For a strictly limited time only (the twelve days of Christmas in fact) Michael and Sean’s latest single, O Holy Night is available for a free download – aren’t they lovely?
In order to share this with you, I’m once again partnering with Angry Baby, so to add this free copy of Michael and Sean’s O Holy Night, just click here. This offer will only be available for twelve days so get it now!
In the meantime, here is the video trailer:
Once you’ve got that and enjoyed it (which I know you will), you might like Michael and Sean’s 2015 album, Along the Way which is available from North Star Opera. I have a few favourite tracks but the stand out for me was the duet with thoughtsofjustafan favourite, Beth Ford. The new arrangement of Streets of London shows off both voices to their best.
click here to get the free download of O Holy Night
Merry Christmas
and I hope you enjoy the rest of The Twelve Days of Christmas
Although this blog is primarily about Alfie Boe, I also like to bring you new music and one person who has featured fairly regularly here this year is the super talented Beth Ford, who first came to our attention singing Impossible Dream with Alfie and Flo Bannigan. That was a few years ago now and Beth’s voice has matured and taken her to places she never even thought of at the beginning of the year.
So far in 2015 Beth has released her debut single, If I Could Escape, which reached number 3 in an iTunes new releases chart, scored a viral YouTube video with a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Pie Jesu and supported People’s Soprano Rebecca Newman in concert at the Lichfield Garrick. The chance to sing on Rebecca’s stage meant a lot to Beth. She said “Appearing at the Lichfield Garrick to support Rebecca in July was a wonderful experience and I was genuinely touched by the generosity of Rebecca in asking me to be a part of her show.” Luckily, we can all enjoy the fruits of Rebecca’s generosity as she has given us permission to show this video of Beth’s performance:
This hasn’t been shared anywhere else yet so aren’t we the lucky ones!
Somehow or other Beth also found time to record a duet with Michael Boe which is included on his and Sean Ashmore’s new album, Along The Way, record an entry for G4’s Search for a Christmas Star competition and now she’s busy preparing to sing with young tenor Jonathan Antoine on the Birmingham date of his current UK tour (11th November, click here for tickets). We know that Beth has sung with Alfie Boe but did you also know that Jonathan has appeared with him too? They both appeared on the same night at the Llangollen Eistedfodd this summer – and another link – Beth went backstage to meet Alfie when he appeared at the Eistedfodd in 2012. Jonathan’s first solo tour is a bit of a back to basics approach, he says “The aim of this tour is to do away with over production. The intent with ‘An Evening with Jonathan Antoine’ is to remove the barriers between me and the audience…and go back to basics”. Having a local singer on the bill will do wonders to enhance Jonathan’s rapport with his audience too.
With all this happening for Beth in 2015, I can’t wait to see what she gets up to in 2016! Until then,as she’s such a lovely girl, she’s giving away a free music track, so hope over to www.bethfordmusic.com to add her beautiful voice to your music collection.
Michael Boe and Sean Ashmore’s album, Along The Way (featuring Beth on Streets of London) is available here: North Star Opera.
Tickets for Jonathan Antoine’s tour can be found by clicking here.
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Happy Valentine’s Day Alfie fans – this is my Valentine gift to you:
Alfie’s message was just this: Happy Smooch Day – love to you all (via twitter) xxx
In the November 2014 poll for Alfie Boe’s Guide to Romance,My Heart is Yours came out on top when Serenata was included. When Serenata was disregarded, then the winner was When I Fall in Love, mainly due to the romantic association for Alfie and Sarah as noted in his autobiography (Alfie found out he was to be a Dad again just before recording the song).
As mentioned in the Guide to Romance, my favourite romantic album of Alfie’s is the current album of the month, Love Was A Dream, a complete album of romantic arias. Not only does it ooze romance but the sound of Alfie’s soaring vocals, recorded right in the middle of the orchestra, has rarely been bettered.
Now, you may have noticed that the title of this blog post alludes to Boe’s Guide to Romance and this doesn’t just mean Alfie! His elder brother Michael, who we have featured here before, is today marrying his long term partner, Sean Ashmore – now that beats everything else hands down for romance! Michael has kindly allowed me to use a photo of their wedding – thanks Michael!
Wonder if they will use any of the romantic music from their last album, A La Voix? Click here to buy.
Michael and Sean will hopefully be recording and releasing their much anticipated new album…soon!
Love Was A Dream and Serenata are both available now:
If you’ve not read Alfie’s book, My Story, give it a go, it’s a cracker!
…I’m sure that you don’t need reminding that it was Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song (as voted by you), Don’t Stop MeNow, on Gary Barlow’s New Year’s Eve Celebration:
What a great end / start to the year that was!
So, to round off the year, I’m looking back at my top ten thoughtsofjustafan moments (in no particular order) – hope you enjoy.
