Hello Everyone and Merry Xmas from JH-band


My latest blog post was ages ago...when I played at Jon Mitchells wedding alongside the wonderful Ian Bursill photography...


We now have an advert on city local, so if you click on their link, you can get a 5% discount of regular bookings, not bad eh?


We've also linked up with my mate Ian Chilvers who is far and away the best DJ I know. He runs a site called "your dooz", check it out...


This year has been our busiest so far. As some of you know I also play as a session guitarist - I've been in Europe supporting Johnathon Jeremiah, and also playing a month tour with Will Young and also a few dates with Nerina Pallot and Ed Harcourt. The Will Young shows were amazing, around 3000 people every night, a great experience :-)

Next year looks very busy already, some festivals, and the odd bar gig but and already 75 weddings booked in. Don't forget, it's never to early to book us and discuss playlists, or discuss our songs on the juke box.

Once again I'd like to thank all the staff at Perkins ; Dave, John, Sarah, Mel, Jenna, Emily and Alex for being lovely and looking after us (but mainly me) at Perkins, Carriage Hall and Escabeche.

Also thanks to Dawn at Yew Tree lodge for passing me lots of excited Bride and grooms to provide entertainment for.

I also never get to thank my dear friend and colleague (but more friend) Gail Dandy for recommending us alongside Claire Dandy , they have fed, watered and kept energised on many occasions this year.

Award for neing inundated with work goes to Park Plaza in Nottingham, a cool, 4 star venue in the centre of town. I provide D.J's for this venue and have for two years, it's a good place for a romantic weekend :-)

Last but not least I'd like to thank Sarah from Tilly boo, the home of great suppliers and excellent wedding planning

So finally...

MERRY XMAS !!!

jason, Ben, Baz and Paul x





One final thing..


MERRY XMAS !!


Jason

Hello ...


Had a very busy week this week, not helped by my van breaking down on the M42 on Friday night near Solihull in the middle of four weddings in three days, ouch! Nothing can stop the Jh-band though, a van was hired, a hotel was booked and well, things aren't so bad are they??  :-)))


Big congratulations to Nathan and Caz who were married at Prestwold Hall on Thursday- we had a great party with them and as half the wedding party knew our drummer Paul, so as you can imagine, things got pretty daft very quickly :-)


Also want to say a big Congratulations to Jenny and John for their great wedding party at Hogarths in Solihull on Friday, nice venue too....the wedding planner is called Helen and she's a good 'un, really on the ball, organised and bang on with timings-it always pays to get a good planner, Sarah at Tilly Boo is great too, a real gem and these guys know how to take the stress away from you on the big day-well that's my tuppence worth for what it's worth!

Finally I would like to say an eeeeenormous CONGRATULATIONS to the fantastic couple Reina and Andrew who were married at Hoghton Hall........on Saturday....
The family and friends were sooooooo up for a party, Reinas brother Ross organised the D.J music playlists, and we had such a lovely time with all of them we were sad to leave. Thanks to Reina and Ross's father Deino for booking us in the first place and I sincerely hope we will see them again soon :-)


Here is my new Jh-band solo video from a wedding I played at recently in Newcastle back in April. If you would like me to play your first dance, then let me know nice and early and I'll play it on the day-it really adds a personal touch to proceedings :-) Hope you like the vid....xx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikPDGJYXqyw

Hello


Played at Donington park farmhouse on Sunday 15th May for lovely couple Martin and Sophie. Martin played guitar with us for the classic Green Day song time of your life (good riddance) and he did a great job, considering he's only been playing five months he did a fine old job and Sophie looked very proud, and rightly so. The evening was great, the crowd danced and we had a lovely time, congratulations to you both!!!!


Saturday saw us at Katie and Justins wedding in Strelley village in a Marquee. I have to say weddings and Marquees go together well, very well and we had a blast there too, two really good weddings in one weekend so things all good our end :-)


My great friends and music colleagues and all round super band have now launched their website. Known as Motown Goldrush, the name describes them perfectly, dapper suits, slick harmonies. Check them out for a trip down memory lane, a seriously ace band.


see you all soon :-)

Jayx

Hello from us!

