Points of Light
Myself and my wife Julie are now ‘Points Of Light’, and proud to be so.
Based on the American project of the same name, the UK has also adopted the idea.
Each day someone in the UK is honoured for their volunteering and making a change in their community and inspiring others, all sanctioned by Prime Minister.
Today (Thursday September 14), it’s our special day. Prime Minister Theresa May has awarded us for promoting and celebrating Coventry and Warwickshire’s musical heritage.
We are the 776th and 777th winners of the Points of Light awardees.
In a personal letter from the Prime Minister she said, “Through founding the Coventry Music Museum, you are celebrating Warwickshire’s musical heritage and attracting thousands of visitors to the area. Your fundraising and volunteering for the museum shows great commitment, and you should be very proud of creating a unique institution for your local area.”
This is very special, and politics aside, it’s amazing if not a little surreal to be honoured by our own Prime Minister, indeed the fact she is aware of us is incredible.
It makes it all the better that my wife and fellow museum director Julie Chambers is being honoured for all the hours of unpaid work she does.
Sounding off
Once a month, I get to interview a Coventry-based musician before a live audience at the museum.
Drummer supreme Nigel Lomas becomes the next person to be part of the ever popular Lottery Funded Sounding Off project.
When you talk about Nigel and who he has drummed for, the likely comment you will hear is: “Nigel Lomas has drummed for everybody.”
While that’s something of an exaggeration, the truth is, this man has drummed for a plethora of high-quality artists, going right back to the dawn of Coventry Beat and Rock N Roll music with The Zodiacs in 1959.
He also made history when he drummed on the ‘School Is In’ on Decca Records by Johnny B Great and The Goodman.
This was the very first single ever released from a Coventry band. Many bands followed including The Clouds, The Eggy, The Renegades and his current band The Sorrows.
As you can already see, Saturday’s Sounding Off looks set to be a tantalising trip of pure Rock N Rock nostalgia.
It all happens this Saturday at the Music Museum Ball Hill, September 16 at 12 noon.
Dill
Dill, of Gods Toys and ‘i’ fame,has just released his new CD, entitled I-magiNation-Dawn to Dusk, under the name Daffod’i’ll.
It’s a step up from his first album. The song Sunrise kicks things off perfectly, mad beats, crazy vocals and clever lyrics. Each song is lovingly created, layer of sound-onsound making it impossible to pigeonhole.
My faves are Babble on Babylon, Ha Ha Hash, Dreams, You Handle It, All You Need Is This and Every Day in Every Way.
He really is onto something here, it’s a superb and original collection.
It’s available at the museum and all good downloads.
