Scott Bramley's Blog

Phoneix from the flames

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 20:44:00 +0000

My housemates and I recently met with a spot of bother, returning home one evening to discover our flat had been broken into. Apart from having a huge hole in my door my laptop, iPad, digital piano and synthesizer were missing, only half of which - the instruments - were insured (I know, my bad). This was shocking and disruptive (we're now triple locking our door) but I'm finally out of the other side having replaced everything that was stolen. And therein lies the silver lining: I've been able to buy the piano that I've had my eye on for the past couple of years - the Nord Piano 2. A phoenix from the flames. For starters it's big, red and shiny but it has a whole host of sweet sounds which can be swapped and changed by connecting it to a laptop. It had it's first run on Friday at a wedding at which my bass player and I were playing for a drinks reception and it sounded superb. I haven't quite figured out all of the bells and whistles yet but that'll be my next challenge before the main wedding season kicks in and I'm taking it out with the band. After a horrible experience it looks set to be an exciting year.

Summertime Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 21:03:00 +0000

Winter has burst onto the scene with a vengeance. This time last week I was in short sleeves. Today I was bundled up in layers, wrestling with an umbrella and wishing to God I'd worn a scarf. I'm at home now but having made a pact with myself not to turn the heating on until November I've had to resort to climbing beneath a duvet to keep warm. I could do with investing in a pair of those fingerless gloves that hobos wear to aid my typing. I doubt I'll hold out until November - I'm sure I'll break soon enough. In any case I guess this is the price we pay for such a glorious and long lasting summer. It's been a busy one too. Here are some highlights of the summer season:

In April I performed as half of a piano/vocal and double bass duo at my first hen party. We were quite respectably attired - we at least had clothes on. I can't say the same for the butlers that had been employed for the evening. Poor fellas!

May began with an 80th birthday party in Doncaster for my housemate's grandfather, a Souled on Groove reunion gig for a wedding in Marlow, then flying solo again for a wedding in Manchester and another in Chester with the Scott Bramley Trio.

June saw me playing solo piano vocals for a 40th Birthday Party at Finchcock's Piano Museum in Kent (plenty of choice when it came to picking an instrument to play that evening) and at a wedding anniversary in Chelmsford. The trio performed in a tipi for a wedding in Norfolk, and I performed solo for a 40th birthday party/housewarming in Guildford, which ended up with my mainly entertaining the children, something akin to the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

In July I took the trio to Lichfield for a wedding and put together a 60s inspired 5-piece bespoke band for another wedding down in Devon before jetting off to Malaysia on holiday (perhaps booking a fourteen hour flight the day after driving down to Devon and back in one day wasn't the best of planning but I just about got away with it).

I was straight back into it in August with a rockeoke wedding in Hereford, a best of British themed birthday party in Bath, a rock and rolling 60th Birthday/30th Wedding Anniversary in Coventry and a "knees up mother brown" sing-along around the old Joanna at a wedding in Devon.

In September I put together an acoustic duo of piano/vocal and guitar for an intimate 40th birthday party in Hertford, and the Scott Bramley Quartet provided laid back swinging tunes for a wedding drinks reception in Berkshire.

And finally something a little closer to home coming up for me this weekend when my band ENTOURAGE intend to rock a wedding in London.

We're now in the shoulder season I guess when it comes to weddings and parties but you can still find me performing at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington every other Tuesday and Caffe Concerto Green Park every other Friday. I have my eye on a few new venues as well so I'll keep you posted if anything else comes in.

Enjoy autumn!

ENTOURAGE Wedding Band Yorkshire - Promo Video

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 15:06:00 +0000

Good morrow good people of the world wide web. It's finally here! After months of wrangling and procrastination our new promotional band video is up and running. It took three months for us all to finally agree upon a date but in February we eventually managed to get it together long enough to do some filming over in Manchester. Filmed and edited by the inimitable Steve Pycroft here's the finished result. Let me know what you think.

The beginning of the year I find is generally a quiet one when it comes to performing. Still, the extra time I've had available has allowed me to pursue some other avenues, most importantly working on some new material of my own. I'm still in the early stages but I've written about ten new songs and I intend to record some of them soon in order to get feedback from my 'brain trust' (a Scrubs reference there). I've also been able to tweak my websites, work on my online ads and do the general busy work that goes on behind the scenes.

That's not to say I haven't been performing. I played recently for a corporate event at the Oakley Court Hotel in Windsor, my trio performed for a wedding in Winchester, a beautiful little city which I'd never had the pleasure to visit before, and I ventured north to my old stomping ground of Liverpool to play for Ronnie and Margaret James who were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. I'd also played at the wedding of their son and daughter-in-law a few years before. On top of that I've been appearing regularly at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington (south of the river, where the cabbies don't like to go!). After Easter things look set to pick up rapidly and I'm looking forward to once more entering back into the fray.

And now for a little story...
One afternoon, after teaching a little pianoforte, I was idling away my time in the coffee shop - reading the Evening Standard, checking out twitter and facebook - when I saw that a former colleague of mine from the Adventure of the Seas had posted a desperate plea from a friend of hers to find somebody who could transcribe the piano and band parts for a show that was taking place the very next week. I enjoy a challenge and with nothing happening that weekend I thought I might as well offer my services. From that point within a few hours terms had been agreed, culminating in a very long but rewarding weekend of work. With the help of a little caffeine, I put in twenty four hours over Saturday and Sunday and emerged almost unscathed save for aching shoulders with the parts ready to go. Most importantly the show, taking place somewhere in Connecticut (USA), was saved. It's amazing how the web can draw people together from all over the world. I love it! And I like this sort of work so hopefully there'll be more in the pipeline.

That's all from me. Tara!

Scott Bramley
www.ScottBramley.co.uk
www.EntourageBand.co.uk
www.MusicArrangerUK.com

New Promo Video

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 13:12:00 +0000

Despite my lack of posting here these last few months I'm going to keep this brief. I've had a very busy summer of both work and play and now finally have a lull before the Christmas rush. And I'm excited to present you with some new promo footage I recorded recently. But first a quick rundown of what I've been up to.

During the summer I had the privilege to holiday in some truly spectacular places, beginning in May with a trip to Rome and Sorrento to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday where we visited Pompeii and climbed Mount Vesuvius, all the while making the most of the local seafood.

July saw me in the Isles of Scilly along with some of my housemates from university to catch up with our friend Jac whose been living there the last four years carrying out conservation work among other things. In the few days we were there we visited all of the populated islands and took a barbecue to one of the unpopulated islands, with a few white knuckle trips between them, clinging for dear life to the side of Tristan's RIB (rigid inflatable boat).

In August I took a road trip with a few friends across Croatia, watching the sunset in Zada, seeing the most amazing shooting stars above Plitvice National park, partying until dawn in Pag, swimming underneath a waterfall in Krka National Park, relaxing in style in a villa we rented for the weekend in Split, and exploring the medieval city of Dubrovnik (and climbing another mountain - Mount Srd), all the while sampling some amazing cuisine, particularly the seafood (again) as well as frogs legs and eels. All beautiful parts of the world.

When I've not been gallivanting about the place I've had the usual run of weddings, parties and functions, both solo and with my band and have seen a couple of projects through to fruition. Last month we performed our first set of Piano Man shows for Cheshire rural touring network and they went down a storm. We were warmly welcomed to Little Budworth, Kettleshulme and Upton Village and shown great hospitality from all concerned. I've since reapplied to some of the other nationwide rural touring companies and hope that we'll be able to perform our show for more audiences in the future. Last weekend I stepped in to perform with BUDO Big Band based in my home town of Doncaster. The line up was slightly different to what I'm used to so I had to tweak all of my arrangements to include three horns - trumpet, sax and trombone - but I was happy with the result and had a fantastic set of blowers on the gig - Danny Hamerton on trumpet, sax player Jon Hibbard and Richard Wigley on the trombone who I used to play with as a kid but hadn't seen in ten years - along with the old faithfuls of the rhythm section, Rob Clark on drums and 'Dangerous Dave' Storer on the upright and electric bass. Thanks fellas.

Finally, the reason I really wanted to get on here is to let you see my new promo video, shot in Sheffield in September by Steve Pycroft and recorded by James Bacon on a beautiful Bosendorfer grand piano he has there at his studio. Let me know what you think. I'll hopefully soon have some video for the four piece band as well which of course I will post here as soon as I have it.

