blues news – blues reviews – blues gig guide
The Boot and Shoe in Nantwich is holding a bank holiday weekend festival and some blues bands are on the bill.
Check out the website….
http://www.thebootandshoe.com/What%27s%20On/BATB%202010%20home.htm
or download the flyer
http://www.bluesinthenorthwest.com/Media/2010BATBFlyer.pdf
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE
Great news that the blues jam night hosted by Noel Ward, the HOOCHIE COOCHIE MANcunian has been extended.
Manchester Blues Jam – 1st Tues of each month
The Bull’s Head
Bury New Road, Whitefield, Manchester. M45 8QP
1st Tues of every month
Excellent house band, in Noel’s words and playing with Noel are…..
Next session 04 Aug
THE BIG BLUES FESTIVAL 3 – 6 September 2010
Pontin’s Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park, Prestatyn, North Wales, Denbighshire LL19 7LA
There is a NEW weekend Festival at Pontins Prestatyn with a great line-up at a fantastic value-for-money price!
Line-Up
with Chris Powers as MC and late night jam sessions led by Tim Aves.
Prices start from just £115 per person in self-catering accommodation, with minimum two occupants. Don’t fancy cooking? There are snack bars, a cafe, take-aways and an on-site shop.
As a special summer offer, for new bookings made before 13th August there’s a drinks pack included, value up to £25. Call 0844 576 5949 to book and quote offer code BLBD.
http://www.boogaloopromotions.com/festival
www.facebook.com/prestatynbigbluesfestival
Download the leaflet here
http://www.boogaloopromotions.com/documents/18276PrestatynBluesLeaflet_000.pdf
BARE BONES BOOGIE BAND
(self-titled – BBBBCD1)
Released at the turn of this year, comes the debut from the rocking Southern-based Bare Bones Boogie Band – a four-piece comprising of Helen Turner (vocals), Iain Black (guitar), Trev Turley (bass) and Andy Jones (drums). The band deal in a hybrid of classic British rock with blues influences, with Black penning six of the ten songs here, with four choice covers.
Helen Turner’s vocals can be raunchy one moment, then sultry the next, with Iain Black’s guitar work the other main feature of the band. His opening “Baby, Baby Be Mine” is a soulful rocker, with a definite Humble Pie influence; the following “Black Cat Strikes Back” is most appealing with Turner’s smoky vocal and some nice guitar work and some jazzy touches. The self-explanatory “Full Tilt Boogie Man” does just that, a rousing rocker, before a nice cover of Janis Joplin’s “One Good Man”, another influence on the band, particularly vocalist Turner, and delivered here with a nice rolling feel.
“Sister Sunshine” is a mid-tempo rocker with a nagging riff from Iain Black, and the band do justice to the classic “I’d Rather Go Blind” . . . a simply beautiful song, with again some nice guitar work. The driving Rolling Stones song, “Live With Me” is a standout, with Helen Turner’s vocal here recalling the great Maggie Bell, one of our finest ever female vocalists.
“Simple Suggestion” has a country feel to it, reminiscent of Exile-era Rolling Stones, with sweet guitar and another nice vocal; the penultimate track “Throw Me A Line” is another Iain Black song with another catchy riff and rocks along nicely, with the album closing with the rousing Vinegar Joe tune, penned by Pete Gage, “Early Monday Morning” . . . and with no disrespect to the self-penned material, my favourite here.
I would imagine the band are best seen in a live environment, but in vocalist Helen Turner and guitarist Iain Black they have a fine ‘front line’, with the unfussy and solid rhythm section of Trev Turley and Andy Jones in the engine room driving things along . . . . a nice debut offering, and good to see a high quote of original songs.
GRAHAME RHODES
The band have some dates in the region at the Colne Festival – see below
28 Aug 2010 – 14:00 – Great British Blues Festival – Colne & Nelson Rugby Club
29 Aug 2010 – 19:30 – Great British Blues Festival – The Crown Hotel
http://www.myspace.com/barebonesboogieband
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YqsxJn8Xpo
The next Wyre Blues show at Fleetwoods Marine Hall takes place on Thursday July 29th and features the young West Country Guitarist Jay Tamkin with his band.
22 year old Jay Tamkin describes ‘Sorted’ his debut album on Wienerworld as ‘a documentary of my musical steps so far’.
