It's a couple of days late this week...it's been too busy the past few days. I'm happy to say my mad week of gigging is over, at least until Friday, oh and then Sunday too.
It started at The Primrose last Thursday the 23rd playing the regular solo opening slot. Not too bad this one, maybe not quite as good as some of the previous ones but it was ok. I was tired out before I'd even started doing this week's gigs so the set here was a bit 'forced', a case of trying too hard. I felt some of the tunes were a bit frantic. I'd give it a 6 though, and I thought Sam and Anna sounded really good from where I was listening in the other bar room.
Onto Friday and the band was out at The Travellers Rest in Meltham. The area looks great when you turn up in daylight. The night was pretty good too. It's a hard room to work as the band is placed at one day down some steps. Nobody sits down there as they're very close to the band, they all tend to hide further up the room. Thus we spent a lot of the gig playing as if from a castle over a moat to where the audience were! The first set left me feeling we weren't making the right impression. This changed in 'White Room' which was so fierce it made everyone pay attention. From then on things improved culminating in several people coming down for a dance in the moat. I'd taken to wandering out into the moat to sing infront of the speakers, and then had to retreat as I was nearly trampled underfoot by the dancers! They all appeared at once as if from nowhere, as if it was stage-managed. "....and when the clock strikes 11pm Couples A,B,C &D please take to the floor..." For the ending alone, it's a 7 out of 10.
I was working with Atlanta Soul on Saturday night in beautiful Lincolnshire, and then it was onto my hotel room for a bath, some tea and some snooker (it's a sport similar to pool Kelley!). This makes it sound very rock n roll (apart from the snooker) but in actual fact I paid for the room myself in order to move onto Kings Lynn for the all-important Stock Cars on Sunday!
With hardly time to eject the Kings Lynn shale from my hair, nose and ears it was onto more band gigs. Monday was a return to Harrys Bar, as a 3-piece this time (which meant we almost had enough room!). It was a fair night, hard work in places for me, but we got a reasonable response. I'd say this was a 5. Last night we did the Junction at Queensbury where a new low ebb was reached as the band was paid in bags of coins due to not enough cash being taken on the night! Whose fault is this you may wonder. It's always been quiet when we play there, and this time it was actually busier than some previous times. I don't think we were very popular with the management after this one but we had brought nearly half the crowd. When something goes wrong like this the band is made to feel accountable, as if we've forced ourselves upon the venue and demanded we get paid to play. I'm sure some customers think this is the case! Of course, we were asked to play-not the other way round, so really responsibility should be shared at least. I'm just glad we got paid in full. One to forget, scores 3.
The band is out again this Friday at the Kings Arms in Heaton Bradford and then I'm doing solo for the Barge&Barrel beer festival in Elland on Sunday evening. Come down if you can, I may buy you a beer, I've got plenty of change....
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Welcome back to my blog......I'm sure you are by now suffering from serious withdrawl symptoms due to the lack of a blog last week....and also am sure you are literally cross-legged with curiosity to know what I've been up to in the past 2 weeks. I also dream of winning the lottery and marrying Christine Bleakley.
So where to begin, so much to tell. I think we're back into the week leading up to Easter. I just did one gig that week at the Bay Horse in Lindley, Huddersfield. This was solo and, in common with the band gigs in the past there, was absolutely no different to the previous occasions! By which I mean it was deadly quiet with no real interest in what was going on. I played a fairly satisfactory set but one has to wonder how the pub has managed to run live music nights for so long. I guess it's not my call to reason why as long as they continue to book me. To be fair, the owners are lovely and they at least thought I was good :) So it can have a 5 out of 10.
That was Easter Saturday. The previous night I celebrated that well-known miracle. Yes, a Bradford Bulls victory over Leeds. The team is still rubbish but at least I can paritally avoid the total ridicule of losing to our dear neighbours (bastards). The rest of the weekend was motorsport orientated and then it was off to the East coast for a couple of days' break. Ah yes, Whitby looks beautiful so I'm told. A pity as the whole coastline was covered in mist for 3 days and I couldn't see a thing....the sea sounded pretty good though.
