old news

7th April 2007

The Ben Waters Band made its début at the Thomas Tripp in Christchurch, near Bournemouth, Dorset on the 22nd March. It’s a great venue and the band was in fine form. We were joined by USA guitar hero Colin John, who also joined us on our return to the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis, Dorset on the 23rd. Also with us was Canadian guitarist Tom Bowler, one of our hosts on the band’s visit to Canada last August. Tom is a great geezer and a very fine musician.

The Ben band then played at The Theatre Royal, Winchester on the 3rd April. It’s a fantastic venue and we had a really good night. Ben played a solo set, after which Ady Milward, Clive Ashley, Pete Bettle and myself joined him onstage.

Ady and I have been working with Mutter Slater on some new Mutterisms for some weeks recently, in advance of a recording session at Mojo studios in Torquay. We tried out the new material on an impromptu gig at the Park Hotel in Weymouth on Thursday 29th March, a valuable preparation for the session itself. Mojo is a great studio, run by Leo Brown who’s not only a great producer/engineer and an all-round good egg, but also a QPR supporter! There is another one in the West Country! It was a really productive few days, 13 rhythm tracks down, followed by a gig at the Sea Trout Inn in Staverton, Devon on Thursday 5th April. That was a truly great night, and another début – the first official outing for the Mutter Slater Band. Apart from two or three covers, it was Mutter’s original material all night, and the punters were right with us.

Mutter, Ady and I were back at the Park Hotel on Saturday 7th April, joined by Clive Ashley on the saxomophone (sorry, too many Simpsons re-runs). It was Clive’s first chance to have a work out on Mutter’s new stuff, and it worked a treat, and was once again really well received.

On Monday 16th April we’re returning to Mike Hallet’s excellent studio in Weymouth www.hallettsound.co.uk, where the Rosetta Life single ‘We Laughed’ with Billy Bragg was recorded, to mix the stuff we’ve been recording with Tim Broad, Ben Waters, Grant Day, Emma Gale, Nick Gomer, Clive, Ady and a host of splendid musicians that are a part of Weymouth’s remarkable music scene. This project was Ben Waters’ idea for a first anniversary wedding present for Tim and his wife Maggi, and details of the CD’s release will follow.

Little Dixie return to Woods Wine Bar in Yeovil, Somerset on Saturday 28 th April, after which the Ben Waters Band sets off on a mini European tour. We start with a gig at Fiddlers, Den Haag, Holland on Sunday 29th, followed by gigs at the Wendelstein New Orleans Festival, Germany www.festival-wendelstein.de on Monday 30th, followed by a trip down south to Ingolstadt, Germany for their Blues Festival www.bluestfestingolstadt.de on May 1st. Then we’re off to Storyville Happy Jazz Club in Helsinki, Finland www.storyville.fi, for a three-day residency from Thursday 3rd to Saturday 5th. On the heels of this, the second part of the process of the forthcoming Ben band CD (vocals, overdubs etc), begins, again at Mike Hallett’s studio in Weymouth. I can’t wait to hear the results!

Chris Lonergan

Valid CSS! Valid HTML 4.01!