Cage construction
The impending start of the cricket season often generates a flurry of action at Beckenham Cricket Club and so Ben, Julie and I could be found in the sunshine at Foxgrove Road for the annual ‘Ground Force Day.’
Songwriter / music industry
The impending start of the cricket season often generates a flurry of action at Beckenham Cricket Club and so Ben, Julie and I could be found in the sunshine at Foxgrove Road for the annual ‘Ground Force Day.’
A landmark moment as I took delivery this evening of the signed-off digital file for All Over You from producer Greg Fitzgerald, which represents the last remastered track of my Birdcage album.
I drove to Bath yesterday to collect a large framed poster that Future, publishers of The Musician magazine for two decades, had kindly prepared as a gift to mark the years of my working with them.
Suzi Fussey certainly enjoyed a fascinating journey in her 20s, from burgeoning hairdresser in Beckenham High Street to working with numerous legends of the rock world.
I was recently invited to the latest music industry ‘moguls’ lunch by the highly-respected executive, Jay Mistry, and today I joined a fascinating group of business representatives at Mele e Pere Italian restaurant in Brewer Street, Soho.
A delightful afternoon with producer Greg Fitzgerald and mastering engineer Mike Thorne at the latter’s marvellous rural studio near Sittingbourne.
I attended the second Image of Music Awards this evening at Amazing Grace in London Bridge. The very venue, in fact, I had suggested last summer to organiser Adam Perry!
A productive day in south west London as I drove over to Richmond and Kingston with a view to  completing various designs in support of my forthcoming releases.
Steve at Printstore has kindly prepared a poster based on my records of gig-going and performing over the last five decades. This lists all the artists, venues, studios and events I have particularly enjoyed since 1968. There have been so many, however the memorable moments have certainly been included.
Another productive afternoon at Greg Fitzgerald’s studio in Canterbury, working on the remastering of my Birdcage album. This time to complete two tracks, namely The Golden Age of This Romance and Radio Play.
I dropped into the Music and Drama Education Expo at the Business Design Centre in Islington this afternoon. Having organised a stand for the MU at this event since its inaugural year in 2012, this was the first time I had been a regular delegate and free to move around the stands and seminars at will with no employee obligations!
I drove down this morning to Greg Fitzgerald’s studio in Canterbury once more, principally to complete the mix of ‘Radio play’ now that we have Ralph and Steve’s marvellous drums and bass parts, plus Greg’s additions of backing vocals, keyboards and percussion.
I drove through Crayford in north east Kent this morning, during a trip to Chatham, and took the opportunity to stop off at St Paulinus Church. This was formerly known as Crayford Parish Church and where my great-grandparents Sarah and Thomas Ames married on 16 July 1871.
A classic thriller at the Hayes Lane Stadium this afternoon, as Julie, Ben and I watched Bromley FC host Chesterfield. The visitors lead the National League by a considerable margin, but Bromley are handily placed in second and the match was always likely to be a close-fought affair.
Having a few free hours and appreciating the bright start to a mid-February day, I caught the train into Charing Cross this morning.
I joined a gathering of former MU and Equity Officials, musicians and actors, plus broadcasting representatives at The Lamb in Holborn tonight, to celebrate the life and work of the late Glen Barnham.
My thanks to the charismatic promoter Ray Jones for the VIP invitation to the Crypt in St Martins-in-the-Fields this evening, to enjoy the TJ Johnson band. TJ is widely considered to be one of the UK’s most highly revered jazz, blues and country singers.
I visited Greg Fitzgerald’s studio in rural Kent once more this afternoon. We worked on ‘Radio play’ now that the legendary Ralph Salmins has kindly, and superbly, contributed drums. We also edited the original recording of ‘Cross of gold’ as the coda needed a little polishing.
My interview with Martin Sutton of the Songwriting Academy is now online in which we discuss various areas of the business and offer advise to musicians, writers, producers and industry representatives.
I have spent the last two days at the UK Americana Conference in Hackney, hosted once again by the Americana Music Association UKÂ and led by its acting CEO, Charlie Pierce. The launch party had taken place on Monday evening, however I sadly had to miss this, and I arrived early on Tuesday morning at the main Conference venue, Night Tales in Bohemia Place, to collect my delegate pass.
An enjoyable and informative meeting with long-term contact Martin Sutton this morning, as he updated me on the developments with his highly successful Songwriting Academy. Martin also outlined the new popular Community App and we put plans in place for a podcast recording next week.
Julie and I visited the HQ of the Musicians’ Union this afternoon for a drinks reception with the organisation’s Executive Committee (EC) to mark my leaving their employment after 25 years.
Born in Strood, Kent, on 11 January 1872, Thomas Ames was the elder brother of my grandfather Herbert. He signed up with the Merchant Navy on his 18th birthday and initially worked aboard ships based at the local Chatham docks.
An exciting and energised New Year’s Eve at the Jolly Farmers in Purley, as Crash ‘n’ Burn delivered a set of rock classics to a lively crowd. Frontman Ian McConnell led the four-piece through songs by AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Blue, Oasis, Bryan Adams, The Who and many more.
My son Ben, his friend Austin and I could be found at Bromley FC’s Hayes Lane ground for the National League match versus Altrincham this evening. An absorbing game, in which the home team failed to take advantage of some early chances to take the lead and saw Altrincham leading 1-0 at half time.
The plan to make my Birdcage album available as a download accompaniment to Waterloo Sunrise gathered pace today, as I motored down to Canterbury in driving rain to Greg Fitzgerald’s studio. We worked on Radio Play, which is the one track in need of revisiting from the original tapes. The legendary Ralph Salmins has kindly agreed to add his drum mastery to this in the coming days.
I attended a drinks reception in the Council Chamber at Broadcasting House this evening, hosted and arranged by the BBC Corporate Affairs team.
Julie’s cousin Mark is an amateur boxer and we drove down to Worthing this weekend to offer our support at the Coast to Coast Boxing Club’s ‘Twas The Fight Before Christmas’ event at The Charmandean Centre.