Until then, take care.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Neverland EP - now available

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:35:00 +0000

It's been a while coming but my debut EP of original songs is now available from iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and other good digital music distributors! Neverland EP is my first attempt at song writing featuring four of my own tracks Shoulda Been Me, Sick And Tired, Neverland and Journey On.

I've been a late comer to song writing, having decided about four years ago that I should at least give it a go, and while not being prolific producer of work, over three years I managed to knock together 24 original compositions. These then sat for a while in a cupboard doing nothing useful. Not knowing what to do with them I eventually called upon the help of ten friends, who I came to refer as my brain trust, carefully chosen to constructively critique my work while at the same time not dashing my creative aspirations before they'd begun. From their feedback I found that about half of the songs were worth running with and from those I chose six to record (I've held a couple of tracks back for now but you might be hearing them at some point in the future!).

For the recordings themselves I enlisted the help of my cover band musicians - Rob Clark on drums and percussion, Emilio Montuori on bass and Paul Grady not only playing guitars on the songs but providing his studio engineering expertise in putting together the finished tracks. The band parts were recorded at Keith Angel's Wavelength Studios in Doncaster on the 14th of August 2012 and over the next few weeks and months I recorded the vocals and backing vocals myself at home while Paul added his guitars.

If you're interested in what the songs are about then here's a glimpse into their genesis:

Shoulda Been Me was inspired by an episode of Scrubs (season 6 episode 19 for those of you taking notes) in which Keith proposes to Elliot and despite denying it J.D. finally realises that he's still in love with her, with his closing lines of narration: "As I looked at all the relationships around me, some that had gone on forever, some that were reignited, and some that had just begun, I realized something: it should have been me."

Sick and Tired is not autobiographical, so don't be worrying about my state of mind, but it reflects what I'm sure must be a common thought from time to time among most people - what's the point in trying when circumstance seems to conspire against you. There's a nod to Robert Burns and John Steinbeck in there too.

Neverland is semi-autobiographical so I'll let you read into what you will.

Journey On, the final track, has more of an uplifting message with much of the imagery drawn from my time travelling, probably the most freeing experience I've ever had.

So there you have it. Please take a listen and let me know what you think and if you like what you hear please feel free to download and share. And my sincere thanks to all of those that have helped me along the way. You know who you are!

Scott Bramley
www.ScottBramley.co.uk
www.NeverlandEP.co.uk

Banks, Chocs and Cuckoo Clocks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:02:00 +0000

Greetings from Switzerland and a slightly belated Happy New Year to you all. As I type I'm looking out from my 5th floor hotel window across snow covered rooftops to the gothic cathedral that dominates the skyline here in Lausanne. Were it not cloudy I could also see the Alps, rocky and snow capped, rising dramatically from the opposite shore of Lake Geneva. And why am I hear you might wonder. Well for the past week and a half I've been performing alongside Adrian Dixon at a duelling piano bar in the city, the Kingsize Pub. I played here back in November 2011 and was asked if I'd come back for another stint. All's seems to be going well. Three more nights to play including tonight and then it's back to Blighty.

I spent a very pleasant Christmas holiday at my family home in Doncaster. Two full weeks of eating, drinking and merriment. Who could ask for anything more? Christmas day was spent at my aunty's where a massive spread was laid on. There were 22 of us dining with each part of the family contributing something to the feast. We brought along Christmas puddings which I'd already prepared in October and my sausage, apple and cranberry stuffing both of which went down well. We also enjoyed a splendid boxing day lunch though some were feeling a little worse for wear it must be said from the previous day's frivolity. And of course there was 'The Bramley Family Annual Christmas Hootenanny', as traditional as a turkey, with even more food, drinks, our festive quiz and singing around the piano.

On the penultimate night of the year I was playing for a wedding at Ripley Castle in North Yorkshire. A beautiful venue, a good crowd and a nice piano to play on. And it was in tune. Now you might think that this would be the norm, but mentioning no names or venues I played somewhere just before Christmas where the piano though being reasonably in tune with itself was a couple of steps lower than it should have been - a minor third for those in the know - which let me tell you is the difference between say a tenor voice and a baritone voice for example. And as I'm already a baritone we're talking Barry White territory! Anyway, I digress. Congratulations to Amy and Josh Tarrant.

The Scott Bramley Trio performed at Bannatyne Hotel, Darlington, with a 'Dancing Through The Decades' show. Kicking off with swing classics from the 30s and 40s as the guests finished their desserts, we took them through the 50s, 60s and 70s in our second set, finishing with 80s, 90s and noughties before a piper saw us into the new year with Auld Lang Syne and a few Scottish reels.

And so now we look ahead to 2013. Gigs are lining up slowly but surely for the first few months of the year at least and I'm back to teaching upon my return to the UK next week. I've mentioned before in previous posts that I've been working on my own original material and my first EP is very nearly complete, slightly later than anticipated but these things take time. I'm now waiting for everything to be mixed and mastered, and have a photo shoot pencilled in for early February to put together some cover art. Hopefully then I'll have something to show you, and of course something for you to listen to. Then I suppose I'll need to write some more. No rest for the wicked. I'd better get cracking!

Bye for now,

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk
www.entourageband.co.uk

Team GB, new EP and the People's Republic of Yorkshire

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:01:00 +0000

How time flies and what a summer it's been, with the Jubilee celebrations along with the Olympics and Paralympics and everything else that has been going on in London (for example, that's a friend of mine, Jo Cork, hanging from one of the spokes of the London Eye as part of STREB's One Extraordinary Day which kicked off the cultural Olympiad back in July). The city has been buzzing and I've loved it. Despite not being the biggest sports fan I found myself glued to the BBC coverage which I must say was very well done. Athletics, gymnastics, judo, rowing, swimming and sailing. I didn't quite understand the cycling events but we did well so I won't complain. I particularly liked the events that took place around the city, with thousands of people turning out to support the cycling road race, the triathlon and of course the marathon. I even found myself at one point rushing home to watch the boxing - I'd never watched a boxing match in my life! But I was swept up with the whole thing. It made you proud to be British. And proud to be from Yorkshire too (if Yorkshire was a country we would have been placed twelfth in the medal table if regarded as an independent country!). I only hope the good feeling will persist for some time to come. And now here we find ourselves, autumn well and truly making its presence felt with the nights drawing in, the temperatures dropping and the leaves beginning to fall, delightfully crunchy under foot.

As well as being a fantastic summer for team GB it has also been productive for me with the recording of my own songs ready for the release of my first original EP. My band members graciously agreed to help me out by going into the studio with me in August to record six original tracks. Over the next few weeks, from the comfort of my own makeshift home studio, I recorded vocals and backing vocals and now all of those tracks are in the very capable hands of my guitar player, Paul Grady, who is lending his expert skills as a studio engineer to mix and master the recordings. I can't wait to hear the final recordings and will of course have them online as soon as they're ready which I'm hoping will be very soon. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek into the studio where Rob, my drummer, is overdubbing some congas onto the title track, 'Neverland'

School is now in session and I'm back to teaching piano and voice in both St Peter's C of E School, Paddington, and St Saviour's C of E Primary school, Maida Vale. I've also been asked to trial for a few hours at St Bentinck's Primary C of E Primary School, Marylebone, which will hopefully lead to a regular weekly post. On visiting the school to get a feel for the place I was shocked to discover that it's the school my housemate teaches in and in fact I'll be teaching his class to play recorder. Small world.

My regular solo appearances continue every other Tuesday at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec, Kennington, with occasional appearances at Caffe Concerto at the Westfield Centre, Shepherd's Bush and St Pauls. Private functions have seen me travelling far and wide in the past few months - Aberystwyth, Basingstoke, Brighton, Bury St Edmonds, Doncaster, Farnham, Kent, Moorgate and Sheffield. And the next few weeks will see me in Somerset, Nottingham and Winchester. I'm also currently in talks with a newly opening sushi restaurant here in London with a view to taking a weekend residency. If it comes off, pending a brief audition this coming Tuesday, I should be appearing there most Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings for the foreseeable future. I'll keep you posted.

And that's about it for the time being. Until next time.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Lovely Jubbly

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:13:00 +0000

Somewhere between the Jubilee celebrations and the Olympics I find myself still waiting for summer to arrive. But whatever the weather it looks set to be an exciting one.