Had a few belting gigs recently - so before I say anything I would like to thank Amy and Lance who were married at Allerton castle in Harrogate. I met them at a wedding fair last year and immediately we got on, shared a few laughs and the wedding was no different, just better. Loads of singing and dancing and the England cricket player Graham Swann was a guest, so I invited him up to sing and .....he accepted. Not a bad singer actually, he sang Lucky man by the The Verve and did a great job. Thoroughly nice fella, in fact, all the guests were lovely and the venue was stunning. Owned by the bloke who started Tandy and radio shack - no, I didn't know either but apparently he uses it as an occasional home, well ok for some ;-)

The band was on form at a lovely wedding booking at Norwood Park in Southwell with the gorgeous Emily and Kirk, and then the next day quickly over to Crewe for Richard and Heather Salts wedding which was also a blast. Emma Tracey booked me to play at her wedding last week in Birmingham and it was an interesting one in that I played an acoustic set when the guests arrived at 2p.m and then after dinner at 7p.m when the evening guests arrived. This worked very well-in combination with me playing a D.J set from 8p.m until 12p.m. The main point is any combination can work-it's just up to your imagination really. Next week I have been booked to play a wedding reception on boat on the Thames, well it could be worse ;-)


Before I end I'd just like to say congratulations to Jon and Suzanne Mitchell who were married on Saturday in Southwell, Nottinghamshire and had their reception at The Old Vicarage Boutique Hotel. I met them both and their families around seven months ago, and we discussed me playing solo in the evening, and D.Jing. The evening was amazing, Scottish-kilted-folks in abundance, drink flowing and just simply a lovely atmosphere and a really great party with everyone dancing and honestly, I didn't want it to end....

On that note I'm off to learn this Saturdays first dance....

J x

Hello!


So it's March again, and the season begins in full swing. I've been working closely with the lovely Sarah Glennie at Tilly Boo events. She is a great wedding planner and I love working with her, it's always good fun and always a good wedding and we always say we should go out with her mates and my band but we never get around to it, which is a good sign as it means we're busy and that's always good :-)

The band were booked to play in York last week at the Merchant Adventurers hall...now I've seen a few good parties, but this one was great. The best part of all was at the end of the night the father of the bride came from Mcdonalds with 200 Big Mac meals! I'm not the worlds biggest Mcdonalds fan but honestly I have never enjoyed a Big Mac so much, wonderful stuff. The guests couldn't believe it and completely demolished the mountain of burgers, such good fun and it was great to see the bride and groom in all their finery munching down on Maccy D's! That's why I love my job , so many wonderful occurrences :-)


I have been known to do a wedding fair or two so now, after two years I now have Claire Hardy working with me, so if you us come and say hello!

The photo on the left is from the Assembly rooms wedding fair where we met Elena and Yuri from Elen studio photography www.elenstudiophotography.com. He made me look far better than I did on the day as I had a terrible cold but despite the sniffles the day went well and we met some lovely and very excited brides and grooms.


Take care all and see you soon Jay x

Hello :-)




Last week I had the privilege of playing live music at Pam and Rich's wedding at the Monastery, quite literally a converted Monastery in Manchester.  The venue was a singers dream, only 4 feet smaller than Westminster Cathedral to give to a sense of it's size. Pam and Rich had booked me to play solo around a year ago, they had been thoroughly organized about their music choices, and had sent me their first dance song choice over nine months ago. Ladies and Gentleman, it's never too early to get in touch with me about song choices, D.J choices are just for a general chat about the big day. Pam and Rich were super organized so I knew the party would be a good one , and a good one it was :-) I'd also like to mention the staff at the Monastery who were the friendliest most helpful people I've met in a long time, all smiling faces and genuine care about the night and the smooth running-if only all bookings were like this! Also want to mention the super-shooter Karen Julia, a Manchester based photographer who is veeeery good, check her out here ..

http://www.karenjulia.com/


all the best!

jay

My musical friend and inspiration Roy Stewart , or Roy d'wired passed away last week. He had been ill for sometime, over a year, with cancer and despite a long, tough battle my old mate "d'wired" is no more.

It always sounds annoying when people say he or she was an inspiration, but honestly he really was, to me in any case, a very big inspiration. His percussive, tambourine stomping solo acoustic style has since become my mainstay in live performance, and even until last year I would still go and watch him to see how he did "it" I would say I can do what he did to a point, although nowhere near as good as him. I'm not sure what it was. Richie Muir and I both do a similar thing to Roy, but just not quite as good, and I think Richie wouldn't argue with that. It makes me smile to think the old rascal had one over on us and we'll be forever chasing his tail.  It's worth pointing out that before him, the solo singer /guitarist scene really, really didn't exist in the same way. I remember going out in the early 1990's-Nottingham had Rock city and the Running Horse and a few dodgy bands at the Old Vic, and that was your lot. In came Roy at Russells (now the Orange Tree) and Fothergills and the next thing I know is venues want musicians playing live. It was an inspiration, both for musicians and gig go-ers.  The halcyon years of the Cafe Metz in the mid to late 90's were just a revolution. Anyone who was there will know Roy would systematically smash the living daylights out of the place on a weeknight (I think it was Wednesdays) every single week. It was so packed, and so much fun and just the making of him as the entertainer we all know and love. The trail of work offers he couldn't do, he would pass to us younger guys, desperate for a gig. His kindness and generosity will never be forgotten, I wouldn't be doing what I do without his input and a big old leg-up from the master.  He will be sadly missed.

x

Many thanks to everyone who booked me or the band this year!!



