Mike Hatchard's on-line Teaching Page

It's nice selling out...
There are currently under thirty tickets available for the St Patrick's Day Special at the Kino Teatr (actually it's now under sixteen, fifteen have sold since I started this email). I know that sounds quite a lot but that's pretty consistent with the last one which sold out completely so that we had to turn people away which was a bit strange - both satisfying and devastating at the same time.

If you are planning to come please try and book in advance to avoid disappointment. The Hawth Theatre, Crawley, next week with Shireen Francis is already sold out.

I am joined by Will Collier and Peter Fisher. Will is well known to Kino audiences, but Peter less so. Peter has a stellar track record, with a host of awards to his name. At the time of writing he's recording with the London Philharmonic at the Ally Pally until 9pm. Then he'll drive down to the coast to perform a lot of new music of mine. Such dedication deserves a sell out audience in my view, so see what you can do...

Other upcoming events include the Twickenham Jazz Club on the 27th March with Afternoon in Paris. I haven't played Twickenham in a long time so I'm very much looking forward to it. I'm in fact doing a short mini-tour with Afternoon in Paris in May, on the 17th we're at Rye Community Centre, on the 18th the Ditchling Meeting House and on the 19th both the Manor Barn and the Unitarian Church Brighton (Brighton Festival).

Thank you all for your continued support, it's been particularly gratifying of late.

Toodle pip
Mike

Afternoon in Paris - Twickenham Jazz Club Fronted by clarinet, bass clarinet and vocals in several European languages, Afternoon in Paris is on a mission to entertain! Their music stems from the

Afternoon in Paris - Twickenham Jazz Club Fronted by clarinet, bass clarinet and vocals in several European languages, Afternoon in Paris is on a mission to entertain! Their music stems from the

I Never got it Wrong in my Choice of Friends Christmas Eve 2023 I took a fall, plummeting onto my head from about three foot and ending up in A and E. I got so much support from so many people it was ve...

This is my latest song, I'm so proud of it I'm sharing it with everybody.

I Never got it Wrong in my Choice of Friends Christmas Eve 2023 I took a fall, plummeting onto my head from about three foot and ending up in A and E. I got so much support from so many people it was ve...

https://youtu.be/Kumrt0LGGtc?si=IcxeDRi7pWjcT07v

The Long and Winding Street This is a song I wrote after a truly awful experience - on a rainy winter afternoon I tried to park my car in Hastings, the only way to do so was by download...

Mike's attempt to beat the World Record for UPSIDE-DOWN SINGING as a fundraiser for St Barnabas House Help Mike Hatchard raise money to support St Barnabas House

Donations are now coming in...

Mike's attempt to beat the World Record for UPSIDE-DOWN SINGING as a fundraiser for St Barnabas House Help Mike Hatchard raise money to support St Barnabas House

Killing Me Softly Video from Ringmer Village Hall March 2023.Mike Hatchard: piano/vocals, Nils Solberg: guitar/vocals, George Trebar: Bass.

Mike Hatchard at the BBC Radio 3 Piano SD 480p This is something I've been doing a lot lately. I play a classical piece - I then capitalise on the intensity that involves by improvising loosely on the sam...

Facebook tells me I should reshare this... So I am...

Killing Me Softly Video from Ringmer Village Hall March 2023.Mike Hatchard: piano/vocals, Nils Solberg: guitar/vocals, George Trebar: Bass.

Upcoming concerts – Jazz at the Village Here is a list of our upcoming concerts… Click on the concert’s name for more details. Please Note: Because of the popularity of the Felpham Village concerts PRE-BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL. Date/Time Event 05 April 2023 8:00 pm - 10:30 pm Pianorama with Mike Hatchard & John Horler 230405 Felpham Memor...

