On Wednesday 9th June, Soul About Us were invited to perform at the Children's Workforce Development Council event in Corby. Soul About us performed a 45 minute set to primary and secondary students, teachers and other education professionals. The band were a big hit and the audience were very impressed with their performance. Here is just one of the many positive comments they received.
'Lodge Park had a massive impact on the conference and special thanks to the soul band who were really superb and talented.'
Congratulations to all band members and to Sarah McLean for her performance with band No Direction!
It’s Soul About Us are still buzzing from the positive comments they received at the MfY Regional Festival in Bedford.Video’s of their performance can be seen below if you haven’t had the chance to watch yet! One of the great features of the MfY Regional Festival Series, (apart from performing to an audience and watching other student group) is receiving feedback from a panel of judges. As well as praising the positive aspects of a performance, the judges also offer suggestions of ‘future actions’ for the groups. One of the judges made the comment ‘You’ve got a good sound, you need to work on your presentation and choreography’. So not wanting to waste any time, ‘It’s Soul About Us’ have already started getting to grips with some choreography with the help of Miss Green and Miss Martin! A few pictures of the band in action can be seen below. We hope to record the all singing, all dancing routines later this term and upload these onto the blog! A date for your diary: It’s Soul About Us have been invited to perform at Corby Carnival on Saturday 10th July. The exact details of time and venue are yet to be confirmed however all information will be posted on the blog as soon as it becomes available. Miss Dorrian
On Saturday 20th March 2010, It’s Soul About Us went to Wooton Upper School in Bedford to take part in the Music For Youth, Regional Festival Series. We were entered into the ‘Rock, Pop and Urban’ category for the second year running!
After arriving at Bedford at we were given some time to warm up and see where we would be performing and before long it was our slot! Most of us were quite nervous as we had to perform it to an audience and adjudicators, made up of a panel of composers and performers, but it went exceptionally well! The songs that we performed were ‘It’s Soul About Us’ (our own composition – this went down a treat with the judges!), ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’ (by the Blues Brothers) and ‘Walking on Sunshine’ (by Katrina & The Waves). You can view the video footage of these songs on this blog!
After our performance we had a feedback session where we were given positive comments and also some constructive ideas of how to improve our performance. Here are two of the many positive comments we received; “Strong performance throughout. Loved it! (Put me off writing straight, sorry!!) Really enjoyed this number, keep composing!”, “The trumpets gave a ‘razzy jazzy’ feel!” When commenting on improvements and next steps for the group, one judge said “You have a great sound but to look at balance and choreography but well done!”
We all thoroughly enjoyed the day and feel that we have certainly improved from last year. Well done to all who took part and a special thanks to Miss Dorrian!
It’s Soul About Us have been very busy lately preparing for their performance at Music for Youth’s Regional Festival, to be held in Bedford later this month. Music for Youth (MfY) is an educational charity which provides free performance opportunities for groups of young musicians nationwide. Each year MfY hold Regional Music Festivals to celebrate and bring together musicians of all ages and abilities. It is an extremely valuable experience and adjudicators at the festival give groups feedback on their performance. Last year It’s Soul About Us received some great comments as well as some suggestions of ways they could develop their performance. The group have taken on board all of the comments received last year and are eager to impress the judges this year in their 10 minute set! The band have decided to perform (in no particular order!) Walking on Sunshine, Everybody Needs Somebody and an It’s Soul About Us original composition! In preparation for their performance at the Regional Festival, It’s Soul About Us will be performing a short set at Youth Club on Thursday 11th March! Please come along and show your support! Preparations are beginning to get underway for the production of an It’s Soul About Us album, which we hope to record over the coming months. As mentioned previously there will be opportunities for other students at Lodge Park to get involved with this exciting project. More information coming soon! Miss Dorrian
It's Soul About Us feature in an article about Music opportunities in Schools in today's (19/01/20) edition of The Evening Telegraph. The article looks at how music lessons and extra-curricular activities have developed over recent years. Lodge Park's Soul Band is an excellent example of how students are participating in such activities as a way of reinforcing and extending their knowledge.
In other news, the band have started working on their first group composition! Already, after just one rehearsal, the introduction has been written, which is of course due to the hard work and dedication from the students! The lyric writing continues and I'm looking forward to hearing what the students will come up when we rehearse again next week! Watch this space for more information about the progress of this song and forthcoming events, including a performance at Youth Club. Miss Dorrian
by Soul Band - Thursday, 14 January 2010, 08:40 PM
Anyone in the world
It's Soul About Us are gearing up for an action packed 2010! Following on from their debut performance at Music for Youth's Regional Festival at The Asylum, Birmingham last March, It's Soul About Us have been successful in gaining a place at this years MfY Regional Festival which will take place in Bedford on Saturday 20th March! In preparation for Soul Band's performance at the MfY Regional Festival, they will be performing a set during Youth Club later this term (date TBC). During this week's rehearsal the members of Soul Band discussed the songs they would like to learn this term. They decided upon 'Drive My Car' by The Beatles and 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder. It was also suggested by the band that they could write an original, It's Soul About Us composition - a first for the group! Manuscript paper, pens and rhyming dictionaries at the ready! Finally another piece of exciting news... There are plans to record an album later this year! More information about this and opportunities for you to get involved in this project will be revealed over the coming months! Miss Dorrian