Being so close to the action here in London with the long Jubilee weekend we decided to head on down to the river to get a piece of the Thames Regatta action. Little did we realise that about a million other people were having the same idea. Indeed many had camped out the night before in the pouring rain (and I can vouch that it certainly was pouring because I drove through the centre of London that night on the way home from a gig and I couldn't make out any of the road markings there was that much water on the roads). We arrived at Westminster only to find that all streets leading to the river were blocked off, manned by burly security guards to deter any would be fence jumpers. The streets were packed with people even though, as the police kept trying to point out to us all, the roads were still functioning highways. Only streets away we followed the river further downstream hoping that the next road would be our route to the waterfront but we were thwarted at every turn. Finally on reaching Blackfriars bridge there was a breakthrough as people poured onto the bridge. A result you might think. However those early birds stood their ground at the front and there was no way to see anything unless perhaps you were a child perched on a parent's shoulders. Some people had come prepared with miniature periscopes. Despite my friend Rob asking those at the front to kneel down so that those of us at the back could see (school photo style - he did get a laugh at least) we never saw a thing (though judging by the cheers from the front at one point I think we were standing on the bridge as the royal barge passed by so at least that's something). It was at around this time the rain began to fall so we called it quits, retiring to a local pub with big screens and a far better view of the day's events than we were ever going to see in the middle of Blackfriars bridge. We were also able to watch those that had stayed just that little bit longer running into the pub soaked through with rain which was quite pleasing.

The Olympics is coming and preparations are under way. I was down by Horseguards the other day and saw them putting in barriers and the like, and the tube maps now feature Olympic venues as well as the normal tube stations. Souvenirs are on sale everywhere you look (is it just me or do the Olympic mascots, with their single eye, kind of remind you of a penis? Just me?!). I was told today by my sister that she saw the flame pass by up in my home town of Doncaster. I don't suppose it will be here for a little while yet. Nevertheless there is a buzz about the place. More so than for Euro 2012 which ended with a disappointing fizzle on Sunday (for us at least, but who cares about the rest of them now?). Luckily for me I'd decided to forgo the football and jumped at the chance to go to see Tony Bennett performing at Symphony Hall in Birmingham instead. It was a great show from both him and his backing musicians and I had fantatic seats. For me he doesn't seem to have lost anything since I first became aware of him from his Unplugged MTV appearance back in the early 90s. And at almost 86 (quite apt, sharing the same year of birth as the Queen) that's really quite an achievement. Long may he swing!

The last couple of months have seen my band gigging around the country, making an epic journey north to play a wedding in the magnificent setting of Drumtochty Castle in Aberdeen in May, followed by an 80th birthday at The Royal Oak in Asbourne, Derbyshire. June saw us way out west in Liverpool for the wedding of my friend Mark Chadwick (I've now played all three Chadwick weddings I'm proud to say!) and east to Gunthorpe Hall in Norfolk the very same weekend. Added to this I'm continuing to make regular appearances here in London at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington and Caffe Concerto in the Westfield Centre, Shepherd's Bush, as well as the odd private function on my own such as the 40s/50s themed party that I played in Basingstoke last weekend. Some fabulous costumes I have to say and I was happy to keep to the theme myself with some great 40s standards and 50s rock n roll.

Finally, I'm now nailing down sometime in August to record four or five tracks for an EP of my own original material which is very exciting. A long time coming but hopefully worth the wait. Watch this space.

So that's about it from me. Who knows when I'll be back here (hopefully soon, but my latest track record is less than desirable) so I'll wish you all a great summer. Come on Team GB!

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Morph Attacks!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:34:00 +0000

With spring in the air the gigs are beginning to trickle in, filling the diary slowly but surely. As a band we've already had our first couple of engagements of the season, with the Scott Bramley Trio playing for a wedding at The Millenium Galleries in Sheffield on the 25th of February and my four piece band ENTOURAGE performing at Penyard House in Ross-on-Wye on the 17th of March. Congratulations to both happy couples. My solo appearances at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington are continuing every other Tuesday at least up until May. I was asked a few months ago if I'd be willing to dep with another band, Souled On Groove, as their piano player was busy and have since become their regular player with a couple of gigs these past two months. I've found it very enjoyable to play in a band as a sideman rather than lead from the front, with a few backing vocals here and there. I've also had to experiment with synth which has been interesting as I don't tend to use it in my own band, although I'm beginning to use it sparingly for effect with different keyed instruments such as electric piano and organs. We've got a couple more in the diary over the summer.

Coming Up
Coming up this month I'm performing solo at Choice Bar and Restaurant, Manchester on Saturday 7th April, and then a private function for a 50th birthday in Hampshire on the 14th. Because I'm away the beginning of the month (more about this later) I have two weeks back to back at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec on Tuesdays the 17th and the 24th of April. On Thursday the 19th I'm stepping in to cover a solo spot at Caffe Concerto in the Westfield Centre and the following day at their sister venue, Caffe Concerto St Pauls. Finally, the weekend of the 27th will find me playing in Northumberland for my friend's wedding.

Those Who Can...
With gigs being fairly scarce at the beginning of the year I was looking for other streams of musically related revenue to tide me over. After emailing 50 local primary schools I received a reply from a music teacher looking for somebody to teach piano. I ended up landing a full day of teaching at St Peter's CofE Primary School, Paddington on Mondays and three after school sessions at St Saviour's CofE Primary School, Little Venice on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, which I was interested to note was where Adele went to school. I've just completed my fist half term and I'm really enjoying it and have some really great kids.

Good King Wenceslas Looked Out
Last weekend I visited Prague for my friend's stag do. Kevin and I lived together in Liverpool for two years during our time at university there and we were looking to send him off in style. After finishing teaching Thursday at 5:30pm I took the tube straight to the station leaving me plenty of time to catch my connecting train to Luton. However, the train was delayed due to a signalling failure. I was waiting on the platform at West Hampstead for ages watching the time tick by, calculating what time I might get to the airport if the train arrived now, and whether I'd be able to catch my plane. Despite this, and watching more people try to board the first train that arrived than I've ever seen (and I've seen a fair few on the tube, particularly when I was on my way to the Notting Hill Carnival last year) I arrived at the airport with just enough time to rush through check in, security and to the gate in time to board my flight. I arrived into Prague just after midnight and caught up for a few late beers with those that had been there all day. On Friday we took a beer tasting tour around the city, trying all sorts of wonderful brews, including coffee, banana and nettle beer. My favourite however was one of the dark beers, which was still a pilsner but apparently the barley is roasted beforehand. It looked like the thickest nastiest stout you'd ever seen (if you shine a light through it the light doesn't reach to the other side of the glass) but it tasted light and refreshing. Saturday was a day of sightseeing... with a twist. Our stag Kevin was presented with his outfit for the day - an all in one fully covering tie-dyed morphsuit. He must have been the most photographed person in Europe that day, with people snapping him as they walked by and others asking for pictures with him. The funniest instance was when a woman handed Kevin her baby for a photo. So great beer plus plenty of wholesome meat and dumplings with a stunning city backdrop and a multicoloured morphsuit along with great company made for a terrific weekend.

The Write Stuff
On Monday I'm heading down to my brother's place in the south of France for a writers' retreat, along with a bunch of other arty types my brother knows. There are plays, screen plays and novels being produced and I'm looking to write some more songs of my own. Hopefully a week together in such a beautiful setting should bring out something wonderful. Recently I sent out 24 of my original songs to a select group of friends - my brain trust - ten people who I considered would be honest and constructive without crushing my fledgling song writing. From the feedback I received I've whittled that original 24 down to 13 that I think are worth running with and three definites that I'm going to record properly with band plus two or three from the remainder. I'm now in the process of re-writing some of the songs and thinking about how the band parts might fit in and enhance them. It'll probably be closer to the summer when I get into the studio but it's exciting stuff. And hopefully after next week I'll have another batch of songs to work on.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Happy New Year 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:47:00 +0000

I know I'm a little late with this first post of 2012 with us now being near the end of January but Happy New Year to you all the same. I spent a wonderful couple of weeks over Christmas with my family in Doncaster. As well as the usual Christmas dinner and the like we threw another very successful 'Bramley Family Annual Christmas Hootenanny', our traditional festive party with a vast spread of food (put together by myself), our yearly quiz, and the customary sing along around the piano (which as you might have guessed also involved me). All good fun. New Years eve saw my three piece band, The Scott Bramley Trio, travelling up to Darlington where were performed at the Bannatyne Hotel, our third consecutive New Years Eve engagement there and the fifth time I've played at the hotel myself. A couple of days later, having packed my car to bursting with my music gear and Christmas presents, I made my way back down to London.

