A proud Pride performer for 2013!

It's been far too long beautiful people, but I do bring some exciting news so I'm hoping that'll make up for my slack posts and tumbleweed logged blog.

November until, well now really, has been a huge ball ache of an upheaval.  I've spent the last almost 3 years between my gorgeous home county, Cornwall and the fabulously diverse North of England but after some long consideration (and a 16 month continuous damp flat and a leech of a landlord) we decided to return and re-establish our base in Cornwall again.  So, here we are!

(Note:  I write this post with a lacing of guilt.  Most people probably don't know I'm back permanently, because I've been so busy and haven't seen anyone yet.  Fear not.  I'm getting the gin ready for available parties to join me in celebrating!)

On thursday I attended the Cornwall Pride 2013 committee meeting to meet the wonderful people that make Cornwall Pride happen.  Since late January we've been exchanging emails, facebook messages and the odd phone call to discuss my input as a performing artist and it was at this months committee meeting that a full house voted me as the first confirmed act for the evening party on Truro Piazza this summer!

I absolutely love to be part of the magic behind the scenes and I really cannot wait to be part of the Cornwall Pride magic that brings so many people together, every year to celebrate the beauty of diversity.

Rehearsals for my new show have been slowly coming together since January, but the ideas have been built on the reception from The Junction's fantastic clientele who've been a great source of feedback and of course, continued encouragement.  Thanks, Emm and Scott, for being exactly who you are.  You and your clan of music loving crazies (you should see their open mic night!  Amazing!) who've given me the courage to put my new show together.

I'm almost certain that there are going to be events leading up to Cornwall Pride to support this not-for-profit community event, so I'll keep you all adequately informed but for now I must get away from this evil laptop of costumery temptation before I end up buying a costume change for every song!

The Junction. Oh! What a night!

Despite the onset of what's commonly known as freshers flu (thanks. You know who you are!) setting in on Thursday night, I managed to ward off sniffles and an insanely dry throat for the Friday show at The Junction.

Adding another 8 new tracks - last minute - was always going to be a risk, but why play safe when you've got a new Bond theme to sing.

Thank you, Adele.  You brought this song out at exactly the right time.

I opened the show donning my ridiculously impractical let's-not-go-there new glitter black heels and my mum's designer headpiece creation that incidentally, takes precedence on my head.  Nothing can possibly out-do the glamour of it.

I had some great feedback from The Junction's customers, all reinforcing exactly what I needed to know...more Etta James, keep singing Paloma and a thumbs up for my Amy Winehouse renditions.  Skyfall went down excellently with the crowd.

Feedback is massively important to me.  Don't like a song?  Tell me.  I want to know.  But tell me why, so I can take a look at where you think I went wrong.  Like one of my songs?  Tell me that too so I can sing more like it!  All feedback from Friday night was really positive and everyone left with big smiles.  Customers who'd popped in after work decided to stay longer to hear the second set.  That's always a nice feeling, knowing that someone's enjoying you so much that they're parting with some of their weekend to relax with you.

I was asked by a couple 'where are you next performing, we want to come and see you' and another couple asked me where I'm performing on New Years Eve.  Well, keep your eyes peeled because I'm not too sure yet but as soon as I know, you'll be the first to hear!

The weekend's been a good rest time, getting my voice back with the help of honey and lemon (oh yes, the cold swallowed my voice up by Saturday morning) and now I'm ready to get recording some new material for Penwith Radio, Redruth Radio and Pirate FM.

All in all, a fab night, lots of fun and lots of giggles too.  Emm and Lee are fantastic landlords and have a great crowd of locals.

Once again, a great big thank you goes to The Junction and the locals!

The Junction, Marsh - the centre of my Yorkshire support

Watching people scurry by
Rushing to and fro
Oh!  This world is such a crazy place
It's all about the go go go

Yep.  You were right, Paloma.  Except for the people watching bit.  I really haven't had time to watch people scurry by at all.

In the last 2 weeks I received a tremendous amount of support, but today I'm thanking Emm and Lee at the Junction Pub, Marsh, where they've been the core of my Northern support.

