In his one-man-show Ginger plays guitar, custom cajon, percussion and vocals, performing original new music as well as a selection of deconstructed popular covers reworked for an acoustic context.

In this 7 minute compilation Ginger Performs:
Bill Withers - Lovely Day
Radiohead - Creep
Stereophonics - Dekota
Audio Slave - I am the Highway
Rag n Bone Man - Human
Katey Perry - Hot n Cold
The Doobie Brother - Listen to the Music
Prince - Little Red Corvette
Adele- Someone Like You
Red Hot Chilli Pepers - Dani California
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
Sam Smith - Stay With Me
The Zootons - Valarie
ELO - Mr Blue Sky

Aka Dr Jim, Jimmy Davis, Strum

Ginger is a UK and Staffordshire based singer songwriter. In his one-man-show Ginger also known as Jim, sings, plays acoustic guitar and a custom-built cajon (box drum), performing original songs and deconstructed popular hits spanning half a dozen or more decades.

In addition to performing as a solo artist Ginger also collaborates with Daz Clement forming the fantastic function, events and festival duo ‘Bash and Strum'. Ginger also plays alongside Fat Fingered Freddie as the busking duo 'Strum and Bass'.

Influences
With an eclectic mix of influences, Ginger draws upon the often referenced sources of inspiration such as Robert Johnson through to the less referenced works of Mark Nevin (Fairground Attraction), Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) and Paul Heaton (The Beautiful South).

A key influence in Ginger’s own drive to perform however has to be Richie Havens – a man who felt the urge to perform and the ingenuity not to let the task of formally learning to play the guitar stand in his way.

Song-writing
Ginger writes predominantly story-based songs woven into melodic tales. In 2014 collaborating with Daz Clement, Bash and Strum released their debut live studio album ‘Rendezvous’ including 8 tracks penned by Ginger. From the resilience of ‘Take what you want’ and ‘Get out of here’, optimism of  ‘This heart of mine’, ‘Rendezvous’ and ‘First sight’; despair, lust and regret of  ‘Wake-up’, ‘Wanna love you’ and ‘Gone’ the tracks are a journey through the highs and lows of personal relationships.

Early Years
Born the son of a dustman and a dinner lady, and initially raised on a council estate in West London, his family moved to Cornwall when he was 10 and moved back to London in the early 80's where he studied at art school in both London and Staffordshire. Ginger is a self-taught musician. Describing his earliest memory of playing guitar Ginger recalls:

“My uncle Phil left a load of musical gear at our flat in the mid 70’s and I had explicit instructions not to touch his stuff. However early Sunday mornings I discovered a ‘how to play guitar’ programme on TV and curiosity got the better of me. So while my folks were asleep, I’d take a guitar, sit in front of our black and white telly and try and follow the lessons. I never got caught and I did learn the one finger ‘G’ and ‘C’ chord position. It’s just a pity I didn’t learn anything about actually tuning the guitar.”

Ginger is a member of
Musicians' Union

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Affordable live music for all!
Are you having a house party, birthday, christening wedding or other type of function, party or charitable event?

Have you ever considered live music as part of the entertainment? Ginger Geoffrey is able to offer very affordable performances. From the cozy living room performance to a festival stage, a wide variety of sized parties functions and events can be catered for.

Sound Craft
Have you ever been to a live music performance where it is just too loud, or there is far too much bass; lyrics impossible to hear and its just a woolly mass of thumping sound? (OK for some thats heaven, but its not for everyone.) With both solo or duo performances, Ginger is mindful of the need to tailor his audio performance to his clients/audiences needs and comfort. Where amplification is required the solution selected is considered with more than just loudness in mind. Both tried and tested as well as emergent technology is employed to craft the client musical experience. If you want people to be able to chat comfortably during a first set / earlier in the evening and be fully immersed in the sound in the second/later in the night, this is a part of crafting the sound performance.

Professional Practice & Liability
Ginger is a member of the Musicians Union, holds public liability insurance and can provide risk assessments for all his performances.

Booking Fee:
Ginger wants to perform to people who would normally be priced out of a bespoke live music experience. As such bookings are based on £120 for a local* solo double set Ginger Geoffrey performance and a very reasonable £200 for a local* Bash & Strum performance.

Booking fees are inclusive of the performance, set-up and strip down time, public liability insurance, travel and all other out of pocket expenses.

Ginger makes a donation to GIST Cancer Support UK as part of each and every paid performance. So not only do you get great sounding live music for your event, your bookings also makes a significant contribution to a deserving charity.

Booking Fee Waiver:
Ginger will consider all circumstances, especially if the event is for a good cause.

Home or function room?
Whether your party is in your own home or function room, Ginger can scale performances to fit your needs using either amplified or unplugged guitar & vocals, percussion. Ginger can advise on the feasibility of performing  for you. Of course there are some factors to consider for each type of venue, but these can be addressed when discussing your requirements.
For a no obligation outline discussion, text, phone or email:
(txt-tel: 07941545664 / email: Dr.Jim.Davis@Mac.Com)

Single sets:
A single set is normally around 40 - 60 mins or so in length, and is likely to include 10-15 songs.

Double Set:
A full double set has twice as many songs (as it’s name suggests) and is divided into two halves with a 15 mins or longer break in between the two performances.

Mini Sets:
Mini sets are also catered for where the live performance of just a few songs is sought to add to an event or occasion.

Live Jukebox:
The performance can be configured to elicit interaction with patrons/ audience / public who request songs from an agreed list. (minimum of 40 songs, list subject to constant up-dating - see example list above.)

* Local bookings are defined as being within 10 miles of Stone, Staffordshire (post code prefix ST15 8**). For bookings further afield please email Dr.Jim.Davis@Mac.com for a definitive costing.

Google is a wonderful thing sometimes, but on this occasion the computer said at best 5 years. The stats’ were blunt the truth thankfully a little different.

“At that time the options were limited, accept the diagnosis, accept the worst-case scenario then live life to the full; or hope that the diagnosis was wrong and then live in fear that the diagnosis would be confirmed.” – Jim

Jim chose to accept the diagnosis and set out to create and work through his bucket list.

During his on-line searching, Jim also found both a specialist regional hospital and wonderful support group GIST Support UK. With his care moved, the specialist hospital, they agreed a biopsy was too dangerous and confirmed it looked like GIST.

In May 2016 Jim had the offending tumor remove along with a section of his intestines in a 5 hour operation.

Six weeks later at his first outpatient’s appointment, Jim and Debbie were floored with the news that the tumor was in fact a benign fibrous growth, Jim was cancer free. Living with a terminal (or what is now called 'life limiting') cancer diagnosis was hard. Along the way Jim met patients in various stages of the disease, as well as family and friends supporting loved ones with GIST.

There are currently less than 900 people a year diagnosed with GIST. It’s an underfunded area of cancer research. The prognosis for people with the disease is limited; GIST cannot be treated with Chemo or Radiotherapy. As tumors emerge they must simply be cut out along with associated tissue or organs they are embedded in or attached too. When tumors can no longer be removed then there are (as of August 2016) three inhibitor drugs, with a collective effectiveness of five years. The latter two drugs have potentially severe side effects, which in the worst case can result in the patient being restricted to a wheel chair. Once the drugs fail, and they do eventually fail, the final stage of support is palliative care.

“2016 has been a real trip and has left its mark on me. For some years I have been performing in support Prostate Cancer, and while this remains important,  I am deeply drawn to the GIST community.  As such I'll be making regular donations to GIST Support UK from the profits I receive for performing as Ginger Geoffrey or as part of Bash and Strum”. – Jim