January is normally a quiet time for us musicians. On the one hand this can be a worry particularly where finances are concerned but on the other hand, providing you've put enough money aside for a rainy day (which hopefully I have), frees up your time to entertain other projects. The first and most pressing of my tasks however was to lock myself away for eight days to prepare and file my taxes, a job which I'm happy to say is now complete. And I caught a lucky break - having overpaid last year by a considerable amount I don't owe HMRC anything until July. Result!

With my taxes filed and my spirits high I was able to press on with other more constructive pursuits. For some months now I've wanted a separate website for my function band, ENTOURAGE, but was reluctant to pay for a second site and didn't have the time to do it myself. With some free time I made a start on it using a free website builder site called Moonfruit.com managed and within a couple of days my new site was ready to launch. Please take a look and let me know what you think - www.entourageband.co.uk. In fact you can leave a message in the guestbook as I don't have anything in there yet. That done I spent the next few days looking into and tweaking both sites in terms of content and search engine optimisation (SEO). I'm not the greatest techy so I don't quite understand it all but I read as much as I could find (Google has it's own very good introduction to it) and I'm hoping that the increase in enquiries I've experienced in the past few days has something to do with what I've been up to.

More recently I've been looking into other revenue streams available to me as a musician. I've been putting together my application materials for Rockschool, a music exam board based on rock music, to become an examiner. And only this morning I emailed 50 schools within a two mile radius offering my musical services, already receiving a promising reply from one of them.

Finally and most exciting of all for me is that I've been able to turn my attentions to my original material. I've begun to record rough scratch recordings of my own songs so that I can send them out to friends or my brain trust (they don't know who they are yet!) who I'm hoping will give me some constructive feedback. After that, providing enough songs make it through the mill, I'm intending to properly record at least three of my tracks, perhaps even five or six if I can so that I can put together an EP. Of course I'll also need to get myself out on the original music scene around London and since late last year I've been jamming with a newly found friend, Chris 'Baggers' Bagley, a guitar player, singer and songwriter himself. Once we've got some material together we're happy with then the next step is to try it out on a live audience. This a whole new chapter for me and one that I'm very much looking forward to.

So I guess I should get back to it. Bye for now.

Showtime

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:32:00 +0000

Life in our nation's capital has really been picking up in the last few weeks. I can still be found playing at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington every couple of weeks (in fact I'm there again this Thursday 3rd of November from 8pm). After an audition with Piano Soho in mid-September I've been picking up a number of gigs with them, playing a couple of times at their sister venue Piano Kensington and half a dozen at Piano Soho itself. The latter have mainly been support slots on Fridays and Saturday nights but I played my first headline gig there on Friday 21st October which seemed to go down really well, from my side of the piano at least. Hopefully there will be more to follow. I was also recently called up by Gary Parkes to cover at The Hyatt Regency Churchill Hotel for a couple of nights on the 12th and 13th of October. I'm still keeping my eyes open for other similar venues but am happy thus far with my progress.

The great thing about being in London is the opportunity to take in a show whenever you fancy. My friend Claire was visiting last week and we went along to see Legally Blonde:The Musical. Being male I was definitely in the minority but I had a fantastic evening nonetheless. A very funny show with great songs, favourites of which included 'Ireland' sung by Paulette (played by Natalie Casey, or Donna from Two Pints of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps) and 'There! Right There!', and stellar performances by all involved. Highly recommended.

And speaking of shows, my brother has a show playing at the moment. The Fumidor, written, directed and starring Peter Bramley is on at the Warehouse Theatre, Croydon, until the 20th of November with some cracking reviews:

"The quality of story-telling here is exemplary." THE STAGE

"enjoyable for the energy & directness of the playing,
exuberantly imaginative!" BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

Writer and director Peter Bramley has concocted an enthralling story to keep his audience genuinely gripped. The young cast put in some sterling performances...Fumidor is a unique work which is guaranteed to provoke debate.
CROYDON GUARDIAN

I'll be going along either Friday or Saturday if anyone cares to join me.

Of course my private engagements have continued unabated. I have to mention a wedding we played for on the 17th of September in Bamford, Derbyshire. My drummer, Rob Clark, thought he recognised one of the wedding guests as Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy. The rest of us were sceptical to be honest. Why would we be playing if they knew him? Anyway, the guy in question was up on the dance floor really going for it and it wasn't until the end of the night when he walked close by us that we had to agree. It was only at that point that I put two and two together because I'd known all along that the bride's surname was Hannon but didn't link that in my head. Neil Hannon was her cousin. Anyway, I hope he, the rest of the guests, and of course the bride and groom enjoyed themselves.

Saturday 8th of October saw my band playing for a wedding in Gwent, South Wales which luckily for me was a little bit nearer than they had to travel. Congratulations to Liz and Rich and thanks to Carron who joined the band in singing a couple of numbers. Despite a hefty cold she battled through like a true professional with renditions of Hoagy Carmichael's 'The Nearness Of You', 'At Last' as performed by Etta James, and Imelda May's 'Inside Out'. I must also add that the singing and dancing from the rest of the wedding guests was top notch. I've never had an audience sing back Suspicious Minds in two part harmony before or nail the Night Fever dance quite in the way they did. We were in Wales after all I suppose!

On Tuesday 11th October I was playing solo at the Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery as part of the ground breaking ceremony for the new entertainment venue being built there. I was also joined by the Doncaster Youth Jazz Association's Stage Band who played both on site and at the reception afterwards. The Stage Band had given me my first taste of jazz when I was a young trumpet player among its ranks so I was happy to be on the bill with them.

My band have also recently performed for a meeting of the Amateur Swimmers Association at the Crowne Plaza in Nottingham and last weekend at The Regent Hotel in Doncaster as part of a charity event to raise money for Bluebell Wood Children's Hopsice. I haven't yet been told the final figures but I'm sure with the people there and the raffle tickets sold on the night that a lot of money has been raised. And a great time was had with the dance floor full from the start of our playing to the close of the night.

I'm off to Switzerland on Monday to play at the Kingsize Pub, a duelling piano bar located in Lausanne on Lake Geneva. It's a 10 night engagement from the 8th to the 19th of November with a couple of days off in between. I've seen plenty of duelling piano bars on my travels but never actually played in one so this will be challenging but hopefully fun. I'll let you know how it goes.

Until then.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

London Calling

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:43:00 +0000

I guess the big news is that I've moved to London. It's something I've been talking about for a year or two now and I've finally put my best foot forward, packed up my belongings into a small handkerchief attached to a stick and headed to 'The Big Smoke' to seek my fortune. I hope you appreciate that Dick Whittington-inspired interpretation of a move to London, complete with golden paved streets (which I'm still on the lookout for!). I've been here for two weeks now and have been hard at work looking for London-based gigs, having secured my first at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington where I'll be playing Thursdays 1st, 8th and 22nd of September. I also had a very promising meeting with London based agent Gary Parkes who supplies singer piano players like myself to a number of top London hotels so fingers crossed something will come of that. I'm now busy researching other London venues with a number of other auditions and/or open mic nights in the pipeline.

Carnival
In an attempt to make the most of our new location, I spent this Monday bank holiday at the Notting Hill Carnival. I'd never been before but it was a fantastic atmosphere. I've never seen so many people try to cram on to the tube. The Central Line was absolutely packed. Have you ever seen the pictures of Japanese commuters being pushed onto trains? Well it was like that. But fuller! It was worth it though, with some great bands - drums, and steel drums. Made me want to join in. Instead I drank my Red Stripe and danced along!