Refreshed from 3 days of poor air quality we returned to work on Friday night (the 17th) with the band playing at the Bridge Tavern in Bradford. This was poor quality of a different kind. Yes, another dead night playing to a handful of souls, some very nice, some not so. Each song greeted by a spontaneous round of indifference. In the second set, which is usually the worst on these sort of nights, I found the band actually sounded marvellous and I closed my eyes and dreamt of that far-away day when we get to play to a packed crowd. We sounded fucking amazing and with nothing to lose it at least salvaged something from the night. I'd give it 6 from 10, normally it would have been a 4.
I often read marketing tips for musicians. They all tend to mention stuff in the context of a certain type of gig. Things like 'your merchandise stall' and 'your fans' and 'fans' email addresses'. I wonder how to work this into some of the shows I do!! The scenario is very different. Perhaps there's a lesson to be learnt about what type of gigs we play, but then given the state of things at the moment, it's not that easy to alter.
Anyway, at least the weather has been nice today! It makes a difference. This week gets quite busy later on with a solo gig at The Primrose in Leeds and the band are out in Meltham on Friday.
I often read marketing tips for musicians. They all tend to mention stuff in the context of a certain type of gig. Things like 'your merchandise stall' and 'your fans' and 'fans' email addresses'. I wonder how to work this into some of the shows I do!! The scenario is very different. Perhaps there's a lesson to be learnt about what type of gigs we play, but then given the state of things at the moment, it's not that easy to alter.
Anyway, at least the weather has been nice today! It makes a difference. This week gets quite busy later on with a solo gig at The Primrose in Leeds and the band are out in Meltham on Friday.
Monday, April 06, 2009
A much-need quieter week last week, I think it was a blessing really, even though there's the need to keep working. So, just one gig to report on since last we spoke, that of the Abbey Inn at Bramley on Saturday (the 4th). Not a bad night, a bit quiet on the audience front but another opportunity to play more original material. There's been a few of these lately. Given that is the aim of the band I think that's a vague sign of progress! I'll score it a 5.
This did leave more time for recording of course. The work on that never stops. I could write a huge book on all the songs I've written and/or recorded, there's still a huge backlogue of songs from yester year. I'm slowly working on them, trying to do them all the best possible justice (otherwise there's no point writing them), song by song, album by album!! The next installment of this madness should be with us in a few months' time: it will be my 3rd solo album.
Have a good Easter week-next week (and don't be too upset) there'll be no blog but I'll be back with plenty to catch up on soon enough, oh yes.
This did leave more time for recording of course. The work on that never stops. I could write a huge book on all the songs I've written and/or recorded, there's still a huge backlogue of songs from yester year. I'm slowly working on them, trying to do them all the best possible justice (otherwise there's no point writing them), song by song, album by album!! The next installment of this madness should be with us in a few months' time: it will be my 3rd solo album.
Have a good Easter week-next week (and don't be too upset) there'll be no blog but I'll be back with plenty to catch up on soon enough, oh yes.
Monday, March 30, 2009
The goose that laid the golden egg
Another extremely busy week, but at least the blog is on time this Monday! There's been 2 more Paul Jeffery Band gigs since last time. On Thursday we completed a run of 3 new venues in 6 days at The Fenton in Leeds. This is a proper old-fashioned Leeds boozer, a former Tetley house, and long-running music venue. It has an upstairs room where bands play but we were downstairs in the bar, playing to a cross-section of students and older folk. It was pretty busy all the way through.
There's something about playing a pub for the first time. There's always a bit of nervous anticipation about what it will be like. With me the novelty of a new venue wears off quickly, especially now the band has found it's feet. This was one such night when the adrenalin of a new venue, combined with a lively crowd, and the knowlegde that we were playing where we were wanted, all contrived to make this a great gig. It scores an 8, which as you know is quite rare for me to do.
I thought it had all the elements in place, from early sing-alongs to 'Lola', to later rocking to 'Can't Stand Losing You' and 'Gimme Some Lovin'. The originals went down pretty well too. I'd be more than happy to go back here. It's the sort of pub I used to hear about bands playing without ever getting the chance to do them. Now I feel we're doing these places, and that they still exist in 2009. Although very tired at times, I felt last week we were a proper working band, doing Friday, Monday and Thursday. It was fun!
