Month: July 2014

June 2014: I’m back!

/ Neal Moore / Leave a comment

I know it’s been a while since I last updated the blog but now that my internet is up and running again I shall be updating more often. The studio has been doing great and my next group of students are taking their exams in a couple of weeks so best of luck to them all. There are still a few slots available on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons with the potential to start a Friday afternoon session as well. Lesson can be weekly or fortnightly and are either 30 or 60 minutes long.

There are quite a few students who feel that a one on one lesson can be a little much for them so if you are keen on starting lessons but don’t fancy having a one on one lesson please get in contact and we will try and “buddy” you up with some one else or you may know a friend or colleague who is keen to start then bring them a long and reduce the cost of the lesson. Please feel free to email me at keirguitar@hotmail.com with any questions.

In addition to lots of teaching at local schools I have been gigging with Soul Factory, my funk band Soul Grenades and my function band Firefly who recently welcomed back original drummer Chris Persiva, who has been globetrotting of late.  I also turned my hand to the ukelele for the first time and you can see how that went below:

Finally I’m really excited to be in the studio with Kai McKenzie recording guitar tracks for new pop sensation Charlie Jones and you can hear some of my handiwork in the videos below:

Big shout out to my girl Kellie Leigh who had an incredible session with Duke Dumont in the Radio 1 Live Lounge as you can see.  Take it easy and have a great summer, K

Happy New Year!

/ Neal Moore / Leave a comment

A happy new year to you all, I hope it was fun and you ate as much as I did! I am sitting here listening to Mr Joe Bonamassa and man can he play, I strongly suggest you all listen to him and sit in awe of his playing and, more importantly, his tone.

Dukes of HavocSo, December I was fortunate enough to be manically busy. I had a full diary of teaching in school and at my own studio and I was out gigging most nights with the awesome Dukes of Havoc. These fantastic bunch of guys made the Christmas residency most fun so a massive thank you to James Mc Master, Al Hermes and Julian McClaren who was, worryingly, the brains of the operation. We played our a*ses off every night and it was a blast and my Egnater Amp was roaring, which is all ways fun.

In between gigs and teaching I had some time in the studio with a great producer and song writer Mark (your second name will always allude me so apologies mate). I recorded acoustic and electric on some songs and it sounded great.

After a week of eating cheese and drinking red wine I had to get up off the sofa and make my way to a New Years Eve gig with a great band called The Masqueraders again with Mr James McMaster.  Big thanks to Toby as well. But now January is here so it’s back to teaching and gigging. Hope you all had a great Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Thanks, K

November 2013: An ‘Ell of A Month

/ Neal Moore / Leave a comment

EllaThe studio has been very busy the last few months so I would like to say a big hello to all my new students. A large portion of my students are all practicing like mad in preparation for their exams coming up in December so I want to wish them all luck for the next few weeks. Exams are a great way to help a student focus on an ‘end goal’ and are a great way to measure your progress over the course of several months as well as give you a real sense of achievement at the end and that is no more evident than in this picture of one of my students Ella Pettit who this summer gained her Trinity Initial Guitar Grade. This is great news so brilliant job Ella, well done!

Although a lot of my students study for their grades I also teach a lot of people who just want to learn for the fun of playing and the love of rock n’ roll so don’t be put off if the very thought of exams makes your palms sweat!

This month has also seen me busy gigging with my own function band Firefly and I’ve been rehearsing with Dukes of Havoc for our Christmas residency so lots of classic Christmas tunes to look forward to.

That’s all, have a great month and get in touch with me at keirguitar@hotmail.com for anything at all.

Thanks, Keir

 

SeptOber 2013: Funk Soul Teacher

/ Neal Moore / Leave a comment

It has been a busy couple of months at my new teaching studio which I am very happy about. I have had an influx of new students which has seen me teaching everything from Bach to Hungarian minor scales, Jeff Beck to grade preparation, which is all very encouraging. Many of my students are now preparing for their Trinity Classical Guitar gradings which take place at the end of November and several of my students are taking the excellent Rock School gradings which are guitar grades aimed at the modern day electric guitar player.  Although it has been busy I still have a few slots available and may be opening up for Friday afternoon lessons so please feel free to get in contact if you are considering some lessons at keirguitar@hotmail.com.

