I need to go to 'Busker's Anonymous'

I’m beginning to think this blog has made me a ‘Buskaholic’! All I seem to think about is when the next Busker’s Night is and what new songs I could learn before then. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing!

It all started a few weeks ago when we were in The Borough. The manager Grant, who we’ve got to know over the past year, came up to me and started talking about busking. He had spotted my facebook profile picture, which is of my buskin’ at Paddy Whacks and asked me to come to his busker’s night. He had heard that my night at Paddy Whacks was quite successful (thanks Lisa) and wouldn’t take no for an answer about me coming to his.

I couldn’t disappoint him and honestly, I was actually looking forward to my next opportunity. It must have been about 10pm last night when I randomly decided to head to The Borough but it was worth it. Arriving a bit late, I only got to play two songs but despite that, it was great fun. I played ‘We Are Broken’ by Paramore and also ‘Stop and Stare’ by One Republic, a song that I haven’t been playing long.

I was a little bit disappointed with the guitar though. I thought there was a bit of a weird sound coming from it and the lighting wasn’t exactly the best. But despite that, I got on with it and even though I was still a bit nervous, it was fun. Thanks to my ‘camerawoman’ Lisa Ovenden for leaving her work to come down with me. I guess I've got to thank her for giving me that ‘kick’ to get up there in the first place. Now I can’t seem to get enough of it.

Knowing me, I’ll probably be buskin’ again before I leave Sunderland for the summer so if I am, I’ll let you all know. But for now here are the videos for ‘We Are Broken’ and ‘Stop and Stare’. Apologies for the lighting and that ‘crazy’ guitar and I hope you enjoy!

Never Growing Old

I couldn't help but giggle today when I was cleaning up my room and found the last book I bought. I'm still finding the time to start it though. The book is 'Peter Pan' by J.M Barrie. For anyone who knows me, ‘Peter Pan’ is by far my favourite children story. For being nearly 20, I’m too obsessed with the children’s story for my own good. The book blurb says “Step into Neverland with this magical timeless classic”… I think I stepped into Neverland a long time ago and I’m not sure I ever found my way back.

I’ve been this way for years. I was one of the few people over 12 for the Peter Pan movie release a few years back, which I now proudly own on DVD. I ran to Waterstones on the day the official sequel “Peter Pan in Scarlet” was released last year and I even have my own Peter Pan teddy that sits proudly in my room, along with a few Tinkerbell cushions and my own framed Peter Pan screenshot from the Disney cartoon that hangs over my bed. But now, with my own J.M Barrie novel, I’m pretty much set.

Buying this book has made me want to share something with you all that I’ve never told many about. For my GCSE Music composition piece, I based my study on Children’s Lullabies. I had to write my own lullaby including lyrics. Funny enough, it was before Christmas of my GCSE year and when Peter Pan the movie was to be released, so the hype of the movie ended up influencing my composition. My Children’s lullaby, entitled ‘Neverland’ is the first (and pretty much only) song I’ve ever written and recorded. I wrote and performed all the music for the track, including the vocals. It turned out really well in my opinion and I ended up with 94% in my composition part of my coursework, which (as you can imagine) I was over the moon about.

I’ve never let anyone listen to the track but I’ve decided to share it with you all. I’ll admit the vocals are a little bit off in places as I only took one take to record them, but other than that, I’m actually quite proud of the track. I hope you enjoy it and maybe in the future, I might start writing a few songs that won’t put you to sleep!

A little help from a friend

Hey everyone, hope you've all had a great Easter.

I'm just back from a week in Scotland with my mum. It was great but it was also good to get back again. I've enjoyed my Easter break. I've seen everyone I've wanted to see and it's been quite a laugh really. I'm obviously looking forward to getting back in Sunderland but at the same time I'm dreading the workload that comes with it. At least I can look to music to calm me down. Speaking of which, I never thought I'd say I miss my guitar! I do have an electric guitar here but my shabby little acoustic is in Sunderland and I miss just messing around with it.