That still leaves The Railway at Berry Brow yesterday (the 29th) which was, as usual, pretty good. We always get a good sound in there, and a good reception. For the first time, all 8 originals were played, and they actually seemed to go down better than the covers. This is the main reason for building on these venues. I'd score it a 6, as I was struggling a bit towards the end. But at least we went down well. We were even offered one of our first gifts from the audience, a goose egg, freshly laid! Some bands get ladies underwear, we get goose eggs.
In between this hectic rock n roll lifestyle of seedy Leeds pubs and goose eggs, I managed to fit in going to see a concert myself. Yes, Jackson Browne was in town (Sheffield City Hall) on Friday night and was well worth seeing. He's one of these singer-songwriters I always knew I'd like even before I'd heard any songs. There's a quality and consistancy to him and his band and whilst it's never overly spectacular, it's always listenable. That's another seminal artist to chalk off the list, Bob Dylan's touring soon.....
MAILING LIST:
Don't forget you can enjoy more pearls of wisdom with my monthly e-zine (I think that's the correct jargon for 'newsletter in email form'). Just send me an email to be added to the list. paul@pauljeffery.com
There's something about playing a pub for the first time. There's always a bit of nervous anticipation about what it will be like. With me the novelty of a new venue wears off quickly, especially now the band has found it's feet. This was one such night when the adrenalin of a new venue, combined with a lively crowd, and the knowlegde that we were playing where we were wanted, all contrived to make this a great gig. It scores an 8, which as you know is quite rare for me to do.
I thought it had all the elements in place, from early sing-alongs to 'Lola', to later rocking to 'Can't Stand Losing You' and 'Gimme Some Lovin'. The originals went down pretty well too. I'd be more than happy to go back here. It's the sort of pub I used to hear about bands playing without ever getting the chance to do them. Now I feel we're doing these places, and that they still exist in 2009. Although very tired at times, I felt last week we were a proper working band, doing Friday, Monday and Thursday. It was fun!
That still leaves The Railway at Berry Brow yesterday (the 29th) which was, as usual, pretty good. We always get a good sound in there, and a good reception. For the first time, all 8 originals were played, and they actually seemed to go down better than the covers. This is the main reason for building on these venues. I'd score it a 6, as I was struggling a bit towards the end. But at least we went down well. We were even offered one of our first gifts from the audience, a goose egg, freshly laid! Some bands get ladies underwear, we get goose eggs.
In between this hectic rock n roll lifestyle of seedy Leeds pubs and goose eggs, I managed to fit in going to see a concert myself. Yes, Jackson Browne was in town (Sheffield City Hall) on Friday night and was well worth seeing. He's one of these singer-songwriters I always knew I'd like even before I'd heard any songs. There's a quality and consistancy to him and his band and whilst it's never overly spectacular, it's always listenable. That's another seminal artist to chalk off the list, Bob Dylan's touring soon.....
MAILING LIST:
Don't forget you can enjoy more pearls of wisdom with my monthly e-zine (I think that's the correct jargon for 'newsletter in email form'). Just send me an email to be added to the list. paul@pauljeffery.com
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
I'm a day behind this week, some would say more, mainly due to the hectic schedule lately. Last week was fairly peaceful until Thursday when I did the Bar Place Open Mic night in Hebden Bridge, followed by the band at the Moorlands, Ogden on Friday, then solo on Sunday night and the band back out again last night (Mon 23rd March).
For Open Mics these days I try and play something new, something I've learnt specially. They're the best place to test new material. So for this I decided to undertake learning 'Brian Wilson' by the Barenaked Ladies. I've been a fan of this song for a long time, I love the hook: 'Lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did'. As with most of their stuff, it's not a 2-minute job to learn the lyrics, they're quite wordy, so I was reciting it for a couple of days before.
