Patricia Hammond

The gigs have been fascinating lately. A Silent Film evening in an old Candy factory in Limehouse; a Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle in Chateau d’Oex’s hilltop church, slippery with ice; Passing Clouds in Dalston; the Experimental Cocktail Club in Soho; the British Library with A. S. Byatt, a Magicienne named Romany, and Tweedy the Clown; and an even more wonderful Ragtime Parlour than the last one, in Notting Hill. You can read more details on the other blog, HERE.

And now I’m in the Sunday Times, and a goodly few paragraphs of me at that! Terribly gratifying. But this month’s vintage-style gigs are almost all in private venues, so all these wonderful new people will be clamouring to hear the Parlour Band and they won’t be let in! All I can say to that is

WE’RE FOR HIRE!

And we’re jolly good, we are. We look good and sound good, and can operate in a duo (me and a piano), a trio (me and a piano plus a clarinet or violin) or me PLUS trio (The Lovely Parlour Trio: guitar/banjo, piano, specialist percussion), or Ragtime Parlour four (not requiring piano: banjo, clarinet, percussion, sousaphone) Or the full-on Lovely Parlour Band (violin, clarinet, percussion, banjo, bass, piano).

We can work with or without a PA. And nobody else sounds anything like us.

Our Lovely Day was also featured in the rather sweet magazine “Yours”. It was on their “Don’t Miss” page under “Must Listen”. They paraphrased what Sir Michael Parkinson said about the disc. He said a music-box of vintage treasures. They said a musical box of vintage treasures. Well, Jenny Agutter was on the front cover of the magazine. That ain’t any bad thing at all.