1 – Alfie’s best ever recorded song countdown – some great songs nominated (click here for the longlist) and while the result was never really in doubt, some of the top ten were very unexpected. This was my most commented on post of the year!
2 – Michael Boe’s interview and the release of the track list for his next album – great news, Michael told me that him and Sean will shortly be back in the studio! The release of the track list was the 3rd most viewed post!
3 – Serenata – my favourite track changes all the time. The first post about the new album was the 2nd most viewed post this year, sandwiched between the Alfie on the Royal Variety Show and Michael’s new album.
4 – Caruso live at Newcastle (thanks Linda for sharing):
5 – Symfunny stage door – so lucky to be able to chat to relaxed Alfie! But it was so cold…in June!
6 – Getting published on the Huffington Post UK! Such a thrill!
7 – Hearing Addio Sogni di Gloria at Classic FM live (thanks Marcia for sharing):
8 – Quadrophenia on tour – roll on Royal Albert Hall next July:
9 – Laura Wright’s interview.
10 – Two (!!!) interviews from James Morgan – such a lovely man.
Last, but not least, thank you for all the support that you have given me since day one of this blog. Thank you doesn’t seem adequate somehow but a huge big thank you hug for each and every one of you – some I’ve met, some I haven’t but your support is very much appreciated. In particular, thanks to:
Debbie Bannigan for her unstinting support, encouragement and willingness to share her amazing fount of knowledge – thoughtsofjustafan truly would not exist in its current form without you xxx
Sue Black for sharing every single blog post ever published! xxx
Linda Wellington, Nikki Lewis, Marcia Studley for sharing their Alfie videos xxx
Carole Hunt for letting me use the banner photo of Alfie on the site xxx
Claire Smith and Michelle Keogh for sharing my Alfie survey on their facebook sites – and thanks to all who filled it in xxx
Cynthia Shepherd, Cecelia Powell, Linda McCann and Annie Lloyd for being my top commenters xxx
What are your top ten moments – leave me a comment!
Happy New Year to you all
xx
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The day has arrived! Michael Boe and Sean Ashmore will shortly be entering the studio to record their new album of musical theatre songs and – as a special treat for you – we can now reveal the track listing exclusively, right here, on thoughtsofjustafan!
If you remember, Michael and Sean asked for readers to help pick the tracks and promised that the first person to pick a song that made the final cut would have that song dedicated to them – so congratulations to the ones that were chosen:
Not while I’m around – Sweeney Todd – dedicated to Pamela Eubanks
Every Single Day – Harmony – dedicated to Maureen Goldsworthy
If Ever I would Leave You – Camelot – dedicated to Beverley Eagle
If I loved you – Carousel – dedicated to Lilian Evans
Memory – Cats – dedicated to Cynthia Shepherd
Serenade – The Student Prince
Where or When – Babes in Arms
Not a Day Goes By – Merrily We Roll Along
Bui Doi – Miss Saigon
Stay tuned for the winner of the free CD – this will be picked when the album is ready for release!
thanks for reading – please feel free to share this track listing!
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(a little bird tells me that there may be a couple of extra tracks just for subscribers)
Only a few days to get this exciting news exclusively before everyone else!
Here at thoughtsofjustafan, we’re all about sharing good music with as many people as possible – especially if its music from Alfie or that he appreciates. So what better way of doing just that than telling people about the wonderful music that comes from Alfie’s brother, Michael Boe?
I’ve just had exciting news from Michael Boe and Sean Ashmore that they’ll be entering the studio to record their new album shortly and – as a special treat for you – they’re revealing the track listing exclusively, right here, on thoughtsofjustafan.
To repay their kindness, lets spread the word about their album. To get this exclusive sneak peek at their track list, all you have to do is subscribe to thoughtsofjustafan.
Tweet this post and share on Facebook would be great too! Use the hashtag #michaelboeseanashmoremusic
The track listing won’t be shared anywhere else fora while so what are you waiting for? Get sharing…and let’s show Michael and Sean how much we love what they do
To get you in the mood, here’s a clip from Michael and Sean’s previous album, A La Voix, for your listening pleasure:
Thanks for supporting great music and all things Alfie.
Great news this week for all those Michael Boe and Sean Ashmore fans – a new album is in the works! Following on from the success of their last album, A La Voix, available from North Star Opera (click here to buy), Michael and Sean are heading to the studio soon to record an album of musical theatre songs.
Now for the exciting bit!
Michael and Sean are keen to get suggestions for this new album, as yet untitled, and are running a competition to win a copy of the CD! One suggestion will be picked at random.
To enter, do the following:
fill in the comment box below,
tweet your suggestion to @mashboe
As an added incentive, Michael and Sean will dedicate each song on the album to the first person to suggest it – so get thinking!
