devon

“How far do these music jokes go?”

| Hannah Sterry

Pause Paws - Music Cartoon by Hannah Sterry

Bass Clef is Feeling Low - Vector - Music Cartoon By Hannah Sterry

Answer: Too far!

Yes, I have some more music cartoons for you and they’ll be available in my shop shortly (when I get round to it). There are more over on Sterry Cartoons facebook page.

In the meantime, it’s been an exciting few weeks and I haven’t blogged much, so here’s what’s been happening recently:

The Sterrys live music for Tuesday Night is Music Night at The Cottage Hotel have been a great success and we’ve been asked to continue through September! Earlier in August we (Hannah and John Sterry) also played there to raise money for Hope Cove Lifeboat and someone was kind enough to to take this photo:

The Sterrys (flute and piano jazz duo) playing for Hope Cove Lifeboat Fundraiser at The Cottage Hotel.

It was a wonderful place to play, partly because the weather was so amazing and I managed to get a picture of the view from the terrace. It’s really lovely on sunny evenings on the Tuesday nights, because as we’re playing we can watch the sun setting over the sea – it’s beautiful.

Exciting news:

I’m finally learning to drive after years of putting it off because of university and moving!

The Boyfriend Song now has a much better delivery and set of chords and I need to practice it to perfection!

My SketchBook is filling up really quickly and I’ve been talking to a local animator about possibly animating some of my cartoons!

Anyway… that’ll do for today, but I’ll keep you updated as this all progresses (when I find time to blog, that is).

Feel free to ask me any questions or just have a nice chat in the comments! 🙂

THIS WEEK: Upcoming Gigs & Fluid Pianos

Fading Notes II - Flute Keys Version
| Hannah Sterry

Here’s what’s happening this week:

Tuesday Night is Music Night at the Cottage Hotel. I’ll be playing flute as part of The Sterrys and watching the sun setting over the water at Hope Cove. Feel free to relax with a cocktail and enjoy the music! Starts at 6:45pm.

Wednesday… brings the second of Ben Carr’s Music Sessions at The Hideaway. Anyone can come along, bring an instrument and join in (I’ll be there with my flute). The whole evening’s great fun and you’ll meet some really nice people. Starts at 8pm.

Thursday… features An audience with Auntie Pus at B-Bar, Plymouth. I’m really hoping to go to this, but haven’t quite worked out the logistics yet. Either way, I’m sure it’ll be a brilliant evening. Starts at 8:30pm.

Sunday… Gallows Ghost play The Hideaway and have asked me if I’d like to stand in for a few tunes as a guest musician. They’re lovely people and their music is great fun to play, so the answer is always yes!

Today’s discovery is… a new instrument called The Fluid Piano. The strings all have sliders that enable each note to be changed in pitch (by up to a whole tone) as the piano is being played. This also means that the piano can be tuned to the true harmonic series, making it much more compatible with traditional indian  music, which doesn’t use the standard western tuning (twelve note equal temperament) and can often involve fluctuations in pitch.

Anyway, I hope you’re all having a good week and if you happen to be at any of these gigs, feel free to say hi (I’ll be the one with the flute and the long brown hair)!

Jazz Greenhill drew me! She’s a genius armed with pencils.

Photoblog: Yesterday’s Sunset

Golden Sunset - Clouds with a gold and silver lining at sundown in Salcombe, Devon. The sky is on fire.
| Hannah Sterry

This sunset deserves a post on its own. It doesn’t look real, but I promise it is.

Golden Sunset - Clouds with a gold and silver lining at sundown in Salcombe, Devon. The sky is on fire.
Golden Sunset – For sale on RedBubble.

Other prints/cards you may like:

The sky is on fire.
The sky is on fire.
Hope at Sunset

All rights reserved. Hannah Sterry 2012.

The Sterrys: Tuesday Nights at The Cottage Hotel

| Hannah Sterry

Tuesday Night is Music Night at The Cottage Hotel has been a great succes, and was particularly lovely today, as we [The Sterrys] arrived to the sun shining and played until we saw it setting over the sea. Here are the photos from the evening:

John and Joe setting up in the sun.

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Taking turns to improvise.

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John suddenly turns in to a giant while Joe and Hannah aren’t looking.

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The evening ended with this…

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…and we couldn’t be happier.

