Week In Review - 7 November 2014

Me and my brother Arthur!

I'm baaaaack! Did you miss me? It is always difficult getting back into the swing of things when you've had a break, but I was really ready to get back to work. To be honest, I worked a little everyday during the second week I was away. Just one of the many joys of running your own business and having no staff. I had a fantastic time cruising with the hubs on Royal Caribbean's Oasis and then spending some time with my family & friends in Chicago and Milwaukee. I even did some singing with the lovely and talented Jeannine Rivers at her Halloween/Birthday Celebration Gig in Milwaukee!

Bethany & Yasmin

Speaking of staff, the Cathedral Innovation Centre (CIC) where I'm based has offered me admin assistance from their two interns, Bethany Young and Yasmin Trueman, and I already feel the relief of having less on my plate so I can focus more on securing bookings for my acts and event planning opportunities for GME. I met with them on Wednesday and turned over several weekly duties that seemed to eat up all my time, but are necessary to keep things ticking along. CIC has been an incredible resource for me and their support is much appreciated.

David Williams

Also on Wednesday I attend the Brown Bag Lunch launch event hosted by CIC at the Portsmouth Library where David Williams, CEO of Portsmouth City Council  discussed why social enterprise and entrepreneurship is important to Portsmouth as a city. It was good to learn that there is support for small businesses from the Council and see their desire to help these companies grow and thrive in Portsmouth.

I think having had some much needed rest has opened up my creative channels, because I finished the lyrics to a song and wrote a song for my original band, Mayfield. We are in the process of opening a recording studio and launching a record company where we will record and release our second album, Keep On! Last year we released our debut release, Tempo of Your Soul, and on this next project we are definitely raising the bar with some great soul & funk tunes. Click here to see the video for our new song, Ready Set Go!

On Thursday, I had a meeting at The Woodmancote in Emsworth where I will be performing Supremely, Diana Ross on Monday. I have a full weekend of gigs starting tonight in Portsmouth at The Wellington for their 9th Anniversary Party. Then on Saturday I'm off to perform with The Midnight Soul Sisters at Akamba Garden Center in Birmingham. And, on Sunday I'm covering the lead vocals with Beau performing a fantastic set of Soul, Funk & Rock covers at The Lord Raglan also in Emsworth. I might have to give myself Tuesday off to recover from four gigs in a row.

Fedora Cafe

One of my top acts, Fedora Cafe will be performing at a private party on Saturday in Gosport. If you are looking for something unique for you next event, this is the act for you.

The sultry, sexy and slightly mysterious sounds of Fedora Café will transport you around the world and through the decades with their Cafe-Jazz meets Film-Noir brand of music! My client instantly wanted them for his event and Fedora Cafe were kind enough to learn a special song 'Nobody Loves A Fairy When She's 40th!' You might have guest that this event is a 40th birthday party!

Please take a moment to like my GME Facebook Page. Starting the beginning of the year, I will be posting gig, event and music updates to this page instead of my personal FB page.  Click here to like!

Marlene Hill

Remember to get in touch with GME for your entertainment needs. Get a jump on 2015 by contacting me about Fedora Cafe, my Artist of the Month, Marlene Hill, or any other of my fantastic acts. Call me at 07504 611173 or email me at gloria@gloriamillermusic.com.

Well, that's it for now. Time to prep for my full weekend of gigs ... LOL! Have a fabulous weekend.

Gloria Miller Entertainment

Month in Review - August, 2014

Venice, Italy

Where has August gone? Huge apologies that my last update was 25 July ... did you miss me? Don't answer that ... LOL!  I have loads to tell you about, so let's dig in!

The week of July 28th I was on a much needed holiday with the hubs. We went on a cruise from Venice, Italy to Kefalonia, Greece returning home on the 31st. There was lots of sunshine, food, drinks and dancing. Just what I needed to prepare for the very busy month of August.

I performed Supremely, Diana Ross on 1st August and with my originals band Mayfield on the 3rd at the Southsea Show. On the 2nd I performed at a new venue, Tinkers Tea Room in Gosport. What a lovely venue and fantastic audience. We started out with a very gentle Jazz & Blues set and then finished with an eclectic mix of uptempo classics that had the whole place up and dancing. Even drew in a few people who were passing by. I'm re-booked to perform for their Christmas season on the 12th of December. I'm also sorting out their entertainment for September with some of GME's amazing talent. More details to come.

