I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I was mainly eating cheese and drinking wine but in between I was out gigging with Flood The Floor and my band Soul Grenades. I hope you all have a lovely New Year.

Thanks

K

I have been back on the road with What The Floyd which is a tribute show to the music of Pink Floyd, playing all the classics from The Wall, Dark Side and Wish you Were Here. It is great to play these beautiful venues with a cracking band and crew so keep an eye on the website for dates and tickets. https://www.whatthefloyd.com

I have also been busy gigging with Emily Capell as we played some of the last festivals of summer as well as a gig at the o2 Assembly Hall supporting the Fun Loving Criminals which as you can see was pretty cool.

I have also been playing gigs with top function band Flood The Floor which has seen me gigging in the UK, Portugal and Italy.

There is a great jam night at the British Legion Club in Oxted run by Mike Panos and a freind asked me to join him there for a jam and we had a top night. It was a good excuse to have a play and I ended up bumping into many of my past and present students. If you are on the look out for a friendly jam then go check it out.

Thanks

K

@The Studio

My students have all been doing really well with their lessons and I am very happy and proud to say that a number of them have passed there Trinity exams this month so a big congratulations to them. I will upload some photos of them once their certificates have arrived. Most of my students have taken their Trinity Music Exams on line which was a godsend due to Covid restrictions. This involved them filming their 3 chosen pieces as well as a number of other tests and then uploading to the Trinity portal where they are examined and the results are then sent to me via email. I have a few spaces availblle for on line lessons and am hoping to open up to face to face again in the coming months so if you are interested in either on line or face to face then please email me at keirguitar@hotmail.com for more info.

GIGS

As you can see I was recently in Dubai with Emily Capell supporting Republica at the The Square, it was lovely to get some sun on me after a British winter and we also played Bearded Theory Festival last weekend which was great.

Emily also has some gigs coming up supporting Madness as well as The Fun Loving’s Criminals

I also had the pleasure of providing some of the guitars for the recent ITV programme The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe working under the guidance and superb talents of composer Dan Nolan.

My band Soul Grenades also had a great gig supporting George Clinton of Parliament at the Albert Hall Manchester.

I have also been gigging with amazing singer Roesanna as weddings start opening up so if you are after an Acoustic Duo for your event get in touch here https://www.singrosanna.co.uk

Thanks

K

Emily Capell’s tour kicked off in November and saw us up and down the country playing to busy venues which is great to see especially with the current situation which has really had an effect on the ability to promote and complete a tour so thanks to everyone that came out.

TEACHING

My students have all been doing very well and as I mentioned several of them passed their guitar grades both classical and electric which is brilliant for them. Students can either focus on their classical exams that involve learning several pieces of music as well as learning to read music notation and the theory that goes with it. Some students like this approach but others go in for the Trinity Rock School exams which is still a graded music exam but focus more on contemporary music and “rocking out”!. I have a limited number of lesson spaces free so if you are interested then feel free to email me at keirguitar@hotmail.com for more info.

GIGS

My band Soul Grenades also released our tongue in cheek Christmas song which involved silly costumes, mince pies and everything you would expect from SG. We also performed our 100th gig and had a blast and we are working on new music for 2022.

I also had the pleasure of playing some Carol Concerts with the incredible London Concert Chorus in aid of Bromley Mind which was a blast as well as gigs with Firefly featuring West End Star Emma Hatton and top band Flood The Floor.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and lets see what 2022 has to offer.

Thanks. K

What a difference from this time last year!. I have been fortunate enough to play more gigs in the last month than I managed in the last 18months and am very happy to be out playing again.

TEACHING

I have been busy with my online teaching and have had a lot of new starters as well as my regular students and this month we are having our first social which I am really looking forward to. It gives all my students a chance to meet and discuss all things guitar and a great way to welcome the new students in. I have to say a special well done to my students Advait and Sishir who have just completed their rock school grades and came back with fantastic results. If you are interested in lesson feel free to email me at keirguitar@hotmail.com for more info.

