A Disappointing Year

Earlier this year, I promised that the recording of my rock opera, Bewilderment, would be complete by the end of the year. Unfortunately, partly through my own perfectionism, but more so due to things beyond my control, I have made nowhere near as much progress as I had anticipated.

This time last year, I announced that I had completed the bass and drums and intended to review those and tweak as necessary, early in the year, before ploughing on with recording. The tweaks became wholesale changes in places and at the time of writing, I am currently reworking the bass and drums to track 16 of 25. The changes have been well worth it though, I would add!

The issue beyond my control has been that my wife has been in hospital for the past 6 months, leaving me as sole carer for our 3 children and making twice weekly hospital visits. This has of course severely limited the time I have had available for my music. This has also meant that I have been unable to get out and perform much at all, hence my very short list of gigs for the year. It’s unclear right now how long this situation will continue.

On the more positive side, I was delighted to manage a couple of performances just before Christmas. My new cover for the year was George Ezra’s Paradise, which I enjoy playing and it goes down very well. I’ve also brought back some real oldies from the 50s with some Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly, which I haven’t done for a number of years.

So, looking ahead, I guess that things can only get better and I will keep chipping away at my rock opera, however long it takes! I hope you all have a very happy New Year!

Paul