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A Castle Near Brighton.

Hey People!

What a fantastic time! I’m overwhelmed with hospitality from friends Mark And Shelley. A few short local trips around the area have proved to be historically amazing, and if you add the sunshine and good company, this trip has been epic so far. Ok, let’s get started…

Bodiam Castle (National Trust)

Originally and historically, Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years’ War.
Friends Mark and Shelley were assisting it’s defence today, free of charge.

Situated on a lower portion of a long slight incline, water would flow downhill to create the moat (click here for moat vid) , then evacuate with a specific irrigation/filter allowance. The technology allows a certain amount of water to support freshwater fish to live! Amazing.

To cross into the Castle, there is a perfectly kept drawbridge under water. The National Trust has created a permanent wooden bridge for public access, but the preservation of the castle itself is intact.

 

 

Here are a few close up pictures: Front entrance with the inscribed ‘coat of arms’ above the entrance. The crest on the right over the main doorway belongs to Prince Charles’ 20-times-removed grandmother….

Also at the entrance, there are several “one way” guard stations. They were specifically created to be dark inside so that one could only see out from within.  There was enough light to walk inside, but when up close, I could get a good visual of most of the entrance.

A few “windows” were situated high for the entrance of natural light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After wondering around a while, I needed to inquire about a building that was strategically situated about 200 metres in front of the Castle. It looked like some sort of bunker building. Well, my thoughts were accurate. It was a machine gun anti-tank bunker used in WW2. I took a couple of pics of Gun Turrets and (what looked like) a type of phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the picture below for a summary of the bunker usage.

 

 

 

 

That was a cool tour. The people in construction of that period had one heck of a job. I’d sure be keen on what the conditions of labour was like for such an epic building. Years? How many people involved? Etc?..

I’ll need to turn to Wiki for more in depth story of this amazing structure.

Tomorrow, I’ll be walking the Brighton Pier before my second performance. Take care all.


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Brighton, England

The first 24 hours has been amazing, with music as the underlying context (of course). Staying in Hove (ten minute walk east of Brighton) strolling into music stores on the downtown streets (guitar purchase), passing by the location of the scooter scene on the Brighton Pier from the Album, Rock Opera Movie “Quadrophenia” by The Who, and while completing all these tasks, the weather is amazing.

A musically connected friend here (Hi Mark!) has booked me at a couple of shows this weekend, so I needed some music gear!!! One of the stops I made was into “GAK” Music. I explained to a few of the staff my situation, and these people gave me a few suggestions, and kicked ass with customer service! A little music banter went back and forth during the purchase, and the whole experience was a win. Thanks GAK Gents!

Moving along, the idea for today is Starbucks, a quick bite, then friends will be touristing me around town for some site seeing. Following that, I’ll be prepping for a scaled down acoustic show at The Exchange in Brighton tonight.

Oh, and here’s a quick vid of a downtown Brighton area

Downtown Brighton

Cheers All!


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U.K., Toronto, and The Last Ship

Well, I’m hitting the road again….and over water….

I’m off to perform a few shows, and taking a short and sweet writing sabbatical. Also taking in Sting’s production of “The Last Ship”, with my awesome Bro. For those of you who aren’t aware, Sting wrote and acts/sings in a fictional play relating to the Northern England Shipbuilders from the last century. I find it to be a very honest and organic escape, which is quite a separation in context from most mainstream music when you flip on the radio. That’ll be happening on Feb 19th in Toronto, Ontario. Here’s a live performance on YouTube where Sting presents the music from the production. Sting – The Last Ship

The following night, I’ll be performing (with a band) at a fundraiser in Toronto. It’ll be great to bring out some material on guitar, with a couple of quality gents….

 

 

 

 

…Next, I’m off to the U.K.. I’ll be focusing on sights and sound, but I do have two booked impromptu performances. You’ll have to follow me on My FACEBOOK Page for up to date info. I’ll be starting off for a few days in and around Brighton, then rolling north to London for a day or two. Following that, there is talk of meeting and hanging with a gentleman who was chauffeur to the Beatles.

Really looking forward to this trip, and hanging with a few pals in Canada and The U.K….and in prepping for the over seas journey, I’ll be performing a few songs by Sting:

This Thursday at Curve Lounge 5pm, at The River Rock Casino Resort, Richmond

and

Sunday night 7:30pm, at Cavo Lounge, 911 Granville St, Vancouver

Follow me on social media to find out more details, and when The Last Ship sails….

Peace

 


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Hard Rock Casino – February 3rd/4th

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, with lots of new material in the bank!

I’m really looking forward to performing at the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver again. They’ve just completed a huge renovation in the Unlisted Lounge, so now it’s a combination buffet before 9pm, then it turns into an awesome wide-open seating area for your listening pleasure. With the expanded area, and new stage location, it’s a treat to not only preform, but 100 times more visually acceptable for the audience as well! It’s rolling with an open concept, new comfortable furniture, and the staff are always exceeding with service. And as always, there’s no charge.

Looking ahead, I’ve booked two weddings, a couple of private parties, and have nailed down the next six months on the calendar – with a few surprises in the works! It’s great to know that 2017 is off to a solid musical start!

The second album is still on course too, and well into production. I’m very excited about the new sound and direction I’m taking. It’s bigger and bolder, and still based on my acoustic live-looping technique, while remaining organic, and completely live. In other words, no drum machines, synthetic sounds, or music misrepresentation facsimile, which is heard a lot on today’s airwaves. The only difference is I’ve cut out the “build up” to each song. One track from my next release “Hands” can be heard at REVERBNATION .

Oh, and the first album can be previewed and purchased at iTunes and CD Baby (android).

Thanks for keeping in touch, and please join me at any of your favourite social media sites:

FacebookTwitterInstagram

Be good!


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ORRANGE – 8pm, Saturday, January 28th, 2017

Hey All!

I’ll be performing in Coquitlam at ORRANGE – 1125 Nicola Ave., this Saturday, January 28th, at 8pm

I always have a great time at this venue, as it is well managed, and every patron is taken care of. One can tell by just watching the interactions. The food is great, and the drinks are cold.

Requests are welcome. The “If I know it – I’ll play it.” rule will be in effect later in the evening.

It’s an early night. Hope to see you!

Have a great weekend!

 


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January 20th/21st, 2017

Looking forward to performing at The Queens Cross in North Vancouver this weekend. Always a good time, and a few music appreciators usually show up – always good for a chat! Usually an 8pm start.

Hey, on another note 😉, have you heard the single on my upcoming EP?

“Hands” can be found here. Just click, and look inside my profile at ReverbNation for the song. It’s still free to listen to…

Enjoy! Be good!

S


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Live Music In 2017

spiritcool-logo-smallo:

Here we are, well into 2017.

Things are looking great on the home front, and my second original (sophomore) album is finally nearing completion. I’m excited about the concept of “getting right to the song” without the “build up” of creating a song, as I do at every performance. For more info about this, check my “bio” page.

Moving forward, I already have two concepts for the upcoming third and forth releases.

And now that the second stage of the website is complete, I need to inform everyone that I’ve begun an “email contact” form. This means that I will not be posting my performances on a web-calendar. To find out where I’m performing, I’ll send out a monthly email to subscribers.

It also looks like I lost a few blog posts in the transfer/upgrade process, but hey, it’s the present and future that really count! 😉

Also, stay tuned for some pretty exciting shows coming up this year! Plans are already in the works…

Comments on social media are always welcome, and if you’d like to chat about the provision of entertainment for a function you’re putting together, send me an email (on the contact page). All event ideas are considered!

Stay real people!!

😉