River - Music

Tina Bridgman… The Musical Life Of… I Write This From My Little Home In The Hills Nestled In The Trees Overlooking Mountains And Turquoise Seas And I Am So Happy & Grateful To Be Alive. For As Long As I Can Remember I Have Always Played Music… Playing In 20/30 Piece Orchestras At School Brass Bands Choirs And Making Up The Odd Tune On The Keyboards At Home My "career" As A Guitarist Started At 13 Teaching Myself And Jamming With Friends. I Joined My First Band Catch 22 At 17 As A Backing Vocalist And Keyboard Player Performing In The South-West Of UK Every Weekend For Two Years. The Years That Followed Saw Me Playing Guitar Songwriting And Performing With Another Songwriter David Hill. In 1990 I Travelled Around Australia And New Zealand Songwriting All The Way With My Guitar As A Constant Companion. Here I Had My First Busking Experience And Performed My Own Material To Sit-Down Audiences. In 1993 I Had My First Solo Gig At Ronnie Scott's In London—a Famous Jazz Venue And Well-Known For Showcasing. Following That I Then Joined A 13-Piece Group As One Of The Main Songwriters And Playing Guitar Percussion And Vocals. We Performed For The Next Three Years At Festivals All Over UK And Performed Live With Billy Bragg On The Acoustic Stage Of Glastonbury Festival. Later I Teamed Up With A Well Known Contemporary Folk Group Called Seize The Day As A Backing Vocalist Drummer And Percussionist. Again We Performed At Festivals All Over UK Plus Europe And Ireland Including Cambridge Folk Festival And Glastonbury. In 1999 I Recorded My First Album Titled "Hearth" With Two Gifted Musicians Richard Osborne And Matt Tweed. The Release Of This Was Successful And Established Me As A Singer/songwriter In My Own Right. The Three Of Us Became Known As Hearth And In 2002 A 2nd Album Was Released Titled "Deep Sun Inside". We Performed At Many Festivals And Events Around The UK Including Cambridge Folk Jersey Festival Of World Music Lewes Guitar Festival And Again Glastonbury. In December 2002 I Took An "artist's Break" Back To New Zealand. A Car Accident In 2004 Resulted In The Loss Of My Left Hand But Two Years Later I Was Playing Guitar Again. This Saw My Return To Performing At Events Around The Top Of The South Island Such As The Festival Of Opportunities In Nelson Luminate Visions And Heartart In Golden Bay. With A Completely New Wave Of Inspiration I Released A 3rd Album Titled "In The Company Of You" Which Gets Played On FreshFM. In 2008 I Toured The UK For Seven Months To Perform Solo And Promote The Album Which Was Successful And I Appeared At Many Events/festivals—again Glastonbury Being One Of Them. Some Of My Work Has Been Published In Books In The UK And States And I Have Had Radio Play In UK States And NZ. read less