Here is what has been described as the most comprehensive and detailed local Blues gig guide on the internet. Hopefully, you will find it useful and that you will help support all those who are giving of their time and energies to bring you great live music near you. Support live music or lose it!
September 2010
And so, for most, the holidays are over and it is back to
school, college, uni or work!! That also means that those venues which closed
or scaled down their activities during the holidays are now back up and running
which is good news.
As always, there are some great gigs on offer this month so here
are the details we have so far. There are sure to be further gigs of which we
become aware as the month progresses so do keep checking back for up dates.
Also tune in the Digital Blues on Gateway 97.8 every Wednesday
at 8.00 p.m. (repeated at 10.00 p.m. every Thursday) on www.gateway978.com
for details of local gigs locally over the next 7 days.
Thursday 2nd September
The New Crawdaddy Blues Club at the Belvedere, Hardings Elms
Road, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 8.00 p.m. – Support from the Heaters at
8.30 p.m. - Details at www.newcrawdaddyclub.co.uk or call 01702 347007
A great start to the month at the Crawdaddy as the excellent
Nigel Bagge Band make their second visit of the year. Not many bands are
accorded the honour of playing twice in a season but Nigel and his colleagues
have become very firm Club favourites and their second appearance is very
eagerly awaited.
Take the smoky vocals and stinging guitar of Nigel Bagge, the
keyboard virtuosity of Paul Jobson, the Digital Blues Award winner in this
year’s competition and add a smashing rhythm section which sees Grant ‘Cheeky’
Tunbridge on bass and Ed Spevock on drums and you have a very tasty dish in
prospect.
Saturday 4th September
Blues at the Farm, Barleylands Depot, Barleylands Road, Billericay –
www.bluesatthefarm.co.uk – telephone 01268 570642 – doors 1.30 p.m. music from
2 till 4 (ish) – private members club
Making one of his regular visits to the Farm is Essex treasure, Roy Mette plays this popular Saturday
afternoon venue. Roy was one of the first of the
Essex blues musicians that I had the pleasure
of seeing many years ago now and he made a very great impression, I can still
remember where and when it was and who he opened for!!! This afternoon’s gig
sees Roy in his power trio mode with Wayne Bronze on drums and
Andy Bostock on bass. In addition to some of Roy’s wonderful original material, there may
well be some Rory Gallagher, some Hendrix and others. Regardless of the set
list you can be certain of an afternoon that is uniquely Roy Mette.
Thursday 9th September
The New Crawdaddy Blues Club at the Belvedere, Hardings Elms
Road, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 8.00 p.m. - Support from house band, the
Heaters at 8.30p.m. Details at www.newcrawdaddyclub.co.uk or call 01702 347007
Last year saw the Crawdaddy celebrate its 10th
anniversary in wonderful style with the first visit to the Club by tonight’s
headline guest, Sherman Robertson. So I know that the Club’s promoters are
delighted that they have again managed to book the Guitar Man for a return
visit that is more or less guaranteed to be a sold out gig.
* "Sherman Robertson and BluesMove is a mighty powerful
combination." Blues Matters!
* "Sherman Robertson deserves to have his name added to the
short list of the finest musicians who play electric blues." - Living
Blues
* "Some of the best Texas
soul-blues anyone could hope for. Potent singing and sizzling guitar 'Sherman
Robertson is one of the most important artist in blues." - Blues Revue
Sherman Robertson is a regular visitor to UK & Europe and
regularly thrills full houses where ever he plays, be it a major festival or
arena or a more intimate venue such as the Crawdaddy. Make sure you avoid
disappointment by buying your tickets in advance as there may well be none
available on the door.
At Chris Ryley’s CAMRA award winning venue this week a band
called Glasshouse about whom I know nothing and who do not show up in any
internet searches so I cannot tell you anything about them! Sorry!!!
