there was an almighty crash from outside. We looked out to discover that a pigeon had fatally flown head-on into a window and broken its neck- not a pretty sight. Moments later (after a cowardly ‘bagsy not cleaning it up‘ comment ) I stepped inside to check my phone messages and casually switched to scan the news feed of my face-book pages in typical voyeuristic- social media addicted style.  The words hit me with a force somewhat similar to the crash sound the pigeon had just made seconds before, high impact and head on. Jackie Leven was dead.

I didn’t know Jackie Leven well. This morning as Spiral Earth editor Dave Kushar invited me to write this piece my first instincts were to say ‘but how can I, who am I to comment on the life of this person who my path crossed with so fleetingly?’ But I find myself typing regardless.

I was first introduced to Jackie’s music from the cosy hospitality of Barton and Humber’s MTM music promoters Mark and Jan. Being good friends with Jackie and genuine fans of his work they offered up many entertaining anecdotal stories of their recent encounters with him and urged me to check out his music. I did so and in doing so I was not disappointed. Personally I’ve been a long time fan of the music of Kevin Coyne, and found that Jackie’s songs filled with portraits of struggling, eccentric under-dog type characters resonated with me in a similar way to those of Kevin’s music. It came as no surprise when I finally met Jackie to discover that he was also a Kevin Coyne fan.

When an opportunity arrived of sharing a gig with him on the stale beer scented stage of what was then Barfly in Cardiff a few years back I seized it. Watching Jackie play his barfly set, I remember looking around the room that was two thirds full and thinking it a crime that a performer of his calibre was not filling much larger venues. At the same time however, the grotty, sweaty grime of the venue didn’t detract but served, as a fitting backdrop to the gritty content of his songs and stories.  Engaged from the word go, Jackie and his music took me on a journey and I left a different person to the one I’d arrived as. First things first, the obvious one, Jackie Leven was a big man, filling the stage with his larger than life stories. But it seemed to me that he was also a man engaged with the tiny details. He had the ability of inhabiting a moment completely, reinterpreting a full spectrum of emotion inside a sentence or two. He was authentic. Very much aware of his own failings he didn’t pretend and had no time for anyone who did, taking the what you see is what you get approach.  A skilled guitar player with his own trademark blues style and a wordsmith who knew his craft. An engaging storyteller who could reel you in and hold you captivated with a self-deprecating humour and sharp, sometimes sardonic tongue that could as likely rip you to shreds as build you up. A performer and artist engaged with the ongoing battle of ‘eeking out a living as a musician and keeping on keeping on regardless of the outcome. Stating the obvious again here I know, but I guess it comes down to the power and gift of music and song, the transforming connection that it makes with an individual. Jackie and his music stirred me. Entertained me. Moved me. Amused me. Uplifted me. Challenged me. Stayed with me and travelled beyond the initial first listening and took root (as all good art does,) in some part of me.

After the gig we chatted about our common love of Kevin Coyne, and Jackie recommended that I go check out the music of Judee Sill and Karen Dalton (I’m guessing he may have suggested this to most female singer songwriters he met on the road!) Which I dutifully did and was rewarded by what I discovered in both of them!

I was recently involved in a songwriting project with Roma teenagers.

And one of the phrases that we used was the Romany saying  “Zivot Je Boj” meaning, ‘Life is fight.’  Thinking of Jackie Leven as an artist and a man, I find myself reminded of this phrase (not least of all as Jackie’s own mother was Romany.) And though there are countless stories that I’ve heard about Jackie and his temper and his crazy punk rock ‘n’ ways, I mean this fight in the most positive way it can be interpreted. It seems to me with my very limited knowledge of Jackie as a person, that whatever the circumstances he just kept on fighting. From the outset, having to leave his Glasgow estate for fear of his life due to gang threats. Fighting literally for his own life after being mugged and left for dead in London. Fighting to overcome the heroin addiction that followed. Fighting on behalf of others to setting up the CORE TRUST a holistic treatment centre for alcoholics and drug addicts. Fighting on as a solo performer all these years.

But the impression that is foremost in the front of my mind as I type is that of a person engaged in the struggle, the fight that is this thing called life and for myself as an artist I’m deeply grateful for the impact that both he and his music have made on me.

Folks You Meet Along The Way...

So this October has been a month full of crazy and big times. The trip to Australia was everything I thought it would be: fun, inspiring, exhausting, emotional, and in the words of Tim Buckley- 'Happysad!' Meeting my niece and having quality time with my brother and his wife was just brilliant, revisiting spaces and places and reconnecting with dear friends, fantastic- saying good bye, horrible!!

