Blimey, I can hardly believe it's done and dusted already...

Two or so years ago, I realised I no longer seemed to be doing anything creative. I had grown up playing the piano, painting and drawing pretty much constantly. So what happened? I seem to have been overtaken by mundane adulthood!

So, driven by an overwhelming sense of "longing for something" (the Germans have a great word for this but I can't spell it...'sehensocht' or something!) I decided to take up the piano again after a 20 or so year absence from it. Good start.

One night, I had the pleasure of meeting Judie Tzuke at the 12 Bar club who, in conversation, asked me if I was creative.. and I felt a bit miserable answering pathetically that I "sorta did piano a bit".

I had always wanted to write a song. I whinged at my piano tuner about that, and he just said "well, just do it". As matter of factly as that. So I did.

Two and a bit years later, having written about 20 songs(with a few silly parody songs along the way) and hopefully improved a bit over that time... the lovely Mia Silvas asked me to play a couple of tunes at her Mia and Friends night at the Regal Room, Hammersmith. Its a fabulous venue above a pub with a brilliant reputation for great music and good quality sound. I've been many times over the years as a punter, always imagining how great it must be to play there... picturing myself on the stage at that shiny piano, looking out...

So, on 28th Feb 09, I opened the night with two tunes - Aloka's Song and The Falling Man, accompanied by the talented Adam Brown doing amazing backing vocals (and a great support through the whole process!). After the main acts were done, Mia got me back up to do a parody of Lucie Silvas' "What you're Made Of" - which I call "Bang the Keys Harder" - to top off the night.

Why am I writing about all this? Well, this wasn't just me proving a point, or taking up a hobby, or having a mid life crisis... on that stage in Hammersmith, I was fulfilling the first part of a dream I had from the age of 8 when I first started learning the piano. I can compare it to that sub-story in Curious Case of Benjamin Button, where Tilda Swinton's character finally got to swim the English Channel.

But did I do OK?

I loved every minute. I was wobbly in places and hit a few bum notes but rarely for me, I think I did OK!

Here's to the next time

Vin x