In terms of my life generally, 2011 has been a frustrating year.

Having come out of uni with a first in music, I thought it would be the start of bigger things… However realising the lack of real salaries available for graduate musicians I was forced back home for money reasons.

Now, I love Somerset, but its not exactly full of pulsating music venues. This is why it is good news that in around 6 weeks I am moving to Canterbury… Under an hour from London, and with much more going on regarding the arts (and I’ll be with my lovely girlfriend)!

So in this year theres hardly been any real opportunities. But I have done some bits here and there…

• I volunteered at a first school and taught guitar and ukulele to a little bunch of wonders.
• I helped raise hundreds and hundreds of pounds for Alzheimer’s Research UK with ‘BellFest’ at The Bell Inn, Watchet and more recently helping to record, program and mix a charity cover of ‘Do They Know Its Christmas?’
• I wrote and recorded some backing guitar and percussion for an EP with ‘Pete The Poet’!
• I played guitar in a function band…
• I performed live as a solo artist, with a few bands, and even as a guitarist in the ‘experimental’ project ‘M-U-L-T-I-P-L-A-Y-E-R’
• I made up half of a songwriting duo, ‘45 Yards’, with my good friend Steve Quantick. We have recorded an album worth of instrumentals, and should be recording the vocals in the coming weeks. An album of programmed drums and bedroom fuzz rock that has been such a fun thing to do.
• I have performed and composed with countless others, which will happen again this Thursday with the challenge of getting together with another good friend Christian Moore two hours before an open mic night to write together for the first time and then perform that night…
• Most importantly, I have recorded my 2nd EP (soon to be released, most likely in early January). It defines this period for me, musically and particularly lyrically. Its the start of the listening experience for all you lovely people, but for me, its nice to put it out and put an ‘end’ to the period; give it that definitive feeling of completion, and on to a new challenge across the country. Can’t wait.

I guess I’ve done a fair bit in a town with very few people under 40. And although this is a list that admittedly no-one else will really be interested in, its just a reminder to myself to not be too frustrated with the past year, and to look forward. And on that note, I’m very much looking forward to sharing my new batch of recordings with you. News on that soon…….

Tom