World Rocks Against Dementia and the Purple Angel Singers Tour - 2017

Well, it has been a while (again!) much to Norman’s disgust, but I can’t let this weekend’s events go unrecorded can I? Where on earth do I start to record all the events of an epic period in the history of the Caroline Sharpe Singers? I’m thinking of writing a separate post for each day of the tour,  rather than one huge deluge covering the lot.

So, let’s start with the build up and Day One. Welcome to….

The Purple Angel Singers Tour, 2017: Part One.

If you know anything about my wife Ruth and her sister Caroline, you’ll know that if they are going to do anything, they will do it properly. Nothing will be left to chance. Every last detail will be assessed and catered for. Following the phenomenal success of the 2016 Loughborough World Rocks Against Dementia (WRAD) event at Trinity Methodist Church, the opportunity to perform for the ‘main event’ was too good to turn down and plans had been slowly formulating ever since. A good number of choir members seemed to be up for the trip to Devon for WRAD, but we all thought we needed another ‘gig’ or two to make the long trip ‘darn sarf’ worthwhile and memorable. Well sort of half way-ish is the Forest of Dean and the home of a relative, Penni  Vincent who had been keen for some time to put together an event involving Caroline Sharpe Singers and thus the concert at Viney Hill evolved. But what about the day after WRAD? A simple email to The Avenue Church in Newton Abbot brought a quick and enthusiastic response, so there it was – The Tour!

Of course, not everyone from CSS was going to be able to come away for the tour proper and not wanting them to miss out or for our  ‘home crowd’ to miss our WRAD 2017 ‘set’ it was decided to do a coffee morning at Trinity Methodist Church on the Saturday before the tour on 11^th March. Ruth again took the lead in setting this up with volunteers recruited to do the coffee, tea and heaven knows how many cakes arrived from all corners of Loughborough. Justine and Jennie from MAE Interventions agreed to come and set up a display outlining the work they do in dementia care, in addition to Ruth’s Purple Angel display. I nearly forgot the essential purple balloons which arrived right on cue. Ruth even sorted me out with a purple waistcoat and bowtie!

As ever, we hoped for a reasonable audience to make all the effort worthwhile. Did we get one? Well yes, you could say we did. Trinity was packed! So much tea and coffee was drunk that the 10 pints of milk we had initially, quickly disappeared and yours truly had to make an urgent trip around the corner for another 8 pints!

The concert went well and everyone seemed to enjoy it. For last year’s WRAD concert it was supposedly ‘for one night only’ that Caroline Sharpe Singers were to become The Purple Angel Singers, but here we were again! This coffee morning was pretty much a dress rehearsal for the following week and at the very least enabled me to exorcise a few demons. I’m afraid I succumbed to the dreaded nerves in the week before this to a point where I didn’t think I had it in me to do Fat Bottomed Girls again. Doing the ‘Freddie thing' once more seemed beyond me at that point. Anyway, I won’t witter on about this now, but will return to the subject of pre-performance nerves and anxiety in a future blog. I learnt an awful lot over the last couple of weeks that will hopefully help me and maybe other similarly afflicted singers in the future.

This humble little coffee morning concert generated a packed audience and raised another phenomenal £500 plus for dementia charities. So, ladies and gentlemen, if you need to generate an audience and raise some cash for your favourite charity, you could do a lot worse than ask my wife for a few tips, though she may not thank me for saying that!

Any road, with that out of the way was it time for my wife to relax a bit? Nah, not a chance, not with the finer details of the tour to finalise! There were goodie bags to prepare (weren’t they just bloomin’ brilliant?)  with Anna-Ruth compiling the quiz complete with caption competitions and guess the composer photos. There were little sweetie bags with random confectionery. Someone even thought of WRAD Tour pencils with which to do the quiz!!!

The now much sought after 'Purple Angel Singers 2017 Tour bag!

 

So, as the glorious day approached we were all ready for the off. Well, almost. I think Caroline and Charlie could’ve done without the call from the minibus hire company saying that one of the vehicles was no longer available and we would need to have I think, two cars instead! WHAT??? That wasn’t acceptable, leaving Caroline and Charlie to source another. This they duly did, meaning they’d paid twice over for one vehicle and needed to demand a refund. Nowt is ever simple these days is it?

