This week Seb and Verity chat to drummer, MD and fixer, Bob Knight. Bob selflessly takes time out from homeschooling to escape - sorry travel - to his studio for their Zoom convo. Bob has great stories and anecdotes about some of the legions of musicians he’s worked with over the years.....from having his Cajón blessed by Nicole Scherzinger, to standing in his pants with Sting via a joyous stint as MD on the Charlotte Church Show. They ask Bob about working with his hero, James Taylor (not to be...
Jan 11, 2021•1 hr 31 min
Happy New Year! After a Christmas break and some slight technical hitches (Verity couldn’t remember her Macbook password) we are back with a fantastic guest to kick off 2021...It’s musician, concert producer, violinist, vocalist and advisor and educator on musical and theatrical projects, Lizzie Ball. Lizzie chats to Seb and Verity about the Classical Kicks concert series she curates, their residency at Ronnie Scott’s (which brings together a hugely diverse range of genres) and how she wooed a b...
Jan 04, 2021•1 hr 18 min
It’s a right old festive shindig this week! In this episode we revisit our live-streamed Xmas party, recorded on Sunday 13 December at Phil Donnelly’s Arnos Groove Studios. It was a brilliant evening with performances from Irwin Sparkes - AKA White Tail Falls, Jonny Abraham and the Hot Pops, The Estilo String Quartet and Phil Donnelly and Amy Bird. We were also lucky enough to have the incredible Mercury Shortlisted, genre bending composer, Anna Meredith In for a chat as well as some crazy caper...
Dec 18, 2020•1 hr 14 min
This week Seb and Verity have revisited the joys of zoom to catch up with friend of the pod and their very first guest, Phil Donnelly. Phil chats about branching out into production, live-streaming and mixing during covid times. He also explains his beef with Jamie Oliver, embarrassing technical hitches - as they encounter an embarrassing technical hitch and Verity’s pro plus fulled past. BIG NEWS ALERT! The other reason Seb and Verity are meeting with Phil is to discuss the live-streamed Three ...
Dec 07, 2020•40 min
It’s episode 33 and Seb and Verity head south of the river to chat to trombonist, co founder of the Old Dirty Brasstards and all round top bloke, Chris Smith. We don’t like favouritism here at Three In A Bar but boy, what a great host Chris was! In what felt as close to a social event as you get these days the wine was flowing and conversation covered Glastonbury - it may be the first time ever the world famous festival has been compared to Wigan - Spotify algorithms, the inception of the Brasst...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 17 min
We’re back with this week’s episode in 3, 2, 1 ......... and our guest is Heart DJ, journalist, author, podcaster, campaigner and influencer, Anna Whitehouse. Seb and Verity drop in to Anna’s East London offices, lukewarm cava in hand, for a chat about the various strands of her eclectic career. She talks them through her journey from Practical Caravan magazine (tow bar specialist) to becoming host of a Heart show with a multi million listenership. They also discuss her unashamed love of pop, th...
Nov 23, 2020•1 hr 25 min
It’s all about that bass, ‘bout that bass (you get the picture) with this week’s guest, Alice Kent. Seb and Verity chat to Alice in early November as she’s putting the final touches to the latest video in her YouTube series Alice’s Musical Galaxy. She talks about becoming tech savvy, green screen issues and how she’s making string teaching exciting and vibrant for players of all ages and abilities. Its a wide ranging conversation - at times underscored by the dulcet tones of tromboning from Alic...
Nov 16, 2020•1 hr 14 min
SOUND THE ALARMS, IT’S A NATIONAL TREASURE ALERT! This week Seb and Verity are joined by comedian, singer and actor Rob Brydon, who invited them into his beautiful garden for a hilarious and frank conversation. Rob regales them them with such tales as filming in Las Vegas with Tom Jones, receiving wise words from a Bee Gee, battling Steve Coogan on a lilo and the pain of unrequited love in school musicals. They chat about Rob’s tour, A Night of Songs and Laughter, and how Seb ended up in his and...
Nov 09, 2020•1 hr 25 min
Hot on the heels of part 1, our second episode with Jessie Grimes largely addresses social media and its relationship with mental well-being. Find out what Verity says that leads to Jessie unleashing a passionate use of the f-bomb at the start of the pod......then discover how karma takes its course at the very end! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 03, 2020•39 min
It’s a Three In A Bar double whammy this week with clarinettist, presenter, workshop leader and teacher Jessie Grimes. Seb and Verity visit Jessie in her South London flat - also home to her hugely popular Homemade Garden Jam series. In the first episode, Jessie chats about her lockdown project which involved chamber music, audience participation and tomato juggling. They also discuss her early years in Ireland, folk music (including some fantastic live whistle playing and less impressive attemp...
