The start of my next six months

It is hard to believe that a year ago I was considering staying in teaching: I am just so glad that I followed my heart and continued in the path which has brought me here.

It's now been six months of regaining my self-employed status and that first six months has been amazing. I have learned a lot about what I DON'T want to be doing and the sort of clients I DO want to work for. Looking back 12 months and six months is liberating and I am so grateful for the support I have had from a number of people.

They have helped me to prove that I can do this. I am genuinely happy and fulfilled and today is the first day of the rest of my life.

[And I don't care if that sounds cheesy, it is actually true.]

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Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album - Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...

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Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

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