It’s a significant observation for while this 22 year old West Country guitarist and multi instrumentalist is grounded in the blues he’s got the song writing ability and musical chops to fulfil his huge potential in a very contemporary way.
Indeed Classic Rock magazine recently likened the front cover of his album as resembling something from ‘the Madchester scene’, before commenting on his ‘instinctive guitar mangling’ and his ‘hip bucking grooves’. For make no mistake Jay Tamkin may be an up and coming rock/blues guitarist of the highest order but at heart he remains a fiercely independent musical spirit but firmly grounded in the blues.
Influenced on the blues side by SRV, Walter Trout and Albert and Freddie King, he cites Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen as being equally important influence on the jazz side. Jay was further inspired by Paul Jones’s BBC 2 Blues show before finding his musical conduits in the shape of Popa Chubby and John Mayall’s guitarist Buddy Whittington. Significantly perhaps, he’s already managed to play with both of his heroes.
Jay learned his craft in the best possible environment spending 6 years with the esteemed Devon Youth Jazz Orchestra as principal bass player, a position that enabled him to combine musical theory and serious practice with such musical heavy weights as Jools Holland, Dennis Rollins and Roy Ayers. And it is the combination of
his musical confidence, a surprising mature song writing style and a willingness to explore musical boundaries that makes ‘Sorted’ such an impressive debut album.
‘I was going for an eclectic mix of styles’ says Jay. But while there are some wonderful musical tensions pulling him in the diverse directions of rock, funk and acoustic flavoured Latino styles, it’s the blues that lies at his core. ‘I enjoy a lot of different contemporary music,’ says Jay, ‘but blues takes real feeling and soul to express it properly. My songs tend to be little stories, based around real life experiences. In fact Popa Chubby virtually gave me the song ‘You Need A Woman’, when he gave me some much needed personal advice. I just transcribed what he told me into the lyrics of the song’ (laughs).
In an era when guitar heroes have made a strong comeback, Jay Tamkin isn’t about to make his pitch solely as a guitarist. Rather it’s his rich musical persona that marks his out as unique. For while his restless imagination may push him into variety of styles via some fiery notes and melodic grooves, JT is treading his own path. Indeed as his album title suggests he’s just about ‘Sorted’.
Doors open at 8.00pm & show starts at 9.00pm. Tickets are £2.50 in advance from the Marine Hall box office on 01253 887693 or online at www.marinehall.co.uk or pay on the door.
Manchester tribute to Bob Dylan
Manchester’s M19 bar in Levenshulme will once again stage a Blues tribute to Bob Dylan in its annual August Bank holiday Bob Dylan Festival weekend. The Festival which is now in its third year attracts acts from all over the UK and Ireland and is one of only eight such festivals which are staged throughout the world. The others are in Moville and County Clare in Ireland, California and Michigan in America, Berlin in Germany, a village in North Italy and Melbourne in Australia.
The festival kicks off on Friday 27 August with a showcase featuring artists paying tribute to Dylan’s Irish roots and his connections to the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem. The Saturday night showcase features acts paying tribute to his ‘Blues’ roots. It takes place at Levenshulme’s M19 Bar in the first floor acoustic room.
One of the acts playing the Blues night on Saturday 28th August is Ged Wilson, when asked about how he felt about being selected to play the festival he said “Bob Dylan has inspired so many Blues musicians it’s great to have this Festival to pull them all together. I’m proud to be part of the Festival, as A Bob Dylan fan and lover of the Blues what a way to capture a show with a great crowd and superb venue. Bob Dylan is such an inspiration, I can’t wait to mix in some Blues and be part of this Festival that is growing in reputation year on year.”
The Dylanfest in Manchester has joined forces with the two festivals staged in Ireland, which are Bobsfest in County Clare and the Moville Dylanfest in County Donegal. Both these festivals take place in early July and a number of the acts appearing there are coming over to Manchester.
Manchester’s festival takes place in the first floor Acoustic room m19 bar in Levenshulme village, which is just a short taxi ride away from Manchester Airport.
This years line up includes Chris Layhe a former co founder member of the celebrated Liverpool band The Icicle Works, he is appearing with his new five piece blues based band ‘Oyster’ on the Blues night of the festival- Saturday 28 August. Appearing on the same night is the highly acclaimed Limerick singer Keith Forde from Bobsfest in County Clare who has had a considerable amount of chart success over in Ireland and was runner up in the international songwriter of the year. Other acts to look out for are Shimeon who has been described by the Guardian as a cross between Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan and Matthew Ganley who some people might recognise from his appearance on Holyoaks.
