As well as presenting and performing in “A PAIR OF KINGS” tribute I also entertain in several other ways...

As leader of MEGAMIX duo and HEADLINES function band. Click here for more. As a SINGALONG CABARET SPECIALITY. This is suited to hotel holiday groups (coach parties etc.), or special occasions such as birthday parties. As a SINGER AND KEYBOARD PLAYER, for more general dance music in a hotel, bar or club (midweek or Sunday only). As a COCKTAIL PIANIST for background music, perhaps during a meal or in a bar area ~ available weekday and Sunday lunchtimes, afternoons or evenings, or as part of a package on a Saturday night where Megamix duo or Headlines band is also providing the dance music (see link above).

	THE HISTORY LESSON... Although I started piano lessons when I was five years old and won many awards for classical piano during the next 12 years, it wasn’t until I got my first paid booking as a keyboard player in a pub band in 1978 that I realised what I wanted to do. It was very different and very exciting music which I enjoyed immensely. I worked on my piano technique and my singing and the following year was asked to join a four-piece band which successfully auditioned for the summer season at the Riverside Caravan Park in Bognor Regis. In 1980 I formed my own band which included drummer Martin Black who is still a close friend and fellow musician, and continued to run bands of various size from a six-piece cabaret show band to several duos, until 1989 when I decided to pursue a solo career. Regular pub, club and function work followed until the summer season of 1991 and the decision to become a full-time professional musician when I worked for Haven-Warner at St. Austell in Cornwall as the sole entertainer in the adults-only bar (that just means there were no kids allowed in). In addition to arranging the entertainments programme and performing musically I was responsible for hosting competitions and games, and I presented my own comedy cabaret routine. It was also here that I put together my Singalong music routines which have been very useful in the years since. From January 1993 to 2000, alongside many other contracts, I compered, appeared musically and helped to co-ordinate several seasons of promotional cabaret shows for Courage Brewery. In 1994 this involved over fifty promotions, in 1995 another seventy-five and in 1996 over one hundred more throughout London, the Home Counties, Dorset, Bristol, the Midlands, Essex and South Wales.
At the same time I was keen to try out different things and gain more experience, so in June 1994 I worked for North Sea Ferries on the "Norsun" as a cocktail pianist, playing for 34 consecutive nights. And a year later I found myself singing and playing piano in a bierkeller in Denmark. I was there for the whole of August 1995.		North Sea Ferries' "Norsun" taken by me in Europoort, Rotterdam

My “second home” - the Chatsworth Hotel	Since 1997 I have provided one-man shows during the summer months in the Chatsworth Hotel in Worthing, where I have a lot of fun with the coach group visitors. This includes songs from the “Pair of Kings” show, plus singalong, party songs and dance music. I have also appeared there with the band for Masonic functions and Christmas and New Year parties. There has been considerable investment in the hotel over recent years and I’ve seen it go from slightly shabby to one of the most attractive and leading hotel and conference centres in the area, and they haven’t paid me to say that! For more info go to: http://www.chatsworthworthing.co.uk/ And I’m delighted that the hotel has given me several dozen more bookings throughout 2006.
As a result of asking regular audiences for their requests it became obvious that they particularly wanted to hear the music of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin – two performers whose work I have enjoyed for years. I soon added several of their songs to the collection and worked on emulating their voices, with surprising success. I quickly saw that with the popularity of London shows such as The Rat Pack – Live In Las Vegas (Savoy Theatre) and Sinatra At The Palladium this could prove popular as a full cabaret show, so it was a labour of love to add more songs and create the Pair Of Kings show. Other work in the last few years has included mid-week performances at Lakeview Country Club near Bodmin in Cornwall, duo and trio line-ups at many holiday centres including Wick Ferry in Christchurch and several New Forest holiday parks, along with the usual range of weekend work and cabaret nights.
In addition I have worked aboard several of Stena Line’s ships including the MV Empereur, the MV Fantasia (for their inaugural “Dance to France” trips) and for the naming ceremony of Stena’s HSS ship MV Explorer.		MV Explorer
From 1999 until recently I was in increasing demand playing both dinner music and dance music with my band Headlines at Masonic Ladies’ Festival Weekends across the South Coast, from Bournemouth to Eastbourne (at least sixteen different hotels in Bournemouth alone, with many bookings in each) plus the occasional one up-country (for more information click here). This work has steadily had to make way for “A Pair of Kings”. There’s no stopping Sinatra and Martin. If you’d like to see a list of the venues that the bands and I have worked in, click here for 2003 or click here for 2004. Currently I have over 26 years experience of live performance and the music business, which is put to good use arranging the musical content of the shows including preparing all the backing tracks, taking bookings, filing paperwork and making sure everyone knows where they need to be, and when. I often drive them there as well! Please click the BACK button on your browser.