The gig at The Wesley Anne was very fun. Not only did I get a chance to perform onstage with my extremely talented brother Kim (who is on tour in Asia with his own new album next month and with me in the photo here!) But I was also joined by two other great friends, Willow Kellock and Dave Toll. Willow was one of my first friends that I sang harmonies with way back when I was 19, and it was amazing how instant that reconnection was singing. We both just felt completely comfortable- as Willow said 'a bit like wearing a well loved pair of DR Martens' (you can tell we were teens in the 90's!)
Also rocking out with great friend and ace muso Dave Toll was great fun and I've put a youtube video up of Here We Go on my channel- and pasted below...

It was also an interesting experience to sing songs from my albums in Melbourne- so many of them hold references to my times in Australia both as a child and adult- so to be actually singing about Mt Macedon and Sorrento (which are both located in Melbourne) felt quite different, nice to know that they are equally well received even with the demystifying context of being less than an hours drive from the sites themselves!

Aside from the big stuff and the catching up etc...  other highlights include visiting my friend Blythe's art exhibition and hanging out with her for the day at her workplace in the city, with an organisation that works among the homeless in Melbourne (but that all deserves its own blog sometime separately)

But I wanted to note some of the more random encounters that I had with folks just by travelling...

So first off James on the plane, my travelling companion for the first 13 hour stretch of the flight... an entrepreneur and business consultant who had just experienced two of life's more major events within the space of a week... He and his Australian fiancee had returned to the UK for their wedding only for his step mother to pass away 6 days later...

Secondly Dennis Aubrey, Sydney based songwriter/ busker/ Ukulele player, who boarded the tram my brother and I were on asking if anyone knew of a particular music shop... he was just passing through Melbourne for a few days and my brother did know of said shop so we went along with him and I got a
quick lesson on the basics of Ukulele playing! Youtube Video of Dennis

Thirdly Ira, a bloke that was sat with my brother and I on our coach journey back from the city to Sunbury. Ira was a young man probably in is mid- late 20's who had been taking a trip into the city in memory of his friend. He told us that he'd had the best time out with this mate- got up to all sorts of antics on that day (including being arrested I think!) and a few weeks later is mate had passed away. Each year Ira makes a ritual trip back to the places he and his friend hung out on that day... And in doing that he's met other random folks who make a similar pilgrimage in memory of their friend who passed away on the same day...

Fourthly, a lady who I will call 'The Perfume Lady' She was in her 50's and had a european accent. I'm guessing she was slightly psychotic. She sat next to me on a tram journey and kept talking about what I thought at first was the 'door' but eventually I realised that she was saying 'Dior' and was asking me if I could smell her perfume (which I could indeed as she was very heavily scented though there were other smells the perfume was masking also) She then decided I was  a friend and proceeded to talk me through her catalogue that she was holding telling me who had too much make-up in the pictures and constantly showing me images of Christian Dior perfume. At one point she wanted to stroke my leg but  I told her simply and firmly no not to do that- she was apologetic and offered me the catalogue to keep as a peace offering! It was just such a sad and in someways almost ridiculously comical juxtaposition to think of this struggling, kooky lady and her love of perfume and all that a brand like Christian Dior stand for...  http://www.dior.com/couture/en_gb (I've just stuck the link there for juxtaposition purposes!)

Lastly, Phillip who I met on the return leg of a flight. An older gentleman, a lawyer whose main client is the Police Dept of Victoria... He had some quite interesting stories to tell when I asked about the state of corruption among the police...  He talked about the challenges of being older in the work place and trying to keep up to date with all the new technological systems and structures that were constantly coming into place... as well as the fact that though things have changed the nature of his cases have remained pretty constant over the years as human nature doesn't change...and it also just so happened that he lives a few streets away from where Bill and I had once lived over 12 years ago in Melbourne...

Anyway... all those random encounters with those folks left their mark in different ways and have me pondering the stories that we brush past every day... at the risk of sounding corny I find myself reminded of a saying by Bob Dylan's grandmother from his book Chronicles pg. 20....

" ... Happiness isn't on the road to anything. Happiness is the road.  
... also instructed, Be kind, because everyone you'll ever meet is fighting a hard battle."

and so... Here We Go...
(Live at The Wesley Anne- featuring Dave Toll)

Australia, Counting The Waves...

I'm off to Australia on the 3rd of October! Very excited as will get to meet my new niece Amelie, who was born in May this year and spend time with my brother and sister in law... Also booked in a one off gig on the 12th October for any Melbournites who may be around and want to come along... Particularly looking forward to some special guests joining me on stage, first confirmed is old friend and wonderful singer Willow Kellock, who I used to sing a band with way back when I was 19!
I know as well as a brilliant time it's going to be heart wrenching to leave again...It's the age old problem of home having been in 2 countries so many miles apart... I remember a family friend once describing it as both a present privilege and a persistent problem to have experienced life on opposite sides of the globe and to miss the folks and the land that you have to leave... So much of my last album Dust and Gold has been shaped and informed by those Australian experiences- it will be interesting to see what it's like to actually sing the songs there in oz... however, mostly I'm just really looking forward to the trip!