The Cellar Bar Blues Club, Farnham Maltings, Farnham, Surrey –
www.boogaloopromotions.com – telephone 01252 793430 - Doors open 8.00 p.m with
blues sounds from DJ Chris and the band starts at 8.30 p.m - Ticket price
£12.00
The Boogaloo crew come back from their hols with a brilliant
night of music and lunacy with the one and only ‘Man with Two Hits’, Jon Otway
(‘Cor Baby I’m Really Free’ and more recently ‘Bunsen Burner’).
Tonight John will front his ‘Big Band’. The last gig was a sell-out so ticket
reservations strongly recommended!
Friday 10th September
Marigolds Blues Club, Harlow Cricket Club, Marigolds,
Chippingfield, Old Harlow, Essex, CM17 0DJ - Doors and Licensed Bar open at
7.30pm - Enquiries 01279 414174 / 421763 - www.musicatmarigolds.co.uk
- Tickets £6 in advance or £7 on the door.
Tonight Marigolds present Beth Packer and the Black Cat Bones, a
young 4 piece blues band whose ages belie their talent. Formed by regular
performers at the acclaimed blues jam at Soho's "Ain't Nothin But’ blues
bar, they have played in some of London's best known blues venues including
Charlotte St Blues, The Troubadour, the Hootenanny in Brixton and the Ain't
Nothin’ But the Blues Bar.
Fronted by Beth’s amazing vocals, the band has recently
undergone some personnel changes with which is comprised of Beth Packer
on vocals, Clinton Hough on guitar, Charles Benfield on electric and upright
bass and Rob Pokorny on drums. Their repertoire includes classic standards as
well as lesser known gems from the bare roots of the blues through to 60's
soul. With a growing fan base, plenty of energy and a bit of old fashioned grit
Beth Packer and the Black Cat Bones will give you a night to remember.
Find out more at www.myspace.com/bethandtheblackcatbones
Saturday 11th September
Blues at the Farm, Barleylands Depot, Barleylands Road, Billericay –
www.bluesatthefarm.co.uk – telephone 01268 570642 – doors 1.30 p.m. music from
2 till 4 (ish) – private members club
Making what I know is an eagerly awaited return visit to the
Farm are one of Essex finest and most long standing bands, the wonderful
Automatic Slim, making an all to rare appearance. The band is now in what I
think is its 28th year and still going strong doing what it does so
well. Fronted by multiple year Digital Blues Personality Tim Aves, on
vocals/harmonica, the band also has Ian Cundy on guitar/vocals, Howard J Bills
on bass/vocals and Don Moore on drums. They describe themselves as ‘a bunch of
self confessed Dr Feelgood nuts, so you can expect the music that will include
covers of songs by the Feelgoods, Wilko, George Thorogood, Mickey Jupp, Nick
Lowe and the like, played fast and furious and with commitment, energy and an
absolute determination to entertain.’ A cracking afternoon in store and go to http://www.myspace.com/autoslim#ixzz0xvNRPcZc
for more and for links to some videos from previous visits to Blues at the
Farm.
Riga Music Bar, 228 London Road, Westcliff On Sea, Essex SS0 7JG
– www.rigamusicbar.co.uk – Telephone 01702 348020
An all too rare blues gig at the Riga as the superb Nicky Moore & the
Blues Corporation make one of their regular visits. Nicky is celebrating 40
years in the business and is now recovered from major back surgery which kept
him off stage for much of the earlier part of the year. With his talented son,
Timmy Moore on electric guitar, Danny J Kyle on acoustic guitar, Pete Shaw on
bass and Ed Collins on drums forming the excellent Blues Corporation, this is
an act that I never tire of seeing and hearing and I urge you to get on down to
the Riga for this gig.
Thursday 16th September
The New Crawdaddy Blues Club at the Belvedere, Hardings Elms
Road, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 8.00 p.m. - Support from house band, the
Heaters at 8.30p.m. Details at www.newcrawdaddyclub.co.uk or call 01702 347007
Tonight’s
headliners, Split Whiskers, have become regular visitors to the Crawdaddy since
their first appearance some number of years ago. Not finding it possible to
improve on the band’s own ‘blurb’ I will simply
‘tell ever'body Split Whiskers are back in town, they got a
dollar and a quarter and they're ready to clown!.