Massive thank-you's to Sarah Glennie, Mel Walster and all the gang at Perkins, Julia Stanley , Emma and Chris at Park Plaza and Gail Thomas at the Larmer Tree - a drink is owed I promise!


I'm not one for playing residencies but this one I just couldn't refuse as it's at Escabeche in West Bridgford, Nottingham, the new outlet from the Perkins family. The bar restaurant is next to Cafe Nero and opposite Pizza Express. It does a wonderful line in Tapas and Spanish atmosphere with great service and really, it's just an all round great place to hang out. I have a feeling it'll be the hottest ticket on the strip come summer 2011! I'm playing a solo spot every Sunday between 8 and 10. It's a real chill out session so come along, listen to the tunes have some food and try one of their weird and wonderful beers or ciders...Yes, Spanish cider!

Don't forget....book any band package before the end of March 2011 and we'll knock £100 off the bill... :-)

x Jay

Hello !

The end of my holiday is today :-( , just want to remind you New Years Eve Party goers that I'm playing
at Escabeche in West Bridgford on NYE , great food live music and I'll be DJing too- for tickets give me a call or email me and MERRY XMAS!

xJay

Da daaaaaaa
 (big drum roll........)

The new video.. hope you like it :-)

Click the link to see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZNRB9WprUQ

Love J and the band x

I finally managed to get around to posting a picture from Jennie Falconer and James Midgelys wedding  at Babbington house in Somerset. I was asked to play during their ceremony and also in the afternoon in the gardens, a seriously lovely day and a very lovely friendly couple, I wish them all the best! :-)

Thanks to Ok magazine for this photograph. See you all soon x

Hello from JH-Band


I've been having a great time on Sundays playing my regular slot at Escabeche, the new Tapas restaurant in West Bridgford, right next to Nero. It's a great place, very chilled , great food and some unusual wines, beers and Spanish ciders to tickle your fancy. Live music starts at 8.pm.


November sees the final month of gigs before I take December off for a long awaited holiday in Australia. I'm actually a half-Ozzy, so it's a bit of a trip home to see the family, get some Sun and witness my parents get married! From one year of weddings to another!

JH-band met last week in The Old trip to Jerusalem for a couple of pints and a chat about out new 80's band, which we will start work on shortly. From March 2011 you'll be able to book the Jh-band, and also RELAX , the 80's tribute band. We're all excited about this, although it means a lot of preparation and rehearsals but once we've done that we'll be ready to get out Pastel suits on and start busting some moves ;-)

Don't forget we have gigs at The Southbank and Approach this month....

The big one to remember is ESCABECHE on New Years Eve, don't miss it!

x Jay

Last Sunday I was invited to perform at a wedding fayre arranged by Sue White, of White Media at the stunning, (totally stunning) historical masterpiece that is Thrumpton Hall. As you know I'm originally form Nottingham and I though I'd seen all the great venues, but this place is killer. Wonderful. With access to the rooms on the ground floor, stunning views, great photograph opportunities, it really is a venue to remember and is worth checking out if you're after something special.

This week I'm at The Approach on Thursday, The Observatory and The Southbank on Friday, tow private parties in Bedford and London on Saturday, a trade fair on Sunday with Julia Stanley and my weekly residency at Escobeche in West Bridgford, the new outlet for the Perkins family in the form a very lovely
Tapas restaurant, please come down, it's simply lovely on a Sunday night :-)

Jay x

I did a function with Jakki Degg, then down to the Saatchi Gallery and then over to Germany where I've been relaxing if I'm honest! We've been slowing down a little recently-the summer season parties-a-plenty has slowed down so since that time we've been re-recording songs, making a very cool new video ( :-) ) and getting the bookings in for 2011. Hope you're having a good year so far!!

jay

Hello!

Played a few nice weddings for the lovely Sarah at Tilly Boo events- look her up she's very
good at what she does! Recently did a function with glamour model and page 3 queen Jaki Degg, I've uploaded a pic from the day-lovely lady and a great little dog too!

Tomorrow I'm playing at Saatchi and Saatchi, should be fun and hopefully a glass of champagne if I'm lucky!!

Next year (2011) is already half booked so please get in contact quickly if you want to book us, having said that I have a small agency so If we can't do it I can get somebody for you :-)

Back to my DIY kitchen grrrrrrrrrr!!!

x

Happy Summer!