Midnight Soul Sisters

The week of August 4th I was up to London on the Monday to rehearse with my latest venture, Midnight Soul Sisters, preparing for my debut performance with them on Friday the 8th at Felling Social Club in Newcastle. I was so nervous for the show because there were many dance routines I had to learn and actually remember, but the show was amazing and being on stage with three other dynamic entertainers was absolutely magical. At one point I was looking around at these women thinking 'how on earth did I get here'! We've been re-booked for that venue and I have several other dates booked with MSS. Learning and performing the dance routines reminded me of my cruise ship days, and I was thankful to have had that experience to draw on, because I don't think I would have been ready otherwise. Admittedly, sometimes I forgot to sing during the show because I was concentrating so hard on the dance steps ... LOL! The group is being re-vamped and we'll have some updated pics and video soon! Watch this space.

Move On Up

On 9 August I performed with my covers band, Move On Up, at The Concorde Club in Eastleigh. We did the Diana Ross Tribute Show and then finished up with a fiery party set. It was clear that the audience were there to have a good time, because the dance floor was full on the first Diana Ross song! What a great night.

The week of August 11th I attended a Shaping Portsmouth meeting on Tuesday. I am working with two 'work streams' within this organization ... Business & Enterprise and Cultural Partnership. The meeting on Tuesday was with B&E and my first meeting with Cultural Partnership will be on 1 September. Portsmouth is my adopted city and where I run my business from, and I wanted to find a way to give something back to this community that has embraced me and my business. Shaping Portsmouth allows me to do that and I'm looking forward to getting involved. Please click here to learn more about this organization.

On the 15-17 of August I was back in London for Foodies Festival Battersea Park. We were off to a very rocky start on Day 1 of this event ... when I arrived, the entertainment stage wasn't even built yet and wasn't finished until after the event had already opened. Day 2 of the event went much smoother and Day 3 was fantastic. I have to give a special shout out to James Gillespie, an amazing solo performer who covered my nether region big time by performing extra sets throughout the 3 days to help me cover cancellations. He was the perfect choice to ask to step in because he is a high-energy performer with a fantastic voice and quite the charmer with the audience. People were coming back to the event just to see him. By the Sunday, everyone was in love with him ... including me!

James Gillespie

This week has been all about Foodies Festival Oxford, the fifth event of the year for which I've organized the entertainment. Organizing this event has been full of challenges, and I didn't have the final list finished until yesterday! But, it's done and the line-up promises to be great. Click here to see the list of performers.

Finally, the 31st of August marks my 2nd year in business. However, before I can start celebrating I've got to get through next week which will consist of finalizing this year's accounts and year-end paperwork. I'll let you know how I get on in next week's newsletter.

My Dad!

On a personal note, my dad suffered a mild stroke while I was at the Battersea Park event. I received that news on Day 2 and I'm honestly not sure how I made it through the rest of the festival. On the train home from the festival on Sunday I was on a conference call with the doctor and my siblings and the news was really good. By Monday, my dad was off life support, sitting in a chair and talking. And on Thursday he was moved from intensive care. I had booked a flight to go home on Monday, but my sister said that it would be better for me to come when he's released to a rehab facility so I can help with the transition. I am so thankful for all the prayers and support I received during this time and feel extremely blessed that my 90 year old father is still with me!

Well, that's it for now. Have a fabulous weekend!

Weeks in Review - 11 July & 18 July 2014

First I want to wish my big brother, Arthur Miller, a very happy birthday! I wish I could be with him and his family in Milwaukee to help him celebrate, but since I can't I wanted to give him a honorable mention in GME Weekly! 

Due to technical difficulties with the newsletter program last week, I was unable to get the 11 July edition out to you, so I'm combining two weeks of happenings so let's get started ...

All of last week was putting the finishing touches on Foodies Festival Bristol. What a way to spend my first visit to Bristol ... the location for the Festival was absolutely fabulous and where the stage was set up couldn't have been better. There are a few pictures below in the 'Photos' section ... do check them out. The event was 11-13 of July and the Friday went so smoothly with everyone turning up on time if not early, and more important, each act sounded amazing. We had quite the good crowd for a Friday and by early evening, the place was heaving. 

The Funkinsteins

Then Saturday rolled around and everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, from bands being stuck in traffic, to performers not turning up with all their gear to me having to do an emergency set to cover for a cancellation. Even with the issues, the day turned out to be fabulous and ended with an absolute bang with Brighton's Half Crown completely electrifying the place and local Bristol band The Funkinsteins who sizzled with their brand of Rock-laced Funk! By the end of the day I was dancing with the rest of the crowd and had completely forgotten about my earlier troubles! The beauty of good music ... 