If you enjoy raw rockin', eye poppin', finger snappin', foot
tappin' blues (with a bit of gypsy jazz, funk and skiffle thrown in) then the
'Whiskers will wow you with their unique style.
This five-piece Cambridge
based band of young 'n' old misfits alike, draw from their impressive track
record to bring you a new slant on the blues, with an air of lightning wit and
repartee. The line up features the following musicians and a drummer:
The lead vocals, harmonica and pathetic jokes of Gilby J.
Fletcher, the guitars, vocals and broken strings of Johnny "Magic
Boy" Wright, the keyboards, magic roundabout and sweet tooth of The
Reverend Justin Dwyer or the keys, accordian and quintessential
Englishness of James 'Green Fingers' Doherty, the bass, vocals and visual
interpretation of Richard 'Spud' Spooner or Miss Claudia 'Beads' McKenzie
and the drums, vocals and dependance of life support machinery of Mr. Mick
Chippy Carpenter. And last but by no means least, "Brian"’
No I don’t know what they are on either! One thing I am sure of
is that this will be a cracking evening at the Crawdaddy.
The High Barn, The Bardfield Centre, Great Bardfield, Essex CM7 4SL – 01371 811291 – www.high-barn.com
- £10.00 – Doors Open: 7:30pm, Evening Ends: 11pm.
Another great Third Thursday Blues gig this month as the
excellent Dani Wilde makes her High barn debut, A lady blessed with a beautiful
voice with a diesel roar as well as some fine guitar picking, Dani gives the
old boys from the delta a run for their money! Dani has a new and acclaimed CD,
‘Shine’, out on RUF Records and I had the pleasure of catching her live
in June. She was on stonking form. Please bear in mind that this gig is seated
Admission - Seating either allocated by table letter or unallocated in rows,
whilst the venue try to accommodate requests for specific tables, allocations
are still subject to change.
The Cellar Bar Blues Club, Farnham Maltings, Farnham, Surrey –
www.boogaloopromotions.com – telephone 01252 793430 - Doors open 8.15 p.m with
blues sounds from DJ Chris and the band starts at 9.00 p.m unless otherwise
stated. Ticket price £9.00
Tonight Boogaloo presents the Chuck Farley Band who are led by
founder member, guitarist/vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Steve Simpson.
Chuck Farley doubled as Roger Chapman's band The Shortlist and they toured Europe extensively with Chappo and the core of the band
recorded several albums. Chuck Farley built a strong
following in the UK
with their Country Rock and r&b feel, best summed up as Little Feat meets
Ry Cooder.
The line-up is Steve Simpson guitar/fiddle/vox, Poli Palmer
vibes/keys, Pete Stroud bass and Sam Kelly drums. One helluva band!
(Chuck Farley are replacing The Monday Band as Papa George is not available for
this date.)
Friday 17th September
Burnt Mill Snooker and Social Club, Harlow, CM20 2DQ - A Grand
Charity Gig in Aid of Macmillan Nurses - 8.00pm 'till late - (Doors open at
7.00pm) - Tickets £10 from Gordon on 07946 555423
Featuring The Big Girls Blues Band and Jimmy C and the Blues
Dragons this is a very special evening.
The Big Girls Blues Band is one of the funkiest, bluesiest,
soulfullest bands in and around the London
clubs and pubs. The band has 7 members - Justin and Jane on vocals, Roger and
Tony on guitars, Alistair on drums and vocals, Dek on bass and vocals and Barry
on sax plus Matteo from Puglia
sorting the cables from the spaghetti. The band plays anything that moves the
feet, the soul or the furniture.
The band plays regularly gigs in London but has an up coming
Europe Tour taking in Paris, Amsterdam, Portugal, and of course Kentish Town,
Mill Hill, Cricklewood.... They play anywhere that has a plug, a rug and a jug.
Above all the band likes to have fun and funk and plays some old stuff and some
new stuff and some blue stuff.
