About Lulu
I started singing round the folk clubs in Berkshire where I met Ian Scott Massie. I moved with my children to Masham in N. Yorks, and with Scott wrote, recorded a tape & played the North East folk clubs.
I upgraded my old faithfull Eko Guitar to an Alvarez Yari, a great accoustic to play.
After two years I moved to Middleham & Scott & I went our seperate ways. I worked in the Leyburn Pottery & spent a while playing with various local Musicians, a wealth of which were centered around Richmond, North Yorkshire
I moved to Richmond & worked for Frenchgate Ceramics & taught guitar, and started playing in a duo called Fidler Hill, playing clubs, pubs and selling out shows at the Georgian Theatre Royal. Moving on to help out at Errington Guitars as a sander in the mandolin manufacturing days & the odd stocktake, it was here that I came across my 2nd guitar purchase, a small bodied Fender Accoustic that became my working guitar.
Fidler Hill dispanded & I went on to play rhythm guitar for the Dave Harris Jazz Duo. At the same time I sat down at home and with my two guitars I wrote & recorded Lulu Fidler Now, on a 4 track, Dave was roped in to play lead & do the odd drum track, and we took this material along with some covers round pubs and the odd folk club.
In 1995 I took a break from music & got reinvolved in working with horses. But 2 years later found me back, this time playing a Fretlass Bass I commissioned from Errington Guitars, in The Buckleye Band (ceilidh music) and Blue Horizon (country).
In 1999 Blue Horizon were approached by Alan Hind & Mike Shepherd of Diamond Blue Records, and we wrote & recorded two songs which went to The International North American Country Music Awards 2000, where '4 Letter word' won us our first. We then recorded an album 'Still Lookin' & in March we went with our CD, The Crazy River Band, Dixon J Scott & Paul Justice, to Knoxville, Tenassee, for the International NACMAI Awards 2001, where we picked up 5 more awards including Band of the year.
Lulu decided in oct 06 to, take a break and set off to travel New Zealand where she found pretty much the same musical pockets that exist at home. Various clubs and pubs and odd souls wanting a partner to play with, so with her well travelled fender acoustic guitar in hand she took up numerous offers to join in. She played for young fellow travellers in the back packers, the apple picking crowd she found herself working alongside. With a bread making part time farmer in the local pub, met a group of Irish players and was welcomed into jam along and spent many a slightly inebriated evening at Lake Wakaramoana bashing along to a book of Beatle songs many of which were to say the least somewhat obscure.
As well as music Lulu found herself entered into her first ever, not one but three mini triathalons, walking the Wakaramoana lake, and the Queen Charlotte walk, swimming with dolphins, attending a small N.Z version of Glastonbury, note the muddy picture! and generally saying yes to all experiences that appeared before her! All of which she plans to put into a book one of these days!
On returning home work took precedence until once again Lulu picked up her guitar on invitation to accompany Trudy Brunskill at Richmond Live 2009. Since then she has with encouragement from all sides been slowly returning to the scene playing alongside Steve Wade at various functions he has frequented, as backing singer with Trudy for Carolina Star on a freezing afternoon at Catterick Market! With Trudy at The Station in Richmond and finally has reformed The Band, their first performance being the Gilling Gig at Manfield. Two new members include Mike Jinks on Bass and Greg Giles on drums. Gilling left us buzzing and looking forward to this years Richmond Live.