Mick Howson: rather more than just The Hurdy Gurdy man
This third series of Lives in Music doesn't just concentrate on peoples' music journeys. It also has one consistent thread running through everyone's lives: that of Covid 19, the resultant lockdown, and the effect it's had on people's activities. My guest in this edition is someone you will almost certainly have seen if you've been to ANY live gigs in Birmingham over the past thirty or forty years. He's graced such bands as Ricky Cool and the Icebergs, The Destroyers, and Terry and Gerry, all in their pomp, along with dozens of other outfits and combos, permanent and casual. But you may not even know his name. You should, though: it's Mick Howson. Mick is a phenomenal guitarist. In fact, give him any kind of stringed instrument and he's at home. And of late he has turned to the Hurdy Gurdy. You're going to hear some of this instrument in this podcast, along with collaborations and excerpts from elsewhere. To explore more of the music, musicians and events mentioned in this podcast, check the detailed companion blog post: 'A Life in Music: Mick Howson', which you can find on the Radio To Go Blog at radiotogo.com. This post overflows with links to interesting musos and YouTube videos. A footnote: the intro and outro flourishes I'm using in this series of Lives in Music podcast come from Vo Fletcher, who is featured in this series along with Loz Kingsley, here. I asked him for a bit of live impro, and this was the result. The Lives in Music Podcast series has been running for about two years now. These are interviews with local musicians, looking at how music has shaped them throughout their lives. Series 3 also looks hard at how lockdown has had an impact. There are some lovely stories. To see all the artists, here's a link to every episode.