blog

Nov 2013 update :)

Wed, 20 Nov 2013 22:41:23 +0100

Hey guys!!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, it's been a bit mad with getting a new job etc (you know how life is)
I have done a few things recently had our Igloo annual showcase in March and it was soo good singing "Don't walk away" with a band :) was a great showcase and everyone was fantastic!!

Had my photshoot with BGM in April which was awesome!! got some great pics!

Got over 100 likes on my FB music page now so thanks guys!!

Recently had my fav weekend "Ashcon" which is a convention for all the amazing Wishbone Ash fans! Friday 1st Nov was amazing as I opened up the friday night in the county bar (Chesterfield) with a 30 min set, this set included 2 of my own "baby come home" and "wanna show you". The great Andy Powell, Bob Skeat and Muddy (from WA) were also there which made it even better as it's usually us watching them :) I then got asked to do some backing vocals with the band "strange affair" which was fun and they also asked me to sing with them on the sat afternoon on the main stage in the "Winding Wheel" before Wishbone Ash come and do a set so as you can imagine I was very honoured to have been asked and had a great time and got amazing comments from some of the audience!

I am now rehearsing for various xmas shows coming up which is always fun! I am doing a duet this year and performing in the Casino :)

My new years resolution is to make sure I write a few more songs next year and play my guitar more!! So watch this space :)

Have a great Christmas all!!!

Mwah xx

Igloo annual concert 2012

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:34:54 +0100

Well just come home from our annual concert with igloo which was held at "The spring" in Havant! It was a great show and think everyone had a great time and enjoyed it, well done to all that performed today!! and thank you to Dielle for organizing and to Dan and Greg for playing for us and Dean for doing all the technical things! It was a great night with lots of different things going on, you had songs from musicals, covers, guitar playing, original songs, was a great range of things. I really enjoyed singing "ain't no sunshine" with Amy, Matt and Johanna backing, was fun! the choir songs were great to and always enjoy singing Hallelujah with the choir, it just sounds brilliant with all the different harmonies.
can't wait for next years already!!

Audition with record Company 18th Jan

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:13:50 +0100

I received an email on 3rd Jan inviting me to an audition with BGM record company.
This was the result of being recognized when I was doing Open Mic UK. This was very exciting that someone had spotted me and liked what they saw so mention me to the record company.
After arranging with them my audition was to be at 12pm on the 18th Jan in London!
After having a very bad morning with everything possible going round (which included missing the train I was meant to get) Dielle (singing coach) and I arrived at the audition just 5 minutes late which was amazing considering we got the next train which was 40 minutes later!
I had to fill in a form about my journey, what I have done so far and if I write music or lyrics or play an instrument (which I don't) so at this point I was a bit nervous as had a feeling they wanted someone who could write.
Got into the audition and was asked about my journey, influences etc and what I wanted from singing. I have to say it was quite scary and find it difficult being put on the spot but answered the questions as well as I could. A lot was said about writing songs which I knew would be an issue as I don't write (yet) but made it very clear that I will do whatever it takes for me to get the career that I want. I got given some very good advice. After being asked questions and getting a lot of information about the company etc I was asked to sing 2 songs. I chose to sing a dance song which was 'toca's miracle' by 'Fragma' and 'Jessie J's' 'Big White Room' which is one of my favorite songs to sing and love the emotion in the song. This is the song I also chose for the 2nd round of Open Mic UK. After singing I felt quite good and felt I sang well considering the pressure and nerves that were running through me. Got very good comments such as "Your voice suites Jessie J and really shows of your voice" which I must say was amazing to hear!
After the audition I felt happy with what had been said and was just delighted to have had the opportunity to do this (thanks to Open Mic UK) although I wasn't too sure what the result would be until I got an email back.
Then I received an email at 5pm the same day saying that they were very happy with my audition and that I had been successful in getting a place in the academy! I was sooo excited and happy!
So the next step is to go to London once a month for 3 hours to work on songs and to co write with producers, get an image and basically get help as an artist to develop! :) whoop whoop!!!
This year is going to be amazing and I am willing to work very hard to achieve great things :)

Open Mic Uk 2011

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:52:03 +0100

Well what can I say, I have not updated this in a long time!! a lot has been going on in the last 6 months or so. Firsty I entered a big UK Competition called "Open Mic UK".

1st Audition
I was very nervous, had to sing in front of about 6 or 7 judges, and there was around 5 singers on stage and we basically sang down the line after being asked by 1 of the judges who we were and what we were going to sing.
We had to sing acapella which is sometimes difficult as you have to make sure your timing is very much perfect. My song was "The Scientist" by "Coldplay" and had to sing a verse and chorus of the song, even though I felt very nervous up there I think I hid them very well and did quite a good job. After everyone had sung we had to go and wait until they called us to tell us whether we made it through to the next stage.
I got called up with 3 other people and the lady revealed that we had made it through!!! I was very excited and excited to tell everyone I had made it through. We then had to go and collect 25 tickets to sell to people to come and watch us, I had around 3-4 weeks until the next round.
So now I had to choose what song I was going to sing. After going through a couple, I decided I was going to sing a song by Jessie J which is on her 'Who you are' album and the song is called "Big White Room". It is a song that I loved the very first time I heard it and wanted to sing it for ages so this was my opportunity.
The song could not be any longer than 3.30mins so had to cut the track down quite a bit as it was originally around 5 minutes (with the help of my singing coach, Dielle) had a few 1 to 1 sessions with Dielle to perfect the song and also to discuss image and stage presence and movement on the stage etc!
So decided to go with a bit of a Jessie J image as I was singing her song.

