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Author: John Maul

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Wow - I cant believe it’s been February since my last post. Suffice to say I’ve been very busy and very grateful for it.

Since March I've been to Slovakia, Czech, Austria and Sweden with the Dire Straits  Exeprience. We had a tour of the Netherlands in May and various trips to France in June, July and August plus a tour of Germany. 

I'm currently sitting in a hotel room in Sydney writing this post as we are now touring New Zealand and Australia with a little stop off at Tahiti on the way home for a gig. We’ll barely have enough time to unpack our bags and then we leave for France for 3 and half weeks in November. Even December sees two final pre Christmas gigs, one in Helsinki, the other in Madrid. 

So that’s my excuse for the lack of posts to my website - apologies. 

It’s been a great year for work and I try never to take it for granted. 

Who knows what 2025 will bring....

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It was a pleasure to revisit my 80s Pop roots for the Brit Fest 2024 Festival at Ashely Showground in Chesire on July 6th. I had a fabulous house band to MD (Keys - Steve Power, Guitar - Sam Wilcock, Bass - Andy Carr, Drums - Phil Groyssboeck, Percussion - Shan Chana).

Artists we backed included, Nik Kershaw, Paul Young, The Real Thing , 5-Star , T’Pau and Owen Paul. Whilst the weather could have been a little kinder, the crowds weren’t daunted. Preparations and rehearsals can be tough but it’s always a pleasure to work with these 80s icons. Rumour has it another one is coming up in July 2025 - this time Midge Ure, The Fizz, Cutting Crew, Hue and Cry and Sinitta. Watch this space !

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. Artists we backed included, Nik Kershaw, Paul Young, The Real Thing , 5-Star , T’Pau and Owen Paul. Whilst the weather could have been a little kinder, the crowds weren’t daunted. Preparations and rehearsals can be tough but it’s always a pleasure to work with these 80s icons. Rumour has it another one is coming up in July 2025 - this time Midge Ure, The Fizz, Cutting Crew, Hue and Cry and Sinitta. Watch this space !

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It was a pleasure to revisit my 80s Pop roots for the Brit Fest 2024 Festival at Ashely Showground in Chesire on July 6th. I had a fabulous house band to MD. Artists we backed included, Nik Kershaw, Paul Young, The Real Thing , 5-Star , T’Pau and Owen Paul. Whilst the weather could have been a little kinder, the crowds weren’t daunted. Preparations and rehearsals can be tough but it’s always a pleasure to work with these 80s icons. Rumour has it another one is coming up in July 2025 - this time Midge Ure, The Fizz, Cutting Crew, Hue and Cry and Sinitta. Watch this space !

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I must confess it has been awhile since my last YouTube video but I’ve revisited Final Cut Pro and got creating again. This time it’s an educational video looking at Orchestrating a piano piece using one of my Christmas tunes that I composed a couple of years ago - ‘All Aboard The Reindeer Express’.  It’s aimed at the beginner and shows an easier and more responsive approach to acquiring the skills needed to be an orchestrator. Click on the link to take a look and please like / subscribe if it’s of interest to you. Many thanks

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Well here we are in 2024 and I’m feeling very guilty about neglecting my ‘Latest News’ page for the last few months. So here’s a summary of the Dire Straits Experience travels.

The band continued with various shows in Europe including an 18 date tour in the Netherlands and France in November. Sadly our Israel tour scheduled for mid October was postponed due to horrific conflict situation out there.

Already 2024 is looking busy kicking off with shows in Finland and Zagreb this month. March includes Czech, Austria. Slovakia and Sweden.  

I’m glad to say the popularity of the band continues to grow. Audiences are ever more enthusiastic and varied in age ranges. We’re often so surprised to see younger people at our gigs mouthing the words to these classic songs. A testament to the long lasting quality of Mr Knopfler’s genius.

For more details of the band’s movements this year - click on the link below

Tour Dates

 

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I had the pleasure of working with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra last December at the infamous concert Hall on a Symphonic 80s gig. It was a fun packed evening of classic hits from the decade performed by 4 amazing singers (Emma Kershaw, Katie Birtill, Oliver Tompsett, and Patrick Smyth) with maestro Rob Eckland, conductor and arranger of many of the songs played . It was so lovely to see the orchestra dressing up in full 80s regalia and no doubt enjoying a break from the usual demanding repertoire. 

Click on the link below for details of the concert 

https://www.liverpoolphil.com/whats-on/all-shows/symphonic-80s/8775

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November the 15th was a very special day not only for Yamaha fans but also for the R&D team that I’ve had the privilege of working with for the last 4 years. We saw the release of the long awaited Genos 2, the new flagship arranger keyboard. The sound and technology is simply breathtaking. I’m honoured to have contributed to this amazing product and to have worked alongside some of the most talented musicians in the industry. To hear a little of what this keyboard can do, click on the link below and listen to the amazing Martin Harris.

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Fun was had by all on Saturday 18th March in Viborg Tinghallen DENMARK. Another slice of 80s Pop history was delivered to our appreciative Danish audience - including Katrina (of the Waves) , Paul Young and Boney M. I was proud to MD the ‘Here and Now’ 5-piece house band as they worked their way through over 20 classic hits. 

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This was a very welcome diversion from the norm for me. Hazel Ross, virtuoso violinist and co-founder of the dynamic violin duo team, ‘Elektra’, asked me to create a medley of Queen songs for the cruise liner shows coming up this year. Not only was it nice to come back to my classical roots arranging for two violins, it was a pleasure to be able to contribute to the entire project as a keyboardist and programmer. If you’d like to know more about this fabulous show, click on the link - https://elektraviolins.com