A special mention for the bands 2 sensual out front singers:
Justin from the Deep Deep South Down Under and “Don’t send me no doctor filling
me up with all those pills…” Jane from Ireland. They look good, sound good
but they are B.A.D. B.A.D. B.A.D.
Canadian - born singer, guitarist Jimmy C moved to Britain via Vancouver,
San Francisco and Japan
since when Jimmy and the band have earned a deserved reputation as one of the
most entertaining and hard-working bands on the London circuit.
Playing a repertoire which includes blues classics from Robert
Johnson and T-bone Walker, various Kings of the blues, that is Albert, Freddie
and BB, they follow through to the music which the British Blues Invasion of
North America left in its wake, from the Rolling Stones to Cream, from Jimi
Hendrix to the Doors and even Steppenwolf They freely admit they are not blues
purists but as they point out neither were the blues greats - their mission is
to do what Muddy Waters did, and what Rufus Thomas did, to entertain and get
you dancing.
Jimmy C & The Blues Dragons play sharp snappy blues, with a
litle bit of edge and an element of fun and clearly enjoy what they do and seem
able to communicate this to audiences where ever they play"
Saturday 18th September
Blues at the Farm, Barleylands Depot, Barleylands Road, Billericay –
www.bluesatthefarm.co.uk – telephone 01268 570642 – doors 1.30 p.m. music from
2 till 4 (ish) – private members club
Another return
visit and, again, one which I know will be very eagerly awaited and well
received as the wonderful Elevators again visit the Farm.
They are fronted by new recruits Fran Galpin, a fantastic local
musician and singer, and Paul Rawson, a guitarist with the technique, feel,
innovation and flair of the great blues players.
The Elevators are the leading UK exponents of the classic
Electric blues tradition with references to BB King, Peter Green, Clapton,
Robert Johnson and modernists like Robert Cray.
They are not afraid to venture into Blues territory covered by
Rye Cooder, Dylan and other exponents of the Blues waterfront.
The band are supremely professional and are continuing to go
down a storm in the Clubs, Bars, Blues venues and festivals across the country.
Another of Martin McNeill’s regular early Sunday afternoon gigs at this
popular venue of which he says: ‘We just love playing the Railway -- great pub,
smashing audience’. With Martin on vocals and bottleneck guitar, this gig sees
Martin joined by West Weston, one of the UK’s top harmonica players, yje
superb im Huskisson piano plus his regular rhythm section of Marc Cecil on
drums and JJ Zarbo bass. A wonderful way to round off a September Sunday!
Thursday 23rd September
The New Crawdaddy Blues Club at the
Belvedere, Hardings Elms Road, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 8.00 p.m.
-Support from Jeff Chapman’s Roosters at 8.30p.m. Details at
www.newcrawdaddyclub.co.uk or call 01702 347007
Sadly, Club favourites, Storm Warning have had to cancel their
appearance at the Club but Paul Dean, the Club promoter, has succeeded in
obtaining the services of a superb replacement in the shape of the Martin
Harley Band, a band who are always popular when they visit the Club. With a new
CD, ‘Drumrolls For Somersaults’, recently released to considerable acclaim, an
evening with the Martin Harley Band is one spent in the company of 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.
The Cellar Bar Blues Club, Farnham
Maltings, Farnham, Surrey – www.boogaloopromotions.com – telephone 01252 793430
- Doors open 8.15 p.m with blues sounds from DJ Chris and the band starts at 9.00
p.m unless otherwise stated. Ticket price £10.00
A wonderful evening in store at the Cellar Bar as the superb Ian
Parker pays a visit ‘ Up Close & Intimate’. Over the years,
singer/songwriter/guitarist Ian Parker has predominantly toured with his four-piece
band, delivering a blend of rootsie rock and hi-octane blues. Now, with his
current focus firmly on his acoustic driven song-writing, Ian has decided that
the time is right to perform a series of concerts in a more stripped down,
intimate manner. The Up Close and Intimate series will feature Ian
playing in a variety of formats accompanied by long serving band member, Steve
Amadeo, and leading UK
slide guitarist, Chris
Eaton.
