Archive for category: News

This year’s one and only French Guitar Adventurers’ holiday is taking place from 23 April and with a fresh new look…

The week is a chance to further understand and develop the fundamentals of your technique in a supportive group setting. 

As well as receiving personal tuition from Richard Durrant, you will have time to work on your music theory skills, play in guitar ensembles and develop sight reading skills whilst building confidence for the end of week performance.

This is the first of our new springtime FGAs which come with a slightly different emphasis on technique and reading skills (see * below).

In the weeks leading up to the holiday each participant will receive a preparatory one to-one-session with Richard to ensure they get the most out of the week.

The venue is a beautiful converted cognac house with a large outbuilding housing workshop space and comfortable, modern accommodation.

All dietary needs are covered, with splendid meals, an open air pool and long country walks in the secluded French countryside. 

The week is open to guitarists plus one guest. The nearest train station is Chalais, and the nearest airport Bordeaux.

Please contact Richard directly on info@richarddurrant.com for pricing or if you have any queries.

* Although we have welcomed many different styles of player over the years, we recommend that your playing standard is around about Grade 5 minimum.

At FGA your daily study and practise needs to take place on a nylon strung, classical style guitar preferably with a strap (a unique opportunity to learn to play with a strap whether standing or sitting – particularly recommended if you have ever suffered from back pain related to your playing).

In the run up to Christmas you can now buy two new creations that mark the continuing artistic partnership between Richard Durrant and artist Jon Everitt.

Both these creations are spin offs from Richard’s solo albumThe Sleep of a King – a collection of guitar music which he played during his 2022 Midsummer Cycling Music Tour. 

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The first is The sleep of a King, a beautiful book of guitar music, each piece with a written introduction by the composer and artwork by Jon Everitt. 

The books are numbered and signed by Richard.

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The second is a 400×400 print of the cover art for The Sleep of a King album.  Each image is printed with state of the art pigment inks on Canson Infinity Edition Etching  paper to provide beautiful quality, detail & extremely long lasting prints.

All the prints are signed by both Richard and Jon. The original image is now in a private collection in France. 

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Richard and Jon first worked together on Richard’s 2020 album Rewilding…

Jon’s cover art for this vinyl production was so striking that it caught the eye of online art company Hypergallery. Rewilding art prints are now sold alongside other classic album designs such as Dark Side of the Moon and Ziggy Stardust.

The original Rewilding painting is now in a private collection in the United States. 

You can also buy the album Rewilding in vinyl or as hi-rez audio files (FLAC or ALAC).

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Originally from Portsmouth, artist Jon Everitt began his career as a commercial artist and designer. He now paints full time, living in the small town of Céret in the Pyrenées Orientales near to the Spanish Border in the South of France.

Once home to Picasso, Céret is a vibrant artistic centre with a modern art museum and fine galleries. This summer Richard gave an open air recital in the courtyard of Art Sant Roche alongside an exhibition by Jon Everitt – a fitting celebration of this special friendship between a musician and an artist.

Since 2016, Richard Durrant’s week long French Guitar Adventurers (FGA) gatherings have become sell out features of his diary. But for 2023 it’s time to ring the changes…

A September FGA was added to the July gathering in  2018.  But now with Richard’s busy schedule of concerts, writing and recordings, FGA will take place once a year. FGA 2023 will run from 24 – 30 April with a few changes in place..

So what happened at the last FGA?

No sooner had Richard got off his bicycle after his 1,000 mile, 16 concert summer 2022 bicycle ride into Sussex from Orkney than preparations began for the first of this year’s guitar holidays in the South of France.

‘Everything was perfect, tuition, accommodation, food, company… Roll on next year!’

Wendy Hicks (classical and flamenco guitar)

With the end of week concert approaching, the workshop space at The French Retreat can be a pretty intense place. Luckily, Richard allows the occasional break and the pool is just outside the door…

Richard recalls that this year’s concert in l’eglise Notre Dame was ‘possibly our best yet, with songs from James Saunders and Ian Chisholm in addition to a fine solo from flamenco specialist Jonny Owens and yet another original guitar piece from Wendy Hicks.’