Anyway, the chaos was sorted and two minibuses, well, one minibus and one 9 seater car, arrived at the agreed rendezvous point, our abode in Loughborough for a 2 pm-ish departure. Our driveway became a car park for the weekend and we wondered what the neighbours thought about all these cars in the driveway and yet not a hint of noise emanating  from the house!?!

We were now ready for the off, with Charlie King driving the minibus and Granville Mercy recruited to drive the big car. The latter vehicle, transporting Sid and Carol, Me and Ruth, Chris and Gilly Deborah and driver Granville plus Theresa was to be dubbed ‘The Intellectual Bus’. I’m saying nuthin!

A few hours and comfort breaks later we arrived at Penni’s house  in Blakeney in the Forest of Dean. How Charlie and Granville got those vehicles up that hill and parked the damn things is utterly beyond me. Good job guys! How Penni managed the catering for our entire party was astonishing and what a spread it was! From there it was a short drive to Viney Hill Church for our first concert.

This was to be a concert in aid of The MS Society with the local choir’ 'Smart But Casual’ and was a really enjoyable, fun evening, with a singalong of Jerusalem to kick things off. On a personal note, when it came to performing Fat Bottomed Girls once again, I was as confident as I could be that I could crack it. Maybe I was too confident as I neglected to do my usual thing of writing the first line of each verse on my hand – just in case. Net result was that I had a complete blank re verse one. Couldn’t remember the first line to save my life so proceeded with the second verse in the hope that it would come to me eventually. It didn’t, and what was bizarre was that as I was singing, I was simultaneously thinking “I still can’t remember the first verse but I can’t now sing the third verse as that will completely mess up the end, so I’d better sing the second verse again". That I did, with gusto in the blind hope that maybe no-one would notice. I’m sure Caroline did but it didn’t show on her face. So I can only apologise unreservedly for the lack of ‘big fat fanny’ in that night’s rendition. A lesson learned - write a few of the words on your hand and you’ll never need ‘em. At least that’s the theory.

So a splendid concert all in all, to a modest but appreciative audience. Choir members were then deposited at their guest houses while a select few stayed at Penni’s abode in Blakeney.

So that was Day One over. Stay tuned for Day Two and the 'Main Event' and a ‘motorway flashmob’ shocker!!!

P.S. To whet your appetite for our WRAD performance, see the video  link on the right hand side of this blog!

Jeff Buckley - A personal tribute

 Jeff Buckley   1938 - 2016 

 

 

Back in 2011, when my journey into the world of singing was in its infancy, Caroline Sharpe had an idea to get a bunch of random friends and relatives together to have 'a bit of a sing' just for the fun of it. Not much more than that really. Nothing formal, no pressure, just come and sing and enjoy it.

Saturday 10th September 2011, was the day of the inaugural rehearsal of The Caroline Sharpe Singers, a landmark event when the group of enthusiastic individuals assembled at Trinity Methodist Church. For the record, the group consisted of me, Ruth, Anna-Ruth, Diane, Jean, Vicky, Chris, Shirley and Jeff Buckley.

In those early days it was pretty much me and Jeff as the 'men' in Caroline Sharpe Singers and thank heavens for Jeff as I think I might well have sunk without trace. At that time I was very much finding my feet singing-wise and Jeff was a great source of support to a nervous little me. Clearly an accomplished singer, Jeff could hit any note with aplomb and always got me back on track when I got hopelessly lost or sang an octave to high. And we had such a laugh too! Jeff helped keep the 'fun' in rehearsals which, as I've always said, is what singing should be all about.

A few years later he joined me in the Loughborough Male Voice choir. I had been twisting his arm for a while, but he had so many other commitments at the time that he couldn't initially, but he did succumb eventually. I knew he would add that extra bit of class to the baritone section of LMVC and he did. Just the same class that he added to Ruth and Caroline's Christmas Panto, 'What Can the Matter Be?' back in 2002, at Trinity Methodist Church, dressed as Little Bo Peep. Alas, that was shortly before I met Ruth so I've only seen the video, but it's definitely worth a re-run, for Jeff's legendary performance alone!

It's not often in life that one gets to meet such a warm, gentle, friendly, funny and easy to get on with bloke as Jeff Buckley. It's desperately hard to grasp that he's not going to be there any more to keep that bass section in check each Saturday morning.

