World class virtuoso guitarist Richard Durrant will perform in Ilkley as he undertakes a 1,000 mile ‘Cycling Music’ UK tour by bicycle.
What started as a bid to cut down his carbon footprint, has become a long distance bike ride for Mr Durrant, who will cycle between concert venues with his entire stage show, guitar and lights packed into panniers and a bike trailer.
The show equipment is high tech, lightweight and low energy.
He will play at St Margaret’s Church, Queens Road, Ilkley, on Wednesday.
For his career as a professional musician Richard estimates he travels in excess of 35,000 miles with UK tours, forays into Europe and an annual visit to South America.
He said: “Touring musicians tend to leave a fairly massive carbon footprint – so for me this is payback time. Having been a regular cyclist for years I wanted to see where a tour by bike would take me, both geographically and musically.”
During the planning and the training for the tour, he has been writing and recording a new album. “Riding a bike is totally inspirational and my cycle training has been key to these new compositions,” he said.
He has even built a percussion section from bicycle parts. The musician jokingly describes the album as: “Steve Reich meets Bradley Wiggins”.
The concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets £10 (£5 under 18s) are available from Grove Music/Grove Bookshop, Ilkley.
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