Hit The Road, Jack
I'm still playing a number of gigs in the north which has necessitated my travelling up and down the M1 quite frequently over the last weeks with a few more to come in the forthcoming month. At the beginning of this month (on the 6th of August) my six piece band ENTOURAGE played for the wedding of my friend Ben Chadwick and his lovely bride Caroline, the reception of which took place at the Maritime Dining Rooms located in the Merseyside Maritime Museum on the Royal Albert Dock. I was really happy to be part of their special day, with some interesting song choices from Ben such as 'So What' from Miles Davis and 'Birdland' from the jazz-fusion group Weather Report. Incidentally Ben used to play trumpet, along with his twin brother Mark, in my first band at school - Freudian Slip (or 'Slip' as our friend Michelle has started to refer to it!). In fact out of all the wedding guests there we almost had the full original eight-piece band among the wedding guests (only minus the bass player). It was good to catch up. Ben and Cal are also being kind enough to put me up for the night this coming weekend as I'm playing for a wedding on the Wirral on Saturday.
On the 20th of August the band were playing in York at the Merchant Adventurer's Hall for the wedding of Louise and Andrew, the new Mr and Mrs Garvey. A fantastically historic venue built for medieval merchants to gather, trade and socialise, construction began in 1357. It's now a museum as well as wedding venue. Last week I found myself making the 280 mile journey to a beautifully located wedding venue called Nant Gwrtheyrn, located in a former quarrying village on the northern coast of the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales, a centre specialising in Welsh for Adults (as a second language). Even the heavy rain didn't detract from the stunning setting, nestled at the bottom of a steep cliff face (with a rather a steep, scary road leading down to the Centre) and a view across the bay. Wishing all the best to Ellen and Paul. And on Saturday the band was out again, at The Deanwater Hotel in Stockport, our last gig of the summer season. Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs Powers.

Coming Up
Coming up as I mentioned I'm playing for a wedding on the Wirral this Saturday (3rd September). I'll be back in my home town of Doncaster the week after that on the 10th for a private party and then on the 17th I'm travelling northbound again to play in Bamford in the Hope valley of Derbyshire. And hopefully by then I'll have some more local London gigs to tell you about!

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Love Is In The Air

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:52:00 +0000

I’ve just spent the last couple of hours listening to and jotting down the music for ‘Love Is In The Air’ by John Paul Young for a wedding I’m playing for at the end of the month and thought that as I’d finished early (and as I haven’t posted anything here in far too long) I’d make an appearance and use that song as a starting point.

Wedding season is in full swing at the moment, having been out the last three weekends in a row. I was playing solo at The Ponderosa Centre in Heckmondwike near Wakefield on the 18th of June for a drinks reception and during the wedding breakfast which took place in two different parts of the Lakeside Restaurant and Bar. I had a rather heated dash from one part of the venue to the other but I made it with seconds to spare. And with some time to kill after setting up in the afternoon I was even able to take a pleasant stroll in the countryside surrounding the centre. Congratulations to Emily and Darren.

The following week the 25th of June found me at The Inn At Whitewell near Clitheroe in Lancashire with my six piece band. The weather was less than desirable but the setting was spectacular. Nestled in a small valley perched high on the banks of the River Hodder, we were playing in a marquee with the raging river as our backdrop with views down the valley into the heart of the Forest of Bowland. Quite stunning. It was fantastic to be able to take the full band out as we don’t get as much opportunity as we’d like what with budgets being tight and the lack of venues big enough to take us. What my band appreciated most of all however were the huge martini glasses sat as centre pieces on each table filled with sweets. Talk about kids in a sweet shop! Congratulations to Niamh and Loic.

Last weekend my four piece band were playing for a wedding in a tipi at a private residence in Cheshire. Another stunning setting, and a beautiful sunny day for it. We entertained during the afternoon for the drinks reception then returned after dinner (which was very tasty I might add, catered for by a local restaurant) for three more sets with the dance floor full from the first dance to the very end of the night, just how we like it. Congratulations to Nikki and Matt.

As well as weddings I’ve had a couple of Christenings to play for too, including that of my friends Brett and Anne Marie who christened their daughter Xanthia on Sunday. Afterwards we retired to their garden for drinks and food and I was happy to provide some light entertainment as my christening gift to them.

Coming up in the next few weeks we’re in London on Thursday to play for the St. James Independent School leavers’ party and on Saturday we’re in Catterick, North Yorkshire, playing for a military event. With upcoming weddings on a boat in York, at Warmsworth Hall near Doncaster and at the Maritime Dining Rooms in Liverpool (another outing for the six piece) plus an appearance at Choice Bar and Restaurant in Manchester in the next four weeks I’ve got quite a schedule lined up. It would appear that love is indeed in the air.

The Hot Mikado

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:16:00 +0000

Good evening one and all. In exactly one month’s time The Hot Mikado, a reworking of the classic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, will be opening at Doncaster Civic Theatre. My association with the show began back in July of last year when I was tasked as musical director. After auditions however we were still missing one vital role so I stepped up into the part of Nanki Poo, the hopelessly love struck wandering minstrel vying for the affections of his true love, Yum Yum. The plot doesn’t stray far from the Gilbert and Sullivan original, with a similar satiric tone. Set in Japan in the 1940s, the show combines Japanese design with American 1940s themes so expect east meets west with kimonos and zoot suits. And then there’s the music. The score uses much of Sullivan's original music but is re-orchestrated using 1940s popular musical harmonies and arrangements in a wide range of styles, including jazz, hot gospel, blues, rock, swing, and the odd torch song ballad. Our 'Three Little Maids' even sing in an Andrews Sisters' style. So if you’re in the vicinity of Doncaster Civic Theatre between Wednesday the 2nd and Saturday the 5th of March do yourself a favour and come to see the show!

The Hot Mikado
Doncaster Civic Theatre
Wednesday 2nd – Saturday 5th March 2011 @ 7:15pm
Tickets: £12

Bye for now!

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Happy New Year one and all

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:48:00 +0000

I trust you’ve had a splendid Christmas and are already making the best of 2011. I’ve been absent from the blogging scene lately. No excuses really. One of my new year’s resolutions is to blog more regularly so fingers crossed you’ll be hearing more from me in the coming months.

Christmas Cabaret
After a busy summer of weddings and parties (I’m still waiting on that elusive bah mitzvah by the way) I thought it would be a good idea to put on a show with my band, ENTOURAGE, a little closer to home for friends and family to come along and join us. And what better excuse than playing a Christmas Cabaret, complete with pie and pea supper, which we performed at Pasture’s Lodge in Mexborough near Doncaster, just a hop, skip and a jump from my family home in Barnburgh. Despite frequent snowstorms, freezing fog and ice patches leading up to the event we were blessed with a snow-free day, albeit bitterly cold, allowing the majority of our guests to attend without any trouble. We performed a programme of Christmas favourites interspersed with some of our more regular material and we were received warmly by the audience – of course I was related to about 10% of them so I expected nothing less. We’re hoping to put something similar on sometime during the summer/autumn months.

There’s No Business Like Show Business
Back in November, after a number of years absence, I took to the stage at the Rotherham Civic in the Rotherham Teacher’s production of Chess. I was apprehensive at first – the last time I trod the boards was in University – but it all came flooding back and I had a whale of a time. I played the Mayor of Merano for the opening and then part of the Russian delegation for the remainder of the show, with the odd cameo appearance here and there. The only downside of the whole experience was at the after show party when I and one of my Russian comrades decided to partake in a bottle of Russian Standard vodka which left us both terribly ill and in need of being put to bed. But that aside, it was a great show. I’m following that up in March with The Hot Mikado at Doncaster Civic Theatre with the Doncaster Amateur Operatic Society. I was musical director for their production of Beauty and the Beast last year and am doing the same for this production but with a slight change at show week where I’ll be on stage rather than in the pit playing Nanki Poo!

And now for something completely different...
And so now I’m back into the swing of things with my teaching schedule and I have a bit of a break from gigging in January (as is usually the case) so I’m trying to concentrate on writing some more of my own material. One big resolution this year is to do something original. I find this time, early in the New Year, my most productive for writing for some reason, maybe because I’m not busying myself with weddings and the like. So I’m going to make the most of it and really get to work in finishing off the songs I already have and coming up with ideas for new ones with the intention of recording some soon. (I’ve almost finished writing a new one today as it happens, inspired by The Vampire Diaries, the box set of which I’d bought my sister for Christmas and watched the whole thing myself!).

