Songs '..of grace and wit', The Musician. 'A voice and sentiment to lift you from slumber', Fatea Records. 'This will get in your head', BBC Introducing.
Me & my gang are delighted to feature (*along with many more) in the new book Railtown Rock by Andy Pennance.
It’s been something of a labour of love for Andy and it covers the music scene in the Crewe and Nantwich area from the early Skiffle groups who gigged there in the 1950s through to the current scene of bands, venues and musicians.
It’s printed by Mpire Press at a cost of £15 +P&P
*Including The Beatles, Dario G, Dr Phibes and the House of the Wax Equations, Tower Struck Down, The Scorpions, Train Set, Snakey Jake & the Dead Skunk Band, Gary B. Goode and The Hot Rots.
Frogs and toads have their spring mating frenzies, the Easter Island crabs have their thing and the people of Cheshire and beyond have the Nantwich Jazz Festval, an incredible 5 day Easter Party that not coincidentally, generally comes along with the return of the warmer weather. I played here again for Rickety Wireless, having not played together for months, so we booked out the afternoon for a rehearsal. It was a great fun gig and we even managed to put some extra tunes in.
Anyroadup, although there weren't too many about for my set at Big Day Out Cheshire I felt the surrealness and the pure luck of being born in the right place to have an experience like this, of playing my little set, then walking a few steps to a see a band whose music I have grown up with as part of the background soundscape to my life/our lives on the radio at home, on the coach or wherever. What a thing!
I also greatly enjoyed a superb set by Tim Lee, especially a new song which I think was called 'Performance', the always brilliant Photo Booth Smile and the inimitable brilliance of Baxter!
Thanks to all involved, especially that very busy Lizzy and the whole team surrounding Redshift Radio who seem to have a lot to do with it all.
Nantwich Jazz Festival - April 2nd 2018 I realised this was the first Rickety Wireless gig outside of Alsager, no less(!) and the wilds of Nantwich Jazz Festival we did brave. A weird combination of very cold, wet conditions outside the venue, where our instruments had been 'waiting' and extremely warm, humid conditions within, meant our instruments were dripping wet with condensation when we removed their covers and bags. This caused a number of ongoing tuning issues as wood, metals and other materials adapted to this drastic change. In fact even Dan's mini drum set was suffering tuning issues, which is rare mid-gig. Nevertheless neither this, nor our still 'under-rehearsed' condition didn't dampen the spirits of the crowds, who seemed to love it, singing along and sometimes dancing to much of the set. Thanks you lot, you made it great fun!
Sunday October 15th, 2017(updated with photos 20/10/17)
Roland, Yapp & Jacson. Photo by Chris Driver.
A bit of an extra special show I've performed and hosted in the last couple of years or more is Enzo Acoustic Zone, a part of the Words and Music Festival at the yummy coffee and pizza emporium that is Enzo.
I had the delight of introducing some of the most captivating and beautiful sound-makers in the UK, if slightly below the radar of many, namely Ian Roland's melodic, folk-orientated band with stunning musicianship and vocal harmonies Roland Yapp and Jackson and the hypnotic Ruth Theodore. Apparently (based on a conversation with Ruth's mum while walking back over to their hotel) Ruth is self-taught on the guitar and doesn't have any conventional knowledge on how your supposed to play or even about standard tuning, so she's taught herself her own, entirely unique way of playing, and hypnotic it is, too. Wonderful songs, thanks all. Plus top talents in their own right Tim and Dayve who organised the sound and made it all actually possible!
Many thanks to photographer Chris Driver for these pics:
Me! Photo by Chris Driver.
The quite brilliant Ruth Theodore, Photo by Chris Driver.
Ruth Theodore. Photo by Chris Driver.
The wonderful Roland, Yapp & Jackson. Photo by Chris Driver.
March 27th, 2016 'Jazz Fest Sunday' as it's known is traditionally the busiest day of the festival where some 40,000 people pour in from surrounding areas to enjoy the music (and alcohol!). This was the most exciting day for me as there is nothing to beat the thrill of playing in a full band and the power, dynamics and emotion this can evoke.
We all seemed relaxed and played really well in the tiny stage area, though Simon said afterwards he couldn't hear the drums at all, many non-musicians are often surprised that hearing good 'on stage' levels for everyone in the band can be quite rare, especially in the often quick turn-arounds you have (an hour between acts in this case). It was great to play a full two hour set right through, you can really get into the zone and dig deep into the music, and have time to allow your set to make it's path and tell a musical story.
Tim Lee, whose brilliant solo performance I was lucky enough to catch, also took some great photos;
Post gig, after loading up in Storm Kate's rain, I had a short break and something to eat before heading out again to catch Tim perform brilliantly in the Singer/Songwriter part of the festival hosted by The Cat Radio on the Blitz stage outdoors. I watched with Dayve Dean (whose set I had sadly, missed) while getting thoroughly drenched meaning I couldn't even feel my fingers when I was playing, luckily muscle memory played it's part but I'd definitely lost some intricacy in my playing. A few brave (or tipsy) souls danced and sang along at times in the pouring rain, if that's not the festival spirit, I don't know what is!
Tim Lee Rocking the town center outdoor stage
I had cold hands!
Many thanks to Jonathan White for the photo.
Today was another Nantwich Jazz Fest gig, and another one with the inimitable Dan - the man - Logan. The recent warm-weather turned to storms, but not enough to stop the festival goers.
Even though we were indoors, there was a moment, a gust, perhaps even a mini tornado? ...Which hurled both sets of heavy venue doors open, and a huge swirl of wet air soaked several meters of floor inside, impressive stuff. Lots of people bought Attachment Theories, which was nice. Now I'm looking forward to kicking up a storm with The Blue Yellows tomorrow!.
Now Enzo has a special atmosphere going on all of it's own, they claim on their website not to be experts but that they are instead, enthusiasts striving to learn new things every day. I can't really think of a better philosophy than that in any field - music included of course. Some of the best musicians I know of, heroes of mine, often feel that they themselves are not experts, and always still learning. It's the way forward folks! So with this philosophy I shouldn't have been surprised at how good my pre-gig espresso was ... anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of the espresso, preferably a double if I feel I deserve it, and this award-winning espresso was as tasty as the best I've ever had anywhere. Huge thanks to Enzo of course, Orchard and Warble Entertainment for organising the night and the sound, headliners The Rinky Dinks who made for lovely musical entertainment, and most of all to the friends who showed up and shared in a lovely night.