We're all missing you Jeff, but wherever you are mate, keep singing!

-Alyn.


Ruth's 50th Birthday Celebration Gig - a night to remember!

 

Just over 10 years ago, my wife Ruth celebrated her 40th birthday up at our then home in Bolton, with a band called 'Gary and the Goats', a fab little band featuring a certain Caroline Sharpe, who played a selection of covers of  pop songs old and new. And a great night it was too. As the years passed and the 'big 5 - 0' approached we wondered how we might top that.
 
Top it? I think we blew it completely out of the water. In truth this was not to be just a birthday party, but actually we wanted it to also be a celebration of our survival after three of the most traumatic and stressful years imaginable. After what we have been through as a family over this time and indeed continue to go through, it is nothing short of a miracle that we are still here to tell the tale. The fact that we are is due in no small part to the help and support of the people on our guest list. The night was a massive thank you to all of you!

They say 'you know who your friends are when the chips are down' and how true that is. One of the most telling things said to me a couple of years ago at the height of the crisis, was by the principal of Hardwicke House, a school for autistic children in Loughborough. She said to Ruth and I, "you know, the miracle is, you two are still together, because most marriages don't make it". She meant that the marriages of most parents who take on the battle to get proper treatment and care for their autistic child don't survive the extreme and unrelenting stress that it brings. Looking back, I don't know how we survived it either. It certainly took its toll on the physical and mental health of both of us but our marriage was never at risk at all, such is its strength. The sad thing is that some people never quite understood what we were going through. On a personal level, my priority became Ruth and the girls above all else and for that I make no apology whatsoever.

So, what did we come up with to celebrate and thank in equal measure? Well, Ruth had a few ideas but settled on a gig. After seeing Chris Hill Jazz a year or two ago, Ruth had pencilled them in for a role. But what else? Hmm, well Ruth and I have been fans of American singer/songwriter Dean Friedman for many years. In fact, to take you right back, we first met via the internet dating site 'Natural Friends'. One of the things mentioned in her profile, was a liking for the music of Dean Friedman. Soon after we met, Ruth gave me a tape cassette (remember them?) of a selection of Dean's music. In the years that followed we saw him in concert countless times, including up in Edinburgh doing a concert for kids where a five year old Amy got up on stage with him for a song called 'Smelly Feet'.

Anyway, earlier this year, we had the crazy thought, what if we could get Dean Friedman to come and sing for us? A recent email from him (he operates an email list and regularly sends out all manner of stuff to his fans) mentioning that he occasionally does private concerts if he can fit them in around his tour dates. Still, it was stretching it a bit to think that he would interrupt his  2016 UK tour just for us right? So we dismissed the notion and thought about maybe a barn dance instead. I can't say I was too enthusiastic about that idea so left the Deano option in the back of my mind. The months passed until the subject came up again and I thought, sod it, I'll email the man! If you don't ask, you don't get. He can only say no!

So I did email Dean Friedman, fully expecting the response, if indeed their was one, to be 'Sorry, thanks for the request, but alas I'm way too busy touring'. When Dean did reply the answer was in fact yes! Well, kind of. Dean was definitely willing to sing for us in a private gig. BUT. On Ruth's actual birthday he would be back in the states before returning for the final leg of his UK tour. He did suggest several alternative dates, one of which was October 1st. So we grabbed it!

There then followed a series of emails between Dean and I that will be trawled out to bore people to death with until the day I croak. "Look everybody, this is the email Dean sent me when......" . Zzzzzzzzzzzzz!  Oh, come on, if I can't bore people with my 'tales of Dean Friedman', then it's a poor do!

Oh Lordy, Dean was actually going to sing for us at Ruth's 50th! This obviously meant we would need to get a sound system worthy of the man. Dean sent me a list and diagram of his minimum requirements, and Premier UK Events of Leicester were engaged to do the honours. As for venue, we had been to a concert at the Carillon Banqueting Rooms in Loughborough a while before and were suitably impressed so they were approached and booked.