That’s all from me for now. Again, wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Mine's a Guinness

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:29:00 +0000

With a constant stream of gigs lately I’ve found it difficult to make time for a spot of blogging. I always feel like I’m confessing to a priest at this stage – it’s been 3 months since my last confession. It doesn’t help that I’ve also set about the task of decorating my office so I have nowhere to work (I’m currently writing this from the comfort of my bed!). The band and I have been kept busy these past few weeks with gigs up and down the country and have a full diary of events stretching right up until November at which point I’ll be taking a small break to perform in a production of Chess. This weekend saw my three piece band in Manchester on Friday night playing for a wedding at Choice Bar and Restaurant, one of my regular haunts. It was a very enjoyable night. Congratulations to Charlotte and Nik, and thanks to Valerie who assured me it was her that got us the booking! On Saturday the four-piece were in Rugby for Tim and Leanna’s wedding. Congratulations to you both. Next week we'll be in Darlington.

Last week I took a long awaited trip to the emerald isle. Along with my housemate, Cayton, we sailed from Liverpool after spending a very pleasant evening with friends Ben and Caroline who were nice enough to feed us and put us up for the evening ensuring we were close to the ferry when we had to board at 8am. With a few days in Dublin we explored the city, taking in Trinity College, Dublin Castle, the Chester Beatty Library and the Guinness storehouse plus of course sampling some of the local night spots around the streets of Temple Bar. Our favourite pub turned out to be the one we visited first, called Grogan’s Castle Lounge. It was slightly rough around the edges with little in the way of airs and graces but it was very comfortable with such a wide variety of clientele. It also did a cracking toasted sandwich with mustard on the side. Speaking of food we also found our way round some of the eateries of Dublin including the rather swanky Eden restaurant in Temple Bar, French Cuisine in L’Guelot and the most amazing breakfast sandwiches from a little place called Honest To Goodness. In fact we called here again before leaving Dublin for our drive south.

We Drove through Eniskerry and on to Glendalough, one of Ireland’s many monastic sites. That night we stopped in Kilkenny and proceeded to crawl around a number of the pubs there, sampling the local Smithwicks ale (the w is silent). In the morning to clear my head from the night before I took a walk around the town which straddles the River Nore and is dominated by the Kilkenny Castle.

En route to Cork we called in on the Rock of Cashel, another of Irelands great heritage sites. In Cork we were greeted at our accommodation (Garnish House) by the proprietor who brought us the most enormous selection of cakes, scones and pastries for afternoon tea. Apparently they do this for everyone on arrival. Cork itself is a vibrant port city – you almost hit the water as you drive in. We found our bearings taking a walk into town and settled into a pub for the night keeping it local with Beamish stout. Later in the evening we were treated to live Irish music.

Not to be outdone by the afternoon tea we’d received on arrival, for breakfast we were treated to the same plus porridge and a choice of 30 breakfast items. I went for the full Irish which pretty much filled me for the day. Cayton wanted to kiss the Blarney stone so Blarney Castle was our first port of call. I didn’t bother myself. Leave the North American tourists to it (one Canadian man was complaining that instead of having to climb the steep spiral staircase they could fill the castle with concrete and take an elevator up to the top!). We then headed for Baltimore on the coast. It was a pretty little seaside town but the place was absolutely swamped it being a Saturday and glorious weather. We continued on taking a detour around part of Mizzen Head and then cutting inland across perhaps the greatest road I’ve ever driven on – the Priest’s Leap pass. It was no more than a track and at times we wondered if we’d ever make it across. After an immeasurable number of twists and turns we made it to the other side and on to one of Ireland’s more famous drives, The Ring Of Kerry. The first town we passed through was total gridlock but luckily we were travelling in the opposite direction to the usual flow of traffic so things got easier after that. We spent the night in Dingle, a place that still has a number of pubs that also double as shops. I sampled some of the local seafood caught that very day in Dingle and took in a number of live music venues.

The next day could not have been more different weather-wise. Low cloud, rain and thick fog as we drove across Connor’s Pass winding its way north up and across the hills which was scary at times when it shrunk to one lane and with practically zero visibility. We eventually made it to Galway. I took a walk around town but to be honest didn’t see too much what with keeping my head down out of the driving rain so retreated to the safety of Kirwan’s Lane Restaurant for dinner and later met Cayton in Tig Coili for a few drinks and some more live music – this time 8 musicians playing various traditional instruments.

Our final day saw us driving back to Dublin but not before calling off at perhaps one of Ireland’s foremost monastic sites, Clonmacnoise, founded by St Ciaran (Kevin) in AD 548. Reputedly the burial place of ancient kings, this place withstood onslaught from the Vikings and the Irish before (as seems to be so often the case here) it was almost reduced to a ruin by the English in 1552. Back in Dublin with our journey drawing to a close we spent our final evening in Grogan’s Castle Lounge playing cards and sampling their cheese and ham toasties.

Well that’s all from me. I’m off to apply another coat of paint to the walls of my office and then I’m off to Prague in the morning for my drummer, Rob Clark’s stage do. I’ll make sure to report back.

A Musician's Work Is Never Done

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 08 May 2010 08:41:00 +0000

Another Saturday and another performance to prepare for in the middle of a string of nineteen consecutive weekend engagements that started at the beginning of March and continues on until the end of June. Many of these have been or will be private functions such as weddings and parties taking place in places including Crewe, Derbyshire, Leeds, Macclesfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, North Yorkshire and Northumberland, which are all fairly close considering we're heading down to Tunbridge Wells in July. I even quoted recently for an event in Cornwall which is a 350 mile 6 hour drive away. I guess my car battery will be well charged by the end of that, though I may not be. My performances at Choice Bar and Restaurant in Manchester, one of my regular venues, continue with my next appearance on Saturday 22nd May. Closer to home I've also performed at Cafe Bar Concerto at the Earl of Doncaster Hotel covering their regular piano player Luke Cannon. I'll be appearing there again on Saturday 19th June.

New bands coming soon
With the success of my trio and its many recent bookings I thought it was prime time to expand. Therefore in the coming weeks and months I'll be launching both a four piece and six piece cover band with a jazz band to follow soon after. We have been playing as a four piece fairly regularly anyway but we wanted to make the four piece an entity in itself aimed specifically at the party/function band market, keeping the trio for the swing and standard repertoire. The six piece will also be more party-based but will include trumpet and sax to give us more scope and an even bigger sound. One of the most difficult things was to choose a name for each group but I think we've come to a decision. The six piece will go by the name of Entourage, and the four piece will be called Chameleon Tonic (my own choice and I had to battle Rob Clark, our drummer, to get it). With the name chosen (and the hard part over!) I'm now in talks with James (Jimmy) Mulkeen, a local photographer, graphic designer and friend of mine about getting some promotional material together. We're currently discussing venues for a photo shoot. I told him I didn't want what seems to have become the regular cover band photograph of four blokes in a row so he's going to work his magic for me and come up with a concept. At the same time I invested in a condenser microphone this week so that I can begin to record some demos for the new bands. Once that is done we can get to work, although Entourage already have their first gig fixed at the beginning of October. I'll need logos drawn up and have started to look at quotes for this on a site I found called Freelancer.com where you can post a job description and freelancers from all over the world can bid on your project. I have a few good offers in but I think I may just turn to Jimmy for this too. He did design my current logo and website. Still, if you don't have a Jimmy of your own then Freelancer.com is a valuable service. The final step will be to put together a website for each group, though of course you'll be able to access them through my own website.

With all these efforts it's sometimes difficult to work in time for my own original ventures but slowly and surely I've been adding to my bank of original compositions and as soon as recordings are complete for the cover bands I intend to begin work on my own material. I'll keep you posted.

With that I'd better get myself together, limber my fingers and warm my voice.

Bye for now.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

That's All Folks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:21:00 +0000

Tale As Old As Time
The curtain has now fallen on Beauty and the Beast which played all last week at Doncaster Civic Theatre and I have to say that it was a triumph. My congratulations go out to all the cast and crew involved in Doncaster Amateur Operatic Society's production, and of course to my musicians who, despite being locked in a darkened room round the back, performed phenomenally. The response we’ve had from audiences has been terrific, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from such a fantastic cast. I only wish it could go on for longer. By Saturday I felt the show could have been ready to go on tour professionally!

