old news

10th July 2006

The Rosetta Life band (Billy Bragg, Helena, Robbie McIntosh Ady Milward and I) played at the Three Horseshoes in Burton Bradstock, near Bridport, Weymouth on Friday 23rd June. It was a wondrous night at Adrian and Sarah’s superb little boozer. Johnnie Walker of BBC Radio fame was at the gig as a guest of my old mate and erstwhile Custer’s Last Blues Band founder member Dave Miles, and Walker declared himself well impressed with the evening’s entertainment. He followed this up by playing the Rosetta song ‘The Light Within’ on his Radio 2 show on Monday 3rd July. The gig at the Shoes served as a warm-up for the band’s appearance at the Beaminster Festival in the town’s Public Hall Dorset on Friday 28th June, where once again we played the three songs from the ‘We Laughed’ CD, plus Billy’s anthemic statement of personal commitment ‘I Keep Faith’ and a selection of Helena’s and Robbie’s original material. Robbie, Ady and I also had some fun with a few numbers from the Steamer Ducklings set, letting rip with our interpretations of works from the likes of Freddie King, The Boxtops and Chuck Berry.

You might be aware the Rosetta Life Band is the band that recorded the song ‘We Laughed’, written by Maxine Edgington and Billy, which got to no.11 in the UK charts. Maxine was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer some time ago, but the medical experts that predicted her life expectancy back then didn’t reckon with her sheer determination to live every moment to the full. You can get more details of the Rosetta Life hospice charity movement at www.rosettalife.org.

The Ben Waters Band made its third annual visit to Lulworth Castle in Dorset, an absolutely idyllic setting, on Friday 7th July. Blues duo Harry Skinner and Dave Saunders kicked off the night, followed by a blistering hour-long set from Ben, Ady, Clive Ashley, Ray Ashley (trombone), Pete Bettle (baritone), Tony Farinha (guitar) Ralph Cree (percussion) and myself. Top of the bill was Procol Harum, still fronted by Gary Brooker whose voice and piano skills are as wonderful as ever. Their huge 1967 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale was the first record I ever bought, making the event particularly poignant for me. The night was a huge success, and congratulations go to Ben and the people at the Castle for putting the whole thing together.

On Saturday 15th July I’m playing at the Gillingham Festival in Gillingham, North Dorset with the Barrelhouse Blues Band (at around 2pm) and later on with the Ben Waters Band. There’s a huge amount of events taking place, (including a set from Steve Wilson’s band The Wilsons immediately before the Barrelhouse set on Saturday) – go to www.gillinghamfestival.org.uk/festival2006.htm for details.

As usual, the Thursday night jam sessions continue at Finns, Westham Road , Weymouth . New and established bands and solo artists are encouraged to take to the stage, and there’s at least half a dozen bands out gigging now that started off playing a few numbers at these sessions. If you want to book yourself a slot, get down there before 9pm and have a word with me. PA and backline is provided.

Chris Lonergan

Valid CSS! Valid HTML 4.01!