Hi everyone,
Firstly… a quick apology.
Some of you may have noticed last week's Soundcheck never arrived. I'd been having some issues with the way my emails were being sent and, honestly, with the pace of everything lately, getting it fixed just slipped down the priority list. But — we're back on track and Sunday Soundcheck resumes as normal!
It's actually been a really big week.
A tiring one if I'm honest… but a good tiring.
The first part of the week was all about teaching with Anstee Bridge, M:Tech and private lessons before half-term arrived. I've now got a week away from teaching which, while I'm very grateful for, definitely won't be a week of sitting around doing nothing!
The plan is to use the time to really push forward with a few projects I've been juggling behind the scenes.
Love's Gone Sailing 🚢
One thing I've been working on is a music video for my original song Love's Gone Sailing.
The funny thing is… the music video is now further along than the song itself! 😅
The goal this week is to finally get the vocals finished and wrap the whole thing up properly.
For years I've dreamed of creating proper cinematic visuals for my music, but if I'm honest, between family life, gigging and the realities of being an independent musician, that kind of thing has always felt financially out of reach.
So I've been experimenting with AI tools to bring the story to life.
The video follows a relationship breaking down using the sea as a metaphor — storms, distance, emotion, drifting apart. A locket runs throughout the video symbolising memory, attachment and eventually learning to let go.
It's not perfect (there are still a few inconsistencies!) but seeing a visual representation of something that only existed in my imagination for years has actually been really emotional and exciting.
In many ways, I feel like technology is finally giving independent artists opportunities that simply weren't realistic before.
Building things (and trying to solve my own problems!)
Alongside music, I've also been deep into a couple of projects that are aimed at solving problems I've personally had for years as a working musician.
Poster Poster is one of them.
The basic idea is simple: you put your gigs or events in your diary and it automatically turns them into social media posters and posts them for you across platforms.
As musicians, pubs or small businesses, we all know posting online isn't difficult… but doing it constantly, every single week, on multiple platforms, definitely becomes a job.
Poster Poster is designed to remove the hassle. If your diary is updated — the marketing gets done. Simple.
I'm currently working through app reviews (TikTok being one of the hold-ups at the moment!) before it can properly launch, but I'm genuinely excited to see where it goes.
The second project is called LiftShot.
As many of you know, if I record a gig, the only realistic option is usually sticking a camera in the corner somewhere and hoping for the best. The problem? Static footage is… well… pretty boring.
LiftShot is designed to automatically add movement, zooms, edits and cuts-to-the-beat to performance videos — helping turn ordinary footage into something much more watchable without hours spent editing.
Honestly, if these tools work the way I hope they will, they might just give me an evening back every week!
And as someone constantly juggling music, teaching, family life and creative projects… that sounds pretty amazing.
Busking Guide 🎸
A lovely little bit of news this week:
I sold my first few copies of my busking guide on Etsy!
A huge thank you as well to the team at Hobgoblin Music who kindly featured it in their email newsletter.
I genuinely couldn't be more grateful. Creating something that may genuinely help another musician — particularly someone trying to get started — feels really rewarding.
Gig highlights this week
Thursday – Queen's Head, Dorking. Lovely acoustic evening and a brilliant singalong. Great atmosphere and one of those gigs where everyone really leaned into the music.
Friday afternoon – Claygate Dementia Centre. Always one of the most rewarding gigs I do. Plenty of singing, smiles and dancing (despite the heat trying to finish us all off!).
Friday night – The Watermill, Dorking. A quieter one due to everyone sensibly sitting outside enjoying the sunshine! But the people inside really got involved and we had a lovely night together.
Saturday afternoon – John's 60th Birthday, Ham. Roasting hot but such a lovely afternoon. I moved between inside and outside to make it work and was really touched by how many people said I'd helped make the day special.
An extra bonus was seeing loads of familiar faces from my old Sundays at the Hand & Flower — people I genuinely haven't seen in ages.
Saturday night – The Albion, Hampton Court. Started quietly (everyone outside enjoying the heat again!) but by the second set it absolutely came alive. Requests flying in, singalongs and one of those really fun pub nights where you suddenly realise everyone's arrived.
As I write this, it's Sunday lunchtime, I've had a decent sleep and some lovely family time before heading off to Music on the Lawn at Denbies this afternoon followed by hosting Open Mic Night at The Sovereigns in Woking tonight.
A busy life… but one I'm incredibly grateful for.
The Guitar Fund 🎸
A quick thank you to everyone supporting the guitar fund.
For anyone newer to Soundcheck — I'm putting money aside toward a forever/workhorse acoustic guitar that'll hopefully become the companion for gigs, recordings and lessons for years to come.
Every bit of support, gig booking, lesson and kind word genuinely helps move things forward, so thank you.
This week's gigs
- Thursday 28 May – Bricklayers, Hersham (7pm)
- Friday 29 May – The Maypole, Surbiton (8:30pm)
- Saturday 30 May – Private function
- Sunday 31 May – The Woodman, Woodmansterne (2pm)
Or as always, you can keep up with upcoming gigs here: aaronnorton.co.uk
See you somewhere soon,
Aaron