I'm waiting to hear if I have the funding that I've applied for regarding the Counting The Waves collaborative project, I'll find out in October also so fingers are crossed for that...

News about up coming gigs is on my Hushland Label news blog http://hushlandnews.blogspot.com/

Creating...

Its great to be creating again.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post so much of my time last year and early this year was caught up in health issues- so its good to be back on track and finding a muse again...
So currently dipping into more jazzy electric sounds and exploring my new loop and expression pedals. The looping is allowing me to pick up the soprano saxophone again after a very long time of not playing and realising that my muscles round my mouth just aren't up to speed at all at the moment... Hopefully within the next few weeks I'll find my tone there again...

I dive headlong into my "Counting The Waves" project with Gill Stevens, in November... so will write more about that soon...

Planning on debuting a track or two at the next gig at The Minstrel room... Really looking forward to having Dylan Fowler join us and the chance to take out lots of instruments again... It was great fun at St Donats Arts Centre to have my electric and the arch top plus the 2 acoustics, my banjo and sax- though it'll be keyboards this time rather than a real piano! Not sure as yet exactly what Dylan will be playing but I expect there will be additional guitars and percussion in the mix, with Rosy's cello and Angharad's vocals all woven in also...Here's flyer with info below....

It will be strange the next time I play solo again, I'm thoroughly enjoying the bigger sound...

Concert under the stars...

Returned from brilliant few weeks away in France and Switzerland and now slowly getting back into the grind. There were many highlights to the trip...being surrounded by mountains... swimming in both lakes and the sea... food and wine... the sun... but wanted to write a quick note about a brilliant concert that we saw in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin while we were away....

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin is a small town in the South of France, in between Monaco and Menton, all the benefits of that beautiful stretch of coast without the resort element... and above it set into the cliffs stands the old medieval village (tiny winding cobbled streets and 407 steps up from the beach) The old Chateau looks out over the bay and it was here (after climbing the 407 steps) that we saw a breathtaking concert.
The stage was out doors with the back drop being the ocean by moonlight, we sat on amphitheatre style benches and listened to two Russian soloists David Galoustov on violin and Dimitri Maslennikov on cello...  Honestly it doesn't get any better- to see such brilliant musicianship close up in that stunning location... inspirational...

David Galoustov youtube video... Violin Player
www.myspace.com/dimitrimaslennikov  Cello Player

General news...new music projects...live video...

Looking at the last post - nearly a year ago... much has happened and is happening- so trying to be brief with headline updates... ( my sister inlaw Katriona Beales whose article on creativity was the last post has just got a distinction for her art course at Chelsea!!)

Firstly-health: most folks will be unaware that last year I spent most of the year in very bad health going between MRI scans, various medications and to consultants for what is now diagnosed as nerve damage in my trigeminal (facial) nerve...  This pretty much co-incided with the launch of Dust and Gold album and around that time there were fears that the condition may have been from a sinister cause (tumor or M.S.) so touring for the most part was postponed... it was a tricky time however I am pleased to say that there is nothing sinister lurking in the background and that although the condition is painful I am learning to manage it and am now in a place to be plotting and planning again in relation to all things musical...

So a number of projects in the pipeline...

Counting the Waves- is a somewhat off the wall collaborative project with composer and multi instrumentalist Gillian Stevens. We will be fusing Gill's ancient medieval instruments (crwyth, viol, viola da gamba and more)  with my songwriting via a whole load of effects pedals and loop stations... The result is as yet unknown but we are both very excited about the prospect of what we will be creating. The premier of the work is booked in for Feb 18th 2012 at The Gate Arts Centre and Spiral Earth website have written an initial news feature about the project see link...
http://www.spiralearth.co.uk/news/story.asp?nid=5526

I am also working on a new recording project of several songs with a more jazz/electric type theme... some are songs that have been hanging around for a while and some are new, but they seem to work together as a collection... so I will be releasing these at some point in the not too distant future...

We've begun a Hushland Studio Sessions video project also... these are live videos that can be fund on my youtube channel which I will be adding to over the months to come http://www.youtube.com/user/mrhushland

In non music news- I'm very excited to heading off for a long holiday with Bill to the South of France and Switzerland for the next few weeks ( the Hushland office and shop will be closed!) Haven't had a real extended holiday for years- and after the rubbish health and stresses of last year this is a very welcome break!

Lastly I'll leave you with a video from the concert at St Donats Arts Centre on the 24th July... an extended version of my song Brilliant Blue featuring Rosy Robinson on cello and Angharad Evans singing backing vocals and playing guest glockenspiel- the disappearing act towards the end of the video is when I decided to take my soprano sax for a wander through the audience...