Cake. Every party needs cake. It is the law after all and we knew exactly who should be approached to supply it - Chris Barnett of Barnett's coffee shop on Leicester Road. If you've never frequented his place, then do! This guy could thrash everybody currently on 'Bake Off' I reckon, though he says he not great at bread. Anyway, as you'll see later his cakes were fabulous!

Okay, let's fast forward to the day in question. Excitement was reaching fever pitch, particularly when we learnt that we were likely to be moving house in three weeks time! The impending chaos that would throw up had to be pushed to the back of our minds for a few days. first step, pick up aforementioned cakes from Barnett's. Wow! Cakes are awesome and duly delivered to Carillon Rooms around midday. Sorted.

Next, get changed and go to venue and await arrival of Premier's sound engineer and his kit at about 4 pm. Well he did arrive shortly after four - a guy called Jono, who set about unloading and putting it all together.

Jono of Premier UK Events,  our sound engineer for the night
 - top man!

Chris Hill and drummer David James gave their ideas on a suitable layout that should be okay with Dean and it all began to take shape.  Dean was due to arrive at about 6 pm for a sound check at 6.30 pm. By 6.20 pm there was still no sign of Dean though I knew he'd left his Derby hotel cos he'd emailed me to say so and he had posted a photo of a rainbow on Facebook from the hard-shoulder of the M1! At half past six, a figure across the road in a cagoule (it was now lashing down) rummaging in his car boot, emerged with a guitar case. Dean had arrived, and after some hasty and slightly star-struck introductions, Dean quickly got on with the soundcheck.

Now this was impressive, not least for the way Dean was insistent on getting everything just right. I've no idea what 'reverb' is, but there had to be exactly the right amount on each monitor. Chris Hill was clearly impressed by his professionalism. Caroline Sharpe, who was to do a duet with Dean, was introduced to him and they discussed a possible run through.
Dean to Caroline: "Would you like to run through 'Lucky Stars  or shall we just wing it?"
Caroline to Dean: "Nah, let's just wing it".
What a pair of professionals eh?

So, with the selection of music playing from Ruth's tablet (much to Ruth's relief) through the splendid sound system, all we now needed was for guests to show up. And they did, thank heavens, as there was a lot of buffet and cake to get through. Dean needed a bite to eat so I asked for some of our sumptuous buffet to be provided for him. While waiting at the bar for that we had a brief chat, with Dean asking me what I did for a living. Little did I know that he was cleverly fishing for a little bit of info for use in the intro to one of his songs later, the cheeky blighter!

Okay, on with the show. First up was Chris Hill Jazz, featuring not surprisingly, Chris Hill on piano, David James on drums, Fyrish Newton on double bass and Caroline Sharpe on vocals.

Chris Hill Jazz kick things off in style!



Caroline Sharpe

Chris Hill Jazz - 'just background music?
I really don't think so!

I had been talking to Chris earlier in the evening and asked him what we could expect from CHJ and he described them as 'just background music'.
"What?" I said, " if there's one thing Chris Hill Jazz will never be it is 'just background music'". And I think I was right. Far from just chatting and eating their buffet, the audience listened and applauded. Chris Hill Jazz were fabulous and our only regret of the whole night was that we didn't film any of their pieces which is a great shame.

Caroline Sharpe the stand-up comedian was very much in evidence again, telling us that she really needed the words to the next song, which it turned out, consisted of a series of 'do-do-do's! Very amusing Caroline!

After they finished their set, Ruth said a few words, emphasising that as well as it being her birthday party, this was their party too as a big 'thank you !

Thank you Chris Hill Jazz. Fabulous!

While CHJ did their stuff, Dean sneaked a quick look at them, I think to possibly check out Caroline with a view to their duet later. I think he was suitably impressed. By this time it had come to light that some of the older members of the audience might have to leave early for various reasons. Dean was told this and he suggested maybe cutting his set to just 45 minutes instead of the full hour. Well, the look of horror on both mine and Ruth's faces were a picture. Suffice to say, we preferred Dean to do his hour and as it happened everyone stayed to the end. Quite right too!

Then Dean said he was ready to go, so it was my turn to step up and utter a few words. It was all a bit of a blur, but I think I got over how crazy the initial idea of getting Dean Friedman to come and sing for us seemed to be and how utterly surreal it now seemed to be that I was actually standing in front of a microphone, about to introduce him at Ruth's birthday party. It was, and will remain forever I think, the most surreal moment of my life.