I have also been out gigging and depping for the great Soul Factory who play all the best 70’s and 80’s disco and soul, think George Benson meets Lionel Ritchie so the chorus pedal and compressor have been turn up to max. That band features some great playing by the likes of Andy Hodge, Wol Webster, Richard Green and Malcolm so thanks guys, great fun. I have also been out with my function band Firefly who had the fortune of having a great drummer friend of mine Julian McClaren playing for us, which is awesome and I’m looking forward to gigging a Christmas residency with Julian’s band The Dukes Of Havoc at the start of December. September also saw me finish of a load of gigs with great function band 29 Fingers  so looking forward to seeing them again soon for more rocking gigs.

Talking of all things funk I had an audition with a great band Soul Grenades and they liked my chops enough to get me involved with them so I am really chuffed and looking forward to gigging with them very soon so keep checking for gig dates.

When I haven’t been working I’ve had the great pleasure of seeing my very dear and talented friend Kelli Leigh (whose album I played on at the start of the year) singing backing vocals for pop starlet Jesse J. A great night was had and partying with the air trumpet after was most amusing. I got to check out a new friend of mine, simply know as Jon The Drummer, band play by the name of Atlantic Soul Orchestra and they were AWESOME, I strongly suggest you check these guys out providing slick outfits with old skool tunes served up in the funkiest way.

Finally a shout out to one of my students Teresa Jefferies who has excelled with her hard working approach to guitar since she started having lessons with me many years ago and has recorded this great version of Sultans Of Swing by Dire Straits. All the guitar and recording was done by her so well done Teresa, loving your work.

 

August 2013: Summer Fun

/ Neal Moore / Leave a comment

August has flown by and now I’m preparing for the new school term to start (where does the time go?). The best part of this month was finding out that all my students passed their grades with flying colours so I would like to say very well done to them all. Now they have had the summer off we can crack on with the next lot!!!

In other news my band Firefly had a brilliant gig at the Cudham Craic festival which managed to raise a lot of money for Bromley Mind so well done to all the bands, comedians artists who took part.

 Firefly #2 Soul Factory #1

I also had a brilliant gig with SOUL FACTORY a fantastic funk soul band headed up by the super talented Mr Richard Green featuring some fantastic players so be sure to check them out at http://www.soulfactory.co.uk/

As well as gigs I have been recording and my teaching schedule continues to keep me busy. Speaking of which I still have a few spaces available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so feel free to get in contact if you are interested in lessons, I teach from absolute beginner to advanced and all styles so just drop me an email at me@keirmoore.com if your interested.

I am also looking into starting some short evening classes for adults. I taught for many years for Bromley Adult Education and I now have the perfect venue to host small group classes. I am thinking of running a total beginner class and an intermediate rock class, there may also be one off master classes covering topics such as country guitar, jazz playing and theory workshops so if you are interested please feel free to email me at keirguitar@hotmail.com.

Well done again to all my students and more news coming soon.

Thanks, Keir

Feb 2013: Composing

/ Neal Moore / Leave a comment

I have been getting into composition recently after approaching several short film students about providing music for their films and as a result have composed a couple of new pieces. The first is for a romantic breakup thing and the second one is about a young girl living with a faulty heart. You can check them out below:

Feb 2013: It’s Been A While

/ Neal Moore / Leave a comment
Feb 2013: It's Been A While

It’s funny…neither of us can hear what the other is saying!

So it’s been a busy start to the year so thought I had better start updating this site a bit more frequently as people have been checking it out but nothing new has gone up so I will try and get on top of that. It’s a place for me to upload things I have been working on, so what has been going on…?

Well firstly I had a lovely trip at the start of last month to Paris for a gig with the All Stars and I was taken in by how lovely Paris looked even though we were only there short amount of time I think I will have to get back there pretty soon.

I also had a fantastic time flying to Poland to record guitars for the ever so brilliant and talented Kelli Leigh. The album sounds amazing and we cant wait for it to come out. It was a great great time and Seba & Annett made me very welcome so thanks guys and Kelli’s vocals were sick so make sure you check  her out at www.kellileigh.com.