Concerto for a Multi-Instrumentalist Part Two A Joyful Celebration of One Man playing Lots of Instruments

https://youtu.be/3kcWfajlIWE

Concerto for a Multi-Instrumentalist Part Two A Joyful Celebration of One Man playing Lots of Instruments

https://youtu.be/kfpOQBlOkX4

Extreme Piano Practice number 3 Video from Mike Hatchard

I've been collaborating a lot recently with Buster Keaton. It's a partnership made in heaven, we get on so well and the chemistry between us is amazing. Buster knows how to respond to my music perfectly.
If I play a glissando you can bet your life, in an instant, BK will fall down the stairs, if I play a fast rag he'll start running. If I play a romantic melody he'll gaze into the eyes of some fl**zy with that wonderful expression of his - it's absolutely magic and it never fails to wow the audience. How he always responds so quickly is beyond me.
We're at the Kino Teatr in Hastings this coming Friday. Unfortunately Buster, having passed away in the sixties, won't actually be there in person but we're using the latest technology to have a MOVING 2D image of him and it'll be amazing even if a bit black and white (well, technology can only take you SO far, but I'll be in colour).
I wanted to call it a Night with Hatchard and Keaton but Buster insists we call it Steamboat Bill Jr which is so off the wall, but that's Buster for you. Nuts!
So come along and help support a legendary performer with a wonderful deadpan expression who, in spite of his aging years, is still completely engaging. Oh, and Buster's worth watching as well.
Steamboat Bill, Jr with live piano accompaniment by Mike Hatchard at Kino-Teatr

Steamboat Bill, Jr with live piano accompaniment by Mike Hatchard at Kino-Teatr Tickets are now available for Steamboat Bill, Jr with live piano accompaniment by Mike Hatchard at Kino-Teatr, on Friday 30th September 2022. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!