On Saturday 6th October I vocally unveiled 3 fresh sets to their lovely customers totaling almost 100mins.

Songs included 30 Minute Love Affair, Rehab, The Show Must Go On and Telephone, all of which went down well!

Last weekend I performed at Dewsbury for Open Mic UK 2012 and have been given a chance to get through to the next round.  I just next need to prove to the judges that I've got the support of my family, friends and of course, fans.

This Friday Emm and Lee have invited me back to perform the new sets once again, and as a special thank you to The Junction and their customers, I'll be performing - for the first time - another handful of new songs!

All I ask is this: if you come and see me sing and you like what I do, please text Wildcard795 to 84222 to vote me through to the next round of Open Mic 2012!  Each vote costs £1.

Thank you so much for all the support each and everyone of you has given me so far.  Please help me get through to the next round.

PS.  I've been asked if multiple votes can be made from the same number.  The answer is yes!

Friends! I need your help!

So much to do and yet so little time!

Friends and fans.  I need your help.

In order for me to make it through to the next round of Open Mic UK 2012 I need to prove to the judges that I've got the backing of fans and this is where you come in!

In short, you can vote for me via text.

Text Wildcard795 to 84222 to vote me through to the next round.

Votes cost a pound each and should you wish to vote more than once, you can do this from the same number.

Thank you so much for your support this far.  As always, it's very much appreciated.

I'll be back later with a post about last night's show!

Press release: thisiscornwall.co.uk

Here's the press release that's everyone's telling me hasn't been reviewed by this is cornwall, yet!

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Last month Cornish singer Hayley Waller battled other national talent in a bid for a place in the regional finals of Open Mic UK 2012.  Now, with only a few hours left she's preparing herself for the next round of the UK's largest singing competition that sees over 10,000 entrants each year.

"I've had just a month to prepare for the regional finals.  Open Mic UK is so different to any other singing competition I've entered in the past.  We're expected to prove commitment to the music industry alongside our ability to perform to a live, paying audience" says Hayley, who's spent the last month dividing her time and efforts between Cornwall and Yorkshire, her second base.

"Cornwall is very close to my heart.  It's my home, regardless where I base myself with work, but I've always known that I'd have to spread myself further afield if I wanted a fuller career in the arts, whether that's performing, singing or writing."

After a health-forced break of 2 years, Hayley started retraining vocally earlier this year.  Back with new songs, a new show and a fiery passion, Hayley's determined to take her singing as far as she possibly can, putting Cornwall on the map every step of the way.  "I'm incredibly proud of my origin.  My family have always encouraged me to take pride in my heritage and roots but they've also encouraged me to be an explorer.  I've lived in various parts of the UK and have always felt it important to represent Cornwall and the talent that it brews.  We've got so many talented artists and I'd be over the moon to represent Cornwall in the grand finals of Open Mic UK 2012 in London."

Despite being almost 400 miles from Camborne, she's recieved strong support from her hometown fans and her Yorkshire fans alike.  

Just a few weeks ago Dave Pascoe, manager and presenter of Penwith Radio invited Hayley to his breakfast show to share her recent successes and a selection of her covers with local listeners.  After the live interview and air of Hayley's new tracks, Penwith Radio kindly requested current and future recordings as other presenters showed interested in sharing Hayley's progress and tracks with their listeners.

"The support has been great.  I performed my new sets at The Junction which was fantastic.  It was great to see that months of hard work resulted in putting a smile on so many faces.  Over half of the songs in my set were fresh additions so I wasn't sure how they'd be received."  It turns out Hayley's worry was misplaced.  What was originally a two set affair soon became 3 sets of fresh vocal diversity.

"I'd prepared 2 sets specifically for The Junction, but had a third new set that they wanted to see and as they were such a great crowd, I was overjoyed to share it."

A week on and Hayley's now packing her costume, hair piece and make up for her trip to Dewsbury where a live audience will watch her and 20 others perform and be judged for Open Mic UK.

