Well what a month October was. A real mixture of good and not so good, but we’ll deal with the good!
The great stuff being those of the concerts in the Czech Republic, the shows at Lancaster Priory, the Noisy Notes concert at the Royal Festival Hall and the Sir Tim Rice concert in Gateshead where I performed The Hymn and Julia from 1984 with Emmie Beckitt.............
..........and whilst on the subject of Emmie. Our Xmas single is released on December 4th and I am absolutely thrilled with the recording which has on it The English Chamber choir, Dave Colquhoun and the Orion strings and woodwind.
There are already numerous radio and press interviews lined up for Emmie in the lead up to the release of Welcome a Star and the response from those in the media who have heard it already has been tremendous so hopefully it will get its fair share of plays over the Xmas period.
Here is a copy of the press release that is going out from her management company.
WELCOME A STAR – THE BEAUTIFUL NEW CHRISTMAS SINGLE FROM RISING TALENT EMMIE BECKITT AND RICK WAKEMAN
Welcome A Star is the first single from 15-year-old soprano Emmie Beckitt, in collaboration with classically trained pianist, composer and TV presenter, Rick Wakeman. Rick first met Emmie, who has been singing classical repertoire since the age of ten, at a fundraiser for Kids’n’Cancer – and was so impressed by her crystal clear voice and effortless range that he decided to record a song from his oratorio The New Gospels, which tells the real story of Christmas, with her.
The result is Welcome A Star, a beautifully melodic Christmas song, released by Hope Records via Nova Distribution, on Friday 4 December. Welcome A Star was recorded by Emmie with the English Chamber Choir and the Orion Orchestra, and features Rick on keyboards.
Currently studying for her Grade 8 exam in singing, Emmie Beckitt takes part in the Senior School Chamber Choir at St Augustines, Scarborough, North Yorkshire and is also a member of her school orchestra and jazz band, as she plays tenor saxophone, violin and piano. When aged only 13, she supported Katherine Jenkins in concert and a year later, appeared at Roy Wood’s sell-out show at the Birmingham Symphony Hall, where she received a standing ovation. She recently sang The Hymn, composed by Sir Tim Rice and Rick Wakeman, with an orchestra and choir, at The Sage Gateshead, as part of the Tim Rice Concert Series.
A Fellow of the Royal College of Music, Professor of the London College of Music, former YES keyboard player, Watchdog presenter and renowned Grumpy Old Man, classically trained pianist Rick Wakeman began his career as a much-sought-after session musician in the late Sixties, playing on more than 2,000 records by a wide variety of artists, including Cat Stevens, David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Black Sabbath. In the early Seventies, he found fame in his own right as a member of first Strawbs and then YES. As a solo artist and with YES, he has sold more than 50,000,000 albums. He has written a number of film scores and has become a TV regular, appearing on shows like Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Countdown and of course, Grumpy Old Men and Watchdog. He still finds time to perform numerous concerts around the world every year, ranging from his extremely popular one-man show to extravaganzas featuring symphony orchestras and choirs.
Both Emmie and Rick are patrons of the Chesterfield charity Kids‘n’Cancer and a percentage of profits from the sale of Welcome A Star will be donated to that organisation.
Welcome a Star is released on Friday 4 December, and is available in CD and digital single formats.
Finishing off October, a last minute participation in a documentary about Top Gear was great fun. I am led to understand it will be broadcast early in the New Year. More news when we have it.
I also co-hosted three shows with Dave Myers, the wonderful Hairy Biker for Planet Rock whilst Simon was on holiday
November is a considerably quieter month for me, as indeed is December.
On the 6th November I am recording a series of radio shows for Trevor White for some local stations, (not sure which ones yet but will let you know when I do).
Wednesday 11th is the Classic Rock Awards and I have been invited as a guest. Nothing to do but eat too much and enjoy to live music and those collecting well deserved awards.
On the 22nd it is my last Grand Order of Water Rats Ball as King and it should be an amazing night. We have the Orion orchestra, the English Chamber Choir, the tremendous comic Mick Miller, myself doing a bit, The Sylvia Young School, the Steve Etherington band JUMP and some dancers from Strictly and an operatic soprano who will join everybody for our Last Night of the Water Rats Proms.
It is our only main fund raiser of the year and every penny of profit goes to help our charities that we support. There are still both single places and tables left, so if you fancy a Xmas night out to remember, please consider this as not only will you have a great time but also you will be supporting some wonderful charities.
On the 26th I will be filming a programme about keyboards with a Dutch television company and can’t give you anymore information than that at the moment!!!
Finally, it is with a tinge of sadness that I have decided to sell my wonderful 1986 Dodge Ram van that I bought during the Union tour way back to drive around America in, and indeed was joined on much of the tour by Trevor Rabin, Alan White and Bill Bruford.
Mr Dodge, as he lovingly became known, eventually came back to the UK and was used on a couple of ERE tours before ending up being sold to Planet Rock who had it as a prize in a massive competition.
I always missed owning Mr Dodge and when the opportunity came to buy him back, I did just that. It has not been looked after and considerable work was undertaken in preparation for him to star in the BBC 4 documentary about the tour bus.
Mr Dodge has still only done around 56,000 genuine miles and I have all the original registration documents from America as well, but I simply no longer have anywhere to keep him and he is languishing under a huge caravan car cover.
Truth of the matter is Mr Dodge needs some TLC and to be driven and enjoyed so the time has come.
If anybody is interested at all, then any enquiries or sensible offers to Alan Machen at The Jade Motor Company.
 |
 |
 |
So that’s about all the news to date. I’m sure there will be much to report in the December GORR about plans for 2016 and a few forecasts as well for what I hope will happen.
Not many days left until Xmas!!!
See you next month..........Rick
Previous Editions
August 2026
July 2026
June 2026
May 2026
April 2026
March 2026
February 2026
January 2026
December 2025
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009