So, been busy lately...

But I did get time to finish my Coodercaster- it's a modified tele named after Ry Cooder who had a habit of dropping supro lap steel pickups into fender guitars. I'll post pictures...

I started with a cheap Squier Telecaster that I got from the Aberdeen Music forum. Cheap as chips, nice guitar. Cheap. And then dropped in a Supro pickup, complete with the big metal baseplate. Took an hour or so to wire it all up and adjust the intonation. 

Hows it sound? Really good, actually. Lap steel pickups pack a lot of punch, and they're a little darker sounding than a normal guitar pickup so it takes some of the high end off the guitar. It's a great sounding slide guitar, although the big baseplate is really ugly. So, close your eyes and don't look there.

Like I said, pics to follow....

British Blues Awards, 2011

OK, so the dust is settling in life, and the award is sinking in.

Thanks to all of you that took the time to organize the awards, and all of you that voted. It was a great event this year, and an impressive collection of talented artists from across the blues in Britain. As you can imaging, it's an honor just to be included in this group, but to have won this award for the second time is really great.

So, getting down to work the rest of the year, one or two remaining gigs on the diary and a few more being penciled in now that my shoulder is back in working order. Its seemed like forever since I've been able to play an acoustic guitar, but those days look to be over. And so, with this new band of mine we'll plan on a tour of England next year, and a run of gigs on the continent next year as well. In the meantime, it's off to Texas for a couple of weeks in October to hang with some old friends, do some playing and a little recording.

And, that my friends, is the news from here. Stay tuned, things are gonna start moving faster now...

 

 

Thanks to all!

Just saw the twitter comments from the Newark Blues Festival and the British Bues Awards. Thanks to all that voted! Its an honor to have won the Instrumentalist category again. More later when I calm down....

Carter 12 Pedal steel for sale. Sacred steel tuning. 1500£

24 strings later....

All day spent restringing a stringmaster. 24 strings on 3 necks. So it's C6 on teeter neck, A6 on the middle and the Don Helms E13 on the inner neck. The outer two are nothing new, but I'm hooked on the Don Helms tuning, all those Hank Williams tunes fall right into place. And the Miller Sisters song we play with the Malpaso Gang? Well, that works better as well. Can't wait to try this out at the next rehearsal.

And then it was over.

Yes folks, it's true. The Son Henry Band is done. Off. To something new.

It was a great run in Aberdeen, almost 6 years with some good local players. And years and years before that too. But I'm going to play a few solo gigs, play some steel guitar with the Malpaso Gang and work up something new, blues-ier than before.

Watch this space.

2011 British Blues Awards!

Hey- A big round of thanks to all of you that voted in the nomination process for the British Blues Awards! The list of nominees is now official, and thanks to you I'm on the list! And it's a great list of nominees this year, and an honor to be included on the list of such talented people. Thanks!

Voting now runs through July 31st. To vote for your favorites, you go to:

http://www.britishbluesawards.com

You'll find a complete list of all the nominees and a chance to vote on-line. You know we appreciate your taking a couple of minutes to vote!

New free downloads available!

Hey- as a small thank you for your support in the British Blues Awards this year, I've put three songs out on my website that you can download for free! They're great if you need some driving songs, or need music for radio- whatever! Enjoy.

 

You can find them here:

http://www.sonhenry.com/music.htm

 

Cheers!

 

Son

 

 

 

 

Just one last week-

to get yoyr nominations in

Always looking for another Magnatone Lap steel

Call me if you have one for sale!

Keighley Blues Club

Photos: Idris Richards


Well, it's settled. We can mix the acoustic and electric souls into one performance. Keighley approved.

Thanks to Paul Lester and Dino we held court at the Keighley Blues Club this weekend. What a great night, wonderful people and a fantastic room. Stuart did a great job with the live sound that opened the doors for us to really stretch out. If you missed it, well, shame on ya!

You can read more here:


Keighley Reviews

Thanks John and all the wonderful folks that made for such a memorable night! See you again soon-

Don't Forget! Still time for Brit Blues Award Nominations!

www.britishbluesawards.com is the link!

 

It's that time of year when we all get to nominate our favourite blues artists for theBritish Blues Awards. The process is easy and if you follow that link that's the first step. Consider this a shameless request for your support in the 'Other' instrument category- Lap Steel Players need all the help we can get!

 

Thanks!

 

Son

 

 

British Blues Award Nominations!

Hey gang- It's time once again for the British Blues Award nominations! There's a lot of very talented people around, so please be sure and get your vote in before March 31 so that it counts!

Here's what to do, start here:

www.britishbluesawards.com

Then go to the nominations tab. From there you can vote for your favorite artists.

As always, I'd appreciate your vote in the 'other instrument' category!

Thanks!

Best of the rest, again in 2011!

http://www.aberdeen-music.com/forums/fudgenet/63688-best-rest-2011-fudge-musi...

 

It's a win, for the second year in a row! Thanks to all of you that voted, the band won 'Best o the rest' in the Aberdeen Fudge Music Awards. We're stoked (which translates to psyched, chuffed, wowed, etc) Thanks to all of you that voted! 

MALPASO GANG WINS!!!!

http://themalpasogang.posterous.com/the-malpaso-gang-wins-best-indie-band-in-the

 

Wow. What a great night. Too bad about all the van problems and other misadventures  that kept me from getting there....

Son Henry with the T. Rogers Blues Band - Let Me Lay My Head Down

Son Henry with the T. Rogers Blues Band : Can't Be Satisfied

Son Henry with the T. Rogers Blues Band - Richer Than A Sheik

Selling off some of my old gear..

It's true. The things that don't gig are all going, and this is the last of it. Yeah, ok, I'm a packrat and I've been dragging this stuff around for years. It all needs a new home now. Follow the link, and apologies for the photos- great photographer I am not. But you'll get the idea.

details here: http://vintageguitarsuk.blogspot.com/

 

And don't be shy, give me a shout if you have questions about some of this stuff. Some of it you won't ever see in the UK again, so this might be your only chance to own some of this old stuff!

as tour of the 1959 Fender factory anyone?

Oh. My. Lord. 

Stringmaster around 4:45....