The indomitable Deborah Henson-Conant demonstrating her homework for the Berklee Music Online 12-week course in the guitar techniques of Steve Vai. ​

​Finally after what seems like months of rain..... blue skies!!


I took the dog for a lovely long walk yesterday along our favourite bridle path and took the opportunity to listen to Sarah Deere-Jones CD Soirbheas.

​A really interesting CD of music for harps with aoelian (wind blown) harps. With the ambient noise of these aoelian harps recorded in different parts of the British Isles you also have sounds of the sea, a church bell, thunder as well as the rhythmic beat of a wind turbine. On top of this, Sarah has cleverly weaved celtic harp music & improvisation.

It would be easy to dismiss this CD as another "new age" recording, but it is so much more than that. Taking you to an "other world" it is a beautiful CD that is guaranteed to lift your spirits.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it reminded me a bit of "Peiwoh" CD by Arianna Savall for it's purity of sound.

Definitely recommended - download the CD to your iPod and go for a long walk listening to Soirbheas. You'll feel rejuvenated!

Sarah is doing a concert up at Salt Mills at a harp day at the Early Music Shopin September, put the date in your diary!

Just had a lovely (and slightly bonkers) lunchtime, accompanied by my charming daughter in the rather splendid setting of Tatton Park in Knutsford.


I had a call from a BBC researcher 10 days ago wanting me to play some Victorian harp music as a little musical interlude during the filming of the antiques show, Flog It! which is going to be aired some time in June.

Seeing a good opportunity to dig out my costume for my Queen Victoria Parlour's project, I've spent the past week whilst I was working up in Scotland with the RSNO practicing Victorian harp music during the breaks. And also obsessing about what to do with my hair.

After a life time of having long hair, I have recently had my hair cut short. Short, as in, doesn't really successfully tie back into a small pony tail kind of short. And if you are going to wear a rather silly Victorian costume, you have to go the whole way and do something appropriate with your hair!!

Luckily, thanks to google, I found a really helpful wig shop in Crewe yesterday and the very helpful shop assistant found at the back of the shop, a clip on hairpiece in the shape of a large bun :-) Thanks to half a can of hairspray this morning and a dozen clips, I managed to scrape my hair back and attach said bun, so it looked like a formal hair style that could have passed for Victorian.

he fact that in the end, 5 minutes before filming they didn't want me to wear my Victorian dress after all seemed a moot point. I'm now the proud owner of fetching hair piece, and you never know, there might end up being more than 1o seconds of my playing ending up on film and not on the cutting room floor!

My daughter is currently sporting my bun in a rather Lady Gaga sort of way, and as she said to me on the way home - if I bought a matching one, I could wear them on either side of my head and look like Princess Leia. Now there's an idea, a Star Wars solo harp project...... I wonder if there is any mileage in that?

​is the best show on television.


And just when you think it couldn't get any better (joy!) they introduce harp playing Amy in Series 4!!!