My Blog

Err, where did December go?

01/02/2012 21:25:00

I kicked off the festive season performing at a winter party at TechHub. At one point I was sat playing in their front window which overlooks the huge Old Street roundabout. I got some hilarious double-takes from people on the street and the passing buses! I met some lovely ladies from the 2012 Olympic Games organising committee whilst I was there, maybe they'll book me for the opening ceremony? I'm pretty sure I could make myself available...

Photo courtesy of social mediarite Sinead Doyle.

December also saw me performing with the wonderful Saint Saviour again. We played a live set for Gaydar Radio, as well as a very special Christmas gig in a beautiful little circular chapel, tucked away in the heart of Soho behind the House of St Barnabas. It was a really magical place to perform in and the house itself is also quite spectacular. It gets used as a members lounge, an event space, an art gallery and also as the venue for a unique Life Skills Programme aimed at helping to get homeless individuals back on track. It's definitely worth checking out, especially if you need a central London venue and fancy supporting a great charity at the same time.

The week before Christmas I received a plea for help from a lovely chap who wanted to propose to his girlfriend on Christmas day, via a video of me singing my version of 'Songbird'. We had great fun filming in Cantelowes Road Studios (my kitchen) and I'm pleased to report the lucky girl of course said yes. Happy days! I would love to share the actual video with you but Romeo is a bit shy so you'll have to make do with my solo rendition:

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Cover of Fleetwood Mac/Eva Cassidy's 'Songbird'

I also played a private dinner in Gordon Ramsey's York & Albany in North London, a drinks reception in the Surrey hills, a wedding ceremony in Pembroke Lodge - a beautiful Georgian mansion in the heart of Richmond park, and a couple of leisurely Sunday lunchtimes in my favourite gastro-pub, The Barnsbury. Ooh, and I filmed a whole heap of new videos which I'll be posting on my You Tube page in the not too distant future so keep your eyes peeled!

Finally, on New Year's Eve, I squeezed in my last wedding of the year, in a stunning medieval castle in Kent. A tiny (and rather over-excited) pug dog delivered the rings, 3 white doves were set free after the ceremony, and I learnt 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars specially to accompany the bride's 8 year old nephew who performed during the signing of the register. It was a fantastic day to finish off what has been a great year! Check out www.lympnecastle.co.uk for more information on the stunning venue.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2012, with much love and a hundred thank-yous for all your support xxx

PS: I'm playing a set of my own songs at the Underbelly in Hoxton on Thursday January 26th - I don't get a chance to perform my own music very much these days so I'm really looking forward to it, hope you can make it!

The Adventures of the Singing Harpist

12/08/2011 12:15:00

So my attempt to write a monthly blog has failed quite spectacularly, but on the upside that's because I've been busy, busy playing some truly amazing and eclectic bookings!

In April I played a wedding in a beautiful castle in Bristol where a huge owl flew in to deliver the rings! Who needs a best man when you have a bird? In June I performed in the famous Savoy Hotel in London which has recently undergone a £220m revamp, making it the most costly hotel refurbishment in history! August saw me playing a wedding in Raymond Blanc's stunning hotel and restaurant - Le Manoir in Oxfordshire. The guests were treated to the full 9 course tasting menu while I played (and played, and played...) and waved to lovely Raymond who popped his head in now and then to check all was well.

September was ridiculously exciting as I was flown out to Switzerland by some lovely friends of mine to play at their wedding on a mountaintop. The views were simply spectacular and totally worth the effort of getting a harp up the Swiss Alps in a cable car! (Not a job for the faint-hearted and I was oh so glad the harp was rented and not my own!)

Later the same month I performed on a train (as you do), an East London Line train to be precise, for Sound Tracks Festival 2011. I loved the idea behind this festival - three venues dotted around East London, all showcasing amazing live music, with musicians also performing on the trains that get you from one venue to the next. Brilliant! The wonderful organisers also arranged for it to be filmed so you can check out some of the footage here:

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Jharda Sound Tracks Festival

Video by Susana Garcia

I've also played a wedding in a rooftop restaurant in Canary Wharf, an Indian ceremony in the London Tower Hotel and a proposal dinner in Searcys at the Gherkin - all had views to rival those from the Swiss Alps yet couldn't have been more different if they'd tried. View of St Paul's from the Gherkin:

Then there was the engagement dinner in the 2 Michelin star restaurant in Mayfair, a house-gig in a kitchen, a performance in a cemetery, a Christening by a canal, a Russian wedding (in a teeny tiny church) that I didn't understand a word of, a ceremony in a circular chapel beneath Mile End tube station, a wholly unexpected Jason Mraz sing-along, saucy burlesque nights at Proud Camden, the start of my monthly Sunday lunch residency at The Barnsbury... plus a hundred others that I don't have time to mention.

What a year! No doubt December will have a few treats in store too ;)

xox Jharda

The Rock 'n' Roll Harpist

03/16/2011 18:01:00

Wow, so February was rather busy! So busy in fact, that it's taken me until mid-March to write it's blog entry. Oops :)

The start of the month saw me playing all over the country with Saint Saviour, supporting the wonderful band Hurts on their UK tour. We performed in Brighton, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester, and then dashed back to London to play as part of the 'HMV Next Big Thing' series of gigs, supporting Claire Maguire. Inbetween Leeds and Manchester we even found time to pop to Newcastle to record a session for Amazing Radio which will be available to listen to online very soon (keep an eye out for my next blog entry for more details).

Later in the month I played at the beautiful Tab Centre in Shoreditch (it's also known as The Light Temple and makes a lovely wedding reception venue) for Antonio Lulic's album launch. It's a mighty fine album which I had the pleasure of recording some harp and backing vocals on, check it out here. Then it was back to Yorkshire again for a flying visit to Leeds and Wakefield to play three more gigs to launch the album oop North. Photo courtesy of Joel Rowbottom.

In other news, I've added 3 more gigs to the 'See me perform live' page, and I've uploaded some more music for you! Please check out the 'Have a listen' page to hear my version of Corinne Bailey Rae's beautiful song 'Like a Star', and also visit the 'Weddings & Civil Partnerships' page where you will find some suggestions of favourite pieces for the bride or couple to walk down the aisle to.

And finally, I have a new song of my own up online for you to listen to, it's called 'Doing What you Do'. I hope you like it.

x Jharda

Harpy New Year

01/15/2011 22:01:00

Sorry, I never can resist a harp pun :)

So, it's January, and time to start getting back to work. I'm making lots of changes to the site at the moment - I've added this blog so I can keep you up to date with all my latest news, and coming very soon will be loads more recordings, including my suggestions of instrumental pieces to walk down the aisle to, and my own version of Corinne Bailey Rae's gorgeous song 'Like a Star'.

I've also added a listing to the gig page - the lovely Luxe bar in Spitalfields on February 24th. I'll be playing a set of my own songs, some of which you can listen to here: http://www.myspace.com/jhardamusic, as well as performing with the fabulous Antonio Lulic who I played my first gig of the year with last week. You can get all the details from my 'See me perform live' page or become a fan on Facebook to receive regular gig updates.

Photo from the Bedford in Balham, Januay 2011, courtesy of the wonderful Emre Basala - http://www.emrebasala.com

Wishing you all a happy 2011!

x Jharda