Nov 02, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Joining us in the bar - or rather Seb’s living room this week - is trombone Adonis, Christopher Augustine. Chris is currently based in Cardiff where he is sub principal trombonist with WNO. Seb and Verity catch up with him as a small window appears in his busy schedule whilst he is briefly in London for a Chineke! project. They chat about early inspirations, Chris’ unlikely transition from soprano recorder to trombone and his dream of an idyllic retirement in Cornwall. Chris talks Seb and Verity...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 32 min
This week’s guest is half viola player/half anaesthetist, Dr Arun Menon - the most niche superhero the world has ever seen...... Having suffered kidney failure in 2005, Arun made the difficult decision to put his hugely successful freelance career on hold and go back into education to begin the epic journey into medicine - his training began in 2006 and he is still three and a half years away from being a fully qualified anaesthetist. During this time, Arun was frequently studying/on the wards b...
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 13 min
This week we go off piste (that’s right, p-i-s-t-e) with a visit from wine aficionado and co-owner of Yardarm Leyton, Eliza Parkes. Eliza selects four fantastic wines to compliment Seb and Verity’s four music choices and they spend a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon tasting the wine and discussing the music. Sometimes work is so trying eh? Be reassured in the knowledge that the spittoon is used liberally so the conversation remains coherent. In between each track, Seb and Verity chat to Eliza abou...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 30 min
In the second of our bonus Let Music Live episodes, Seb and Verity report from the protest at Parliament Square on Tuesday 6 October 2020. They chat to a number of the 400 players who turned up to perform the opening of Mars by Holst, followed by a two minute silence - the aim being to shine a light on the current plight of freelance musicians who have been largely overlooked throughout the Covid crisis. As well as a selection of short conversations with the players and high profile supporters, ...
Oct 08, 2020•46 min
This week’s guest is the marvellous, exhilarating and captivating cellist, Gabriella Swallow. Seb and Verity took a trip to her fabulous North London apartment on a rainy September day for a chat ranging from bowling with Hugh Jackman in Lederhosen to taking John Adams for lunch in Manchester. Gabi initially made a name for herself specialising in contemporary music - At the age of 22 she made her Southbank debut with London Sinfonietta playing Mark-Anthony Turnage’s About Water . However, she t...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 29 min
This is the first of two special episodes charting the Let Music Live events in London and Birmingham on 6 October 2020, highlighting the current threat to thousands of jobs in the freelance music industry. Seb and Verity have an exclusive chat to event founder, violinist and superwoman, Jessie Murphy. Jessie discusses her inspiration for creating this protest, how it’s grown into such a huge movement and what the plans for tuesday’s events are. Having actively avoided talking about the Covid cr...
Oct 03, 2020•26 min
Drum roll please.....this week’s episode features West End giant, musical director, arranger and orchestrator, Alan Williams. Lets rewind a moment to Manchester in the early ‘90s....A young, enthusiastic pianist heads to the theatre with his parents, little does he know it’ll be the moment that starts his fabulous journey into musical theatre - that’s right, Copacabana the stage show was where the magic began for mini Alan. Seb and Verity chat to Alan about some of the many shows he has worked o...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 22 min
It’s episode 23 and we are back in South London chatting to the go to guy for soloists, conductors and errant orchestral players who can’t find the toilets in any given venue....it’s senior artist manager at Askonas Holt, Ed Pascall. This is the second outing Seb and Verity have made to meet Ed after a failed attempt in a Wetherspoons in December 2019. Delighted that he’d humour them again, conversation includes an insight into the kind of super fans classical musicians attract - think handcraft...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 21 min
It’s a momentous week at Three In a Bar......not only is this the first episode recorded where all parties are in the same space since February but it is also our first musical dynasty. Violinist Laura Melhuish, horn player Ric Ashton and their daughter, Millie Ashton (wunderkind violinist) invite Seb and Verity into their fabulous home for a chat, great snacks and much hilarity. The scene is set in the Ashton/Melhuish garden with Ric and Laura's other two daughters and assorted friends coming a...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 38 min
C’est un invité magnifique! This week Seb and Verity are joined by violinist and broadcaster, Rachel Rowntree. Be honest, who hasn’t thought to themselves maybe now’s the time to up sticks and start again somewhere glamorous and exciting abroad? Well, rather than giving in after numerous failed attempts at Duolingo and booking a holiday, Rachel actually made the move to Paris ten years ago and has carved out a hugely successful career there. Impressive eh? Seb and Verity caught up with Rachel in...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr 15 min
This week Seb and Verity depart from usual service to reflect on the first twenty episodes of Three In A Bar in a loosely structured waffle - see intro and outro sections of all twenty episodes so far. Along with their own favourite moments, they hear from a number of the listeners about their own personal highlights. It won’t surprise you that Seb and Verity deviate from the course throughout, discussing hard hitting topics such as S Club 7, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch and some musing on what And...
