How to make friends and entertain people!

I'd like to introduce you to a new friend of mine. It was my birthday earlier this month and my wife Francesca surprised me with how well she knows me… I’m such a child and I’ve always had a knack for talking in silly voices without moving my lips… well, on the morning of my birthday, I woke up to this little fella, a ventriloquist monkey puppet as my present (pictured below, entertaining Nana). His name is Ginger and I can’t resist taking him with me now to entertain family and friends every time we visit.

Hmmmm… maybe I’ll take up ventriloquism! ;)

I forgot to remember...

You may remember me mentioning that I directed “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and played the lead role at the end of last year, but was waiting on some photos. It was a great success and lots of fun to do. Most of the cast had never even been involved with anything like this before and they did a fantastic job! I made a lot of new friends doing the show. The photos I have at the moment don’t really do it justice, but just for fun I have posted a few below. (Don’t worry, I’ve been given orders by Francesca to never really grow my hair long!)

Update at last!...

Well, I made a point of not promising to blog every week, because I know what I'm like!  Since my last entry there's been lots going on...

I had the great pleasure of performing at a private function at the Scarisbrick hotel for over one hundred lovely ladies, in aid of the North West Cancer Research. It was a fantastic afternoon, we all had a great time and a good laugh together and raised a substantial amount for the charity. Many thanks to all the ladies who sent letters of thanks. Apparently it was a first in a very long time for them to have a singer entertain them, as they usually have speakers after lunch. My particular favourite letter was from an elderly lady who said "I wasn't looking forward to sitting and listening to a singer, but I had a marvelous time. What a lovely voice and such a talent"... Thank you so much for that! It was a real pleasure to entertain you all.

There have been some very exciting updates church music wise. The "Angel to Watch Over Me" CD which I sang the title track for, made it into the 'Top Ten Best Sellers' list at deseretbook.com and since then I have been contacted by LDS female singer Allyse Smith Taylor, who is currently preparing for her next recording project. She has asked if I would make a couple of appearances on her next album, which will be accompanied by veteran LDS musician, pianist Marvin Goldstein. So I'm very excited that my wife and I will be flying out to the U.S. this summer so I can record on Allyse's album, after which we'll be heading over to Colorado to work on my own next album with Sally DeFord.

I'll also be meeting with producer Jay Richards and will discuss bringing his musical adaptation of "Little Women" over to the UK... so watch this space!

I guess in this business, you have to be flexible, so unfortunately, because Francesca and I are away for part of the summer, the United Voice North West choir's Disney summer concert "Once Upon a Song" has had to be postponed until further notice. However, there are still plans to do the concert early next year. In the mean time, they will be performing their "United Voice Summer Showcase", which will take place at the New Millennium ballroom, London Street Southport on 29th August 2009 @ 7:30pm (details will be on my home page at www.jamesloynes.com)

I mentioned in my last blog entry that I'll be doing some work on the Temperance Institute (where the ballroom is)... Well I've made a start! Just so you can see how messy I get when doing DIY (and because the building is really amazing inside) I've posted some photos below.

So amid making musical plans with Sally DeFord (over more than 5,000 miles, via e-mail) and undercoating every square inch of woodwork at the Temperance, Fran and I are rushing around like headless chickens, trying to make sure every needful thing is sorted before we fly... I guess it will be a good feeling once we're in the air... you know, when you really can't do anything about anything til you get back!

Will keep you updated on what happens while we're over in the States...