Mike Outram

So I got to the end of the notebook, 83 posts later. My randomly assembled notes/ideas/whatnot for the book I’ve been (not!) writing is still voluminous, so I guess I’ll continue with this idea and do another notebook. I like the deadline; it’s good to have something to write to and nice to have a bit of banter along the way, which helps a lot – Thanks.

It’s been ages since I last sent a newsletter, sorry about that, but I did promise in that first mailing list thingy that you could rest assured from being inundated with ‘hi, I just ate a sandwich’ – type newsletters. The last one was in September. Anyhow, whilst I’ve been doing the notebook, I’ve been doing things. Here’s what…

You might not be aware that I released a track called Bikini. I like how it came out, all the chaps did a splendid job on it. You can buy it here.

Last week, I had to coach Vanessa Redgrave through some songs for a film about a choir. It was a pretty surreal week that involved a morning sing-song of Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’ with Vanessa. Excellent start to the day! We spent a day filming in Newcastle too. It was absolutely freezing.

This week I’ve been rehearsing with the Aurora Orchestra for a gig at The Albert Hall as part of the Proms. It’s with the cast of Horrible Histories. My favourite one is an Eminem pastiche – ‘My name is… my name is… Charles the second…’. I haven’t played with an orchestra before so I’m loving it. Also there’s a huge children’s choir. So very lucky to be a part of all that.

Am playing in Manchester on 30th July (straight after the prom!) with The John Ellis Big Bang, which will be sort of a reunion gig. We haven’t played for ages, and I’m really looking forward to that. John is one of my favourite musicians on the planet.

In June I was a Clanger again, nice to play the Swanee Whistle and resume the role of Tiny Clanger. It was fun, and there’s a repeat of said gig at the Greenman Festival this year, plus some other music that’ll be lovely. It’s on 20th August.

I did a couple of gigs abroad: The Hague with Gareth Lockrane’s group, after which I heard the lovely Eefje de Visser, and then played the week after in Las Palmas with Tim Garland. Then straight back to Litchfield festival with Asaf Sirkis, and Cleethorpes with Michael Rosen. Las Palmas to Cleethorpes. Rock ‘n’ Roll, eh? Jazz ‘n’ Poetry, actually.

Have done a few first gigs with Chris Higginbottom’s new band, that’s sounding good. Splendid music and top people in the band. Keep an eye out for that on the gigs page.

Had a trio gig at Soundcellar in Poole. Rob Palmer puts on a spiffing gig there, it’s always a great crowd and I did some 1-2-1 lessons before the gig. I’m really into doing that, so if ever I’m playing near you and you fancy a lesson, contact me and I’ll see if we can arrange it.

That’s about it. I might have a few days off from the notebook before starting the next one. But ‘Pages from a Notebook No.2’ is in the pipeline…