NEWS - JANUARY 2011...
It’s that time again when I wish everybody a happy new year - they certainly seems
to roll around quicker now I’m in my 50s!
Well I certainly can’t complain about 2010, it was great to get back into action
with The Sally Ironmonger Trio - our first gig of the year was in February, following
an enforced five month sabbatical after Brian’s long stay in hospital. We’re all
very relieved that Brian is back in such fine form - and the trio is still going
from strength to strength. Many new original songs have been added to the repertoire
and have been recorded, and some great new covers have been added to our live set.
It’s all very different from past years. Check us out on Sally’s MySpace and Facebook
pages. It’s hoped we’ll soon have three or four new songs written - enough for a
new album in the summer. It was fun also to get the big band back together to play
at my 50th - thanks to Mitch, Brian B and Tom for turning out.
It was brilliant also to be back doing such a lot of work on the Country circuit.
The Ray Peters Band is sounding the best ever, and is proving popular with both the
listeners and the dancers. Hope to see some of you at a club or festival soon. Phil
Bennett and I also gigged with The Carolinians which was most enjoyable. However,
with other projects being as busy as they are I’ve reluctantly decided that I simply
don’t have the time to continue with the band in 2011 .. But no doubt they’ll find
a fab replacement and carry on like before. I wish them luck, they’re a great bunch
and a super band.
Solo work was particularly plentiful throughout the year - weddings are obviously
coming back into fashion. So congratulations to all the happy couples I played for
in 2010.
I’m still teaching - and custom is plentiful. I let go of Chatham Girls’ Grammar,
meaning I’m providing tuition now in Rochester Math School, Balfour Junior School
and Chatham Grammar School for Boys. I had a total of fourteen Trinity Guildhall
examination passes during the year so well done to them all. Thanks are due to the
year 8 guitar group at Rochester Math who performed at School concerts and the carol
service at Rochester cathedral in 2010 - well done.
My Youtube channel continues to do good business - since inception my videos have
had approximately 800,000 views and I have over 2,000 subscribers. Great stuff. Over
50 of my arrangements for solo guitar have been transribed and are available to buy
through this website.
Have a great year! Hope to see you at a gig ... You’ll find my event listings blogged
on my MySpace channel.
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UP-TO-DATE GIG LISTING CAN BE FOUND ON MY MYSPACE PAGE www.myspace.com/shaunmurrayguitar
- CLICK THE LINK ON THE HOMEPAGE.
NEWS - JANUARY 2010...
A Happy new year to you all. 2009 was great for me, probably my most varied year
ever musically. I decided I was missing Country music, not having been part of the
scene for a couple of years since my run as deputy with Texas Tornadoes. So Phil
Bennett (The fiddler) and I hooked up with Rick McKay and endeavoured to get a trio
on the road. It wasn’t to be, however, as Rick unfortunately found himself with some
vocal problems which required a break from working.
So Phil and I - in a double-pronged offensive- joined forces with Drover (Pat and
Dave) and John and Robbie (ex-Homer) and are gigging the circuit as The Carolinians.
And in a move which I am particularly excited about, Phil and I have teamed up with
Ray Peters to re-form Ray Peters Band. Our first gig was in September in Dawlish,
followed by an October booking in Sheerness. Rehearsals have seen us tighten up and
the fiddle will slot nicely into the set, replacing the pedal steel from previous
line-ups. Like I say, I’m looking forward to this year with the trio, the diary is
rapidly filling up.
The Sally Ironmonger Trio is sadly resting at the moment following Brian’s heart
problems which saw him confined to hospital for no less than ten weeks. His recovery
will be a gradual one but we hope to back out there soon - I don’t think any of us
could live with the disappointment if we missed our annual gig (June) at the KamKlub
in Brussels. The 7-piece band which featured Sally and Brian - All Hat No Cattle
- has been shelved (due to Brian’s health) after our raucous debut at Broadstairs.
It’s unlikely to happen now which is a real shame as the band had a great sound,
a great vibe and was full of cracking musicians.
