Oh my goodness (that's the strongest expletive I use as a father of 4 children aged 6 and under) that has been a long time since I said anything!

The fact is that I have been continuing to play my shows in virtual reality and have been doing a little something more. With the turn of the year fast approaching I thought it would be a good time to go back through my diary and give a little run through on what's been happening since I last posted and finish with a few things that are planned for the new year.

June 2009 saw gigs for our virtual Italian friends at Torino Vera, a new venue for me at Serendipity and the Benzeitan Gallery opening for my old mate Fingers Scintilla.

In July I played for the beautifully built virtual recreation of Glendalough in Second Life. I have visited the real Glendalough a long time ago when I worked in Ireland. It is a ruined monastery in County Wicklow providing a tranquil setting for a couple of thousands years of history http://www.glendalough.ie/  . Rudolf Moo has evoked the spirit of the valley with his carefully crafted virtual tribute that you can visit here using your Second Life account  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Glendalough/58/59/22 .

August started sadly as I played as part of a memorial show for SL musician Barakademi Barzane who was suddenly taken from us. I knew Bara through SL friend Fable Sinatra and he was a lovely chap who is sadly missed. You can check out his tunes here http://www.thesixtyone.com/barakademi/  .  After playing the Orion CLub and a benefit in aid of Muscular Dystrophy charities at Zen Live.  Towards the middle of the month were a series of shows at virtual Woodstock celebrating the 40th anniversary of the real Woodstock. Lynsey Fluery has been running virtual Woodstock for a few of years now and does a sterling job in supporting many online musicians.

September was another first for me as I did a simultaneous broadcast - a simulcast - to both Second Life and the Minnesota State Fair. The state fair featured an exhibition hall with a stand on which the possibilities for virtual music performance were showcased and the performances where played live. Thanks to Ray Weyland for setting this up http://slmc.myfastforum.org/about2799.html&highlight=minnesota .

The start of October brought a gig arranged by Slim Warrior in which I supported arty punk outfit The Mighty Roars in their debut in Second Life. It is rare for established bands to play virtual venues and I was glad to be able to be part of a special night http://www.myspace.com/themightyroars  .  Later in the month I debuted at Pink Candy, a virtual venue run by Vanity Sugarplum. 

Autumn is always special for writers in Second Life as it sees the annual Autumn Writers Exhibition run by Jilly Kidd, Hastings Bournemouth and those good folks at The Written Word in SL http://www.writtenword.org.uk/ . I played their grand ball on November 1st to mark the end of the exhibition and it was one of my best gigs of the year. Packed out and everyone having a great time. Another fun project to be involved in was PiePixie Whiteberry's creation of a SL Musicians Uncovered calendar in aid of prostate cancer charities. She put a lot of work into creating the calendar which features 12 SL musos recreating classic album covers.  Contact PiePixie Whiteberry if you want to buy  a copy for a good cause Info Here.


It was around about this time that I meet one of my oldest and best SL pals Toby Lancaster in the flesh for the first time. In one of our long and rambling chats he mentioned that he was having trouble finding a home for the family piano they had decided was now to big for them. Having decided to replace it with a Yamaha P-85 like the one I use for my shows he agreed that I would give his old piano a home and that my kids would be learning to play on it! I hired a van and recruited a couple of strong members of the family to accompany me on the 120 miles journey to Toby's place and after a quick man-hug and a bite to eat we carefully got the piano into the van for the journey home. It is a Sandon and Steedman upright in Walnut and looks great in the corner of our dining room. It just needed tuning and a little TLC and it is now a treasured member of our family having been in Toby's for a long time. Although the one web reference in the link above dates it to between 1883 and 1893 but I am happy to confirm that Toby is not that old! 

In some ways December has been quiet but in others quite eventful. I have taken a break from SL performing but the one little thing I did do was perform Christmas All Year Through on The Stream Scene Christmas Special
which is hosted by Twstd Ruggles. You might remeber that this is the song that last year we got over 20 SL musicians to collaborate on. Select the links to find out more. 


Finally, December saw one of my most important developments which I have not been publicising much. I have found that playing in the virtual realm has helped to to improve every area of my songwriting and performance and with the increased confidence this bestowed on me I felt it was time to get out there and do a gig somewhere other than my study! On 3rd December I played my debut show at The Flowerpot in Derby in front of a sizeable audience. I am pleased to say it was really well received and the experience has made me feel I want to do more in the new year. Jaypee Platthy did a great job of setting it up in aid of cancer charities in the UK and my mate Charlie Fairbrother (Fable Sinatra in SL) also played. There were a few other acts playing that night and I just felt like I was justified and more to be there. Playing my music, being myself...it was a great feeling all round. When the opportunity came up to play somewhere away from where I live it felt right because I knew it would not be full of  friends who are going to clap just to make you feel great. With a audience who are fresh to who you are and what you do you can get an honest reaction and that reaction was overwhelmingly positive. With so many open mic venues available to me in and around where I live I know I am going to do some more of this!


And so I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. Be good and if you cannot be good then at least don't let it get too messy. Cheers! :)