Barney Musician

Morning world!
A brief update for August 14…I’ve had a fantastic summer visiting friends and family from Cornwall to Edinburgh. I start back teaching music at 3 Primary Schools next week, also beginning my postgrad in Music Therapy whilst continuing to play drum kit and piano with bands.

This weekend I am attending a Guys and Dolls Musical Course in Chichester to improve my singing (and it turns out possibly my dancing too!). This will help when playing songs with the children at school and also my harmonizing backing vocals with the bands.

I’ve some diary dates too –
On Wednesday September 3rd my band Council play at famous venue The Water Rats in Kings Cross – details here – https://www.facebook.com/events/1532114860351449/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

On the Friday 5th The Medicine Show rock The Monarch, details here – https://www.facebook.com/events/338247676330138/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
our website featuring tracks from our album now available on iTunes here – http://www.themedicineshow.net/

Amd on Sunday September 7th from 1pm I’m running another Bongo Barney’s Bandstand Barnstormer at Victoria Park Bandstand, London E9 with my band The Medicine Show and other performers. The last of these attracted over 300 people enjoying picnics and hanging out whilst listening to and viewing the live music on the bandstand. Click the link for more info… https://www.facebook.com/events/690104757746364/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

I’ve also added some new YouTube clips of me on piano, solo and with singer Ella May Stainer so check those out too. I’ll be adding more soon of me on drum kit and accordion too 🙂

Plans are afoot for Barnstormer 2015, my bi-annual festival – all details on my website at http://www.barnstormer.me so do check it out.

Also, don’t forget to look at Performance Options Available here on this website too 🙂

Do click “follow” here to get email updates for my occasional website updates, follow me on Facebook and Twitter too.

Hope to see you at a gig or event 🙂

School’s is out! No time for resting though as many lovely music projects to be getting on with…here’s the updates!..

1. The big news is that I have been accepted on to a post-grad course in Music Therapy! This starts in September with organisation Sounds of Intent. I will be working with Professor Adam Ockelford – you can view him giving a TED talk
I’ll be updating on how this is going as I go, here and on my barneymusician page…I have a placement lined up locally which is great…

2. I’m running my first summer RocksCool from 18th – 22nd August for 9-12 year-old children – do you have any? Get them along for a week of trying different instruments, learning the principles of being in a rock band, rehearsal and performance technique and a final gig on the Friday for friends and family! Budding rockstars each get a backstage pass which gets them a discounted lunch and 10% off in the fab Moka East Cafe, part of the complex that is the ViewTube, the great venue for RocksCool that overlooks the Olympic Stadium and Park. Contact me at barneymusician@live.co.uk to get your child a place or visit the website at http://www.rockscool.wordpress.com

3. I have THREE EPs out this year!!! Do please have a listen to each on Soundcloud and feel free to comment and like (if you do!).

a) https://soundcloud.com/councilmusic-1

b) http://soundcloud.com/the-medicine-show-1

c) http://soundcloud.com/buenosbastardes

4. I am on contract from September 14 teaching music in 3 Primary Schools on Mondays. Wednesdays and Fridays, doing my Music Therapy postgrad on Thursdays up in Oxford leaving me Tuesdays to get on with all the other bits and pieces I need to (I still run a group for Male Carers in Hackney supporting guys that meet monthly to talk about how their month has been caring for their partner, parent, son or daughter. I’m taking them on a boat trip in August and working to secure funding for the group to pay for more of the IT courses I have so far run for them as getting them tuned up on IT means they can communicate with friends and family via the internet reducing their isolation)

5. Barnstormer 2015 – I intend to run Barnstormer – my festival – again next year. Last year was such a success and although I had to make the decision to make it bi-annual it means every other year can be planned more effectively. Do visit the website at http://barnstormer.me and sign up to the Twitter Feed/Like the Facebook Page from there.

6. In other news, I continue to work towards getting my own home and adopting as a single parent hoping that being on contract next year will make it slightly less difficult to get a mortgage for a flat or houseboat. I’m open to any suggestions as to how on earth one can get a 2-bedroom home in London without winning the lottery, many seem to manage it but still a challenge beyond my capabilities it seems! I’ll get there…

B 🙂

A fabulous Sunday event I ran on a gorgeous sunny last Sunday in Victoria Park.
My brilliant P.A. system pumped the sound from 8 live music acts to the 500 guests all day long.
Do get in touch if you need a P.A. and/or recording for any event! I deliver, set up, operate and if needed can also make a high quality audio recording too!

