NEW CD READY!
Jan 2012: Rest? What rest? (see previous post). This year seems to be shaping up as busy as the last one. No gigs at present but lots of teaching and working on the final mixes for the NEW CD – which is finally NOW AVAILABLE – SEE SIDE PANEL! It’s called Hot Ukulele! and the track listing is:
Hot Ukulele
Stealing Chips
She Wears Red Feathers
Beautiful Island
Stephen Hawking Lives In My Downstairs Loo
Over The Rainbow
The Map Of Australia
Boogulele (Ukulele Boogie)
Cradle Song
Wellington Rag
High-Visibility Trousers

NEW YEAR, NEW CD AND A NEW REGIME
Jan 2012: After an extremely busy 2011 it’s time to say Happy New Year to all you lovely people who bother to read these ramblings. As you’ll read on the Clive Live page, I’m on a different tack this year having made a decision to do fewer gigs. Actually apart from the odd private function I haven’t got any gigs at all for a while and I’ll be glad of the rest! I’ll be concentrating on tuition, a few workshops and finishing the new album I’ve been working on for months… and months. It’s just about ready – finally! – to be unleashed. Watch this space...

3 SCHOOLS IN A WEEK
November 2011: Not many public gigs at the moment but – boy! I’ve been busy. I’ve just done three schools in a week, one being my regular once-a-week in the local primary school, while the other two were full-day workshops followed up with a concert. One of these was at a school for deaf children and my (deaf) buddy Derek Pearce came along to help. It was exhausting work but the kids were marvellous. The evening concert was attended by over 100 people and went down extremely well. It's the second time Derek and I had performed at that school. The first time was 28 years ago. They liked it so much they invited us back!

GETTING LOST IN MY "HOME CITY"
October 2011: It was nice returning to Derby to take part in the city's excellent Folk Festival. I've played the Assembly Rooms several times before (Roaring Jelly, R.Cajun) but not for years and I kept getting lost in its vast corridors. Although I was actually born in Watford we left before I was old enough to remember it, and I grew up in and around Derby. But the road system has changed so much I got lost there too. Maybe I'm just getting old...

THIRD SWANAGE F.F. IN A ROW
September 2011: Another great reception at Swanage Folk Festival has resulted in being invited back again in 2012 – this will be three years on the trot.

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS?
September 2011: Not necessarily. Haven't been well recently (as mentioned in earlier posts) and rather than moan about it over the summer I've just not posted any news at all. Anyway, I'm getting better now and I'm very glad to report that my last three gigs have all been belters! In chronological order they were: Malmesbury Carnival, a small wedding reception in Twickenham, and Swanage Folk Festival. All different, all successful. I must be getting something right! And despite not chasing gigs anymore, gigs are still coming my way.

"A WANDERING MINSTREL, I..."
July 2011: A favourite gig format of mine is the strolling ukulele minstrel, and that was me at a 70th birthday party recently in Chertsey. A great opportunity to let loose the Bowley and sing some "proper" old songs while strolling round a nice English garden, in and out of gazebos. People sang along, clapped along, applauded and even cheered! Pity my voice wasn't in better nick – been struggling for some time with blocked nose and chesty cough – but nobody seemed to notice and the party boy was well chuffed!

WHOOSH! 2011 IS MORE THAN HALF OVER!
July 2011: After the busiest six months I've had in many years I'm now easing off for a while – just a bit. Work is still coming in (even though I stopped chasing it some time ago) but I'm taking some time to concentrate on writing and recording – and getting my breath back! I've got a few festival gigs and private functions coming up, and I'll be resuming regular school work in September, but my monthly workshops at arts centres have stopped for now. The rising cost of petrol is a factor in that, along with a spell of mild but uncharacteristically persistent bad health.

REAL COMMUNITY SPIRIT LIVES ON!
June 2011: Ashton Keynes Music Festival proves that real communities, with real community spirit, still exist in England. Excellent village event run by and for the village, with a few pros (e.g. me) brought in for specific events. Very well done and great fun.

BACK SEAT JIVIN' AGAIN
June 2011: After a 6-year hiatus the Back Seat Jivers have been back in action, rockin' & rollin' at a private party at Sheffield University. A brief rehearsal the day before seemed to do the trick, the songs flooding back like a bunch of lost lost old mates. We were a bit ragged here and there, but on the whole – a great gig. It went down well, and the bar manager wants to get us back! Who knows? – it could be a bit of a rockin' renaissance! Phil and I got stuck in a 2-hour stationary jam on the M1 on the way back, but it was still worth it.

HAVE UKE, WILL TRAVEL
May 2011: This definitely a first! Two of my pupils were recorded playing their ukuleles by a documentary film unit in Iran – yes, that’s right, IRAN! In intrepid style, accompanied their two young kids as well as their ukes, they’ve been travelling in unusual locations for three months. So even the Iranians are falling in love with the ukulele!

NEW FAVOURITE UKULELE SHOP
April 2011: When UAS (ukulele acquisition syndrome) strikes, you really must visit the Southern Ukulele Store in Bournemouth (see link on LINKS page) to satisfy your craving. I did, and came home with a lovely Barnes & Mullins "Bowley" soprano. Great shop with friendly, knowledgeable staff.

BUSIEST JANUARY EVER
Jan 2011: January is usually a quiet month for musicians, but for some reason I can't quite fathom this has been the busiest January of my musical life. All the gigs and workshops were good but a unique highlight has to be a private gig I did in London for a couple. Just the two of them – and me, playing uke in a corner of a beautifully set out private dining room while they ate and drank with live music (me). Oh, and he proposed to her too. Oh, and she accepted. It was probably the most romantic scene I have ever witnessed. Lovely.

CH, 2010/11