Thanks to Maxine for sharing details of this fundraising musical bike ride. Ed
What started as a bid to cut down his carbon footprint, has become a 1,000 mile bike ride for world class guitarist Richard Durrant, who will cycle between concert venues with his entire stage show, guitar and lights packed into panniers and a bike trailer. The show equipment is high tech, lightweight and low energy.
As part of a 1,000 mile tour, Richard and his good friend Sean Simington will be playing two gigs on the Isle of Wight.
Fri 9 May The Bargeman’s Rest, Newport 8.30pm
Sun 11 May The Dairyman’s Daughter, Arreton 2.30pm
20% of all gig fees will be donated to ‘The Big C Drop-In Centre, Norwich’ which is a charity close to Sean’s heart.
Musical traveller
For his career as a professional musician, Durrant estimates he travels in excess of 35,000 miles with UK tours, forays into Europe and an annual visit to South America.
He said,
“Touring musicians tend to leave a fairly massive carbon footprint – so for me this is payback time. Having been a regular cyclist for years I wanted to see where a tour by bike would take me, both geographically and musically.”
“Riding a bike is totally inspirational”
During the planning and the training for the tour Durrant has been writing and recording a beautiful new album.
“Riding a bike is totally inspirational and my cycle training has been key to these new compositions.”
The results heard on Cycling Music are an atmospheric blend of acoustic and minimalist music. Durrant’s expressiveness on the guitar can be heard alongside sequencers and a percussion section built from bicycle parts. The musician jokingly describes the album as ‘Steve Reich meets Bradley Wiggins’.
The process
Durrant said:
“The physical aspects of the tour are very high tech, so I wanted to match this with my compositional processes. I write the music in my head on the bike each day then type the notes into Sibelius when I get home. I then import the notes into Logic where the sounds are realised, then I add the guitars and bicycle sounds and finish the arrangement on ProTools. It is a fascinating process that has produced music that seems to travel along, cycling as it goes.”
The tour
Richard begins his Cycling Music Tour on 1st May with a concert at The Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham and travels through Sussex, with a brief stop on Isle of Wight, as he works his way up to Yorkshire where he links in the with Le Tour preparation.
On the 1st June there is a Doncaster gig the same day as a large Cycle Festival in the town. Richard and Sean the head south through East Anglia and back through London where they join the London to Brighton ride.
The tour ends in Sussex with a final week of concerts and school visits.
For more information, see his Website
Image: © Dawn Jee
