OK, from a sun-baked hillside deep in the mountains of Provence, here’s my best guess on the McCartney backing track scenario. Any sensible director and performer would have a Plan B firmly in place for a show of this magnitude, and that’s what the backing track was for. They need it in case a cold …

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On holiday in Provence courtesy of our good friends William and Usha Gordon. I will stick to my intention of continuing through my holidays, but I’ve just had a bottle of Duval with a rating of 8.5% alcohol by volume. I may not write much tonight. Share this:

Had a brilliant gig at Rox Featival with Pat Davey and Benji Page, sending shards of sparkling Stratocaster spinning out across the Channel. I’m off on holiday tomorrow but will post every day: maybe a good chance to tell some stories or indulge in longer ramblings. Share this:

OK, I was pleasantly surprised. It was dignified without being pompous, modern without being disrespectful of tradition, and inventive without being gimmicky. Well done, Danny Boyle. Even Macca’s gaff at the end was fine: I don’t blame him for having a safety track running in the background: at his age he can’t know when his …

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OK, finally done all the mixes, edits, bits and bobs I had to finish before gong on holiday next week. Soundcloud is a fantastic tool for dealing with multiple clients at the same time: no messing with different dropboxes or wetransfer links: just upload, make a set, grant access rights as appropriate, job done. You …

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OK, for those of you who expect pearls of wisdom, the keys to the kingdom, trade secrets and scurrilous tales from the stars’ dressing rooms, the title “Tired, beer, bed…” hardly represents value for money, but it’s been a long day. Here, for the record, then, is my day in full. I was up at …

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Steve Pearce posted this on my FB wall today. There are many tales from these gigs, and they will be trickle-fed over the next few months, though their origin will not always be identified. There is one tale that I will tell today, however: the one of how I got away with not being able …

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Just realised that this is the 100th entry in my year’s blog: I can’t quite believe it! When I started, I thought I’d run out of topics in a month, but this is now three months in and I’ve got a backlog of things to write about… I’ve been charting all day, getting ready for …

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Off to the Dublin Castle to play the closing set at the University of Southern California students’ summer school in London. I love doing these gigs: they look at me with a mixture of fear and horror when I take the stage, not quite sure why someone who looks like their Dad should be wielding …

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Someone just posted this on my FB wall: it’s a tune from a Westernhagen show in 2005. My solo at 3.35 is one of my favourite ever live solos (sorry, blowing my own trumpet here!) but part of the reason it works and I could leave such space is because of what the drummer is …

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