Musical Updates

| Hannah Sterry

This is what my diary has looked like for the past few weeks:

7th May – Recorded some improvisations with Stephen Abrehart, just to see how the harp and baritone guitar worked together. The sounds mixed brilliantly and I hope we’ll be able to record a few more things together in the future.

10th May – Saw Ben Carr play at The Refectory Bar, sampled some delicious cocktails (the Apple Crumble cocktail was really good) and joined in with some jazz flute for the last few songs.

16th May – Jam night at the Royal Oak. This night featured Tez Locke, Phil Kennerel, Rob Wheeler, Joe Sterry (and me), Tom Carr and was hosted by Ben Carr. Past guests have included: Rob and Laura Williams, Gallows Ghost, Blue Orchid and Hamer & Isaacs Gypsy Swing Band.

19th May – The Sterrys (John, Joe and I) played music for a surprise birthday party in Malborough Baptist Church.

That afternoon we also went to the Cottage Hotel to discuss their plans for music throughout the summer, which led to this:

I am delighted to say that from June 5th, The Sterrys will be playing at The Cottage Hotel every Tuesday throughout the summer. The line up will change week-to-week; one week might be solo piano, the next a jazz trio with flute and harp the week after that…

Anyway, we expect it’ll be a lot of fun and hope to see you there!

Hamer & Isaacs at The Millbrook Inn

| Hannah Sterry

Hamer & Isaacs played a really energetic set at the Millbrook Inn earlier on Sunday afternoon. They play gypsy jazz with a sound reminiscent of Django Reinhardt and Hot Club of France and were kind enough to let me stand in as guest flautist on one or two tunes! When I wasn’t playing I found the time to take a few photos and videos. Here’s how they turned out:

Hamer and Isaacs gypsy swing band at The Millbrook Inn, South Pool.

The gig was brilliant!

Everyone had a lot of fun and there was smiling…

Singing…

Hamer and Isaacs gypsy swing band at The Millbrook Inn, South Pool.

Laughter…

Hamer and Isaacs gypsy swing band at The Millbrook Inn, South Pool.

And even some dancing (I’m attempting to upload the video now, but Devonian internet is a little bit temperamental).

The whole afternoon was a lot of fun and the atmosphere was really relaxed and welcoming. I thoroughly enjoyed playing and listening to the music and hope I have plenty of chances to see the band again!

Music, Life and Comedy Writing

| Hannah Sterry

Yesterday I rediscovered this (it’s a very silly poem that I’m currently calling “The Boyfriend Song” although that might change at a later date). There are a lot of ideas floating around in my head to do with the tune and how any artwork should look so now it’s just a process of elimination to get to something I’m happy with and run with it.

As yesterday was also Wednesday, it was Ben Carr’s blues night at the Royal Oak again and I remembered the camera this time! I only got a few photos, because I was playing flute some of the time too, but was quite pleased with this one:

Blues night at the Royal Oak
One of Ben Carr's Blues Nights at the Royal Oak

I mentioned it at the top of the page, but for those of you who, like me, have a horrible internet connection and don’t want to open a new tab because it will take about 40 years to load… here’s “The Boyfriend Song”.

———————————————————————-

The Boyfriend Song

Do you mind conversations about zombie ninja pirates?
How about debates about the newest things in science?
Do you like Monty Python? Are you musical at all?
Can you manage to be lewd without losing your class at all?

Because…
I’d like a boyfriend please!
I’d like a boyfriend please!
It’s mostly for great company and not those birds and bees,
So I’d like a boyfriend please!
(Y’know, if it’s not too much trouble)

Are you fussy about food?
Are you considerate or rude?
Do you like cats (no, not for dinner)?
Are you taller? Fatter? Thinner?

(Could you possibly put up with my ridiculous ideas?)

Do you think this drawing’s great?
What kinds of people do you hate?
Are you kind and are you stable?
Are your hands above the table?

Because…
I’d like a boyfriend please!
I’d like a boyfriend please!
I’m obviously too fussy, but I’d like one that’s a tease.
Yep, I’d like a boyfriend please!
(Or maybe I’m closing my mind too much)

I shouldn’t be so picky about gender.
But instincts have a stranglehold on me.
It shouldn’t be my fate, to pro-cre-ate;
There are already too many fish in the sea.

