The week after Switzerland imposed widespread restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 I had been scheduled to sing at Mulligan’s pub in Geneva to mark St. Patrick’s Day, on Tuesday 17 March. I knew a few days beforehand that the pub would be closed so I decided to see whether I could do something online instead. Fortunately I had...
I finished three new songs last month, just in time for the Fête de la musique performances. They’re each quite different from the one another and I’m happy with all three. I sang them in Nyon and Geneva last month and they seemed to go down well, particularly Mixtape and Go In Peace. Sleepwalking is a song I wrote last...
The Papas were selected for the Fête de la musique in both Nyon and Geneva this year. We played a 45 minute early evening set in Nyon on Saturday and a full hour on Sunday afternoon next to the cathedral in Geneva. This was our view from the stage in Geneva… Both sets went well, but Geneva was really special:...
Wiser Heads is a collection of four songs recorded at REC Studio in Geneva last February. It’s already available from Bandcamp and SoundCloud and it will become available on just about every digital music platform in the next few days. (Distributing music has become very easy, but it’s still not instant!) It’s released under the name The Papas, as it...
I’m now playing regularly with Olivier Gauthey on percussion. We’ve called our duo The Papas, and you can find more info on our website.
I played in Nyon last Saturday as part of the 2018 Fête de la musique. It was the first performance (of many, hopefully!) for which I was joined by Olivier Gauthey, a super-talented percussionist and drummer based just down the road in Gland. (He also teaches drumming at his studio, Go’n’play.) I sang nine of my own songs, including a...
I wrote previously about how I came to write the song Moi Aussi. I sang it live at the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern on St. Patrick’s Day, a performance which served as the basis for the video below. The video was published to mark World Down Syndrome Day 2018 on 21 March. As I type this, the Facebook post...
My friend Ruth asked a couple of months ago whether I might be willing to see if I could come up with a new song for the opening ceremony – or vernissage, as they say around here – of a photography exhibition about inclusion. The catch: it would ideally be in French. I had often thought about trying to write...
I decided to give my website a fresh lick of paint recently in the form of a new WordPress theme that’s optimized for musicians. I guess the most notable feature is the nifty music player that sits at the bottom of all pages. What’s really nice is that it will keep playing as you click through to different parts of...
Luka Bloom performed for GLAS at the Collège des Coudriers in Geneva last Saturday and I had the honour of being his opening act. To sing my own songs for a crowd of around 250 – including many, many friends – while a musician of Luka Bloom’s stature waited in the wings was an exhilarating experience. My set went well, in spite...
