Out and About at Stoke Bruerne!

Once again it’s been another busy week as I went all out for Burns Night on the 25th with “Scotland the Brave” and now I’m getting ready to head off tomorrow to Swindon. I’m booked to perform for a Masonic Lodge, music from the 1920s to WW2 and I still need to sort out my costumes and show plans so I have everything in place for Saturday morning.

I thoroughly enjoyed Burns night last Tuesday. Traditional Scottish songs sit perfectly within my Soprano register. They are a delight and effortless to sing as the songs are a perfect match with my

Inside The Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne!

voice type. I’ve performed for a couple of Burns Nights in the past but on every other occasion I sang with a pianist so this show was a little different as I was required to use backing tracks. Unfortunately I don’t have too many Scottish songs in this format but with a bit of imagination I was able to include songs from the musicals and well, you can’t really go wrong with “Brigadoon”. Someone  suggested to me afterwards the Disney musical “Brave” which I don’t know but it is one I will defiantly have to look into.

I have so many songs rattling around in my head

All Dressed Up for Burns Night!

at any one time that I often have to refresh my memory. I first sang “Scotland the Brave” in my theater show “How HOVIS Won the War”. The show was set in Orkney, 1943, and I played a plucky young Wren by the name of Hovis who defeats a dastardly plot by the Germans to over run the Highland Park Whisky Distillery. I played Hovis back in the earlier noughties and in those days I sang “Scotland the Brave” as part of a medley. On this occasion I sang the song in it’s entirety which took a little bit of learning.

Learning songs can be either ecstasy or agony, particularly if you get a mental block over some

Scotland the Brave!

words in a phrase. So often it can take a while for a song to bed in but I find if I keep at it I get there in the end. Learning words can be ever-so boring at home but sometimes I find a change of scene can really help. Last Sunday I took a trip over to Stoke Bruerne to visit the Canal Museum. I’d always wanted to visit, plus they have a little cafe there as well. I found the change of scene very helpful as I rabbited away to myself over lunch and I wore my bright red tartan coat which put me in the mood.

This week apart from Burns Night I’ve been

Love of the 1940s

extremely busy in the office doing all the boring stuff, catching up on admin while planing the year ahead. There’s so much paper-work to get through and sometimes I feel my bottom is suck to my chair. I’ve been out running too but so often I have to cut my runs short as I need to get back to take calls. I’m currently working on a new 1940s show-reel with my web-designers Karen and Peter. I’ve been going through old photos to try and find the cream which will best tell my story.

14th February Live Stream 9pm

To be honest it’s been driving me bonkers and even my computer is starting to stubble under the strain of it all. I know it will be worth it in the end – but boy it’s hard work!

Next week I’m busy with the run up to the Queen’s Accession and then it’s a straight run through to Valentines Day and beyond. I’m planing to do a live Facebook stream on the 14th February at 9pm while linking through to “Love of the 40s” and “Love of the Vintage” on “1940s Events and Social Space” but more on that in my next blog.

I shall leave you with a few photos from this week. Keep Following. Toodle Pip and Bye for Now!