As I said I have been very busy out gigging again as wedding season has got off to a flying start and I have been out playing with the excellent Flood The Floor, The Crowds and Firefly.

In July I was in the studio recording guitars for Natasha Hamiltons new album and we had our first gig at Matt and Phreds in Manchester last week which was sold out and was a great gig

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As well as weddings the festival season has got going again and I have been out with Emily Capell and the boys. We will be touring the UK in November so come along and check her out. rocking the Gateway festival

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My band Soul Grenades has also been getting back in to action with some new music coming together as well as some festivals and a very late, sweaty and brilliant gig at Hootananys in Brixton.

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Here’s to hoping for more gigs for the rest of the year.

Thanks

K

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This month things have felt like they are slowly opening up again. I have been in the studio with Natasha Hamilton (Atomic Kitten) recording her brilliant new album under the command of Mr Matt Cowley. We recorded at the wonderful Soup Studios which is on a boat on the Thames and had a great week with the guys.

Soul grenades have been rehearsing as we have some real gigs coming up at The Elderflower festival, head over to the website for tickets

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My lessons have been very busy with my students entering for both Trinity Classical and Rock School grades. If you are interested in lessons please email me at keirguitar@hotmail.com and I can provide you with all the information. Lessons are currently online using Skype, Facetime or Zoom.

Thanks

Keir

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My online guitar lesson’s have been keeping me very busy since the start of the year as you can see above. Here is a selection of some of my students who are working hard with me on their guitar lessons. All lesson are currently online using either Zoom, Skype or Facetime and all that is needed is a phone or tablet. If you are interested in lessons then feel free to get in touch at keirguitar@hotmail.com

Due to Covid there has been very little gigging but they are slowly starting to come in the books for later in the year and I will be playing with Emily Capell at Sunset On The West, Gateways Festival as well as a few dates supporting Madness so looking forward to the summer.

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Thanks

K

I just wanted to wish all my students past and present a very Happy New Year. It has been a very challenging year for all of us but I wanted to thank my students for their hard work and successes through out the year. Myself and my students seemed a little sceptical about on line lessons when we first went into lockdown but I must say that the process has worked brilliantly. Apart from the very rare internet glitches, dogs knocking cameras over and broken guitar strings everyone has shown their resilience and willingness to give it a go. After talking with students almost all of them have said how quick and easy it is to have their lessons online now, what with juggling life and work. With students receiving a PDF of the lesson material as well as the option to record the lessons the overwhelming response has been very positive. My students have still managed to reach their personal goals as well as continue taking their online Trinty grades. Having only done a handful of gigs this year I very much look forward to when I can get back out on the road and play some music but until then take care and Happy New Year.

It was a quite year however there were a few highlights as you can see. The year started with the Emily Capell tour and ended with a wonderful Christmas concert organised by the brilliant Torchlight Productions.

Take care and Happy New Year.

K

 

NEWS 

Well things have changed a little in the last few months. Due to social distancing it has not been possible to have face to face lessons but as you can see from above all of my lessons have now moved online and its been a huge success. With so many options now available to us to communicate online it has become very easy to maintain a high level of  teaching via the internet. I think some students worried they did not have the equipment needed to carry on their lessons online but all of them have found how easy it is. With a camera phone or tablet and free software such as Zoom, Skype or Facetime and maybe a set of headphones they have all enjoyed the process. With the ability to screen share information as well as me sending all lesson material in PDF format students have all the  information as they would do if they were coming to my home teaching studio. Some students travel over an hour to get to me and they have remarked how much easier it is for them this way. I also have the ability to record parts of the lesson so students can go over any material again or can watch something several times so they can understand it which has been really helpful. If you are interested in lesson then feel free to get in touch at keirguitar@hotmail.com. Here is a clip of some of the songs i have been teaching this week.

 

Thanks and take care.

K