A heart-broken musician is returning to the stage to honour the memory of his girlfriend Teresa.
Mile Cross performer Mick Grant's partner Teresa Andrews died in February of complications with multiple sclerosis, aged 59.
And now doting Mick, who wooed her with his songs, is going back to his music to honour her memory and help him build a new life.
Mick said: "Some of the songs I wrote with a friend of mine were for Teresa.
"I let her hear the song, but I didn't tell her that it was about her because I was too shy. We were so clearly getting on well as friends.
"There's a song that we do called Spin My Wheels, which was the last one I ever wrote for Teresa. I read her the words, but she didn't live to hear the full song.
"The wheels are the ones on her wheelchair and we had it played at her funeral. It was lovely tribute to her.
"I played at Teresa's belated wake.
"Because of Covid, we couldn't have a wake, so I said to one of her sisters that we should have a party for her in the summer. One of her nieces suggested doing it on what would've been her 60th birthday."
Adamant that music would be pivotal in continuing Teresa's legacy, Mick - under his stage name Mick Avoidant - set up a comeback gig in October.
He gathered several bands and singers together at the Brickmakers in Sprowston Road to say good riddance to lockdown and to honour those lost during the pandemic.
He explained: "That was the first thing I'd done musically in two years. I started doing gigs with backing tracks, using Teresa's songs and other ones I'd written. I'm now in a band - name of the band is a story in itself.
"The guitarist, Sharlie Dwyer, I met through open mic nights. When we're playing his songs , we're called Sharlie, but when we do mine we're called Mick Avoidant."
The 'avoidant' part of his moniker stems from Mick's avoidant personality disorder.
Sharlie and The Avoidant is playing The Talk tomorrow (Wednesday, January 26) and The Brickmakers on Feb 1 and 2.
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