I knew I couldn't go three weeks without doing something musical, it seems like the only thing I have been doing these past few months. I got together with my friend Mark from So Long Lisa to record a little something. We both love Paramore with a passion so it was fun recording. Haley Williams is amazing. Her vocals are something no-one can imitate. Here are a few live performances of hers on youtube. The first is of Hallelujah and the second is of Misery Business.







As you can imagine, she's a bit of an idol of mine. So it was a challenge for me to do this song justice. I decided to pick My Heart because it's one of my favourites. It was fun just singing for once and not having to worry about whether or not I'm playing the right chords on guitar. The performance is nothing spectacular and it was the first take. Unfortunately you can barely hear mark's vocals past me, but he's singing I promise! Thanks again to Mark for helping me out and please check out Mark and So Long Lisa on http://www.bebo.com/solonglisa, it's much appreciated. Anyways, on with the video. This is My Heart by Paramore and I hope you enjoy!

Buskin' love..

Last night I came up against my biggest fear. Well, it's not exactly my biggest fear.. that is heights or spiders but this does come pretty close. With it being the last night before I headed home for Easter, we decided to head out to celebrate the fact that we haven't killed ourselves yet over Uni. Thursdays are normally not on the weekly agenda so I was pretty excited. The last time we headed out on a Thursday night was before Christmas and we stopped by Paddy Whacks. There was a open mic night and as much as I was egged on to get up there, I knew there was no way I could have. Back then, playing the guitar was the thing I did in my room when I didn't want to do work. I've sang infront of hundreds of people in the past but adding guitar to that was something that scared me. So that night I was thankful the set was booked up and I couldn't get on. But I knew that there would be a time that I'd have to face my fear.

I guess I was thankful for a bit of preparation time before heading into the 'pit of fire'. I knew there was no way Lisa was going to let me go to Paddy Whacks without getting up there. I am a lot more confident now with the guitar than I was before Christmas but it was still scaring me. Before heading out, I had a few songs in mind so when we headed to Paddy Whacks, I couldn't walk for my knees shaking. I was excited though but it was the usual, I just had a gut feeling I was going to forget everything. When we arrived, I barely had enough time to compose myself before I was up on stage, staring out at a packed out Paddy Whacks.

I'm still buzzing from last night. The guitar was a full size one whilst I've been used to working with a 3/4 size so obviously it was a bit wierd. There was a few times that I missed chords and that but I didn't let it bother me. During my first song, Angel by Sarah McLachlan, I was really nervous because the crowd was quite loud, but I played on thanks to my little crowd of supporters. I've got to say thanks to everyone who came down, you all made it easier for me. Overall it was fun, putting the nerves to one side. I'd definately do it again but before I do.. I think I should invest in a full size acoustic. I think I might steal my friend Mark's when I'm home this Easter and get some practice in.

Have a great Easter everyone!

Youtube's finest

This is perhaps a little off-track compared to your normal run-of-the-mill mainstream artists but I believe that what I've stumbled upon is the future.

Well, if truth be told, I didn't stumble upon anything. It was more of a push in the right direction by a classmate. Andrew sent me a youtube link of this guy, telling me it would be great to post on my blog. Normally I don't believe a word that comes out of Andrew Lisgo's mouth, I just assumed it to be a joke. Turns out Andrew is a genius (who would have thought) as the video he sent me is probably the best thing I've seen in ages.

Introducing to you all the amazing talent that is Nick Pitera. When I first listened to his video that Andrew sent, I'll admit in saying I died of laughter. I just never expected what I was about to hear! But as I went through the videos on his youtube user account, I actually realised that he has a brilliant voice. I really recommend you check more of his work, you'll be amazed. You can also check out his myspace page. This guy seems to have a lot of fans by posting his songs on youtube and it seems to be paying off. Anyway, here is the video Andrew sent me. It's Nick's version of A whole new world from the Aladdin movie.





