Heroes and Martyrs

Check them out on myspace. They're really not a blues band, but this is what happens to kids that grow up with guitar geeks for parents. That's Mike Oxley's daughter Anna singing and my oldest Zakk on the guitar. They rawk, they don't play 'Freebird'. Great taste in music and pretty good songwriting.

OK, myspace. They're on myspace.

Bell Rock Blues?

Anyone reading this associated with the Bell Rock Blues festival? Please call or email.

The schedule is up on the web site, but emails from me to the organizers don't seem to go through. I need to confirm the details in the next couple of weeks, ok?

Lemon Tree on Friday!

How cool is this, to be going back to the Lemon Tree after so long. After all, it's been closed and is now back in business!. Phew, Aberdeen's best live music venue open again.

So, I'll be there friday the 11th at 1 pm for a lunch time show. It'll be a solo show that goes somewhere different than yu might be used to, I'll be bringing my two acoustic guitars and playing stuff that's more folk-blues than anything else. Lots of lap steel on an acoustic guitar, some new fingerstyle stuff. I think you'll like it.

See you there? No idea about the new lunch menu. I'm sure it'll be good. See you there!

Dundee in retrospect

It was great to catch up with a whole bunch of old friends, people that I hadn't seen since the year before (or perhaps our last Dexter's gig). All in all the band played great, and for Kevin's first full fledged outing with band I think it went really well.

The proof of this new lineup is the inspiration to write new material, and there's 3 new songs since Dundee that we need to work up. All heading in a nice retro direction. If you haven't seen this line up, it's a great dance band, greasy grooves, serious dynamics and a great attitude. These guys love to play. It's fun again, which for me is a real plus.

The only drawback was playing in a room with a low ceiling that ramped up the feedback a bit. That big old guitar of mine is a great sound, but more sensitive to the room acoustics than a strat would be. So, the volume comes down a bit, and next gig out comes my old silvertone and some other odd bits of wood to get the old tones.

Stay in touch, might see some of you at the Bond on Saturday from 5:30-9? Solo gig?

Ready for Dundee?

Yep, it's that time again, and here's what you need to know!

We're having a warm up gig on Thursday at Cafe Drummonds in Aberdeen. It's a party- it's Kevin's first gig with us. I'll be bringing the resonator too, play some solo stuff early on, then through the band set. If you can't make it to the Bonanza, this is a good one to see.

From there, we're off to Saturday where we're playing at the Lowdown early in the evening. I've got a solo gig later at the Abode, and then we're done with free time to hang out and listen to some of the other bands. Sunday afternoon is the BBF jam at Dexters after the Blindman's Blue Forum breakfast.

Going to be a good weekend. See you there!

Yeah, old friends can be the best friends. I had a chance to catch up with some old friends last weekend and things just naturally evolved from life stories to blues songs. Old Allman brothers covers, some Blind Willie Johnson. We're older, sure. But our taste in music is pretty highly evolved, and the groove was comfortable.

More images to follow. See you for Lightnin Willie on Friday where I'll break out some of these old songs.

Lightnin Willie

Don't miss this one-

Lightnin Willie & the Poorboys
Culter Mills Sports & Rec Club
Cairn Road, Peterculter

When: June 6th
Doors at 7:15, bar open till 1am

The support act is some guy names Son, who's from Alaska.

The gig finishes at 11:30 or so, so you can grab the last bus back into town with me. See you there, email me if you need to reserve some tickets and I'll get you in touch with Dave, ok?

Some images from Germany

Some images from the tour of Germany....

From Braunschweig and Helmstedt

Here's some graphics from the gigs at Barnaby's and Helmstedt. The one that's not a gig flyer is from our meeting with the Helmstedt Fire marshall, when we parked the car in a fire lane. Who knew?

Back from Germany.....

It was a great trip!

4 Days in Germany, a couple of gigs with friends and a gathering of great

Yeah, we're looking for a drummer

Long story. If you know someone that might fit well with this band, shoot me an email....

Yeah, we're looking for a drummer

Long story. If you know someone that might fit well with this band, shoot me an email....

Saying goodbye to Lucy

Last night we said goodbye to dear friend and family member. She left us in the early hours of the morning, peacefully in her sleep surrounded by a small group of family members who love her. What a day, explaining this to a seven year and an eight year old.

No flowers. Just call someone you care about today and tell them that.

yeah, class of '83.

Yup, you found me.

At least they're playing Fenders....

Remember these guys?

Cupar blues and beyond...

Played a solo set in front of Wolftrain last night at the Cupar Blues and Beyond club last night. Great to get back across the Tay bridge and see some old friends, and try out some new songs.

Wolftrain was great, as always.

I had my ES-125 plus a lap steel and an acoustic guitar that I never touched. Seemed the music felt right on an electric guitar, rather than that acoustic. And the lap steel always sounds great in that big room.

New songs, from the new CD- "Toss and Turn", "Sackcloth and Ashes", "Ball and Chain", "Nothing out of place", and "Long way to fall". Some Old faves, like "Goodnight Irene". The rest is a blur.

A million thanks to those of you that warned me about the traffic, and to Wolftrain for letting me plug into their gear. And of course to Charlie and the gang at the blues and beyond club. It's a great gig, and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

What is the deal with my schedule?

Yeah, I've been distracted. I'll update my website and my blog schedule this weekend.

what was that guitar?

I've been asked enough about this lately that I thought I'd just clear it up for y'all. The guitar I've been playing lately is this one in the Tony Whitfield picture below (ok, it's from Orkney last year but it's the only picture I have of the guitar). It's an old Gibson ES-125T. 'T' for the thin body, one very hot P-90 pickup and off you go.

The best part? Outside of the fact that it sounds amazing? It weighs less than 5 pounds.

Fire on a United flight from Rio

So, I found this on youtube- it's a before and after video of a recent United Airlines flight out of Rio. The plane was stuck on the ground because of air traffic control and in the early part of the video the passengers are a little unruly. Understandable, they spent 3 hours on the ground in the plane and stuck in their seats. The front part of this video is a passenger rebellion that almost ended the flight. The Brazillian police were called and several passengers arrested.

So, the plane takes off, it's a Boeing 777 fully loaded with gas on the way to New York. And at about 3 minutes into the flight the cockpit fills with smoke. The pilots switch over to oxygen masks and turn the plane around, setting it back down on the ground. Because they're so heavy with gas (and have no time to dump it) they land heavy and fast, scrub the fires and burn out the brakes (that's why the fire trucks are hosing down the tires, to keep them from catching fire and the plane exploding.

Everyone walks away, a little scared, but safe and alive to fly another day. How do I know all this? That voice you hear at 3:02 in the video is my baby brother, who landed that plane.


Oh, here's the video.....

CLICK HERE


Way to go Pete! You're a hero in my book...

Dexters tomorrow

And it's an afternoon gig. We'll start around 3:30, send you on your way for a curry and a pint with friends.

Seriously, these afternoon slots at Dexters are a great time, great place to hang out. Bring some friends! Lots of new music to hear, stories to tell, and a chance to catch up before the blues bonanza this summer.