2nd Audition
Got to the audition at 5.30 to register then on to do a sound check. I sold 33 tickets for this audition so had a few people coming to support me such as family, my best mates, work colleagues, my boss etc. I was a bit of a nervous wreck but also very very excited! There were around 400 people in the audience which was VERY exciting!
Met some really nice other singers there and all got friendly and got to know each other.
After the sound check they decided on the running order to which I found out I was going to be on last ahhh!!
Just before going on stage I was shaking like a leaf but as soon as I got on that stage it felt great and my nerves were controlled as I started singing. I made sure I moved around the stage and on 1 particular strong vocal part I stood right at the edge of the stage (in peoples faces) which was fun :)
Was happy with my performance but still wasn't sure on whether I was going to get through. Everyone in the audience had to vote for a second choice and then the votes had to be counted. There would be 6 people going through on JUST judges "top scores" then whoever got the most votes + judges scores would go through, then the rest have a chance to come back by a wildcard vote.
They started called out the people who had got through on judges scores, 5 people had been called and there was 1 place left on judges scores, then suddenly my name was called! I got through on judges scores!! I was so excited!! Had to wait behind to get paperwork etc, my family and friends were so excited for me and all said how well I did and how they had never seen me so confident or heard me sing so well as I did :) After getting paperwork and tickets etc I went out to see everyone, then I saw my singing coach and she gave me a hug and told me she was proud of me and interviewed me on her phone with my reaction :) Then we all went for a drink to celebrate!

3rd audition
For this audition I chose to sing "don't speak" by 'No Doubt' which is a song I love to sing! I was 3rd to last on tonight! It was a bit different this time, this was area finals so you had people from other areas singing to and there were some amazing singers and I really thought "wow this is going to be tough"! Also the judges were in the front row this time whereas last time they were right at the back! so i thought well i'm going to sing right in their faces tonight!
Again before I went on I was shaking like a leaf but all my nerves disappeared when I got up there, i sang my heart out and performed as good as I could and was very pleased with how I did! As it was I didn't get through to the finals which was a shame but I had a brilliant experience and loved every minute of the competition and just knew I had to keep going with my singing and know there are lots of opportunities out there so came away with my head held high with a smile on my face! but still had a chance to win the wildcard vote and I have got to say all my friends and family tried very hard to get everyone they know to text for me and when the leader board came up I was 4th and had to try more to get to number 1, well as it was I ended up 6th which isn't bad but would not be going to sing at the O2.

All in all it was a brilliant experience and has helped me with my confidence and I got the chance to sing in front of judges from the music industry which is awesome :)

19th June 2011

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:17:28 +0100

Well lots of things have changed in my life in the last 6 months, so I have not done much to do with my singing, but I have started going back to my vocal fitness classes.
First lesson back we were learning about accent method.
The Accent Method is to develop and strengthen the normal functions of the voice thereby giving the speaker, singer or patient a secure foundation for voice use.
This included making some very funny noises and having a bit of a giggle but seriously it does help with the singing.
I hope to be able to do 1 or 2 more demo's this year so need to start thinking about what songs I am going to use for those.
Anyway that's all I have at the mo but promise to update more often.

10th October

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 20:27:04 +0100

Hey Guys,
Had a great weekend, went to Salisbury Friday night to see a band I follow called Wishbone Ash and another band who I love were supporting them, they are called Rude Tiger and they opened up the night really well, playing mostly songs from their new CD "Burning Sound" which were played brilliantly!! Wishbone Ash were great as usual, was just an awesome night, can't beat watching good bands surrounded by more of their fans!!
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Chesterfield in just under 4 weeks, so excited!!!

Update 28th Sept

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:50:16 +0100

Hi it's been a while since I have updated so a few things to mention.
First of all not I am no longer rehearsing with the band, didn't quite work out but for the best I think.
Have started to play the guitar had my 2nd lesson of 10 this evening and feel I am doing pretty good :)
Be a couple of good things happening at the Igloo annual concert at the end of Nov :)
Have a gig in a pub in Chesterfield on Friday 5th Nov, basically a kind of a tribute to a band called Wishbone Ash who I am a very big fan of. All their fans meet up for a convention on a weekend in Nov every year, people from all over. it's good fun and the company is great!! A few of the fans formed a tribute band last year and are performing again this year with me joining them which is very exciting, I am doing 3 songs lead vocals and 5 I will be doing the harmonies for which will be pretty awesome!!
Well thats it for now will update soon with any news :)

Friday 13th Aug

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:23:03 +0100

Well today had a nice short easy day at work as it's friday :) Wished our boss of 3 an a half years Steve good luck and said our goodbye's as it was our last day with us as he prepares to go to China for 3 months so all the best to him and welcome to the new boss who has to now put up with us, but we're a good team :) Came home, no car still so i'm pulling my hair out, not sure wat the weekend will bring with no car or no money, should be fun..........NOT!!! May do some singing/learning of songs etc
will write soon night xxxx

11th August

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:17:06 +0100

Today I had a long day at work, only just got in actually!! still no car and unfotunatly tonight was cancelled!! Gonna try and catch and early night as im soo tired!!! 2 days until weekend yey!!!
bye bye now x

My Day!! 10th August 2010

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:00:10 +0100

Has nothing to do with singing at all lol
Have a nice busy day at work come home in hope that I have a car waiting for me as mine failed it's MOT pretty badly!! So got offered a car Sunday and still don't have it :(
Hope to have 1 by tomorrow as i'm supposed to be going to a band rehearsal in Southampton, which will not happen unless I have a car to drive up in or a lift off of someone very kind who would like to do me a favour?? :)
Must go seeing my family tonight
xxxx