After the sensation that was Nick Pitera, it got me thinking. I started scanning through the related results (as you do) and came across a few other aspiring artists who have also found youtube a great way of getting their music across.


This next woman has become a 'micro-celebrity' because of her youtube success. She has had over 700,000 views on her videos already and that count is increasing daily. Her name is Diana Rein. Her music has a kind of blues/country feel but it's her covers that are amazing. She has taken some amazing songs and made them her own. You can check her out on her youtube page, along with her website and myspace page. But here is my favourite video of hers. It is a total arrangement of Stronger by Kanye West. She has created a melody to go with it and in my opinion, I think it is great. I hope you enjoy.





My next video is of a 22 year old called Ricardo Munoz. This guy lives in Holland and is now a singer/song writer. Check out his youtube page and his myspace. He has a lot of his own material but I quite like his cover of Apologise by One Republic. He's released this version in Holland. This is the official released video for it.





These last two videos are of just two guys who aren't necessarily out to make it as recording artists but just like the covers they are singing. The first guy is called Phil Schawel, check out his youtube page and his myspace. This guy is actually quite popular, having nearly 700 subscribers on youtube. What I like about him is that he has this amazingly unique voice. He's covered quite a few of my favourite songs but You and Me by Lifehouse has to be my favourite because his voice grabs the emotion of the song.




Finally, I'm pretty sure this guy is from Northern Ireland as his accent is quite like mine. He hasn't posted his name on his youtube page, but he's 21 and definately from the UK. All of his covers are really good and also quite varied. I thought I'd post up this one though as I've already mentioned it to Lisa Ovenden. This is a cover of New Shoes by Paulo Nutini.




Overall, it's amazing how many people watch people's videos like this and become fans. If the artists are lucky, it could make their career. But if not, at least they are sharing their talents with people who appreciate it. In a world where very few talented artists get the chance to break through into the music scene, is Youtube the future in finding such hidden talents?!

I thought I'd jump on the Youtube generation bandwagon and post a few videos of my own. Watching the previous artists, I can say my covers lack serious quality... and a full sized guitar. But I'm having a laugh I guess. I'm not going to be playing gigs anytime soon, so playing to an online audience seemed easier and I've actually gained a few subscribers/fans of my own! Check out my youtube page for some other videos I've uploaded, but I'll leave you with a random chosen one. I particularly love this song because it's one of my Mum's favourites. This is my cover of Angel by Sarah McLachlan. (Apologises for the bad sound quality.)

Home is where the heart is

Hey everyone, Hope you've had a great week!

This is just a quick post to update you all on what I'll be getting up to this weekend. Basically I'm over the moon as I'm flying home tonight to see my family. Not many people know this, but I'm extremely close to my family. I'm very proud of that, but at the same time it makes it more difficult to spend so much time away from home. Instead of boring you with long and endless paragraphs on my family, I thought it would be fun to post a 'vodcast' for you all, not only telling you but showing you all about my family. Hope you enjoy.



What I'm hoping to do this weekend is give you a full insight into what my musical inspirations are. That will most probably be looking through my dad's mountain of a music collection, picking out what has inspired me over the years. Also, I'm planning to spend time with my best friend and his band to see what they've been doing.

Home is where the heart is by no doubt. I'll tell the truth, I've missed it. I might not be doing anything of any importance, but it's still great to just sit about with the family for a chat. All I've been listening to all week has been 'Home' by Michael Buble, with the Westlife cover thrown in there too. In my opinion, the Michael Buble version is hard to beat. I am hoping you heard of Michael Buble at some stage. If not, please check him out on his myspace page or his website. His music is great for the ultimate chillout.

I've been that obsessed with the song 'Home', I've decided to get the guitar into play and learn a version of my own. I've incorporated elements of Michael Buble and Westlife's versions. It's one of the first songs I've learnt and it means a lot to me because of the fact that I miss home a lot. So here's something a little special for you all, my own version of 'Home'. I apologise for the shabby quality though and sometimes the flash player takes a few seconds to load. But other than that, I hope you enjoy.




I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.