The perfect end to the three days was on Sunday when we went back to operating like a well oiled machine, with everyone arriving on time and giving amazing performances. Supremely, Diana Ross made an appearance mid-afternoon and got everyone up dancing. And then the deliciously Bluesy Cherry White closed the festival with some great original and cover tunes, and even some classic Rock & Roll to get the crowd moving. Bristol was amamamamazing!! The next Foodies event is at Battersea Park in London on 15-17 August.

This week Monday, I took a much needed day off and hung out with the hubs doing normal stuff. On Tuesday, it was back to work finalizing a few bookings including confirming Mayfield to perform at The Southsea Show on Sunday, 3rd August. Also booked on this weekend event is Supremely, Diana Ross on Friday, 1st August and Move On Up on Saturday, 2nd August. Geoff Priestley, one of the organizers suggested I camp out for the three days ... if only I could ... LOL!

On Wednesday, I attended a workshop on Business & Personal Development that was hosted by the Portsmouth Venus Awards, which was immediately followed by the VA Finalist Announcement Tea where I was named a Finalist in the New Business Category! When I was driving to the Langstone Hotel that morning, I didn't really think I was that bothered about being a finalist. However, once I was in the room and they started naming names, the fact that my heart was literally pounding out of my chest was a little giveaway that I really wanted my name to be called. When it was, in good ole American style, I let out a yelp before I could stop myself *giggle*! I feel very proud of this accomplishment and look forward to attending the awards ceremony in October. Click here to see the full list of finalists!

Thursday, I met with a new client in Gosport and will be announcing some great shows at this new venue in the coming weeks. And finally, tonight I'm performing solo at Shepherd's Crook in Portsmouth and on Saturday night I will be with Move On Up at The Jolly Sailor in Southsea. Both shows are Supremely, Diana Ross followed by a party set. Can't wait ...

That's it for this edition, have a fantastic weekend!

Week in Review - 4 July 2014 (Happy Independence Day)!

Although my current home is in the United Kingdom, I'd like to wish my fellow Americans a very happy Independence Day. The reason we celebrate this day is encapsulated by this famous quote ... “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” - Thomas Jefferson, June 1776.

It has been a busy week and I have a lot to tell you, so let's dig in!

On Monday after spending half a day working in the office, Neal and I headed up to Leeds for a meeting on Tuesday morning. Given the distance from Portsmouth to Leeds (about 5 hours drive), we decided to have a leisurely drive up on the Monday. I met with a lovely lady who has created a Motown show that pays tribute to such legends as Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight and more. I am happy to announce that I will be one of the performers in this fantastic show with a few bookings for 2014 already. Learning the music will be easy because I already perform many of the songs in the show. It's the choreography that will be the challenge, especially since I'm turning 48 on Sunday. We learned a few routines on Tuesday, and I was definitely reminded of my age by the end of the session :)! I will make a more formal announcement including the name of the show and performance dates once all the arrangements are finalized.

Wednesday was spent putting the final bits and pieces together for Foodies Festival, Bristol which is happening next weekend. I am still looking for a couple 4 to 5-piece bands who perform covers and originals for this event. Please email me at gloria@gloriamillermusic.com if you are in the Bristol area and available 11, 12 or 13 July.

Pictured w/John Leete.

On Thursday, I had a meeting with John Leete of Home Front History to discuss my new wartime show, 'I'll Be Seeing You' and the possibility of booking this show along with a few of my acts on some very exciting events in 2015. You may recall that I first performed my wartime show earlier in the year around Easter time, so the show is still in the development phase. Next week I'll be putting forth a couple proposals for these events and will definitely keep you posted as things develop.

Another show that I have developed this year is 'Totally, Tina Turner' Tribute Show which is debuting tonight at The Exchange in Bournemouth. I'm doing a double tribute ... Diana Ross vs. Tina Turner and every spare moment this week has been on fine-tuning this show! I'm quite nervous about tonight, but I will give it my all and hope for the best! I'll post some pics next week. I've got a three-gig weekend and will be performing Supremely, Diana Ross at the Carisbrooke Arms in Gosport on Saturday, and a Motown/Soul Night at Kingsley's Entertainment Bar in Southsea on my birthday this Sunday!

Just a reminder that GME represents some of the best entertainers across the UK and they are getting snapped up for Christmas and New Year's Eve shows. If you haven't yet booked your Holiday entertainment, call me today at +44 (0)7504 611 173 or complete this form to receive a free quote. If you book your Christmas or New Year's Eve entertainment before the 30th of August, you'll receive a 10% discount off the negotiated price.

Well, that's it for this week. Have a fabulous weekend!!