Aug 24, 2020•36 min
As Three In A Bar hits it’s twenties now seemed like a good time to try out a spot of blind dating. Introduced to us by the fabulous Michelle Taylor-Cohen (see episode 8), this week’s guest is composer, arranger and lyricist Shane Cullinan. Shane chats about his ensemble Tonic Fold and some of their early gigs, including the first Nottingham Pride - entitled Pink Lace, a show following a naked man covered in ultraviolet baby teats and a vomiting flautist. Since then the gigs have got rather more...
Aug 17, 2020•1 hr 15 min
It’s episode 19 and who better to complement a hot summer’s day than the perennially radiant, Laura Bangay. Musical director/keyboard whiz/accordion hater Laura chats to Seb and Verity having had an extended period of Covid-19 lockdown isolation. They find out what she’s been doing to combat boredom, including a new found passion for kickboxing. Laura talks about her extensive work as a children’s MD, including a joyous five year stint on Matilda and most recently on the brand new musical The Bo...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 16 min
Warning, this episode contains unprecedented levels of Sid James style cackling emanating from Verity...brace yourselves. It’s episode 18 and look who’s dropped in to welcome them to the age of maturity....it’s none other than Hoosiers front man, Irwin Sparkes. Irwin also wears a magnificent new metaphorical hat for his solo alter ego White Tail Falls, releasing his album Age of Entitlement back in May to critical acclaim. Irwin chats about making his first album - the process starting back in 2...
Aug 03, 2020•1 hr 34 min
We interrupt our regular broadcasts for a round the table chat with violinist and yoga guru Cat Parker. Think of this as interval drinks or a post concert catch up if you will..... Recorded back in January in a bustling kitchen in East Dulwich, Cat talks to Seb and Verity about a whole host of things including her experiences living in Paris and what led her there, future plans to potentially set up a yoga retreat In a rural French Idyll and bribing local mayors. Cat talks about training as a yo...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr 13 min
It’s episode 16 and it sure is a sweet one as today’s guest is trombone behemoth and recently appointed head of brass at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Amos Miller. Amos chats to Seb and Verity about online final recitals and his huge respect and excitement for the next generation of brass players passing through the conservatoire. He also tells them about his former lives as a psychology student (very useful) and a violinist (not so much). Amos talks about his internationally acclaimed quintet...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr 21 min
This week Seb and Verity are joined by freelance cellist, Rachael Lander. Rachael discusses her battles with alcohol addiction and anxiety, which led to an extended break from playing and consequently entering recovery - all whilst in her early twenties. Since then, Rachael has returned to playing and has an extremely successful career working extensively in the West End, orchestral freelancing and as a session player. She credits her time in Raven string quartet for her return to music, finding...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 17 min
Here come the bears! This week Seb and Verity are joined by Kevin Jones, one half of British folk rock band Bear’s Den. The release of this podcast coincides with the launch of Bear’s Den’s latest album Fragments .... It’s almost as if they had planned it! Recorded in late 2019, Kev talks about the band’s recent tours, from European stadiums supporting Neil Young to driving a land rover venue to venue around the wilds of Scotland. They discuss set design - with or without the inclusion of glitte...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Thirteen, unlucky for some? Not at Three In A Bar because their guest this week is award winning composer and saxophonist Charlotte Harding. Charlotte chats to Seb and Verity about her collaborations with BalletBoyz, Paraorchestra and Onyx Brass. The term ‘Orchestral Synthesizer’ gets bandied about by Verity - don’t worry, Charlotte clarifies what she’s wanging on about! There is misinformation about clubbing, discussions on dance music, leg warmers and some shocking discoveries about mutes. Yet...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 23 min
Breaking news... this week, novice podcasters Seb Philpott and Verity Simmons invite journalist, interviewer, reviewer and broadcaster Jude Rogers for a chat. "Have they lost their minds?" we hear you ask. It's like Leyton Orient taking on Real Madrid. Luckily for them, Jude is both encouraging and forgiving and has countless tales to tell from her years interviewing and reviewing pop stars and musicians. Amongst other things, they discuss Mercury Award panel disagreements, interviewing Justin T...
Jun 22, 2020•1 hr 25 min
