casapete

Yup, Yamaha unit is a great sounding and cost effective answer to your problem. Can be had for £29 (or maybe less) - link below has them in stock now for that price which is an absolute bargain as they often retail for more than double that. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-Mixing-Headphone-Amplifier-SESSIONCAKE-SC-01-Guitar-Bass-Aux-Mixing-/153852478668

Agree with previous posts, assuming you’re okay with dealing with callers and you have a rough idea of what the piano is worth. I sold my small upright not long ago to a piano dealer who travels the UK buying them. Got a fair-ish price with him after trying it advertised locally with no luck. They are funny things to sell, and prices / demand seem to vary greatly, but good quality ones will always sell most easily. (Overstrung and underdamped are the desired features which yours should have.) Maybe with some people still in lockdown mode they might be looking at new things to learn? There are some dealers you can try if you just Google ‘pianos bought for cash’. Fill in the forms with details and you should get some response, that’s how I sold mine. Good luck!

I've loved Alison Krauss for a long time now. Her work with Union Station was just amazing, but along with her bluegrass / country stuff I think her cover of this old Brenda Lee standard is wonderful.

Since moving house last October I've struggled with being able to listen to music as often as I previously did. Building work on our new place got halted with Corona, so I've been unable to have my hi-fi and (rather substantial) CD collection set up. I've been getting by using You Tube / Spotify etc but it's not my ideal scenario. I have some stuff on my PC so have been utilising that. Just found out that my new music room should be finished within the next two weeks, so can't wait to get my stuff set up and wallow in some days / evenings of playing whole albums that I've missed.

Yeh, spot on. More than any other 'instrument', voices are such a personal thing - they usually either connect or they don't! I also think that vocal tone doesn't need to strive for perfection in the way people seek in instruments*. Give me a technically imperfect voice that just somehow has that combination of tone and soul over anything really. For me, they have to sound like they mean it , if you know what I mean! (* Just shot myself in the foot here, as I often prefer this quality in instrumentalists too...)

Emmy would be on my list too, wonderful singer. Honourable mentions should also go to - Aretha, Whitney, Dusty, Bonnie Raitt, Yola, Ronnie Spector, Darlene Love, Linda Ronstadt, Amy Winehouse and Dolly.

Agreed, great song! Think it made top 10 in 1972 but for some reason rarely seems to get airplay.

I'm in. (Does this mean I have to stop buying Grolsch now though?)

Just heard on the local grapevine that there may be a new owner interested in The Welly and The Polar Bear, so fingers crossed.

Hope you can manage to get through this Stew, and remain positive. From your posts on here your outlook and attitude will overcome what will hopefully be a temporary blip. Good luck in the meantime, all the best. Pete.

My old band were doing a flash wedding a few years ago, large country house with a massive marquee etc. For some reason I can't remember our singer was unavailable so we had a dep. He was told all he needed to bring was a dinner suit (with a black and a white shirt) and a mic, everything else was provided. Yup you've guessed it - he forgot the mic, claiming it was in the glovebox of his car but as we'd arranged to pick him up he'd not thought of that. We had a spare cheapo mic that we used for speeches etc so he had to use that. On top of this, he was a lousy dep - didn't know some of the tunes he claimed to know to secure the gig, then managed to lose his voice halfway through the evening ( because the band were 'too loud') leaving me to struggle through with the lead vocal. So it's not always drummers......😄

Exactly this ^^^ for me too. I also play a bit of piano and guitar as well, so came from a chord oriented background which I guess must have helped. As has already been mentioned, learning to recognise certain progressions in songs comes with experience over a few years - I'm 62 and am still learning though! Personally I've always found that my love of popular music from say the 1950's onwards has been of immeasurable help to me in so many gigging situations. I listen to the radio as often as possible, which works as a kind of subliminal revision that somehow seeps into my memory. Must admit some of the recent styles and sounds of top 40 stuff do leave me struggling, but you never know if the situation might arise when you need to know a song, or at least have a good stab at it!

I thought you'd have been to the Welly Lozz! Found this from 1980 -

Sad news for my region today with the announcement that two of Hull's music venues have closed and gone into administration following 115 days of lockdown. I'm sure many people on here will have played 'The Welly Club' which was a famous place for up and coming as well as national touring bands. It's sister venue The Polar Bear has also gone the same way. This in today's Hull Daily Mail - There has been an outpouring of emotion following the closure of two giants of Hull’s nightlife. On Thursday it was announced The Welly, in Beverley Road, and The Polar Bear, in Spring Bank, would close for good after their parent company, VMS Live, crashed into administration following 115 days of lockdown. The pair existed for decades as vital parts of Hull’s music scene and the news has been met with sadness by their punters and those associated with them. Having owned both venues, Dave Mays understands their significance to the city as well as anyone. He took over The Welly in 2000 before selling up two years ago and paid tribute to the club’s unifying atmosphere. He said: “It’s been an incredibly important part of Hull’s cultural scene for the best part of 50 years. It’s a very sad day to see its doors close but who knows what the future might bring. First opening as a dance hall back in the 1910’s The Welly was Hull’s oldest nightclub and gained a reputation as the city’s go to venue for indie and alternative music from the latter part of the twentieth century. DJ Priya and Andy Oyo, the couple behind YoYo and Loaded began putting on nights at The Welly back in the nineties and said they were devastated by the news of the two closures. Andy Oyo said: “We are both utterly devastated about the closure of The Welly Club, The Polar Bear and Hull Box Office.

I've had an outdoor gig that was originally down for July rescheduled for August 8th, pending good weather. I'll take this as it makes the grand total of 1 gig for me until the end of 2020. 😧

Saw him with Eric Clapton's band, mid 1980's. Wish I'd caught him with the MG's but I'd have been too young. ( Not very often I can use that one!)

I’ve noticed an increasing amount of products being described as leather when in fact they are ‘PU’ leather. Why can’t things be accurately labelled? Do VW charge the same for their new ‘leather’ upgrade as before I wonder....

Haven't seen this for a while, just superb. A great reminder of what a great band Booker T and the MGs were too, especially Al Jackson as well as DD. Thanks for posting.

Nathan Watts on Stevie's 'Natural Wonder' 1995 live album. Jack Daley on Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul 'Soulfire Live' album 2018 Nathan East on Eric Clapton's 2002 album 'One more car, One more rider' Garry Tallent on Springsteen's 'Live in New York City'

Simple and melancholy is good for me too, though I rarely have the music in front of me....😄

‘Georgia’ is one of those songs I love, but my nightmare when someone gets up to sing. My brain always reverts to the Ray Charles version, but depending on who I’m playing with, other musicians sometimes seem to play different arrangements. This can result in car crash passing / ‘wrong’ chords, with players from a jazz background in particular wanting to make it far more complicated than it needs to be for some reason.

Great album! I often feel Carl Radle was overlooked by many during his relatively short career - he died at 37, tragic.

Absolutely. Makes me wonder how air travel can even be a possibility at the moment.

Cheers Blue, right now I’d be happy with gigs starting again over here from early 2021.