March 4, 2019

Richmond, UK

I'll refer you straight to Eddie's blog from last week if you want to know what we've been up to. He did a splendid job of collating some of the statistics from our long, long trip to the USA and Canada.

But with every long trip comes a nice recuperation period back at home before we start work again, and we're coming towards the end of this one now, with our next concert coming up on Thursday, at Highgate School in North London. I've been keeping fairly busy since returning from the USA, with some meetings in London about forthcoming projects, as well as a trip to Cambridge to see old friends, attend a service at King's, and do some preparation for mine and Ellie's wedding there. It all feels very real once you're there, face to face discussing the details, rather than just making spreadsheets and writing emails at the kitchen table!

This evening I have some friends coming over for dinner, so I'm shortly off to the shops to get everything I need to make a mediterranean feast [Phil, Ruairi: if you're reading this, sorry to spoil the surprise..] for them. Also, my favourite documentary-maker, Louis Theroux, has a brand new film on the TV tonight, so I'm looking forward to watching that.

In the pipeline for the group this month is a handful of lovely concerts in the coming week around Europe, and then our first recording sessions as this new line-up. It's an exciting process, spending hours at the microphone perfecting The King's Singers sound in its latest form, and particularly when we have Nigel Short in the 'box' listening and producing it for us. It was a watershed moment for me doing the recording sessions for GOLD back in October 2016 after just a couple of weeks in the job, and I feel like I learned a lot about the group and my role within it from those sessions. We've got some brilliant music lined up for this next recording and we'll be telling you more about it in due course.

In the meantime, whilst Ellie's hard at work in her new job, I'll go about my house-husband(/fianceé) role and get our place tidy and the groceries bought!

P.S. I'm writing this from a brand new laptop which I got at the weekend. It's so addictive that I can barely bring myself to stop typing. Apple® really know how to give you a rush of endorphins...