Well last night I completed a recording project, hired by Sea Shanty Singers “The Hog Eyed Men” to record them in situ at The Pub on The Park E8.
Using my trusty Zoom R16 along with my Rhode NT1 microphone and a combo of other condenser and dynamic mics I got a great authentic sound for them recording 12 songs in total for their pending CD release.
These are then flown in to the MacBookPro, mastered, mixed down and all uploaded to a Dropbox folder shared with the client. With experience from Gambia to Hackney I am available for mobile recording projects…

With The Medicine Show at The Blues Kitchen, Camden. Playing keys. Pop along!

So, after a hectic social Christmas and New year in Devon and Cornwall (see picture I took of the beautiful Praa Sands)
I finally succumbed to the flu epidemic and spent the 1st week of 2013 watching a lot of DVDs and in my bed.
Up and recovering now, back at my p/t job arranging meetings and activities for parents of disabled/SEN children in Hackney, London. One of the schools I teach music at has asked me to MD (Musically Direct) their Spring Show, The Premises Studios have asked me to run keyboard and drum classes for a course for them and I am back to teaching piano and drums with regular and new pupils this week already. I do still have some availability so why not treat yourself to a taster lesson and do something new, different and enriching to start the year? Learn an instrument!
I received my kit bag for my new Roland Portable Drum Kit and love it as I can now get to gigs with my drum kit in a bag! That means hopping on a bus to get to the gig – amazing!
I also have acquired a second keyboard and have been writing new music with a view to getting back in to providing music for commercials – something I did to great success for some time (see my showreel on the “Barney Musician Playing Instruments” page) . I have also added a NEW page on this website with information about my BARNSTORMER festival this summer. Plans are under way, venue and bands booked and tickets on sale!
I have also noticed that many organisations (including The Carers Centre where I work) are having their Christmas Parties AFTER Christmas so if you know of any coming up and would like to book Chef De Party see the Performance Options page here to check out what we do and give me a call!
Finally, I am very pleased to have the hectic pace of Christmas behind me with all those Santa Appearances and just glad the Easter Bunny (Barney?) isn’t quite so in demand! Have a great 2013, subscribe to this blog and follow me on Twitter @barneymusician and FaceBook at Barney Musician. Let me know if you would like a lesson or performance option or need a PA or recording of an event.
Barney 😉

Well it’s been a busy couple of weeks…

On the 8th I travelled to Milford on Sea to play drums and piano for a school Christmas Concert for my good friend and exceptional Tenor Colin Judson and his Soprano Music Teacher wife Pippa. The drum kit was an electronic Roland V Drum top of the range kit and I managed to find some very odd sounds that I used during Colin’s rendition of “The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) such as a loo flushing, a “boing” spring, and various fighting noises…he eventually collapsed in hysterics as did the audience…watch this space for a You Tube special of this…very funny…

On Monday 10th I played piano for a local Choir The Boiler House singers in their inaugural Christmas outing performing Fairytale of New York. On the 12th I was Santa again at Columbia Rd playing carols on accordion and handing out sweets to children. I did it again this Wednesday there too. I was Santa at the Primary School I teach music at also having to explain that my resemblance to the children’s music teacher was because he was my cousin!!! After yet another Santa and accordion outing on Saturday 15th I am Santa’d out!

My private teaching is still going very well with a new drum kit pupil starting this week that wants more in the New Year – she had never played drums before ever but had dreamt of doing so for 20 years so I am glad to have made that Christmas wish come true!

Today the 20th was great for a couple of reasons – firstly I had the school Christmas Concert that I ran for all children and parents. It was fabulous with each year group singing a different carol…you can hear the four-year olds singing Jingle Bells here – it is just lovely!

The headmistress presented me with a bottle of wine (good choice!) and thanked me warmly – it’s a lovely school…

The other exciting thing that happened today was getting delivery of my new electronjic drumkit which I plan to use in my gig with BB tomorrow night. I also plan to use it for teaching on as it is very portable so I can even do lessons opn it at people’s homes as it can be transported by bike!!! Click below to see it in action…

I will be reporting on tomorrow’s gig in my next blog entry (unless of course the Mayans are right and tomorrow 21st December 2012 is in fact the end of the world – at least I’ll be gigging as it happens!)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all – Barney Musician