After 4 years of steady gigging, I’m leaving Soular.
It’s been a great experience and gained invaluable performance time. I’ve learned a lot about how to approach different types of music, how to program my keyboard on the fly, which parts to play for a song that has several layers, picking out background vocal parts to sing… and that’s just a few of the things I’ve picked up!
Now it’s time to put myself and my own career first.
I appreciate everything I’ve learned from them, as well as the opportunity to grow as a musician and performer through all the hours we’ve played together. They’re a very professional organization who knows what they want and work incredibly hard to achieve it.
It’s been a pleasure to be associated with a band that performs consistently at such an incredibly high level with some of the best musicians in the city. I’ve learned something from each member of the band and now it’s time to put those lessons into practice as I pursue my own career.
I’ve already got a few things on the go: The Slights (www.theslights.ca) haven’t done much writing or performing in the past year and I intend to change that; My 80s cover band, Jack Squat, has been getting asked to perform more and more regularly; I’ve come into my own as a performer in piano bars and find great joy in doing so at least twice a week; Statlers has booked me for two separate (and completely different) nights each week; I’m getting more and more calls to play with different artists, bands and musicals.
These are just a few examples of what has been going on over the past several years and I can’t explore these opportunities fully while I’m busy putting another project first.
I gave my notice to Soular a few months ago and as of January 22nd I will no longer be their full-time keyboard player. In fact, I played my last public gig with them at Alleycatz on January 7th.
For the past four years, I’ve known at least a portion of my schedule several months in advance. Now, things are different and I’m almost as nervous as I am excited to see what happens next.
Need a keyboard player for a gig or a recording session? Charts, Transcriptions, or arrangements? Solo Piano Entertainment? I can also put together ensembles of varying size (and style) to perform background music or full-frontal entertainment. My schedule just opened right up and I’m eager for a chance to show you what I’ve got!