Did you read that right?

Last solo gig ever?

Well, forever is a long time but yeah, for a bit. The solo material is getting moved into the normal set instead of taking a break.

In Newark, with Sean Webster....

Mooring's Residency coming to an end...

This coming Friday is it. The end of a month of mayhem and madness with all the denizens of the Moorings Bar, the best live music pub in Scotland....

So, we're going out in grand, blow-down-the-walls style. Special guests, things to give away, and an even longer show- Flash the owner says we can play as long as we want. Is he ever going to regret saying that! So don't miss it, it won't happen again this year, and there's not a snowball's chance in Mexico that you'll ever have this much fun on a Friday night.

Pictures to follow. You may end up in one too. That's a good thing....

Mooring's Residency coming to an end...

This coming Friday is it. The end of a month of mayhem and madness with all the denizens of the Moorings Bar, the best live music pub in Scotland....

So, we're going out in grand, blow-down-the-walls style. Special guests, things to give away, and an even longer show- Flash the owner says we can play as long as we want. Is he ever going to regret saying that! So don't miss it, it won't happen again this year, and there's not a snowball' chance in Mexico that you'll ever have this much fun on a Friday night.

Happy 50th Alan!

Happy 50th Alan! All the best, and fingers crossed that the effects of all the tequila were minor.....

Some photos from Newark...

Thanks Rob and Anne! They sent me these pictures, and they're right- this is one happy lap steel player.

Who says guitar players only pull tough-guy faces?

what can I say but thanks to all of you!

the new one on the bandstand

Well, we could use this to play country (and I do, BTW). It's an old triple neck Fender Stringmaster- 24 strings, 6 pickups, 4 legs and a very heavy case. Right now it's tuned to C6, A6 and E13, not sure if I'll stay with these or switch to some others.

It's a great guitar though, and opens a few harmonic doors for me and the band- in the E13 tuning I can play big fat chords like a horn section. Expect to see this and hear some new material where we push the steel boundaries in blues and in the band. It's time, and this big bit of lumber is the key!

You read it here first---

Not sure if it'll really be forever, but at last for a long time I'm taking a break from solo gigs.

We need to focus on getting this next band CD out, and really getting behind it with a serious tour or two in 2011. There's just no way to prepare for both the band tour

Every Friday in September- the Moorings!

It's true. Trio starts around 9, all September long.

The last time we were there it was an amazing party, with too many shots of tequila. We'll probably go for a repeat performance on all fronts. Heres what the party looked like last time...

Moorings Bar?

Hey, we're back at the Moorings Bar on Saturday the 17th....

I'm taking the trio in for a loud set, mostly of some new lap steel stuff. And yeah, we're running every Friday night there in September too.....

British Blues Awards 2010-

Once again, thanks to all of you that voted for me during the nomination process!

You can find out more here:

http://www.britishbluesawards.com

Please cast a vote!

Recording on Tuesday...

Demos are done, rehearsals are winding down and we're off to the studio starting Tuesday. Finally, we're back in the studio.

The plan is to record a mixed bag of stuff- some vintage T-Bone Walker, a Guitar Slim cover, and a bunch of originals that span a range of styles. All in all this is going to be a pretty varied record, and it'll be the first time we've done one that way- the others have each focused on a narrow range of styles, one per record. But that's not where we're at these days, this band can cover the bases so we're recording it all. I'm really excited about this one.

It may be a prolific year for us too. The CD that we started in 2009 in Anchorage is almost finished too, goes off to mix at the end of the month. Lots of reasons for that one being held up, mostly they come back to me not being happy with the lap-steel tones. That's all sorted. And its almost done.

But first things first. Lets focus on the new record and get the first couple of tunes under our belt this week. Pictures to follow as we go...

ok, so this band is probably-

no, it's definitely the best band I've had since I've been in the UK. By quite a stretch. Lately we've been prepping for more studio time so we can get a new CD out before the summer. It's a great process, I take them rough ideas on sticky notes and talk them through the ideas. They turn it into something different, better. Damn.

BB and Bobby.

Damn. I saw them together that year too. 1977. What a great pair. You gotta check this one out.

The International Cigar Box Orchestra

Some pictures taken in Dundee last year, these are of Nikolaj (the fantastic one-man band) and I playing some really raw stuff at Dexters. We'll be adding bass and drums this year and performing on mostly home-made instruments. Just think- musicians from three continents making great music on crap gear that really is crap gear- mine are all made from junk I found cleaning out a friends garage this weekend. Oil cans, broken bits of debris.

Roll on, Dundee! Can't wait!

Grouchy old man emails?

Funny, I've heard from more people telling me what a grouchy old man I am.


First, I'm not old. Second, I'm not grouchy.

Look, you can take the post below in one of two ways- here's a guy who cares about the music, cares that the history of the blues continues to be important, and the contributes to the education of a younger generation of layers -OR- a grouchy old man. Take your pick.

N'uff said. But that post stays so I can refer back to it from time to time.

take it somewhere...

Well, I had a talk with a young player over the weekend. And I heard it again. "I'm not a old-style player, I want to see the blues evolve, I want to take it somewhere- take what I've learned from the old masters and help the blues evolve."

And so I asked- who are your influences?

Well, SRV, Clapton, the White Stripes, Zepplin""

No BB King, no Buddy Guy, no Blind Willie Johnson, no Guitar Slim. Only post-modern rock players. No Earl King, or Charlie Patton, or Pee Wee Cayton or T-Bone Walker, Lowell Fulson, Albert King, Lightning Hopkins or Mance Lipscomb.

How best to put this and not sound like an old fart? This could lead one to dispair. You can't take music somewhere if you don't really understand where it's been. If you don't understand the basics of the language, haven't studied it. So please don't kid me that you're doing the music a service. All you're doing is skipping doing your homework and trying to excuse it. And you're not fooling anyone.

Hit the books. Study the records. Learn the language first, convince me that you know the basics. Then we'll talk about taking the music somewhere.

The color of money....

Benefit Pictures