And suddenly there he was, standing there, thanking me for my kind words and starting his set with his usual concert opener, 'Company'. 

Dean Friedman.
No, not a tribute act but THE Dean Friedman performing for us at Ruth's party!
 

Several weeks previously, I had emailed Dean with our favourite Dean songs in the hope that he might include them in his set. He did just that of course, with Ruth's fave song 'Woman of Mine' featuring early on.



The 'one and only' Dean Friedman

I liked Dean's introduction of Anna's favourite song 'Well, well said the Rocking Chair' saying that it was written 'in a herbal state of consciousness'. Can't think what he meant!!!
My fave is 'Shopping Bag Ladies'. If any song serves to emphasise how Dean can move you to tears with his song writing it is this one.  It gets me every time.



The shopping bag ladies, they live in the terminal waiting room,
Patiently whiling their hours away,
Desperately keeping their demons at bay,
Making up lies about times that were good.
Extolling the virtues of motherhood,
Staunchly defending their sanity
Clutching one last shred of vanity
Fixing a kerchief she wears on her head
Covered in posies and lilacs in blues and in reds.

Don't pity me, don't pity me,
You beautiful bastard boy.
I'll be just who I am.

See what I mean? It ends with: 

Shopping bag ladies, it's hard to believe,
But once they were...... children.

Brilliant! The guy is a genius.

One of the highlights of the night was Dean's rendition of Amy's favourite song 'Jennifer's Baby'. Now this is a song that Amy has had on her i-phone and has played constantly for weeks to the point that she knew every nuance of the song and on the night Dean sang it directly to her and she sang every word with him. Around those songs Dean included some of his funny songs like  I Miss Monica, I Never Really Liked You and the very naughty S&M. And of course, following our little chat earlier, he started to introduce one particular song by referring to my job in garden maintenance and my previous occupation in highway design. But Dean knew 'what Alyn's REAL job is! Cue the song I Love My Job, a song about what to say to your wife when she hasn't got a clue what you do for a living!

But it's my job to love you honey,
And I LOVE my job!

AS I said, the man's a genius! He relayed the story of the Half Man Half Biscuit song The Bastard Son of Dean Friedman as an introduction to his hilarious 'revenge' song A Baker's Tale : The hitherto untold story of Nigel Blackwell's dubious origins. This had our dear chum Michelle Oldale in hysterics to a point where it seemed paramedics  might be required. By the end of the song Dean himself pretty much gave up.

As well as requesting a few of our favourites, we had also asked Dean if he would like to do a duet of possibly his most well known hit song, Lucky Stars, with Caroline. Yes indeed he was and he saved this for last. Click on the link below for something of a treat!

Particularly telling is the expression on Dean's face just as Caroline starts singing, a momentary acknowledgement that this girl can really sing! I somehow doubt that Mr Friedman has sung that song with many better singers than Ms Sharpe (he said, without a hint of bias).

 

And that was it. An hour of Dean Friedman over in a flash, but Dean stayed for a while afterwards to chat, sign CDs and pose for umpteen selfies.

What else can I say about Dean Friedman? His talent as a singer and song writer is unquestionable, but what a thoroughly nice guy he is. Not a hint of ego, just a wonderful human being who went out of his way to make it a night to remember for everyone. What other artist of his standing would do what Dean did for us on October 1st?

Who knows, but all I can add is that together, Dean Friedman and Chris Hill Jazz, made it a night to remember for everyone present. I will leave you with a few more photos from the remainder of the night. And the cakes. Oh yes, THE CAKES!!!

Cheers!

Dean Friedman meeting Ruth's siblings post gig.

Dean, signing a CD

Dean Friedman signing a CD after the gig.

 

Anna-Ruth and Michelle



Ruth and Anna-Ruth 

Julia Sharpe with Hamish McQuinn !?!

Julia again dancing with sister Ruth while 'Ginger' Mc Quinn looks on...

Morag McSporran - never seen her before in my life!

Shaun and Michelle Oldale (left) and Ruth Friday (centre)

Loads of folks doin' the 'hokey-cokey'!

Put yer right arm in, right arm out.
In out, in out, shake it all about!

There now follows some photos of cakes!

