Reading time: 2 minutes
As you can probably imagine, public performances have been a little on the quiet side as the third wave of Omicron soared in the UK just before Christmas. I have however been keeping “musically busy”, so the existential crisis experienced in lockdown 1 has very thankfully been swerved for this latest period of social distancing! Find out about one of the things keeping me out of trouble, and out from under Hamish the labradoodle’s feet, below…
Back in 2019, when those events called music festivals were all the rage and not threatened by pandemics or pingdemics, Megan and Brian from acoustic folk duo Red, green, blue asked me to accompany me them on stage at Local & Live, in my hometown of Tunbridge Wells. It was such a joyful gig – beautiful weather, a fantastic turnout and lovely, talented musicians to play alongside!
Well, we kept in touch: Megan and Brian, popping along to an occasional jazz gig of mine, and a few very productive lunch meetings at various cafés. (Ours just involved cheese, Boris.) I was therefore delighted last autumn when the pair asked me to record some session violin for them on their debut studio album. And of course said yes! RGB has previously recorded a live video EP, but this is the first full-length corker of an audio album soon to be sent out into the world.
Before Christmas we had chance to have a couple of rehearsals and to discuss what the duo want musically from the violin within the existing texture of their gorgeous harmonies. I’ve since spent the Christmas period really getting to know the songs through our rehearsal recordings, and writing parts for each song: balancing a third voice to compliment their captivating storytelling and occasionally letting rip in a solo. It’s been such a welcome distraction from the gloom of the news and scuppered Christmas plans. I can’t wait to hear the end results and share them with you!
If you’d like some violin on your own recording or for a special commission, please get in touch. I’m flexible in the way I work – either playing pre-written notated violin arrangements, working with you or a producer by notating a sung or played tune you really want included, or writing my own arrangements.
For some more examples of my work, check out my SoundCloud playlist of some of my violin session work. To find to find out more, also click here and scroll down!
