Lockdown is becoming a drag!

Hey all, Well we have been in lockdown now for quite some time, To say I am bored is a massive understatement!! We had so many gigs planned and studio booked to finish the new EP, and it's all on hold, like the rest of the world, at some point we have all endured being locked away, It's so hard mentally and emotionally to be away from human contact, conversation and laughter, I really hope you are all surviving as best you can, I really believe it's all for the greater good in the end, we need to protect each other as best we can.

Due to my current state of boredom I thought it would give me chance to sit down and write a little blog, I usually have my wonderful admin assistant update you all, but now I have the time here I am!!

We have lots to look forward to as and when Sydney starts to open up again, Gigs will hopefully be back on the cards and I will get to finish the new EP! We are hoping to have the first single ' Truck Stops' released from this in October, I will update you all on a more accurate time frame as soon as I am allowed back in the studio! there's also a trip to Nashville on the cards for next year, Border opening pending!!

Well I thought I would write about me, I get asked a lot, how did I get into music and what are my influences etc, So I thought I would start at the beginning...Apologies in advance If I start to ramble, I have always been blessed with the gift of verbal Diarrhea!!!! Here you go...

I think I was around the age of 10 when I was first hit with a song I couldn't wrap my head around, I was in ore and amazed, I had never heard music like it, You may think it is an obvious choice but when you think of a 10-year-old experiencing all the instruments and vocal sounds, believe me when I tell you I was floored. I was raised on a broad mix of music up until that point, The Everly Brothers were my mums favourite and I fell equally in love with their songs, The Beatles (Obviously!!) Neil Diamond was a big contender with my dad, as well as The Scaffold "Lily The Pink" and Boney M!! So when I heard this song it was a style of music that I had not ever witnessed..

It was my brother Jason who introduced this song to me, I remember being sat in his car on the drive of our house, he turned and said listen to this, it was Bohemian Rhapsody, I remember my brother singing "Look up to the skies and see" with my head staring at the clouds through the sunroof, I was gone, My heart was slowly filling with something I had not felt before, It was the joy of lyrics and music, I will never be able to thank my brother for that gift.

What a songwriter Freddie was, this song was the start of a lifelong love affair I had with Queen, It was the start of me as a musician, I left that car excited, I played that song over and over If my ears could have bled they would have! From that day I decided 2 things, I needed to learn to play the guitar and write songs!!

The start of this 1st chapter of my music story was aided with my lovely dad Barry, He had dabbled in guitar playing although had not played for some time! when I told him my plan, he excitedly went in our loft and pulled down his old acoustic guitar, I called it the Bat guitar because the pickguard reminded me of a bats wing!! My dad knew one main song to play and he said he would teach me, I was so excited, If you are wondering what that song was it makes me smile to this day, The Carpenters "Top Of The World" We sat in our garden while dad showed me the basics playing this over and over, I soon realised playing the guitar was going to be a lot harder than I first thought!

The next week my mum Margaret came and gave me a present, it was how to play Queens greatest hits guitar book, My brother had an electric guitar and amp set up in his room, I stayed in that room with that book for a year playing chords over and over, thankfully Jason was the kind of brother who allowed me to take over his room! Yes, my fingers bled, they hurt so bad, but I was hooked, my thumb had the biggest blister for months it would recur, but still I played, I was born to play the guitar, I love everything about it, I also love words, as many that know me will tell you I am all about lyrics and telling stories!

I emerged from this room a year later able to play the chords to every song in that book, From here it was the start of my songwriting. I have always been a sensitive person, I try to be in tune with peoples feelings, the thought of hurting people is such a horrible thought, I think it made me be able to understand pain, even if I may not have felt the things I sometimes write about, I am only too aware of the tangled mess life can sometimes throw at you!

So in answer to a question I get asked my earliest influences were Queen, The Everly Brothers, The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Lilly The Pink and even Boney M!!

Tune back in next week, as I talk you through my teenage years and the love I found for Neil Young, Joan Baez, ELO and Crowded House! feel free to let me know your influences, I love hearing other peoples stories... Stay Safe, Toria x