Solo gigs were a big part of the year for me also, thanks to all the couples who
booked me for weddings, and to those who engaged me for private dinners, recitals
and events. I must mention Stu Clark, whom I gigged with a couple of times and who
was my co-presenter at a workshop in March entitled ‘Arranging for solo guitar’.
More stuff with Stu is planned.
I also gigged with barn dance band Easy Street, the fabulous Bluegrass Buzzards (from
Essex/Suffolk), covers band Sidetrack and was again pleased to be part of the Training
Them Live project at the Under Siege concert in Rochester Castle Gardens in the Summer.
After a slack, recession-hit, 08/09 academic year, teaching is again plentiful -
well done and thanks to all students who took part in school concerts throughout
the year and to everyone who passed their Trinity Guildhall grade examinations, I’m
proud of each and every one of you.
An ever-growing part of my portfolio thesedays is arranging and transcribing, and
2009 was particularly successful. I have no fewer than 31 of my arrangements for
sale through this website: see the appropriate page. My special thanks are due to
Hilary Cooke who has looked after my YouTube filming operations and Website updates.
Finally, I thank everybody who was involved in the Finland operation. I was asked
to take part in a big new year’s eve gig in Tampere, Finland. I got to perform with
the great and the good from the Finnish music business - Top tenor, Pentti Hietanen,
and members of best-selling Finnish bands Leevi and the Leavings, and Freud, Marx,
Engels and Jung. It was a blast, even at minus 28 degrees! And I’ll be even happier
when my guitar - lost at Helsinki airport - comes home.
I will soon have available a compilation of my three solo CDs, all of which have
sold out, watch this space - or rather the CDs page of the website.
Have a great year!
NEWS - JANUARY 2009...
I thoroughly enjoyed all my performing activities during 2008 - The Sally Ironmonger
Trio went from strength to strength, with Sally and Brian’s original material featuring
significantly. More folk venues were played including the Faversham Hop Festival,
Broadstairs folk week and the Rochester Sweeps’ Festival. More such activities are
planned for this year, and the Trio has just recorded three new tracks, making 14
originals in all - look out for the re-packaged CD anytime now featuring these.
The 5-piece S.I. Band has called it a day for various reasons but will re-form for
selected gigs such as our annual KamKlub (Brussels) extravaganza.
I had a good amount of solo work: several weddings (congrats to all the happy couples
I played for) plus various private parties and a good number of gigs at the 144 jazz
club (Rochester and the new one at Maidstone)
My solo work took on a bit of a new dimension in ‘08 - during the year I uploaded
several videos of my solo arrangements to YouTube. It turned out to be a good move,
giving me a worldwide fan base with associated CD sales. Lots of players, too, it
turns out, are interested in purchasing scores for these arrangements, which is a
project I’ll undertake this year. At the time of writing my videos have been watched
by approximately 110,000 viewers.
I must mention too all the bands I guested with in ‘08: Texas Tornados, Easy Street
(including a couple of gigs that featured Country Dave on vocals), The Good-Up-Front
Band,Sidetrack and the fabulous Bluegrass Buzzards. Cheers to you all. I must also
say what an honour it was to be part of the TRAINING THEM LIVE pro band at the Under
Siege event at Rochester Castle in July. Please take a moment to check www.trainingthemlive.co.uk
to find out about the massive amount of good work that organisation does to support
and promote local youngsters with musical talent.
I’m really looking forward to 2009, it promises to be a year of new challenges -
I’ll be back on the Country circuit as part of the Rick McKay band, a trio comprising
Rick, myself and Phil Bennett on fiddle. Rick, a fixture on the circuit for many
years, is an amazing singer and incredible guitarist. He was the voice of Garth Brooks
in the big band production of the Garth Brooks tribute act a few years ago ‘The Thunder
Rolls’, playing theatres and concert venues nationwide. His most recent project was
as a duo called ‘Pure Country’ with his wife, Jodie Mitchell. However, with the couple’s
ever-expanding family Jodie is relaxing her performing duties leaving the way clear
for Rick to embark on this project. Bigger gigs will see the trio expand to a 5-piece
with Mitch Mitchell on drums and Brian Barnett on bass - my cohorts from the Sally
Ironmonger band and Shameless before that. Rick’s MySpace page can be accessed through
mine.
