Music for Parkinson's

CuePD and a room full of guitars

CuePD is a research project exploring whether personalised music and sound cues delivered through a smartphone can improve walking (gait) in people with Parkinson’s disease. The idea is based on something already used in Parkinson’s - rehabilitation: rhythmic auditory cueing. That's a fancy-sounding but realistic way

Meltdown

I've been a musician (guitarist) since I was very young. Self-taught. No industry connections. No youtube to get tips. Had various bands with friends during my teenage years and we made our own independent way. One partnership used to rehearse in the school youth club. We had

Blazing saddles

Blaze and his band... Christopher Appleton, Luke Appleton, Martin Mcnee and Tom Atkinson (Aki). At Knebworth, not far from Luton airport. Friday 10th & Saturday 11th July 2026. Blaze headlined the 10th in front of a crowd in the region of 13-15,000. Hallowed turf with a spectacular rock

SOS, communication breakdown, fireclown

Around 3 weeks ago, Lynne and I went out for a meal with two other couples, long standing friends (Mark and Sally, Julie and Ali). To an Iranian restaurant called Darbar in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester. I was sceptical about the food, I have to eat gluten-free

parkinson's

A new rhythm, heatwave, hope and a hint of Madopar

Winding down from a very very hot day (Wednesday) at the Appleton Estate (no rum jokes please) - my small but comfortable home office in reality. My laptop tells me it's 29 degrees centigrade. Living in Manchester we are accustomed to more rain than anything else (blame the Pennines)

Foreigner / Jefferson Starship

Hi all, welcome to another update from my little Parkinson's world. This time I want to describe the gig Lynne & I went to on Thursday just gone. I'm definitely not intending this to be a review site but in particular I want to write about

Skechers On Tour

So far this year Lynne and I have kept the holidays to a minimum for medical reasons (a few short days in Grasmere - English Lake District) but having been watching the weather forecasts decided to dive in with a five night break in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, this

It's all about the vibe mate, guilty pleasure, Spotify

Ambient. A pretty constant thread in my newsletters so far has been ambient music which seems all so appropriate in the light of Parkinson's. There are various types of music different people hold up as a cure or more like I should say a temporary relief from symptoms,

Call of the Wild

Just got home this morning after a lovely day in the sunshine yesterday at Call of the Wild festival, Lincoln Showground. Special thanks to Raz White for having Lynne and myself along for another great day. It's also a great pleasure to announce that our band Absolva www.

parkinson's

Bigfooted whiskey drinker

Staggered into the house is what I apparently did when I arrived home on Saturday evening - I'd been at a barbeque with family and friends, and it was one of those pretty rare occasions that I'd allowed myself alcohol. Jameson's whiskey, one of my

832 - missing the show

This may at first sight be a morbid and negative blog today. It's not. Quite the reverse in fact and driven by real events in my life this week, yet I would hope it's thought provoking for all the right reasons. You perhaps know that in

Luminiscence

As you know from earlier blogs I'm a fan of the ambient music of Tangerine Dream. Chill-out music the likes of which I'll be exploring in a bit more detail in future blogs - linking up with differing potential treatments for Parkinson's disease. I

Old grey and white underpants

It's been a mixed week at Appleton Towers but one that ended on some kind of high. It started with interruptions, the like of which can occur when you work from home. It goes with the territory. Following the trip to see Toyah as described in my previous

Toyah, wedding anniversary and pickle juice

As part of my blog you'll perhaps remember I said plenty of my writing would be about my experience living with Parkinson's. Well, this is not the first experience I've written about but it's the first 'live' experience I'

Helm Crag

Lynne & I decided at very short notice to take a trip to Grasmere, our favourite spot in the Lake District. We had been waiting for a while for my ankle/Achilles situation to improve and seized the chance once it came along. Grasmere is by no means the biggest

Grassroots intersection

Way back in 2008 my wife Lynne had the bright spark of an idea to set up our own festival. We booked some bands, hired a local community hall (Radcliffe Civic Suite) and dispatched Lynne and friends across town in schoolgirl outfits to help entice a crowd. The original timing

I don't like tributes

Many of you that know me will be aware that I don't like tribute bands. Nothing personal against the members but in running record labels and management services, I feel that the popularity of tribute bands could be to the detriment of emerging original artists. I fully realise

Insomnia and Domestic Violence

There was a point during these past few months, which as said before have been particularly difficult with my Parky's, where I had two consecutive completely sleepless nights. During the surrounding nights at that point I was averaging two hours sleep per night which is obviously completely unacceptable

Business as usual

Normally I'm a positive person. I have a positive outlook on life in general and pride myself in adopting a positive approach in the face of adversity. Most people have said I remain calm and grounded in a crisis. I guess you could say my positivity works out

I was very reluctant to write this

One of the main points of this blog is to examine and in time develop the intersections between music and Parkinson's. Last night Lynne and I attended Springfest at Blackpool, Waterloo venue - familiar territory for us both, having worked there at various times over several years as merch

Restless Legs

First a quick update as prompted by my 'No Place to Run' blog. The truth is despite a promising start, my weight has fluctuated and if you're anything like me weight-loss is as much to do with state of mind as anything else. Moods have

For sheer enthusiasts

Several months ago I stumbled across a youtube site operated by a guy called Rick Beato. He has around 5.5 million subscribers. I assume that any of you that are guitar enthusiasts will already know of him but for me it was a revelation. As well as being an

Why I Decided to Write This Blog

Good question! The main reason is my personal perception that awareness of Parkinson's is not as high as it should be. Although (again perception) other degenerative diseases such as MS and MND are in the main a bit more brutal, I still feel Parkinson's tends to

Rock is Dead?

I think about this quite a lot from time-to-time. Wasn’t it Gene Simmons of Kiss who last used this phrase and I guess it stirs up the ‘old guard’ into action. It gets debated for a while and then we return to our former state and the

LJ and LA

A few weeks back my wife Lynne (LA) went to see Lynne Jackaman (LJ) live in concert, accompanied by our friend Shane Mckie, a big LJ fan. Many of you will know Shane as a keen supporter of bands from various UK locations including Manchester. Also his son Freddie is