The Troubadour, Freedom of Expression and The Space

Been doing quite a few solo gigs lately with just me on the piano. It's been interesting. You hear the songs in a different light. Sometimes, I'm not so sure I like that different light (it's always more exposing to play on your own with no band to hide behind!), but it's definitely more intimate, and that's always a good thing.

In fact, my last gig at the Beatroot Rendezvous night at the Space went down really well. It helped that there was a beautiful grand piano there. And an appreciative audience. One guy told me he thought my set was very "uplifting", which is exactly the sort of effect I want to have!

Of the other acts, I particularly enjoyed Pete Roe, a guitarist-pianist-singer from Bristol with a fantastic voice. Also, Jules Levy did a very warm - in fact, uplifting! - set at the end, playing some bluegrass-type songs, with a banjo and guitar set-up.

I'm now gearing up for my gig at the Troubadour next week with the band. Hooray! Should be good - I've never played the Troubadour before, but I went there last week to see a friend play, so now I'm all psyched up!

In the meantime, though, I'm slotting in a set at Freedom of Expression tomorrow, playing some other material entirely. Steve Lawson is also on the gig doing his own set, so it seemed a good opportunity to revisit some of those New Standard tunes we did last year in Edinburgh, in my set. I'm just trying to decide which tunes to do - Slipknot, Green Day, The Cure...? The choice is endless!