Sep 17: Politics and music

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

Desmond Tutu

There has been quite a bit of coverage of Ed Sheeran's upcoming tour and political issues because of statements made by a support act called Macklemore, and decisions made by other acts to pull out of the tour.

This piece explores the issue of keeping silence over political causes as a musician.

Quite a few musicians are very open about their political views of course. A Roger Waters live show is very political in nature, and not without controversy...

Aug 8: 2011

2011 was not my best year overall... just three years into my job at the GA, some political manoeuvres ahead of a general election meant the loss of some project income, and the decision was made to make some roles at the GA redundant... including mine. I then had a car crash...

I called on my network and some work came in, and cashed in various saving plans for the future... at times I had just a few hundred pounds in my bank account... and I lasted a few years building up my freelance work, including ERASMUS projects and some work with the Open University... then returned to the classroom in 2013.

I will always be grateful to those who stepped up to help me, and thanked them here.

Musically, there was lots happening.

I headed for Latitude and saw Jonsi play live... Ed Sheeran and Yann Tiersen were also in the lineup.

I saw Yeasayer the same day and was impressed with them.

Adele dominated the charts.

The Decemberists released 'The King is Dead'.

Kate Bush released '50 Words for Snow'

What were your favourite musical memories of this year?