Guitarists (left to right) Wendy, George, James, Colin, Jane (with a broken leg following a golfing accident!), RD, Jonny and Ian pictured with friends and loved ones in a photo by regular concert attendee and FGA friend the photographer Bernard Giraldon.

The final gigs of the tour were a great success as Richard Durrant cycled to several venues in the South East of England…

The sun continued to shine as Richard rode the short distance from Shoreham to Clayton for his concert in the Anglo Saxon Church of St John The Baptist. 

‘Riding out from home for the last shows of a cycling tour is always a very different experience. I’m carrying a lot less weight and my daily planning is simpler – so the burden on both bicycle and brain greatly reduced. By now this has become a pilgrimage as well as a concert tour.’

Explained Richard

Richard’s last Cycling Music journey was a 40 mile hop along the coast for the Bexhill Festival of Music. Unfortunately it was tipping down with rain so the planned celebratory peloton was reduced to our lovely neighbour Paul Davis.

Paul seemed perfectly happy to take on the weather and the hills of the Seven Sisters. Bollo, the Durrant Newfoundland, chose to stay at home.

‘I will miss living on my bicycle. It’s a beautiful, simple and direct way to travel which has left me feeling reconnected with where I live. I’m happy that I have at least tried to treat the environment gently and I will continue to make any contributions I can to reduce my carbon footprint.’

Added Richard

‘But I also know that without drastic, environmentally focussed legislation from governments across the world our planet will look after its own future – and that will not include us’

Just before the start of the tour there were a couple of additional surprises that we have not had time to mention…

Richard and Gary Southwell met HRH The Princess Royal at the unveiling of Hamish Lowe’s Bog Oak ceremonial table in Ely Cathedral. Richard was invited to play at the ceremony.

Richard also took part in an interview for David Bailey’s Lyric Show. Skip to Richard’s feature from 18 mins…

Even three days of relentless winds plus numbed hands has failed to prevent Richard Durrant from appearing on stage on time. Follow the story of his amazing Music for Midsummer journey…

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Under Cumbrian Skies

“My Aurelius tour bike with its troublesome truck is actually a slick, well planned machine; carefully trimmed and perfectly packed it will munch up the miles. From Orkney to Edinburgh I was able to average 11mph which, with the load I’m carrying, is fairly respectable.”

Says Richard

But then things took a turn for the worse: For three unforgettable days, the wind changed everything. Pedalling to go down a hill as well as up made even 7mph a struggle. Ride times increased and Richard started to feel felt battered and tired.

More seriously, this began to take its toll on his hands: Onstage in Cumbria his left hand 3rd and 4th finger were without feeling and ‘disobeying orders’. The same happened in Lancaster Priory with some of the bigger guitar pieces requiring a super human effort. 

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Under Yorkshire Skies

Sunday was a better day but Richard’s wife, Louise and his good friend Gary Southwell – the famous luthier and creator of the bog oak guitar – had different ideas.

“Ultimately Gary found me on the A65 halfway between Lancaster and York and talked me and the bicycle into the back of his Land Rover. I was delivered to NCEM York and told to take a deep breath, have a cup of tea and get my hands working again.“

Explains Richard

Fortunately, Richard obeyed orders from his loved ones so was able to work on reviving his hands.

It turned out to be the most wonderful gig imaginable with a big crowd, friends old and new, and a surprise chance to play an encore on a rare Gary Southwell, bog oak, steel strung guitar (pictured).

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Towards Southern Skies

Now the tour continues its journey South toward Midsummer including performances at The Stables Milton Keynes, Yvonne Arnuad Theatre Guildford, Brighton Open Air Theatre (pictured) and Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells.

And don’t forget that the immersive audio ‘Binaural Headphone Mix’ of The Sleep of a King goes live on all streaming platforms from sunrise on the Summer Solstice (21 June).