Having spent 18 years making a living from music, (well a resemblance of a living anyway!) it's very easy to chase money to pay the bills rather than taking on projects that actually enthuse and give a deeper sense of satisfaction. Necessity is often the main driver for this, and most professional musicians fall into this category; so it's a very fortunate musician that gets to play in a band they love while making a good living from the music they play.
Today I'm in a slightly different place and no longer relying on music to put food on the table. It's probably just as well as the recent pandemic caused chaos to the livelihood of musicians everywhere, and the events industry as a whole is still recovering from the carnage Covid wrought. On the plus side 2024 now allows me to focus on the enjoyment of music, and as a friend recently said, having a balance of covers and original music acts can be very rewarding musically.
To that end I have now started work with two such outfits, "This Way Up" has been reborn after a long hiatus, and is a semi-acoustic covers trio with Sara Stafford on vocals, myself on keyboards and this time we're joined by Kevin Ballard on guitar. This act takes well known songs, strips them back and rearranges them into a "live lounge" style.
I've just started playing keyboards with "Caution Horses" led by Suffolk songwriter Andy Heasman who I have known for a number of years, so it's great to slot back into things again after all these years. Learning original songs can definitely be more challenging (or is that just me? 🤔) as we have to start from scratch having never heard the song before.
So this is where I am so far, and it's feeling good!
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