Tonight’s band at the White Hart is making its first visit to
Chris Ryley’s venue although they are frequent and well known visitors to South Essex. Grapevine Blues is a band that is made up of
a quintet of top class and highly talented musicians playing their own brand of
blues & beyond! With the smoky vocals of Mike Chase, the scorching guitar
of the wizard, Dr Ika, the keyboard virtuosity of Dave Lennox, the drums of
Ivan Hoe & the bass of Dave Rogers, Grapevine Blues offer as wide a variety
of material as you are likely to find and are sure to be uber-popular at the
White Hart.
Saturday 25th September
Blues at the Farm, Barleylands Depot, Barleylands Road, Billericay –
www.bluesatthefarm.co.uk – telephone 01268 570642 – doors 1.30 p.m. music from
2 till 4 (ish) – private members club
Billed to appear this Saturday at
the Farm are Bad Town Blues, the excellent Essex
based band who, of course, boasted the late and wonderful Ray Bartrip as one of
their frontmen. This will, I think, be the first gig played by BTB since Ray’s
death and I am told by Clive Mulcahy that it may well be the last one that is
played as Bad Town Blues. For this gig Clive will be on guitar and vocals with
the excellent BTB rhythm section of Reg Patten on drums and Jamie Lawrence on
bass.
Tuesday 28th September
The Bottleneck Blues Club & The Roffen, New Road, Rochester. ME1 1DY – www.bottleneckblues.com - £10.00
Geoff Achison has
long been a regular visitor to the Bottleneck, indeed, it could well be called
his UK
home from home. Back in the UK for the second time this year, this time for a
somewhat lengthier tour than his earlier one, Australian
singer/songwriter/guitarist Geoff is described as ‘one
of the most outstanding contemporary blues musicians on the world circuit,
combining staggering technique with passionate delivery and originality.
His backing band, the UK Souldiggers, are amongst the best musicians in Europe,
including five times Blues Drummer of the Year, Sam Kelly, ‘Spy’ Austin on bass
and Paul Jobson on keyboards.
This is not a gig to be missed and, I believe, your only
opportunity to catch Geoff in the area.
‘Achison is a major musical talent at the peak of his
profession.’ Stoned Free
Thursday 30th September
The New Crawdaddy Blues Club at the
Belvedere, Hardings Elms Road, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 8.00 p.m.
-Support from the Heaters at 8.30p.m. Details at www.newcrawdaddyclub.co.uk or
call 01702 347007
Rounding off a great month at the Crawdaddy are a band making a
very welcome return visit after too many years away, Roadhouse. The band is
lead by Gary Boner and has been gigging continuously since 1991. With fellow
lead guitarist Danny Gwilym and the long term rhythm section of Roger Hunt
& Bill Hobley, the band has also always featured fine female vocalists,
some of those to have been Roadhouse ladies are Big Mamma’s Door’s Fiona
McElroy and Northsyde’s Lorna Fothergill. Today, the band features Mandie G,
Suzie D and Kelly Marie Hobbs on vocals. I have been fortunate enough to catch
and to introduce Roadhouse on a number of occasions and based upon my
experiences at thoise gigs, this evening’s gig should be pretty darn hot. Do
not miss it!
The Cellar Bar Blues Club, Farnham Maltings, Farnham, Surrey –
www.boogaloopromotions.com – telephone 01252 793430 - Doors open 8.15 p.m with
blues sounds from DJ Chris and the band starts at 9.00 p.m unless otherwise
stated. Ticket price £10.00
Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist Geoff Achison is one of
the most outstanding contemporary blues musicians on the world circuit,
combining staggering technique with passionate delivery and originality.
The Souldiggers are amongst the best musicians in Europe, including five times
Blues Drummer of the Year, Sam Kelly, ‘Spy’ Austin on bass and Paul Jobson on
keyboards.. ‘Achison is a major musical talent at the peak of his profession.’
Stoned Free
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