Acousticfest – the organisers of the UK festival said about the weekend’s festival “Bob Dylan has always had a massive connection with Irish artists, he was heavily influenced by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. It is well documented about how Dylan used to hang out in the Irish pub ‘The White Horse’ in New York, where the Clancy’s played he took the tunes of the Clancy songs which were old Irish songs and put in his own words. We had a lot of visitors from Ireland last year and are expecting even more this year.”
Tickets for the festival are just £4 in advance per night or £8 for a weekend pass and are available from m19 or from the website www.m19bar.com
The line up for the festival is
Friday 27 August
UK’s Bob Dylan Festival Irish Night with
Shimeon, Mary Lucey, Mickey the Hat, Matthew Ganley, Easy Dream, James Butler and Denise Morgan
Doors open 7pm
Tickets £4 adv, £6 doors or £8 adv for a weekend pass
Saturday 28 August
UK’s Bob Dylan Festival Blues night with
Keith Forde, Ged Wilson, Joanna Lyon, Glyn Bailey & the Splendid things, Oyster, John Ridyard, Becky Rose & Elisa Mansell
Doors open 7pm
Tickets £4 adv, £6 doors or £8 adv for a weekend pass
M19 Bar, 847 Stockport Road, Levenshulme, Manchester, M19 3pw
Tel 0161 224 8135 www.m19bar.com
The highly regarded Americana artist Otis Gibbs has gigs coming up in the region.
Otis grew up in the rural town of Wanamaker, Indiana. He first stepped on stage at the age of four, when he sang Jimmie Rodgers’ ‘Waiting for a Train’ at a neighbourhood honky tonk. While his parents worked countless hours trying to make ends meet, Otis was often in his uncle’s care. Not accustomed to parenthood, the uncle was sometimes bored, so the two would frequent bars, where Otis sang for tip money (which meant more booze for his uncle). Otis was hooked, and would often ask if they could go back and sing some more songs. The answer, “Only if you promise to never tell your parents.”
Otis started working when he was in high school. He stacked concrete blocks, flipped burgers, drove an ice cream truck, pumped gas, and did countless other crummy jobs. After discovering writers like Edward Abbey, Henry Miller and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, he started questioning what he was doing with his life. He was tired of working jobs that didn’t stimulate, or interest him in the least. So, in his own words, he decided to just “drop out.” Over the next four years, Gibbs earned and lived off less than $3,000 a year and had never been happier. He got rid of his car and shared apartments with artists, musicians and radicals (often living with 5 to 10 people). He also took advantage of the free time and wrote hundreds of songs.
The next few years were spent touring and releasing four indie records. The most notable being 49th and Melancholy, (a stripped-down acoustic record, that was recorded to two-track reel-to-reel in a friend’s laundry room). There was also Once I Dreamed of Christmas, a collection of songs he’d written “for people who don’t like Christmas.”
In 2004, his critically acclaimed, “One Day Our Whispers” was released. It was an unpopular time to speak truth to power, but the album’s optimism and anti-war undertones resonated deeply with people who felt uncomfortable with the direction America was heading. Though songs like ‘I Wanna Change It,’ ‘Thirty-three’ and ‘Ours is the Time’ have been described as protest songs, Otis prefers to call them “love songs for young radicals.” ‘The Peoples Day’ was later included in a Wall Street Journal list compiled by Billy Bragg of the “Top Five Songs with Something to Say.” This placed Gibbs in the company of Bob Dylan, The Clash, Sam Cooke, and Chuck Berry.
In 2009, Gibbs released Grandpa Walked a Picketline. He spent most of the year touring to support the record, including 4 tours of the UK, Ireland and Holland. The album spent 6 weeks in the top 5 on the Americana Radio Chart (USA), peeking at number 4. It reached number 2 on the Euro Americana Chart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkCwYUl_Gh8
THE HOAX
plus The Feud
22 July 2010 19:30 – 23:30
Where: Bluefunk@ the WMC
Park Lane
Poynton Cheshire SK12 1RG
THE HOAX. For the uninitiated the Hoax were voted the best UK blues band in 94,95,96,97,98. They parted company in 99 to go off and get famous doing other stuff. They have reformed for a 20th anniversary tour and Bluefunk is the ONLY blues club to get them. They are headlining Linton, Blues on the farm, and Maryport Blues festivals. With a bit of luck they won’t be quite sold out by the time you read this.
