Access to Inspiration

Sue Stockdale welcomes Simeon Wood, a multi-talented musician, educator, and composer, to celebrate the Access to Inspiration podcast's 100th episode. Simeon shares tales of his 30-year journey as a guest entertainer perfoming all over the world in concert halls, on cruise ships, and even in a prison.

Simeon describes his two homemade instruments - the walking stick flute and the bicycle pump - and explains why he believes humor and communication are integral to forming a meaningful connection with his audience. At the end of the podcast, listeners are treated to a recording of one of his tracks from his latest album, Feeling Good.

Simeon was born in Huddersfield, England and started playing the flute at the age of 8. He studied at the Trinity College of Music, London, was where his performance and writing skills were honed. When he's not touring Simeon is regularly commissioned to write music for television and theatre productions and has appeared on Britain's Got Talent, the BBC’s One Show and the Chris Evans Breakfast show.

Connect with Simeon Wood at his website : Facebook: LinkedIn; Spotify

Timestamps:
[00:03:11] The importance of humour in music
[00:07:51] Inspiration to learn flute.
[00:11:38] Practicing like a professional.
[00:22:16] Inspiring children with music.
[00:26:06] Bringing families together.
[00:29:36] Bringing joy to prisoners.
[00:33:53] Listen to 'Feeling Good'.

Key Quotes:

• The first instrument that I invented was the walking stick flute.
• I think humour breaks down a lot of barriers, as does music.
• It's important that you understand that as an entertainer, that you're not just performing at people, but you're performing with people.
• I had a teacher that said the difference between a professional and an amateur is that the amateur will practice something until they get it right. A professional will practice something until they can't get it wrong.
• People give me a lot of inspiration. Kindness of people. The emotions that I see in people's faces, inspires me to write because I want to capture it.
• Words speak a particular message, but music speaks a different language.
• I want people to be happier and, take them away from some of the difficulties in life.

This series is kindly supported by Squadcast –the remote recording platform which empowers podcasters by capturing high-quality audio and video conversations. Find out more at squadcast.fm

Read the transcription for this episode on www.accesstoinspiration.org and connect with us:

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Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)
Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)