If you live in or around Birmingham you may be aware that the good folks behind the indispensible blog Created in Birmingham also set up a temporary retail space in the City Centre to sell art works of many local creatives.

This fine project came to a temporary end when their time ran out in that particular space, but the good news is that they will soon be up and running at a new venue. You can keep up with their progess on their new website and blog.

Meanwhile, theyve been running a series of spotlight pieces on the artists who’s work will be on sale, and theyve gone and done one on me. Please do have a read, its a nice little interview piece.

Birmingham is proud home to Artsfest – the UK’s biggest free arts festival and this year it was bigger and better than ever.

I was proud to have been asked to play twice – first in the delightful setting of the Industrial Gallery of the Birmingham Musem and Art Gallery.  I played a set between two ancient stone Sphinxs to an audience of around fifty people.  I was quite nervous, partly since I hadnt played much recently after two weeks campervanning in the Yorkshire Dales, but my efforts were very well received by the crowd who bought several CDs.  Two were also kind enough to mention me online as one of the highlights of their festival – thank you Rich and Jenna.

Maybe the good vibes were influenced by the benign gaze of the remarkable figure of the Sultanganj Buddha (the largest complete bronze statue of its kind in the world) from across the hall.

Later in the weekend I had the great pleasure to be peforming to probably my biggest crowd yet as a solo act on the main stage in Centernary square, sandwiched neatly between the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Rep (performing a spirited rendition of Little Shop of Horrors).  It felt great to be performing on such a big stage again (playing large crowds with Beach Boys covers outfit Gidea Park was good training).

Oddly I find Im less nervous playing the larger gigs, perhaps because its a little less personal, altho I’m sure I’ll always enjoy the more direct human contact you get from smaller rooms.

BMAG photo courtesy Timm Sonnenschein
Centnery Square photo courtesy Wayne Fox

Exciting news is that Ive been asked to perform a second slot at Birmingham’s ArtsFest – this one on the huge stage at Centenary Square.

My slot is going to be 4.35 – 5.05pm, in between the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Rep Theatre. Later on the CBSO no less will be performing on the same stage.

With luck this should easily be the biggest solo gig I have played so far, so thanks to the ArtsFest and to my ever loving partner Lyndall for being patient with our fluctuating travel plans. Rockin!

Ive been confirmed to perform at Arts Fest the UK’s biggest FREE arts festival on Friday September 10th at 8pm in the rather amazing venue of the Industrial Gallery at the Birmingham Musem and Art Gallery.

Hearing the rich tones of my digital piano reverberating through that kind of space should be pretty amazing – looking forward to this one.

If you like piano music then you could do a lot worse than firing up this French internet radio station which very much does what it says on the tin.

All Piano Radio is an enjoyable mix of classic and contemporary and if you listen long enough, you should find one or two of my tunes mixed up in there.

If you like my piano music, or you have an interest in contemporary piano music, or just fancy something nice in the background when youre chilling or working, can I suggest giving my online radio station a try?

OK, to be fair, I should explain that I havent gone to a lot of painstaking effort to create my own station – this is a feature of the excellent LastFM.com.  If you dont know Last FM, I’d strongly recommend trying it out – its a superb music resource – bit like Myspace for grown ups if you dont mind me saying so!

Antway, one of Last FMs features if that you can listen to tons of music – streamed and for free – and one of the ways you can approach that is to click on the “play artist radio” button, clearly shown beneath the picture on each artists’ page.  The radio feature then launches, first playing one track from the particular artist you have selected and then, using Last FM’s clever software, continuing with selections from other similar artists.

Very clever and very effective – you can skip any track you dont like and theres no adverts – check out my station here if you fancy it – happy listening!

Ive received a great albumn review today from the good guys of Bearded Magazine. In case you dont know Bearded already, these guys are very passionate supporters of independent music – well worth checking out in there current online incarnation.

Some highlights from the review by Simon Harper include:

“Quietly building melody and atmosphere, Batsford appears to excel at gently shaping moods and it’s with the beautifully haunting ‘Namaste’ which the album really comes into its own, mining a seam of melancholy which unites the most arresting tracks here.”

“winding repeated melody patterns into heartbreaking shapes, packing an emotive punch”

and finally “frequently thrilling … this is a marvellous introduction.”

Please read the whole review here and if you have a minute, do peruse the rest of Bearded’s lovely new site.
Xx

Very pleased to discover that my track Namaste is featured in an Imix of Birmingham music, alongside some really top drawer artists such as the Destroyers and Soweto Kinch.

Its a really good mix of styles and good quality, so if you fancy a sampler of music in Birmingham, well worth a go I reckon:

The calming and sophisticated sounds of Classically Chilled Piano can provide the perfect musical accompaniment to your wedding, gallery opening, private party or corporate event.

Rich Batsford performs his unique and beautiful piano compositions creating a mood that’s relaxed, pleasant and timeless. Sets feature Rich’s original music alongside selections from Classic FM favourite Ludovico Einaudi and occasional forays into the wider classical repertoire.

Rich’s pieces are uplifting, beautiful and romantic, making his music a popular choice for performance during wedding ceremonies as well as providing ambient entertainment for wedding meals or receptions.

Key public performances and corporate clients to date include The Big Chill Festival, Gigbeth Festival, Amnesty International, Moseley CDT.

A great introduction to Rich’s music is the Gudonya edit at the top of www.richbatsford.com/music

Many venues will have a piano on site, but Rich also plays a portable Roland FP4 digital piano with a wonderful sound, featuring inbuilt speakers suitable for smaller venues and very easy to amplify for the larger occasion.

Rich is based in Birmingham UK and is available to travel worldwide.

If you’d like to make a booking or simply chat over some options, please do contact me direct by email and I’ll get right in touch.

“Thank you very much for playing your beautiful music during our meal. As a wedding photographer, I see a lot of different musicians and artists and can say with all honesty you rank alongside the best pianists I’ve ever heard. All the guests commented on how the music created a wonderful atmosphere. Not only was it beautifully played but also fantastic to have original tunes. I’ll be sure to recommend you to everyone I meet.”
Steve & Sarah Causon, Ardencote Manor 2010

Valentine Court has received a charming review from the new, Biirmingham based music website, The Music Quarter:

This debut album from contemporary pianist Rich Batsford is the ultimate aid for subliminal relaxation.

Tracks such as ‘Lyndall,’ a short, sentimental piece with a calming lullaby effect and ‘So Steve,’ have a surreal, dream like quality that drifts from one magical place to another….

…. a stunning debut album.
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