I’m also planning to do some concerts, gigs and acoustic guitar masterclasses with
fingerstyle legend from Manchester, Stu Clark. The workshops will feature advice
on arranging for solo guitar and Tommy Emmanuel-type techniques such as slapping,
tapping, cascading harmonics and percussive stuff, at which our Stu is a master.
Look out for these - our first event will take place 8-10 march. See you at a gig,
I hope - happy new year.
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NEWS - JANUARY 2008...
A happy new year to you all! I had a great one, as I knew I would - loads of fun
gigs with Sally Ironmonger - in both trio and band format - including the wonderful
KamKlub in Brussels, who have asked us to go back this June. Sally and Brian also
completed their album of original songs - Graveyards and Other Comic Tales - which
we recorded at Ranscombe Studios in April. Mention of Ranscombe reminds me that I
recorded my third solo album Capricho there in the summer.
My best wishes go to Emma & Mark, Sally & Paul, Mark & Marlena, Kim & Chris, Adam
& Kinga, Adam & Suzy, Nathan & Alison and Martin & Wendy, whose weddings I played
at during 2007.
Well done also to all my students who passed their guitar grade exams, and to my
guitar groups at Chatham Girls’ Grammar and Rochester Math Schools, who performed
fantastically at School concerts throughout the year.
I thoroughly enjoyed stepping in to help Texas Tornados again with 30 or so gigs
during the year. The excellent Roger McHugh from Cambridge is now in place on a permanent
basis so I wish them a happy and successful 2008 with the new line-up. I know I’ll
have at least one gig with them (March 3rd) this year, so I’ll look forward to that
with relish.
Thanks also to The Classical Guitar Agency, The Romantic Guitar agency, The Ancient
Raj Restaurant (Canterbury), Zucca (Rochester), The 144 Club (Rochester) and Mercedez
Benz (Maidstone) who all booked me for solo events. I also enjoyed playing a couple
of events with my friend and fellow player Calvin Beedle, as well as stepping in
with covers band Sidetrack and Ceilidh band East Street on a few occasions.
Finally, I must must mention the fantastic Demand, whom I shared a stage with throughout
December at Gillingham Football Club. Matt, Andrea and Stacey look fantastic, sound
amazing and work really hard. They’re just about the most professional act I’ve ever
worked with and it was an absolute honour to make music with them. (www.demandzone.co.uk)
Have a good one - see you later!
NEWS JAN 07.
Welcome to 2007! Last year was a busy one for me which included
Barn dances with Ceilidh Band Easy Street, some classical concerts both with my regular
duettist Calvin Beedle and with Tenor Adriano Graziani, (www.adrianograziani.com)
some far-flung country circuit bookings with Texas Tornados, plus a sprinkling of
solo wedding bookings during the summer months. I also found time to record my solo
CD Nails and Nylon and do sessions at the studios of both Jim Riley in Rochester
and Dave Hayward in Hemel Hempstead.
October saw the British tour of U.S country star Joni Harms when I was honoured to
be invited to be her lead guitarist for the thirteen dates. Check her out on www.joniharms.com.
As well as a busy diary with my usual outfit the Sally Ironmonger Band (www.sallyironmonger.co.uk)
I spent the last five weeks of the year playing a residency at Gillingham FC’s banquetting
suite with function band Demand (www.demandzone.co.uk), while squeezing in some lovely
solo gigs at Italian Restaurant Zucca in Rochester High Street and the 144 jazz club
in Rochester.
2007 will I’m sure be just as busy – more solo work is expected and I’m looking forward
immensely to the gig at The Kamklub in Brussels with Sally and the full band. No
doubt I’ll be cropping up on the Country circuit as well from time to time. I’ll
update this page regularly with details of where I’ll be performing and with whom.