I'd like to thank all the people that have ordered advance copies of my forthcoming book on my crowdfunding page.
I set the page up because I knew without that encouragement and obligation I'd never write it. My ploy is working, I've written a huge amount this week, but I'm finding it much harder than I expected. Below is a rather large extract - normally when I submit long tracts to Facebook I preface it with the observation that nobody is likely to read something that long, and I'm often very pleasantly surprised that people appear to do just that. If you're one of that sterling crowd do please think about crowdfunding me, it really helps. Cheers.
The summer of 2016, and all the radio and TV interviews I'd been promised were being cancelled, owing to the referendum. 'I'm sorry Mike, there's only one show in town at the moment' seemed to be something of a catchphrase. In Falmouth I became very despondent.
I spent the afternoon handing out leaflets and everybody and their dog said how marvellous what I was doing was. Well, all right, not the dogs so much, they just sort of woofed a bit but I could tell they approved. But few were persuaded to come to my gig that evening. I played a concert to about seven people. They were very appreciative mind you, and very nice people. I had no truck at all with how nice and appreciative they were. Indeed, if you wanted nice, appreciative people they were the kiddy, they were the boy. It’s just that, numerically, they were rubbish. Perhaps they’d have benefited from a training day.
I tried to remain optimistic. I tried to convince myself things would pick up but sadly it wasn’t looking good. The manager of the Tivoli in Wimborne phoned to say they wanted to cancel my forthcoming concert as they’d only sold about twenty tickets and it wasn’t viable. Similarly the manager of the Mowlem in Swanage. I tried to assure them that, once the publicity machine started working it would all be different. I had been in touch with radio stations and TV companies and they’d all promised interviews. That would make people flock, I told them. By this time next week I’ll be a huge star. If you don’t have me on your show you’ll end up like that guy who turned down the Beatles, you’ll be a laughing stock, people will mock you on the streets...At first it seemed I was quite convincing. ‘Yes, you have a point,’ they agreed, adding, ‘anyway, as I was saying, I think we’d better cancel it.’ Ho hum.
One of the few interviews that went ahead was at a radio station in Truro. When I arrived mid-afternoon the staff seemed fairly indifferent to my presence but were friendly enough. They told me I would be interviewed soon and it was a good opportunity as it was a phone-in programme and the lines were exceptionally busy.
I drank what I suspected was supposed to be coffee in the plastic cup they offered me and listened to the broadcast. Every call was about the referendum (I don’t think the term Brexit had yet been coined). Then, during a commercial break, the producer glanced at my press release and said, ‘I see here that you can write a song about any subject whatsoever on the spot.’
I hadn’t actually written that release, and I suddenly felt embarrassed, intimidated even – it sounded so arrogant. ‘Well, sort of,’ I said rather meekly.
In fact it’s something I DO seem able to do. I once went on Radio Oxford where I did a solid (and exhausting) two hour songwriting session all on suggestions from the phone-in audience. I was only supposed to do about five minutes so someone must have liked it. I’ve done similar things on other radio stations. It’s an odd skill that I’ve never had to work at too much, my mother tells me I could do it (rather irritatingly, I suspect) even as a small child. And in case you’ve ever seen me perform and are of the opinion that I CAN'T do it – well, you have a point. You may have seen me on an occasion when I failed spectacularly which happens at times and something I’m rather proud of. Failure is an inevitable part of keeping it edgy, which is what I try and be. And why I suddenly felt reticent.
I definitely sensed in the producer’s tone that he didn’t think I could do it. He gave me a rather hard suggestion. I was aware that the previously uninterested staff were now listening. Paradoxically, hard suggestions tend to be the ones I excel at, I’ve never entirely understood why. On this occasion, though I say so myself, I delivered the goods and the entire studio spontaneously applauded. Sadly, though, it hadn’t been on air. Still, not a problem, I was now buzzing with confidence and competence. Bring it on. I put on my headphones and the red light went on.
The presenter was now clearly a fan and I was gratified at the tone of sincerity as he announced, ‘Well, as you know, we’re talking about the referendum this afternoon – but here’s a chance to talk about something else. We have with us Mr Mike Harchyard {ho hum, that’s fame for you} who is cycling the length and breadth of the country towing a piano for Children in Need. And he has this ability to make up a song just like that. We’ve just tested him out and he’s BRILLIANT. So if you want to phone in with suggestions for a song Mike will write one for you.’
The phone rang. ‘I’d like to talk about the referendum,’ said a lady. And did so. She had quite a lot to say.
Then a man phoned. ‘I’d like to talk about the referendum too,’ he said. He had even more to say.
Another man chose the same subject, and then another man, and then a lady again whilst I sat there feeling my confidence being blunted by boredom.
‘Wouldn’t you like our guest to write you a song,’ asked the presenter to one woman, aware that I was showing signs of needing a shave. ‘No, I’d like to talk about the referendum.’
Sometime later, by which time my beard was developing alarmingly, he tried the same stunt again. ‘No,’ a woman replied, ‘I phoned to talk about the referendum. It was the first time my vote ever counted.’
When asked what she meant, she went on, ‘Well, we used to live in Virginia Water. We was labour. So voting was a waste of time. It didn’t count for nothing. But this time it counted. I voted leave.’
I felt like chipping in and saying that I felt the opposite. When she was in Virginia Water her vote must have been a massive comfort to some Labour hopeful who probably only got a few hundred votes. Paradoxically her vote didn’t really count for much at all now, she was in the majority. It’s a little bit like saying, yesterday I was a nobody, a lone wolf...but today I’m important because I’m a sheep. Well, that’s how I saw it…..my reverie was interrupted when the presenter said something like, ‘Look, our hirsute guest has been sitting here for ages, he’s desperate to write a song for you, Please, please, pretty please...’
The lady said, ‘Oh Ok.’ The presenter and I both woke up. There was a silence.
‘Well, what would you like him to write a song about?’ ‘What?’ she asked. Patiently he explained again. ‘He can’t write a song for you unless you give him a subject.’ ‘Oh, I see,’ she replied.
There was another long silence. ‘Well?’
‘Well what?’
‘Well, what would you like to give him as a subject?’
There was another long silence.
‘The referendum,’ she said.

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