About Piccolos and Me.
To me, this doesn't feel like a job. I have never wanted to pull a sicky, take time off or get someone to run the club for me. Every session is a pleasure, a privilege and a huge amount of fun. It puts a skip in my step. Making a living from it, is a pleasant bonus.
I was conscripted into the family band aged 16, along with my Brothers and Sister and played the working mans club scene for many years, learning all the time off my Dad everything from Hank Marvin to Santana to Oasis. It gave me a huge amount of experience in performance, song construction and dynamics, and its these skills i call upon when penning my collection of stupid, but informative tunes that make up the Piccolos set list today.
I worked for 20 years at Marshall Amplification Plc, as an upholsteror in Milton Keynes. As a guitarist and music lover, it was a job that suited me and i enjoyed. In 2005 i started working for Milton Keynes Council as a Music tutor for Youth Clubs in and around the City. Working with 11-16 year olds can test your resolve at times but making them believe in themselves and giving them the skills to write, perform and produce music made it a greatly rewarding job and one that i have so many fabulous memories of. I am still involved in helping out at Youth Groups in Milton Keynes and is still as challenging and rewarding as ever.
After moving from Milton Keynes to Odell in Bedfordshire in 2007, I had a little girl, Ida Matilda. I must admit until then i had totally forgotten about the nursery rhymes and the classic childrens songs of my youth but they very soon came back to me...again and again and again.
I started taking her to local music toddler groups, which were fun and a good chance to meet and talk to other parents, but didnt really offer her musically anything different to that she was already getting at home. So i started coming up with my own silly rhymes, songs and games to entertain her. I would perform all this to Ida and her friends. As the songs, games and my confidence grew, I approached Harrold Pre School, where my daughter attended to come down and entertain the children there. I ran a few sessions and got some very encouraging feedback with many parents willing me to set up a group, and so in January 2012 Piccolos Music Club was launched.
Today, with over a decade of performing and writing for toddlers each session is a carefully crafted hour specifically aimed at primarily entertaining but also educating young children through music. Piccolos now runs regular weekly groups around the community and in nurseries, plus pre school bookings, birthday parties, discos and Piccolo Plus in schools. The diary has never been so busy! I take great pride in my sessions and much thought, consideration and planning go in to delivering a fresh, diverse and entertaining product day in, day out, throughout the musical calender.