old news

25th September 2007

On Saturday 1st September I played at a private party in the depths of Dorset, a wedding do, with the Barrelhouse Blues Band. I was joined by Paul Hart (guitar and vocals), Howie Casey (sax) and his wife Sheila (vocals), Mark Skerritt (keys) and Alan Edwards (drums). Eric Stewart, 10cc’s guitarist, joined us for a few rock’n’roll classics. Proper posh, it was, and great fun.

On Saturday 8th September, the massed ranks of the Barrelhouse Blues Orchestra and Choir, all 30-plus of them, performed the inaugural concert and the spanking brand new (and very impressive) Exchange in Sturminster Newton, Dorset, as part of the Sturminster Cheese Festival (“Oh cool”, said my son Jack. “Do you get paid in cheese?”). The place was sold out and the band, with new choir member Tanya Lonergan, was in fine form. Ray Foster and Sheila McKinley shared the main vocal duties, and they’ve both got to be amongst the best blues/soul singers in the country.

The following day Mutter, Ady Milward and myself headed back to Mojo Studios in Torquay, to do further work on the Mutter Slater Band CD. It’s shaping up very nicely, and the feedback we’re getting from the handful of people close to the band that have had a sneak preview is very positive.

Little Dixie played at a private bash at Frampton Village Hall, near Dorchester on 15th August. The band was booked by a Stackridge fan, and the reaction from him and similarly minded friends of his to Mutter’s original material was again extremely encouraging.

As Little Dixie morphs into the Mutter Slater Band, we played at the Tiger Inn, Barrack Street, Bridport, Dorset on Friday 26th. The first set was all Slater originals, the majority brand new compositions (including ‘Going Back To Bridport’ – where better for its first airing?), and the second set a mixture of Mutter’s stuff and soul/r&b gems. It was again very well received. Thanks go out to the AA (that’s the car people, not the other ones) for being our roadies on the way back to Weymouth, after the clutch on Ady’s motor gave out – luckily, just as we arrived at the gig.

Back Street Blues play at the Endsbury Park Hotel in Bournemouth on Saturday 6th October, followed by Weysia 3 at the Pavilion, The Esplanade, Weymouth on Sunday 7th. The billing at the time of writing features the Steamer Ducks, Gothic Chicken, Vending Machine Repair Men, the Mutter Slater Band, Tom Caulfield, Delayed, C Sharp Blues, Metanza and Brahms & Liszt. Profits will go towards sending students from Wey Valley School in Weymouth to work with street children in Calcutta. The music will start at 7pm, going through until midnight, and tickets are £10, available from the Pavilion box office on 01305 783225.

Back Street Blues play at the New George, Trinity Street, Dorchester on Friday 12th October and at the Nelson in Norton-sub-Hamdon on Saturday 13th, followed by a Custer’s Last Blues Band reunion at the Hope & Anchor, St Michael’s Lane, Bridport on Sunday 14th.

 

Chris Lonergan

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