New songs?

Getting organized to teach the guys the new songs, new CD in the works for fall...

Time to pack...

Ok! The weekend after next, two great shows at the Moorings Bar in Aberdeen. On Friday February 1st  it's a reunion of the old Malpaso Gang- country all the way. And then the Son Henry Band gets back for one gig at the Moorings on Saturday February 2nd.

I can't wait to get home! Started packing today, and trying to decide how best to pack lap steels and guitars into a small suitcase that the airlines can't destroy.

More gigs to follow. I'll be back in the fall for a couple of weeks of gigs in September. In the meantime, get your pirate on at the Moorings with us...

Back in Business...

In case you didn't see the schedule update, I've got three dates boooked the weekend of February 1st in the UK. I've got a couple more dates open and not afraid to drive, so if interested in talking about a gig please give me a shout!

 

See everyone soon-

Schedule update

Ok, gang, here is the current schedule for February:

Friday, February 1st: The Malpaso Gang at the Moorings Bar, Aberdeen

Saturday, February 2nd: The Son Henry Band at the Moorings Bar.

Sunday, February 3rd: TBA

More to follow! See y'all soon.

Friday February 1st at the Moorings Bar, Aberdeen

Wel folks, it's a one-shot deal this spring, a reunion for my old band at the Moorings in Aberdeen. We're part of a three-band billing, probably on about 10 (but check with the venue first, ok?).

Looking forward to getting back to Aberdeen and hanging with some old friends AND getting a chance to play a bit with Dino and Duncan. More gigs coming this summer now that I'm back in action so stay tuned!

Check the bar out here for the latest news: http://www.themooringsbar.co.uk/

 

 

News from the library

Wow, what a great decision. Taking time to study, I mean. In the last week or so I've been going through Willie Brown's M&O Blues in painful detail. Painful. Detail.

Really, I should have done this years ago.

Someone recently hit me with 'but you'll be off everyone's radar screen!" So, what? I got started playing music years ago because I loved the music. Performing is secondary and I know I'll get back to it when the time is right. In the meantime I've got detail to mine in these old songs.

The fun part is translating the detail between guitars. Its great to be able to play this on an old resonator. It's even better knowing that I can take it to a gig on an electric guitar as well- potential band material down the line, or something to play along with my drum set. I like keeping my options open and knowing that the techniques, the nuances, all the detail and an even deeper level of understanding is adaptable as live moves forward.

Peace. Once more Willie Brown side and then it's off to Son House...

And so the Sabbatical begins

Man, I've been at this or 30 or more years without a break. Gigging constantly, and very little time to work on my own playing like I did back when I was a puppy- you know, playing for hours at a time, working on technique, etc.

And so, after agonizing about this, I'm formally taking a sabbatical. Starting today. For a full year.

I'll keep you posted how I do, but I'm going to focus on two very simple things the pre-war blues catalog and my acoustic lap steel playing.

Why the pre-war catalog? Because it's neglected, its music that I love, and it's not often played well. Sure there are players at festivals playing the songs, but the energy, the detail isn't there. Time to see how close to right I can get it.

And then, the acoustic lap steel playing? Yeah, because the pre-war stuff adapts pretty well. So it overlaps.

Goal? Mastery. Mastery of instruments, mastery of a genre. In a year. Oh, and I'm keeping notes that might end up in a book someday, or in the trash, depending.

This means you won't see me much on Facebook, or Myspace or whatever. I'm focused, full stop.

Off we go, time to get started, the first mountain to climb is Robert Johnson's 'Terraplane Blues'. yeah,I've got the basics, but the nuances ain't there....

Time to re-engage...

It's been a long few months I must admit, but dis-engaging from the world of social media has been good for me. Time to get back to it.

So, what did I learn?

Well, that I don't bounce anymore. After going too fast and riding a bike into the pavement, well, I've learned something that should have been obvious- it takes longer to heal up as you get older. So, my ribs are finally better, I can use that left hand again.

Lesson learned.

the view from my window

Been an interesting few months. Things may start changing a bit over the next few months, if only by a little.

