Back in the Blighty hood…….

Hi All,

I’m in Derby at the moment with my friend Gaynor (Pride and Prejudice Colin Firth part of England). Just back from singing on the streets again over here. It’s been a while so it was nice to do it again. I had a few requests for Puccini and a couple of ‘thanks me duck’ from people passing by and one old lady gave me a tenner and said ‘I’ll be back this week to have a another listen’. Back into it now. Back doing my thing on the streets of the UK for another few weeks. I’ve been back from New York for 10 days and first stop was seeing my family. It didn’t feel like I’d been away for 3 months.

Luckily, I got some time with my nieces and nephew (I hardly ever see them and my nieces have just moved back from Saudi Arabia so I have only seen them a few times in their whole life) so my time with them all is special.

We made chocolate coins with a set bought for £2.49 from the charity shop and had a great time and limbo danced to a sticky, jelly snake I bought back from NY. As you do…..and my nephew loved his baseball bat.

I gave myself 4 days to get over my jet lag and literally the feeling of my heart being broken to not be in New York (the first couple of days felt unbearable if I am honest), but 4 days later I was in Milton Keynes ready to work for the charity Lost Chord in Coventry and Ipswich all week singing in old folks homes. I think the best thing was for me to be busy.

I was working with one of my favourite people to do this job with, an Irish folk singer and guitarist called Donal. Just a good craic as the Irish say. He does his folk thing and I do my opera thing and we tell the people it’s a bit of ‘fopera’ for them. We work really differently but it works and people love it. One minute they’re getting our versions of ‘Summertime’ and ‘O mio babbino caro’ (my folky guitar version) and the next they’re getting ‘There ain’t nothing like a hound dog’ and ‘My old man’s a dustman’, but I do enjoy this work. I’ve done it now for the last 13 years and it got me back into singing full time years back when I did my first tour in Yorkshire. I was teaching full time at the time and sang for Lost Chord and thought ‘what am I doing? I need to sing.’ Lightbulb moment, so I gave all my teaching up apart from one job and my full time singing career began, with the first stop ‘Glyndebourne Festival Opera’. What a journey it’s been.

I spend a week doing this work, visiting 14 or 15 homes and you see many things. People with severe dementia who don’t even know their own name, and it helps put things into perspective. Just keep going Nick and live. ‘Live until you can live no more.’ People who want to dance the whole time and give you hugs and you see their faces light up and it’s just really rewarding,

plus working with Donal is lovely because I get to have fun singing some lighter music. Here’s the man himself. He also has a band called ‘Ranagri’ who I’ve seen live a few times and they are amazing. I know they are touring the UK so check them out http://www.ranagri.com, and you can find them on spotify etc… We had a good laugh, saw some great countryside, ate at Jimmy’s farm (love this place and had good old sausages and mash in the sweltering heat) and had a few too many at the pub (these Irish fair know how to drink).

I’m glad to be home for a few weeks if I’m honest. I get such feelings of feeling overwhelmed at times at what I’m actually doing. I know from being back that the UK is not my long term place to settle. I knew that as soon as I came back. It’s no longer an option. Even the thought of it now is too upsetting to even contemplate. No offence at all to anyone in the UK (it’s just my gut feeling), but I know the US is my place and I feel my life is over there but I can’t actually live there, and there are times I just want to run to somewhere and bury my head in a big fat pile of sand and not think about it all, because if I do it’s just too much. I go back in 5 weeks and then what do I do anyway? Keep listening to my gut and just trust there is a reason it is all as it is right now and that it will all become clearer in time.

I do feel happy though overall. What a year it’s been so far. Such great experiences and I’m here now and will make the most of it. Stay positive and enjoy the ride. I’ve got a week ahead in Derby ‘hangin’ with my friend and sitting in her cute little garden. I’ll see her family too who I sang for earlier in the year and then next Saturday it’s back up North for my second visit to Romiley (Saturday 4th August at 7.30 Romiley Little Theatre). This time for a Summer evening of song, outside in the open air with picnics https://www.facebook.com/events/376221412859420/

then I stay with my cousin, go back to London and am over in Belgium again for a few days. It’s going to fly by really and in the middle of it all is my birthday (planning a chipshop and champagne theme to my day). Yeah, I do have my moments of feeling overwhelmed, but I also have my moments where I think ‘no fear Nick. Do it. You have absolutely nothing to lose.’ I’m just getting the life meant for me to live (being a Paulo Coelho Alchemist and searching for my pyramids).

Anyway, there was one happy person today in Derby. Just got this through……back in business!!!!!!