Supporting will be Jamie Walker’s new project the Feud. Basically if you don’t book a ticket early for this you won’t be coming.
Tickets £15 from Garry on garrywhite10@yahoo.co.uk or 07818884324
Saturday 17th July will see CROSSFIRE once again open the evening’s entertainment at 8.00pm, they will include a number of tracks from their new CD “Just the Trick” in their set and we expect they will have the True Blues Club audience in the palm of their hands once again!
This months headline band, The Elevators, hail from Brighton and are on their Summer 2010 UK Tour
True Blues Club - Saturday 17th July
An exceptional group of very talented and hardworking musicians.
Doors open at 7.15pm and tickets are £10 each
Earlestown Conservative Club
17/19, Earle St
Newton le Willows
WA12 9LW
www.truebluesclub.co.uk
www.reverbnation.com/venue/truebluesclub
join the mailing list or take advantage of our Street Team offers!
Contact: – Steve 07739399555 or Graham 07917268648
The last gig of the season at Worthenbury on Friday July 16th, following on from the brilliant festival last weekend, is a mouth watering first appearance in the area for the Martin Harley Band.
The Band is a uniquely talented acoustic trio whose musical palette incorporates all the best roots music styles, from blues to jazz to folk, yet are masters of their own art. With tender acoustic balladry, hot-blooded blues, complex rhythms and gorgeous three-part harmonies, and an almost boundless energy, the Martin Harley Band effortlessly challenge expectations of what a three-piece should be capable of.
The band itself has endured some personnel shifts during its lifespan, but has now evolved into the powerhouse trio of Martin Harley (Vocals, guitar, Weissenborn), Pete Swatton (Drums, percussion, balalaika, backing vocals) and Jay Carter (Double Bass, guitar, backing vocals). Naturally, it all revolves around Martin’s charismatic performance, organic yet meticulously crafted songs, expressive vocals and flawless musicianship. The band itself, however, is driven by the musical intelligence and ability of his two bandmates, and the deep understanding between the three of them.
Doors have been opening for them to new and exciting territory too. Recently, they have found themselves supporting James Morrison and G.Love & Special Sauce by personal invitation on their UK tours. They have played to a packed Royal Albert Hall, and pulled off a double coup at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival by filling both the Avalon and Acoustic stages to bursting with eager listeners. This is a band on the way up.
Tickets are £10 and can be reserved by contacting Pete Evans on 01948 770215 or mailing Pete@hookerblues.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_1cQiud41k
I’ll be at the Worthenbury Festival today. Enjoying the music during the day, playing as a small part of the Bluesinthenorthwest All Star Band then sitting back with a beer to watch the fabulous Cadillac Kings in action.
Come and say hi.
Those of you not going to the Worthenbury Festival could do no better than to pop down to Telford’s Warehouse for the sensational band The Loving Cup.
Rockin’ country and Americana blues.
That’s where I would be if it wasn’t festival week.
http://www.the-loving-cup.co.uk/
The Hexmen play The Griffin, Earlestown this Friday 2nd July@ 9:30pm Free Admission & parking, Earlestown station close by.
After that they are at The Shakespeare Pub, Scarisbrick New Road, Southport 9:30pm on 10th July 2010.
The Hexmen line up :
George Hexman Vocals & harmonicas
Dave Prudhoe Guitars
Claudio Mura Bass
Wayne Dangerous Drums
Free Hexmen music tracks can be heard for free at their Websites: www.thehexmen.com and www.myspace.com/thehexmen
CLASSIC CLAPTON
25th Anniversary Tour – 2010
St Helens 03 July 2010
CLASSIC CLAPTON will be continuing their 25th Anniversary Tour in St Helens on Sat 3 July.
ST HELENS Haresfinch Sports & Social Club, Haresfinch Road, St. Helens, Merseyside, WA11 9NS
Tel: 01744 609020 www.haresfinchsocial.co.uk
SATURDAY 3 JULY
9pm
Tkts £9
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