 

Victoria sponge!



Rhubarb and custard



Lime and coconut cake




Orange Valencia



Rainbow cake - about seven different flavours!

Champagne and strawberry cake - I think!?!



The cakes, courtesy of Barnett's of Leicester Road, Loughborough.



Sheep, frogs and a bunch of tenors.

Hallelujah! with my dear laptop now successfully upgraded from the nightmarish Windows 8 to Windows 10, I can now set about writing another blog. Finding time to do this has become increasingly important as 'my public', (well, Norman H actually), have become increasingly demanding.

 

Any road, as we say in Bolton, I have been reflecting lately about why I persist with this singing lark and what I actually gain from it. Regular readers will be aware of the pain and torture I endured just to get to the point of being able to stand in front of the audience and produce a vaguely acceptable noise. Several years on and the torture pre-performance hasn't really got any easier but the standard of performance has improved. At least I think so. But, the increased self-confidence that being able to do this has given me has been immense. I think I've changed as a human being as a consequence - less the shy retiring introvert and more able to speak up and fight for myself and my family.

 

But overall, I sing for fun. As I've often said, if it stops being fun, what is the point? Caroline has pointed out to all the Caroline Sharpe Singers in an email recently, the importance of just enjoying a concert and how forgetting a few words ain't no disaster! "If you forget the words, just sing la-la-la with conviction". Absolutely.

 

Before my first ever public performance in November 2011 when I was at the point of bottling out, Chris Hill said to me "what's the worst that can happen - you just feel a little foolish"? It has taken me about five years to see he was absolutely right. Messing up the words has always seemed to me to be the most humiliating catastrophe and if you take that attitude with you onto the 'stage', you are almost guaranteed a nervous, stilted performance.

 

Last month during my Fat Bottomed Girls performance at the Purple Angels. Dementia UK gig, I got something horribly wrong and starting singing 'Oh....' on my own. As I described in an earlier blog, Ruth laughed, causing me to laugh and that was that. It mattered nowt. Nobody remembers the minor faux pas, just the overall light hearted performance.

 

As well as the concert performances, rehearsals need to be fun too. The role of the MD is obviously important in this respect and I've sung under two fabulous MDs in Chris Hill (LMVC) and Caroline (CSS).  For CSS, Caroline is happy for pretty much anyone to come along and contribute whatever they can contribute as often as they are able to. And we have some fun. Oh boy, do we have some fun! We tenors have had, let me say, one or two difficulties recently, of which everyone in CSS will be aware. Ave Verum Corpus was for us, err, challenging? Let All the World in Every Corner Sing is bordering on tenor abuse in my book, but we are getting there. Slowly?

But, we have one hell of a laugh in doing so. Norman Hockley, Mark Astil, Shaun Oldale, Sid and myself have a cracking rapport and we kind of bounce off each other, helping each other through the tricky bits.

 

Norman however, seems to have sussed out my sense of humour and maybe this isn't a good thing. During last Saturday's rehearsal, he and Mark made me crack up to the point where I could barely sing! Mark, who hasn't been able to come in recent weeks due I think to it being the lambing season (he be a farmer you see!) heard his phone go off soon after the start, and Norman said something like "I think it was one of his sheep, I could hear it going 'baaaah'"!

When he came back, Norman asked " who was that Mark"?

"Baaaaaaaaa-bra" replied Mark, quick as a flash!

 

Well, it cracked me up, but I guess I'm easily amused. Mad as a bucket of frogs, but we ain't alone in CSS. The ladies have their share of crazy frogs, mentioning no names of course! ;-)

 

So yes, 'fun' is the key behind my singing and which if I'm honest, I wasn't getting in the Loughborough Male Voice Choir anymore, so was the natural choice to finish when I realised I had to give up something in my life to reduce my load. The Belvoir Wassailers are a choir that clearly have  fun when they sing. While being nowhere near to the standard of the LMVC, they clearly enjoy their singing as it comes across in their performance. The LMVC perform very professionally and sing beautifully, but the fun and enjoyment of singing doesn't often come across in their performances. I would love them to do more 'Amarillo' type pieces and really let themselves go, but that's just my personal wish for them as a choir.

 

For me, I will continue as long as it is F. U. N !

 

Cheers for now,

Alyn.