As you know I've been on a much-needed break for the last several months to look after some family issues. Still more to come, but at least I'm at a point where the guitar is back out and getting some play-time on a regular basis.

Almost as a form of therapy I got my studio set up (well, some of it at least) so I could work on some steel guitar tracks for the new Bob Hall cd. It was good therapy sitting in the middle of this pile of junk and boxes and getting some tracks into the computer. Bob's reviewing some of the roughs right now. So that's close to done.

Next step? Well, stay tuned. I did say the studio was working, and I've got some dobro tracks to record for another cd. And, from the comfort of this studio chair I'm working on setting up a podcast.....

Blues Blast magazine says...

Steel guitars come in many forms – six string, eight string and ten-string – some with double necks, some with pedals and electronic gizmos (pedal steel guitars are the core of 20th century country music). There are some ace players around: Robert Randolph and Darrick Campbell of course; Aubrey Ghent and Sonny Treadway; the winner of this year’s Blues Foundation Award for the Instrumentalist (other) Sonny Rhodes; and the winner of last year’s British Blues Award also for Instrumentalist, Alaskan born Son Henry. All these musicians bring a special, and very welcome sound to the blues, for the instrument is capable of great subtlety and in skilful hands, much “Make-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-stand-up” passion and emotionality.

Cool. People are paying attention!

And so it ends...

Well, with Nina off on maternity leave and me packing to move it's the end of the first incarnation of the Malpaso Gang. We won a few awards and played some great gigs. But, beyond that, this band gave me a good reason to strap on a guitar and play. Play for the love of it, and not worry about other people expectations or demands. Play for the joy working out some new runs in a strange tuning. Rekindling my love of old country and rockabilly, and playing again.

Truth be told, with everything going on over the last year, this was a refuge for an old soul to eddy out and heal, shaking off the years of frustration of working with a parade of players that have no connection to their roots. It's been a thing of joy to go back to square one.

Once again everything fits. Time to start over.

This could be it....

With Nina due any day now, this could be the last Malpaso Gang gig with the whole band. Friday November 18 at the Globe Inn in downtown Aberdeen. We kick off at 9:30 and go till we drop! It'll be old country and rockabilly, lots of originals. And the most fun you can have in Aberdeen on a Friday... It's also my last performance there for the year and what may be a very long time. So, it's a great chance to say goodbye and catch one of the final performances of this award winning band before the first phase passes into the history books!

Last solo gig in Aberdeen tonight...

Well, we're counting down pretty quickly. Tonight is my last solo gig in Aberdeen before I pack up and move. It's a solo gig opening for the Lyndon Anderson Band, one of my favorites. Lyndon is a great harp player and the band is rock solid. Like I said, a favorite.

The big leaving-blast is December 9th at the Moorings. It's a double header with the Malpaso Gang opening the show- both my bands on one bill, I don't think that's ever happened before!

So, sad to go, but a few parties along the way.....

The incredible shrinking trio

Yeah, its true, I did in fact play drums the other night.

I got a wild hair about it after watching Homer Henderson on youtube. Seemed like a great idea. And so "hmmm", I thought, "could you combine that idea with the Black Keys or the White Stripes and really strip it down?"

The answer is yes- with help from Mike Oxley on bass we played an hour or so as the worlds only 2-man trio. I rigged the drums up so I could play with my feet, play the guitar and sing. It was pretty primal and of course not as sophisticated as having a real drummer.

You do learn something doing a gig like that, and its something that a drummer or a guitar player alone don't always'get'- that's that a good groove is a mix of the right amount of each instrument in the right place. And in putting together the material for this gig we had to be really careful to find ways to use the instruments to make things rhythmically interesting where EACH instrument (including the vocals) is really a member of the rhythm section.

Oh, this was a great workout. I'm thinking of setting up an aerobics class like this; sing and play drums. Cool, huh?

But in the end it was fun enough that we'll do it again at the Moorings on December 9th. The Malpaso Gang will open the show. Mark your diaries- it's my last show in Aberdeen.

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.