Anyway…
If we’re going to be so ridiculously politically correct about it…
Might as well include everybody…

I’d like a girlfriend please!
I’d like a girlfriend please!
And if you’re unsure, it doesn’t matter anymore.
Leave judgements and criticisms at the door.

You could be hetero- or homo-
It’s no problem; I’m no phobe- Oh.
I just have one more thing to say:

Though, theoretically, I’ve no preference,
Logic didn’t get the reference.

So… I’d still probably like a boyfriend please.
(Apply now with your CVs.)

———————————————————

I feel I should point out that I have a lovely boyfriend (and a ridiculous sense of humour), so please don’t take this seriously – it’s just a bit of fun! It’s something I’d forgotten about and unearthed as I was trying to clear up the mess of files on my computer with names like “idea”, “another thing” and “messing about”.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post anyway! Let me know what you think in the comments!

H xxx

North Sands Beach and Salcombe Castle

Went for a walk at North Sands beach (in Salcombe) at low tide and managed to get a few good pictures of the beach and the castle! It was really cold, but the photos seemed to come out fairly well!
| Hannah Sterry
If you look closely, there are lots of really pretty coloured shells and flecks in the sand.
If you look closely, there are lots of really pretty coloured shells and flecks in the sand.

A few days ago I went for a walk on North Sands beach in Salcombe. When I got there the tide was out, which meant I could get some really nice photos of the beach and the castle. Salcombe is a lovely in winter; out of season the the beaches are often quiet and empty and, although it’s cold, there’s still lots of fun to be had searching for (and photographing) all of the little interesting plants and animals hiding around the rockpools!

The really nice thing about this beach is that when the tide is this low, you can walk around to the left and find a nice old castle:

 

 

North Sands Castle at low tide. Photograph by Hannah Sterry.
Salcombe Castle

I should warn you that there are “NO ENTRY” signs all around castle because it is a ruin and the walls aren’t guaranteed to be structurally stable or safe. Here’s a bit of background information quoted from wikipedia’s article on Salcombe Castle though:

“The castle is thought to have been constructed originally during the reign of Henry VIII, to defend the Kingsbridge estuary against French andSpanish pirates. It was the last place to hold out in the Royal cause against the victorious Parliamentarian troops of Oliver Cromwell in theEnglish Civil War. Sir Edmund Fortescue was ordered to hold it in 1643, when nearby Plymouth rose against the king; he rebuilt the castle at a cost of £135 6s 11d, and gave it the name “Fort Charles”. The castle was besieged from 15 January to 7 May 1646, and surrendered then only because it became clear that all other royalist strongholds had been overrun; the garrison were allowed to withdraw with their colours flying. After the Civil War the castle was “slighted” (ruined) on the orders of Parliament as it was “too dangerous” to allow it to remain.”

Anyway, after that brief history lesson (and to finish) here’s a picture of a some inquisitive ducks. They seemed to be having a pretty good time down by the water’s edge.

Ducks on North Sands beach in Salcombe. Photograph by Hannah Sterry.
Ducks on North Sands beach in Salcombe.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures! Feel free to comment – I’m happy to answer any questions or just have a nice chat!

H xxx

Live Music at The Cottage Hotel

| Hannah Sterry

On the 1st January I’ll be in Hope Cove at The Cottage Hotel playing jazz flute with John (keyboard) and Joe (sax) as part of “The Sterry Family”.

If you’ve not been to The Cottage before, it’s a hotel with a stunning sea view, really good food and the people running it are lovely (they’re even nice to musicians!!!). I chose to go there for my birthday meal because the atmosphere and food is so good (the puddings are delicious too).

Picture from http://www.hopecove.com

Another day, another instrument…

Yesterday I played harp at The Cottage and it went down really well! I got to speak to some wonderful people afterwards about  and brought my dad and sister along to listen.

People tend to ask quite a few questions about the harp, because it’s a fairly modern design. This particular model is a Smartwood Harp and is much lighter than some of the more traditional designs, which makes it much more convenient for travelling with. Most importantly, I enjoy playing it and it sounds good (the low notes in particular have a wonderful warm rich sound). I’m tempted to add levers soon, as I am finding the standard modes a bit restrictive, but overall I’m very happy with it.