I have a habit of doing a thing then moving on to the next thing without pause for evaluation. So at exactly midnight on December 31st 2024 I found myself in bed trying to remember my work in 2024. I actually had to check my diary in the end!
And boy I’m glad I did - 2024 was really a stellar year of expanding horizons, trusting in my abilities, learning new skills, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and also some genuinely good ole times performing with my stage besties Bowjangles.
I decided to write it all down to look back on and take stock.

Poppyland Songs.
I finally finished my Poppyland Songs podcast - now 9 episodes of music, history and story telling. This was my first podcast and it was the perfect place to bring together all my research into Poppyland Songs. The project as a whole received Arts Council funding which afforded me to work with wonderful musicians during the live shows as well as receive mentoring with my good old friend David Holmes - Vennpro. He’s a music producer who I’ve worked with during The BeauBowBelles years and he taught me huge amounts about music production and how to
Improve the sound quality of the podcast which I have taken into all my other recording projects this year. Alongside the podcast I finished recording all the remaining songs and rereleased the album Poppyland Songs; Life On A cliff Edge with a new updated booklet. This new edition is ONLY available to buy in Jarrolds in Cromer (another awesome thing to happen this year!) or from my website/bandcamp page.

Dracula In Space - the album.
Once PLS was done I immediately started working on recording Dracula In Space the audio story book album.
This was a huge and daunting undertaking but with everything I’d learnt from my mentor Dave on the PLS podcast I felt up for the challenge. Not only was this a huge project in terms of sound production and tech as this was a story book I also got comepltely immersed in the story telling through sound and foley aspects. I loved this, creating audio spaces to reflect and support the story.
Dracula In Space is currently only available as a double CD with a digital download code from bandcamp. Do contact Bowjangles via our website www.bowjangles.org or on social media @bowjanglesmusic to get your copy. Later in 2025 we will release the album more widely online.

TiLT
Once DiS was signed off I decided I wanted to do more with my other sound project TiLT. TiLT is my own 4 seasons. The idea had been bubbling since 2021 when I wrote the song Midwinter- the following spring whilst walking through the woods witnessing the delight of nature awakening from its winter sleep I started to compose the next season followed by summer and autumn as the year went by. I collected field recordings during this process and composed electro acoustic compositions. In January 2023 I saw an advert for raveningham sculpture trail and thought to put in a sonic installation proposal of TiLT which was a 40 minute long journey through season using the songs I had written. The installation was excepted and ran throughout the summer of 2023. In 2024 I wanted to improve the recordings an add more compositions so I decided to release a song a month on social Media from April for a year. This is still ongoing. At the end of it I will officially ‘release’ the album of 12 tracks so watch this space!

Violin Song
Another recording project I had in my thoughts was a violin and piano album for Bertie Bow, booking the Christmas show (more on that later!) gave me the incentive to record Violin Song. A compilation of pop, film, folk, classical and original tracks. It also includes the Home Alone medley I performed on Cromer Pier. Available now from my website/bandcamp.

Directorial Debut
Easter 2024 I had my directorial debut with Dido & Aeneas at Templewood as a part of a new baroque festival set up by Keith & Lucy from The Belfry Centre of music and art.
A wonderful experience that also included designing and running the lighting for the show. Learning on the job under pressure can be alarming at times and I was desperately suffering from imposter syndrome but I was reminded by an old friend and mentor Charlotte Palmer that my many years of creating and self directing theatre and street shows was more than enough experience. The shows were a sell out success and I took real pleasure in not being on stage myself for once! The event was made possible by Lucy and Keith whose brain child it was and they will hopefully be bring back the festival in some form in 2026.

Soon after Dido I ran my first event at Templewood - a woodland exhibition using the images borrowed from Cromer Bigger Picture. Full size reproductions of artworks printed onto metal boards. Seeing these works set in woodland was glorious, unfortunately the weather was atrocious! But it hasn’t put me off doing something similar in the future.. follow Templewood on FB for updates and future events.

In 2024 Bowjangles performed at the Royal
festival Hall with Yolanda’s Band Jam, we toured Dracula in Space around the UK, we had another spectacular year at Glastonbury, returned to our street performing roots performing at Out There Festival, Guernsey Street Festival and Buskers Bern. Bern in particular was an extraordinary experience. We travelled to Switzerland by train to reduce carbon foot print. We met our old friends Perhaps Contraption on route as they were also attending. The festival itself was run so beautifully- 40 acts from 25 countries performing over 3 nights on the streets of Bern. We were fed and watered in such a respectful fashion, dining under the shade of a huge tree in a charming restaurant over looking the river. We swam in the fast moving river and lay on its banks in the public park under the sun surrounded by other happy musicians and performers. The audiences arrived early to all of our shows and held us in their joy and remunerated us beyond our wildest dreams! It was a peak into a reality where musicians and street performers are upheld to the highest regard. If only, if only…
One group can only attend twice with long stretches in between. I do hope we return some day not too far from now.

Bowjangles look towards 2025. In january we had a sold out rural tour with Arts Reach in Dorset where we received our best audience and organiser reaction. We have some epic cruises on Seabourne lined up (I am actually on the first of these as I write this post!) more Dracula shows and we are planning the recording of a podcast about the making of Dracula and our life as a quartet in this day and age. We will be appearing at Glastonbury and heading back to Guernsey street festival.

As Bertie Bow I performed at several
Beautiful weddings, I busked, I entertained in care homes but the biggest event for Bertie Bow was joining the cast of Cromer Pier in the famous Christmas Show with Ollie Day. Now this was definitely stepping outside of my usual line of
work. I have never been a part of this type of show as a solo act so I won’t deny I was a bit scared! But the cast were delightful and getting to meet the pier crew was amazing, my costumes were glorious and the show was an uplifting, shimmering success! Many audience members claimed it was the best yet and the theatre announced it was their most successful in terms of ticket sales. I like to think I was a part of that! Performing over the North Sea every day for 6 weeks was quite the experience and I’m so glad I have that memory to look back on.
During the rehearsals and first week of shows I also had to arrange a 20 minute medley of sports tv themes for a 15 piece orchestra at short notice! Just another wild part of being a free lance musician! You can’t chose when the work comes in….!

So it has certainly been a whirlwind of a year. Some of it has been quite stressful, I’ll admit by stepping out of my comfort zone I have invited back in some nasty personal demons who I’d been trying to keep at bay.. but I got through it- without completely spiralling and perhaps actually enjoying myself (I must try and take that onboard..!) whilst learning new skills and meeting new friends and colleagues.
So what about 2025?
As I try to upload this blog I am sat in Walvis Bay airport, a tiny airport in the middle of a desert in Namibia after a very successful and enjoyable first cruise with Seabourne Cruises so it’s getting off to a good start!
Once I have finished with the monthly recording and releasing of TiLT I fancy doing a live event or two of the new songs. I have a date in the diary in Beccles in September as well as another potential live recording for Poppyland Radio in the Autumn so watch this space for that.
It’s been a while since a live Poppyland Songs gig too so I’m getting the itch to get back out there one way or another and knowing me I will very soon start getting the itch to write something new…
There is also the WW1 journal by Kit Hood which I feel could be something, just not sure what yet...
So all in all 2024 was one of my best years for work. My horizons were expanded in so many directions and I felt some real joy in amongst the angst!!!
Comments