Weddings and private eventsLive music that fits
the whole day
One musician who can play a ceremony, a drinks reception, a wedding breakfast and an evening dance floor without four different acts turning up.
Your first dance
This is the question I get asked more than any other, so here is the answer up front. Whatever your first dance song is, there is a good chance I already play it. If I do not, I will learn it properly before the day, at no extra cost.
The same goes for a song for a parent, a song that meant something to someone who cannot be there, or anything else you want played at a particular moment. Just tell me early enough and it will be ready.
Over 700 songs already
Across dinner jazz, swing, acoustic, soul, rock and blues. The song list on this site is only a selection of them.
If I do not know it, I will learn it.
How an evening usually runs
Most days follow a similar shape, and the music has to change with it. This is roughly how I would plan it, though none of it is fixed.
- Drinks reception
- Acoustic and gentle. Eagles, James Taylor, George Ezra, a bit of Gipsy Kings. Background rather than a performance, so people can actually talk to each other.
- The meal
- The dinner and lounge set. Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles. Quiet enough for speeches to follow without anyone having to shout.
- After the speeches
- Swing. This is where a room usually starts to lift, and it works for every age group in front of you, which at a wedding matters more than at anything else.
- The evening
- Motown, soul, disco, pop and rock, aimed squarely at the dance floor. If the room turns out to want guitar rather than singalongs, it can go that way instead.
The practical bits
- Own PA and lighting provided
- Sets and timings built around your running order
- Playlist between live sets, so there is never silence
- Requests welcome, given a little notice
- Solo, or with Strydes if you want a band
The practical answers
Space needed: roughly two metres by two metres, and one thirteen amp socket. That is genuinely all.
Certificates: PAT tested equipment and public liability insurance, both in place and available on request.
How far I travel: there is no radius. I have played in Spain and at the Le Mans 24 Hour for Aston Martin, so ask wherever you are.
Pricing: on application, because no two events are the same.
The kind of events this suits
Weddings
Full day or evening only. The advantage of one act across the whole day is that the music has a thread through it rather than four unrelated changeovers.
Milestone birthdays and anniversaries
Mixed age rooms, which is exactly what a long set list is for. Something for the grandparents and something for the twenty year olds, in the same night.
Corporate and company events
Awards dinners, Christmas parties, drinks receptions and client evenings. Dinner jazz early, something livelier once the formal part is done.
Private events
Discreet, no fuss, no long soundcheck. I have played everything from garden parties to a Virgin party, and the approach does not change much.
Check my availability
Send the date and a rough idea of the day and I will come back with whether I am free and what it would cost.
Or ring me, which is usually quicker.
07757 315063