Coming Up
So now it’s back to reality with a bump which fortunately for me means more of the same, all be it not in a theatre environment, but back to the piano. Coming up this month I’ll be performing at the Sands Venue in Gainsborough as part of their Mother’s Day celebrations on Sunday 14th March. Saturday 20th March sees my band and I playing for a wedding in Derbyshire and the following week on Saturday 27th March I’ll be returning to Choice Bar And Restaurant in Manchester. I also have a number of projects in the pipeline including a commission to arrange the music for a new musical and the continuation of a project I started last month giving a modern funky twist to some age old nursery rhymes as part of a pre-school tap dancing programme called Tap Tots. I also happen to be the voice of Ted Astaire, the character who will lead the children in their dancing! All good fun.

So there I shall leave you for the time being. Take care and I’ll be back to catch you up soon.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Tale As Old As Time

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:09:00 +0000

I’ve been finding it difficult these past weeks to make time to jump on here long enough to write anything significantly longer than perhaps a brief twitter or facebook post. We're now in the final countdown to showtime with less than two weeks to go until Doncaster Amateur Operatic Society’s production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast kicks off Doncaster’s HotHouse Festival. Final preparations are now under way and, though not wishing to jinx things, it’s all going rather well. The magic begins Tuesday 2nd March and runs until Saturday 6th March at Doncaster Civic Theatre, with both a matinee and an evening performance on the Saturday. Tickets are priced at £12 and £10 for concessions (no concessions available for Saturday evening). I myself will be out of site (hopefully not out of mind) playing with and conducting the orchestra to the side of the stage, but with a video feed of me so that I can direct the singing on stage (I've suggested I have my own lighting scheme, along with various props and costume changes but my ideas never result in more than a wry grimace from the director, Ian Coley). With a fantastic cast and a terrific nine-piece orchestra it looks set to be a great run. And once all of this madness is over I might actually get time to blog here more often. Having said that, the gigs are lining up for both me and my band with this year looking set to be the busiest yet. No rest for the wicked.

Anyway, that's about all from me for now. I hope plenty of you can make it to the theate in March. It's going to be a blast.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

You take the high road and I'll take the low road...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:41:00 +0000

Happy New Year one and all. Christmas seems to have come and gone so quickly, perhaps because for the most part I was busy in the kitchen preparing for various feasts. Three days of preparations led up to our Annual Bramley Family Christmas Hootenanny, followed by a dinner party the day after (preparing a three course meal for seven with the most shocking hangover that has ever been bestowed upon a human being is not something I’d want to repeat anytime soon), then Christmas dinner, another smaller family party and then days of trying to come up with ideas of how to use up all the leftover food.

Happy New Year
New Years Eve saw me in Darlington with my band entertaining the revellers at the Bannatyne Hotel. We’d played a wedding there earlier in the year - John, the manager’s wedding in fact, and he'd been kind enough to ask us back. Despite the snow and Rob the drummer’s car being unwilling to start to ferry him home, we had a great evening. Paul our bass player was on hand to drive Rob back if you were worried that we’d left him up there to fend for himself.

Get Me To The Church On Time
On New Years Day, after a 6-8 inches of snow had fallen the night before, I set off from Newcastle where I’d spent the night at my friend’s house, to battle my way up a partially blocked A1. My friend Henry was getting married on the 2nd of January and a bunch of former housemates from university had booked a cottage a few miles outside of St Andrews to see in the New Year. When I arrived they all looked a little worse for wear. The ceremony took place the next day in what was possibly the coldest place I’ve ever had to sit still for 40 minutes. St Andrews Episcopal Church is a lovely building but there appeared to be no means of heating the place, or at least somebody had forgotten to put any money in the meter. In an attempt to keep warm I endeavoured to put all that I could into the singing of hymns. The icy church was more than made up for as we reconvened to Rufflets Hotel where the champagne was flowing freely. After a splendid meal we were supposed to be entertained by Ceilidh band but unfortunately due to the weather conditions they were unable to make it across the Forth Road Bridge and were stranded on the Edinburgh side. It was a disappointment – I was really looking forward to it and had promised a number of people that I’d dance the Gay Gordons. No matter, the bar was free so none of us really minded that much!

Meet the Ancestors
Before leaving Scotland I had one last thing to do. My grandfather hails from a small fishing village which I was delighted to find out was 2½ miles up the coast from where we were staying in Elie. St Monans is a delightful little community overlooking the Firth of Forth. Its once busy harbour was now quiet and we took a walk to the west side of town to see the historic Kirk dating from the 14th century. I’d hoped to see evidence of my ancestors, and we did find a few clues here and there, but the snow had covered almost every gravestone and it would have been a mammoth task to uncover them all. So instead we wandered the grounds for a time before retiring to a local pub.

And here we are – 2010. I’m back at my various schools now after something of a false start last week. I was travelling back from Scotland on Monday so I went in on Tuesday but that was the day the snow hit hard and after starting with around 30 kids I ended up with 9 by the end of my class. Wednesday the schools were closed and I was back in Thursday. So this is my first full week back. As is generally the case at this time of year I have a few weeks off from gigging but my band will be playing at a wedding Saturday 23rd in Solihull.

Until then, that’s all from me.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:19:00 +0000

And if we're talking metaphorically and the plump goose in question represents my burgeoning schedule then that is indeed the case. I've been meaning to get on here for a while now but something always seems to crop up. Even now I'm preparing to leave for a weekend of gigs. I'm playing at the Grosvenor Casino in Huddersfield tonight, the fifth of seven appearances there during this festive season. Tomorrow afternoon I'm playing piano at a wedding in Clitheroe and later that evening I will be joined by the rest of my band to party the night away. Sunday finds me closer to home playing for a private party in Hensall. It sounds like a lot but it's not even my busiest week. In two weeks time, the week before Christmas, I'll be performing five gigs in three days. I think that's a personal record.

There is a reason I wanted to squeeze in a short blog post in between all of this Christmas madness. Yesterday I received my newly edited promotional video. It was taken a year ago at The Sands Venue in Gainsborough, but what with having to edit the audio then the video it has taken this long to finish. Well it's here now. Please let me know what you think.

I must dash. If I don't get the chance to get on here again in the next couple of weeks may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Take Care,

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Remember, Remember...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

It’s already November. Halloween has come and gone, Bonfire Night is just around the corner, and then it’s the inevitable march towards Christmas. I’ve already begun rehearsing my Christmas repertoire. That’s the trouble with only playing songs four weeks out of the year – you tend to forget by the time it comes to perform them again. But I'm well on the way to remembering them again.

Live At Pastures Lodge
On the 9th of October I appeared in concert with the Barnburgh Male Voice Choir at Pastures Lodge, Doncaster. I’ve uploaded a video here of one of the songs I sang that night and will try to get some others up soon. We had a full house and were warmly received. Hopefully most of the people were turning out to hear us perform and not just there for the pie and pea supper included in the ticket price (I didn’t partake myself but it smelled good!). In any case we had plenty of good comments and the evening went splendidly. I was asked by one of the audience members that night if I had another CD available for sale because they’ve already worn out my first album and I had to confess that I did not. It got me to thinking. I’m going to try to put a live album together in the next few weeks, before Christmas if possible. It's already recorded so it's just a case of sorting out the artwork and duplicating the discs. I'll try my best!

Le Grand Bande
On Monday night I bumped into a few people I know from the Doncaster Youth Jazz Association in the pub, both of us having just finished a rehearsal. They were taking part in their annual exchange with a French band from Limonest. One of the guys there, Jean-Noel Mathy, had his guitar and I was asked to sing which I gladly conceded to. Before I left I was told about a jam session that was taking place later in the week. And so on Wednesday evening I found myself in Relish in Doncaster. The place was busy and there was a fabulous young band playing, Blues Armada, who led proceedings. Later various people were invited to take the stage, including legendary local trombone hero Dennis Rollins, and myself! It was enjoyable and made a change to be singing without having to think about playing piano at the same time as is most usually the case. I also managed to down quite a few pints of Guiness which left me feeling rather the worse for wear the next day.