"It's like an adventure" says Hayley, "400 miles is a long way to travel to support a one-song-performance, but my Cornish friends, family and fans can support me by liking my facebook page where I'll be keeping everyone updated on what happens tonight."

Support Hayley by visiting her facebook page, twitter or blog or listening to her tracks on ReverbNation.

Manic Monday? No. A chaotic week!

I can barely believe I'm saying this on a Monday, but...what a week!

Obviously, I'm a day behind.  This blog entry was written yesterday, in my head, but I didn't have the energy to get my fingers tap-tapping away at the keyboard to tell you all what I've been up to.

Every week has a different aim at the moment, and last Monday was certainly no different: 1) make it back to Yorkshire in one piece, minus the Cornish lurgy that my family seem to be kindly circulating among themselves and 2) to prepare for my very first show in Huddersfield.

The means of transport from my hometown to my home - a mere 380 miles apart - in a state of the art National Express coach, complete with on-coach toilet and working plug sockets.  A somewhat last minute decision to not sleep prior to the 4am journey meant that I sporadically slept most of the 15hr trip despite 2 changes, several howling children and a handful of irritable co-passengers.

The act of travelling between Cornwall and Yorkshire is a frequent one for me.  I do it more often than I care to mention and often enough for my dad to warmly joke that my efforts to move out have never fully materialised.  I have a lifestyle based on a Noah's arch premise: possess two of all essentials so I can travel super light.

But, the concept of travelling super light is one that only works for part of the journey.  I always end up packing my case full of useless bits useful props or books that I might need.  The journey home is always a heavier one.

A dark, cold and damp Huddersfield welcomed me along with the greeting of a someone special and two portions of fish and chips to compensate for the rancid weather.  However, no matter how many times I travel between the 2 counties, I end up with a weird cold, sore throat and general grogginess so I spent the next couple of days preparing the new set list for the weekend show.

Almost half of the show consisted of new songs so from Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon I was singing hard to tweak notes and lyrics in time for the evening....

...and oh my.  What an evening it was!

The Junction is a fantastic pub to debut my new show in Huddersfield.  It's so warm and inviting, has fantastic landlords and a great crowd to entertain, so a little bit of everything went down really well!  But more about that tomorrow, since I started writing this at midday on Monday and almost 12hrs later I'm still rambling...and I don't want to have to retype the first couple of paragraphs!  

Just a great big sloppy thank you

Motivation got the better of me this morning, which is especially unusual since I find Monday a particularly difficult day to get along with.  It's little more than a coexistence that shares just a common disinterest.

Ah, Monday.  How I long to be relieved of you.

Except today.

7.30am - after only 3 hours sleep - my motivation kicked me out of bed and slumped me at my desk.  Wrapped in my fluffy dressing gown, I squinted at the laptop in some vain hopes of understanding my purpose at such a ridiculous hour.

I'm not a big fan of spamming people's facebook walls or twitter feeds, but today was the day to reach out to my professional contacts.  Not too tasking for a pre-breakfast mission.

Doing the rounds of radio stations and newspapers wasn't quite so easy, especially with their distinct Monday morning blues and indifference.  By 9.30am I felt as though I was slamming myself up against a brick wall, so I took a slightly different approach and rewrote my press release for 'this is Cornwall' and published the article myself.

After linking my friends and fans on facebook the article shot to No. 1 in the latest most popular stories.  Congratulation friends of my page!  Well done and thanks go to all of you for reading and sharing!

The strength of social networking

Now, I'm not really much of a public diva.  I tend to get on with things and keep my stroppy diva moments private and to myself.  I don't deny having them, I most certainly have my moments, but never publicly.  

I was surprised - and for a moment, embarrassed - when a fan not only noticed that I had (mistakenly) liked the link of my article but had also written the article about my self.  

Lovely people, I don't pay anyone to promote me, dress me, advise me or any other thing that may apply here.  When finances allow, I shall employ the appropriate people.

(And I shall still be overlooking my press releases and editing them myself.  And my wonderful designer florist mum will always make me weird and wonderful accessories, not for money, for love.)