Just wanted to mention that we now have a video of the JH-Band four piece on the new video page..we recorded in during soundcheck at the Car Colsten summer ball, a grand all bash in Nottinghamshire and for once a local booking, so only a short drive home , nice once in a while :-)


We have had some great gigs this year...the Larmer Tree Gardens , a hidden gem near Salisbury being one of them.  Played in the musicians gallery overlooking the lawns on what can only be described as a glorious summers day. The lovely Gail looked after me with jugs of water whilst I sang in a natural acoustic theatre, quite wonderful with peacocks screeching in the background. Congratulations to Jo Wileman and his lovely new wife!


Another shout out must go to Chris Hellings and new wife Luci, congratulations!! They married at a village called Dunster, near Minehead. A beautiful venue and villahe combo, and without doubt the best solo crowd this year! I don't know what it is about Londoners, but take them out of London and put them in the country and do they know how to party! Chris booked me to play solo for this booking, and I D.J'd after my live sets. Seriously wonderful , up for it crowd.

Great people. The right songs = A Great Party!!


See you soon


x

Hello !!

I'm sat in Berlin recovering from a very heavy gigging and promotion week last week. Julia Stanley from Stanleys models introduced me to The Little wine club, run by the lovely Nichol and family. http://www.littlewineclub.co.uk/ We got together and provided a launch party at SAAB in Derby last Thursday for their new vehicle. I was asked to play some acoustic music whilst Julia and Nichol provided a fashion show, great wine and food which made for an altogether great night had by all.

Friday was my monthly residency at leicester venue "The Almanack" which is fast becoming my favourite gig in terms of bar gigs for quite a while. My old mate Adrian from the Golden Fleece  is the boss down there and it's nice to work with familiar faces as well as Toby and Christian who co-manage the place - get yourselves down there, it's a hidden gem! It's in Leicester town centre at the back of the Orange tree.

Wedding of the year so far for the JH-Band is just Kate and Charlies wedding at the Dower House Hotel on Saturday. I knew Kate and Charlie would be up for it from the tone of the emails but were they ever! Some great song choices, a guest singer who's name I can't remember but could she sing-wow! Lovely family and friends and a really great fun night, brilliant weather., great food....we loved it!! Must also say Thanks to Liz and Simon at the Dower House Hotel for being lovely to us and looking after us, other venues take note, this is how it's done!


And finally, it's our amazing bass player Ben and his lovely girlfriend Laura's wedding on Saturday. So the band has the night off, well almost ;-) We are setting up at the venue and are playing some songs in the evening, we're hoping to persuade Ben and Laura up to play with us (Laura has the voice of an Angel), although I'm not sure who will be more tipsy (probably us for once) , but we can't wait and it's a night off with our great mates, so we're all very excited to be celebrating their wedding!!

Congratulations from Ben , Baz and Jay xxx

See you all soon x

Jenny Falconer and James Midgelys wedding music exclusive!

I have just recovered from forty-eight parties and weddings in nine weeks. 

Hello !

Hello

Hello all

Blimey, I'm glad that's over with. I don't like too Xmas and new year, mainly because it get's in the way of gigs and work and well everything....humbug haha


This has been a mad but great month. I've been to Dover (191 miles one way) Brighton (189 miles one way) Oldham (102 miles one way) plus twenty other weird and wonderful xmas gigs. New year eve at the Plainsman was great and it snowed as the clock turned midnight....50 pence piece sized snow flakes..the likes of which haven't been seen since I was a child back in 1954 haha. New Years eve was a blast at the Waterfront, thanks to the lovely Caroline Kerr and the great crowd. The band were great, and rocked the crowd , I didn'tt need to be there really, they were simply electric and I'm lucky to have an ace band and the nicest musicians I've ever worked with to boot.

Just want to say Thank-you to Alive Network , Hop till you drop and all the venues and agents that have booked me this year.

Happy New Year

x

Guten Tag! Hello from Germany :-)

Hello

I'm pleased as I'm getting lots interest in my new website..good news!

I played an amazing party last week for Paul L and his wife at The Great John Street Hotel in Manchester in the rooftop terrace bar. This was a great gig at a lovely venue. Big shout out to Lucas and Norbert for getting me drinks..I ended up playing for 3 hours! Thanks to Paul . Also had a mad -good gig at the approach and the southbank with Ben and Paul...we played a few new songs...the best was Edwin Collins "a girl like you!"

Don't forget I appear on Alive Network agency, where you'll find tons of different types of music, if you need something more than a solo or a band..


x jay

I know there is a recession , but fortunately we are very busy. Thankfully!!

Hello from the new Jh-band site...!!! At last at last!

I'm slowly getting into website design..I went for this package called "websites for dummys" but even so I  have still spent half the week swearing into the computer, but, It's now complete. Hurrah!

It will look fancier and more slick over the coming months, but I'm happy with it for now as so many people have asked me for my site address....so HEY PRESTO! 

Now for rehearsal :-)

Byeeeee........