Tale As Old As Time
On Tuesday last week around 50 people from the Doncaster Amateur Operatic Society travelled to Sheffield to see Beauty and the Beast at the Lyceum Theatre. We’ll be putting the show on ourselves next year and are already in rehearsals. My role as Musical Director means that I take all of the singing rehearsals and will be both conducting and playing piano for the final performances taking place in the first week of March 2010. We very much enjoyed the show. There were some great performances, particular the characters of Belle played by Ashley Oliver, the Beast played by Shaun Dalton and Phil Barley in the role of Lumiére (who I was glad to note spends much of his time singing with big bands and the like). But for me, despite the fact that there was an eight piece band, I was disappointed that four of the players were on synthesizer. I think it’s a real shame. That is not to take away from the musicians who were playing but the show has such a great score I was looking forward to hearing it properly. Our band will be nine pieces with one of those being synthesizer, but the rest will be real instruments – 2 brass, 3 woodwind, bass, drums and me on the piano. I’m currently in the process of putting that band together. I will of course be calling upon my regular drummer and band mate in crime, Rob Clark, who is currently touring with a professional production of Cabaret so he’s a good man to have onboard.

And there I think I’ll leave you. Have a happy and safe Bonfire Night and I’ll be back soon.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

When Autumn Leaves Start To Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:02:00 +0000

I was about to sit down with Channel 4 OD and catch up on a missed TV show but it turns out that the show wasn’t aired so I didn’t miss it after all. What better to do with my spare hour than talk to you good people?

"The autumn leaves drift by the window, the autumn leaves of red and gold..."
(Johnny Mercer)

Autumn seems to have crept up on me like a fox in the night. I live in town and sure, I’ve noticed the air becoming crisper as I venture out each morning but it wasn’t until I visited my parents the other day that I finally realised summer’s gone and winter is marching ever closer. Their house sits on the village green and is surrounded by trees but the green is now brown with fallen leaves. For some reason the wind always blows the leaves down the drive and they accumulate by the back door. My dad will spend the next few months trying to sweep them up only to find as many there the next time a strong wind blows. There is a certain melancholy that comes with autumn – the cold grey days, the dwindling light. But there is also the promise of cosy nights tucked inside the house and plenty of opportunity for festivity with Halloween, Bonfire Night, and Christmas just around the corner. Yes it’s cold, yes it’s grey, yes it’s wet and yes it’s windy and perhaps there will be times when I long for tropical temperatures and rum punch served to me on some Caribbean beach. But it’s home and I’ll enjoy every last frigid minute of it!

One Night Only
My band is performing tonight for a wedding taking place somewhere in Lancashire (I’m hoping that my sat-nav will show me exactly where). I’ve just got back from picking up a van to take us there. We’re playing as a four piece with Paul “Big Lad” Grady joining us on guitar. I like adding a different dimension to the sound and each individual player adds their own take to each piece. It should be fun.

Coming Up
Following on from tonight’s gig I have a busy week coming up, starting with a corporate dinner I’m playing for on Tuesday in Sutton Coldfield. I used to be involved with a sales company through which I was introduced to many people. I once shared a car ride with a couple of people down to Brighton for a seminar and one of them contacted me via Facebook a few weeks ago to ask if I was available to play for them. You never know where the next gig is coming from. On Friday I’m joining forces (and voices) with the Barnburgh Male Voice Choir at Pastures Lodge. We’re sharing the programme and if it goes nearly as well as the last one we staged about eighteen months ago I’ll be very happy. Tickets are £7.50 including pie and pea supper. So even if you don’t like the music at least you get a decent feed! On Saturday I’m appearing at Choice Bar and Restaurant in Manchester, one of my more regular gigs. And on Sunday, all being well, I should be playing at The Sands Venue in Gainsborough, although having said that a number of the Sunday sessions have been cancelled over the past few months for one reason or another. Four gigs in one week! Plus teaching and rehearsals on top of that. I’ll see you at the other side.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Last concert for the summer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:24:00 +0000

I’ve been back at school this week and having been exposed to more than 200 children in the course of my teaching work I fear that one of the little darlings has given me a cold! Still, it’s been a good start to the academic year and I have high hopes that I’m going to enjoy the rest. Carrying on from last year I’m part of an initiative aimed at developing whole class musical tuition with ongoing workshops taking place in primary schools around the Doncaster area. Most of this revolves around samba drumming which the kids seem to get a real kick out of (and some of their teachers for that matter). I have six different schools this year, some that I’ve taught at before and some new ones, along with three new colleagues (I’m technically now the experienced one, this being my third year on the project). No doubt I’ll be filling you in on the highs and lows as we progress.

It’s not only the teacher side of me that has been busy of late. My band was out twice last weekend. On Saturday we played at Trentham Estate near Stoke-on-Trent to close their summer season of concerts. It was a beautiful setting, with a covered stage nestled by the lake. We were blessed with wonderfully sunny weather. As the sun descended it did turn cold but the concert goers were well prepared with blankets and the like. By the end of the evening my breath was condensing as I sang and fogging my glasses! Not that it really mattered because apart from the stage everything was pitch black. I could certainly hear the crowd – they were very enthusiastic and from time to time I could see glow sticks dancing in the blackness. For our slower songs people were holding up their glowing mobile phones and swaying to the music – the modern day lighter! We enjoyed ourselves and were well received. And, as a bonus, were home before midnight.

On Sunday we were playing for a wedding at Wentbridge House Hotel near Pontefract. We started out with a little swing music which had the wedding guests dancing from the outset. The bride’s family were from Egypt so while we took a breather the wedding party were entertained by a belly dancer. The band then finished the night with some party favourites. A good time had by all.

Tonight I’m flying solo at Choice Bar and Restaurant in Manchester and next week, as well as a private function that I’m playing in Barnsley on Saturday night, I’ll be back at The Sands Venue in Gainsborough for Sunday lunch.

Bye for now.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk

Get me to the church on time

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:34:00 +0000

It wasn’t me getting married but one of my best friends, Chris, who married Kat on Saturday. And it wasn’t a church for that matter, rather the glorious setting of Cannon Hall, situated just north of Barnsley on the edge of the Pennine hills. For over two hundred years it was home to the Spencer (later Spencer-Stanhope) family, who made their fortune in the local iron industry.

Chris and I had spent the morning busy with preparations: dropping Chris’ car at the hotel so that he might drive home the next day; making the most precarious drive of my life with Chris in the passenger seat balancing a four tier wedding cake on his knee; and setting up a sound system and lights for the evening’s entertainment. At 4pm we found ourselves... I’d like to say whisked away but we were in a huge gas-guzzling old American car and it was more lumbering than greased lightning.

The ceremony took place in the beautiful oak paneled ballroom at Cannon Hall, built especially for a wedding in 1891, with lilting classical music being played on the grand piano (this time, not by me!). Kat was a vision entering with her father preceded by Katy her flower girl who spread rose petals at her feet and bridesmaids - her sister, Heather, who was carrying Chris and Kat's daughter, Lyra. It was an emotional service – Chris had to stifle tears on a couple of occasions but made it through. He’s a softy! After photographs in the grounds we ran up against a slight snag in that the wedding car had broken down. It reminds me of the quote from Oprah Winfrey:

"The roses, the lovely notes, the dining and dancing are all welcome and splendid. But when the Godiva is gone, the gift of real love is having someone who'll go the distance with you. Someone who, when the wedding day limo breaks down, is willing to share a seat on the bus."
-- Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine, February 2004

Very apt! We didn’t have to go to such extremes but instead hitched lifts with the other guests to transfer us between the ceremony and the reception venue which was taking place down the road in Pot House Hamlet near Silkstone, at The Potting Shed Cafe. When we arrived the chairs and tables had been decorated beautifully and the cake stood atop a large martini glass.

It was soon time for speeches which were introduced by Kat’s father, Don, who set the bar for the rest of us speakers. Chris’ was an emotional speech during which he played a song by Johnny Cash expressing his feelings towards Kat. It ended on a lighter note with him telling everybody that I was a compulsive liar and not to believe a word that I told them. As it turned out I was quite kind to him in my speech which I think went well. They laughed at the parts they were supposed to and even at some that they weren’t! With speeches over we were able to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. The meal started with a sort of quiche or tart, with a main course of chicken and wild mushrooms, and key lime pie for dessert. After that the party continued into the wee hours, and despite break downs, both mechanical and emotional, we had a wonderful day. We did however forget to cut the cake! I wonder how it tasted. It looked great! And my friend Andy, having consumed much of the bar's supply of whisky, tried to consume a piece of Styrofoam and lost his tooth in the process! So apart from Andy, a great time had by all.

Scott Bramley
www.scottbramley.co.uk