The Soundcheck

A Michelin star, three dancing daughters, and the good kind of tired

A Dirty Dancing night, a 60th in the garden, and three gigs in a day

Why your acoustic guitar sounds thin and brittle plugged in (and the four things that fix it)

Plug your acoustic straight into the desk and it comes out thin, brittle, almost electric — nothing like it sounds in your hands. Here's why that happens and the four things a gigging musician does to fix it, no new gear needed.

How much should you charge for a pub gig? (And why it's been about £200 for thirty years)

How much should a solo musician charge for a pub gig? Honest numbers from someone who plays them — what's normal, what moves your fee, and why the going rate has barely shifted in thirty years.

A stately home, a motorway fire, and a Father's Day at home

The Soundcheck, 21 June 2026: A stately home, a motorway fire, and a Father's Day at home A week on the road with Aaron Norton.

Why your mix sounds muddy — and why it falls apart in the car

Why your mix sounds muddy, and why it's great on headphones but falls apart in the car. The honest fix from a working musician — the low mids, carving, and reference tracks.

How to make a Suno track sound real — put yourself back on top

Made a track in Suno that sounds almost real but unmistakably AI? The fix isn't a better prompt. Here's how a working musician puts a human back on top.

How I actually finish songs — four at a time, over two months

Got a folder full of half-finished songs? Finishing is a separate skill. Here's the four-songs-in-two-months method a working musician uses to actually release music.

Automating your music promotion with AI: brilliant — but not plain sailing

Automating your music promotion with AI gets hours back every week — but it's not plain sailing. The honest pitfalls (ghost gigs, sounding like a bot, what never to automate) from a full-time gigging musician.

A packed brewery, a tiny pub, and a wedding that beat the weather

The Soundcheck, 14 June 2026: A packed brewery, a tiny pub, and a wedding that beat the weather A week on the road with Aaron Norton.

One-person FOH: how I mix myself from the stage (300+ gigs a year on a CQ12T)

No sound engineer, no front-of-house position — just you and a mixer on the stage. The exact way I mix my own live sound across 300+ gigs a year on an Allen & Heath CQ12T.

A new-look website, a week of singalongs, and putting the music first

This week's Soundcheck — a fully redesigned website, gigs at The Minnow, the Hare & Hounds and The Bear, why Music First matters, and an honest word on using AI to help write my books.

The Vocal Chain: how I get one crystal-clear live vocal out of an Allen & Heath CQ12

A full-time gigging musician's exact, step-by-step setup for a clear live vocal on the Allen & Heath CQ12 — real numbers, feedback solved, no sound guy needed.

Music first — my free manifesto, and a song worth the wait

The Soundcheck, 31 May 2026: Music first — my free manifesto, and a song worth the wait A week on the road with Aaron Norton.

Raw voices, real gigs, and projects finally taking shape

The Soundcheck, 26 April 2026: Raw voices, real gigs, and projects finally taking shape A week on the road with Aaron Norton.

Teaching kids, turning 8, and the gig that puts it all in perspective

The Soundcheck, 19 April 2026: Teaching kids, turning 8, and the gig that puts it all in perspective A week on the road with Aaron Norton.

From Kingston to Brighton — what a week.

The Soundcheck, 13 April 2026: From Kingston to Brighton — what a week. A week on the road with Aaron Norton.

The night a hen party, a stag do and a ruby wedding all walked into The Trooper

Playing a venue for the first time — what you learn in the first twenty minutes

The five most requested songs at my gigs in 2026 (and what changed since last year)

Why I write The Soundcheck every single Sunday — even when I have nothing to say

What a solo acoustic wedding singer actually does on the day

First dance songs that work brilliantly live acoustic — a wedding singer's guide

A working wedding singer's honest guide to first dance songs that actually work live acoustic — the ones that always land, the ones that are harder than they look, and how to pick yours.

50 acoustic cover songs that actually work in a UK pub — a gigging musician's setlist

50 acoustic cover songs I actually play in UK pubs every week. Built from hundreds of pub gigs — the real working setlist of a full-time gigging acoustic musician, not a generic list.

Seven gigs. Five days. One hell of a week.

The Soundcheck, 5 April 2026: Seven gigs. Five days. One hell of a week. A week on the road with Aaron Norton.

New website, new tricks, and why I keep leaving the stage

The Soundcheck, 29 March 2026: New website, new tricks, and why I keep leaving the stage A week on the road with Aaron Norton.