The venue itself is tasteful if a little plastic and the open mic itself was a quiet affair. I still enjoyed it though, playing to a handful of people all listening. I played 'Your Shadow', 'Money From The Satisfied Man', 'Cold Cold Day' and the aforementioned BNLs cover. (that's what you can call the band if you're a true fan- a bit like ELP for Emerson, Lake & Palmer). 'Money From The Satisfied' has personally never satisfied me live until this night. I think this was the turning point where I finally did it justice. The youtube version isn't too bad, but on other occasions I've played it it doesn't seem to have gone down too well. I think now I've got a grip on it. It's amazing how songs go on these journeys.....again, all part of the process of playing open mics.
The band at the Moorlands on Friday was very good. It's a busy pub (yes, there is still such a thing, contrary to popular wisdom) and we got an enthusiastic reception. I was a bit daunted when I found out a couple had come to watch us for whom we're playing their wedding soon! I had to assure them we didn't do 'The Bitch Is Back' at weddings!! It was a very good night all ends up, so this can score 7.
Sunday night was my regular solo slot at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet. I can normally name most of the crowd there but this time there were some new faces too which helped. A solid night, again playing a lot of new stuff as I force my solo set to move on from the old favourites, this gets a 6.
Last night (Monday) the band was at Harrys Bar in Wakefield, again for the first time. This place is on the small side for bands and I was worried we would be too 'in yer face', considering not only the size but also that the venue hosts quite a lot of acoustic duos. I needn't have worried....even though it was never really packed, we went down well. After a shaky start I felt we were really together in the second set.
Again, new songs abound with recent arrivals being 'The Prisoner' and covers such as 'Badge', 'Teenage Kicks' and 'Can't Stand Losing You'. The latter in particular sounding very neet. I love putting in new songs, constantly shaking things up and keeping it interesting for myself and challening for the band! In past bands, I've felt we were restricted to playing the same songs, or had a limited repertoire for one reason or another. Now I'm finally realising some of my 'troubador' dreams of playing a wide variety of my favourite songs. Only another 3000 to go!
The night was fun and I'd score it a 6.
A couple of other things to mention: Don't forget you can chat with me if you have yahoo or hotmail emails accounts. It's an instant chat and doesn't require the installation of a programme, it just loads up automatically when you check your mail. Add my Email to talk about stuff!
Also....'Your Shadow' was recently included in another podcast, a very well-run one called Indie Music Sampler. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
There hasn't been much time for anything else and this week the band is out twice again. I'm still recording the 3rd album and promoting on the web both my older albums and the Paradise Street one. Things are currently busier than ever so I guess I should round this blog off for now and get some more work done, thank you for reading!
For Open Mics these days I try and play something new, something I've learnt specially. They're the best place to test new material. So for this I decided to undertake learning 'Brian Wilson' by the Barenaked Ladies. I've been a fan of this song for a long time, I love the hook: 'Lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did'. As with most of their stuff, it's not a 2-minute job to learn the lyrics, they're quite wordy, so I was reciting it for a couple of days before.
The venue itself is tasteful if a little plastic and the open mic itself was a quiet affair. I still enjoyed it though, playing to a handful of people all listening. I played 'Your Shadow', 'Money From The Satisfied Man', 'Cold Cold Day' and the aforementioned BNLs cover. (that's what you can call the band if you're a true fan- a bit like ELP for Emerson, Lake & Palmer). 'Money From The Satisfied' has personally never satisfied me live until this night. I think this was the turning point where I finally did it justice. The youtube version isn't too bad, but on other occasions I've played it it doesn't seem to have gone down too well. I think now I've got a grip on it. It's amazing how songs go on these journeys.....again, all part of the process of playing open mics.
The band at the Moorlands on Friday was very good. It's a busy pub (yes, there is still such a thing, contrary to popular wisdom) and we got an enthusiastic reception. I was a bit daunted when I found out a couple had come to watch us for whom we're playing their wedding soon! I had to assure them we didn't do 'The Bitch Is Back' at weddings!! It was a very good night all ends up, so this can score 7.
Sunday night was my regular solo slot at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet. I can normally name most of the crowd there but this time there were some new faces too which helped. A solid night, again playing a lot of new stuff as I force my solo set to move on from the old favourites, this gets a 6.
Last night (Monday) the band was at Harrys Bar in Wakefield, again for the first time. This place is on the small side for bands and I was worried we would be too 'in yer face', considering not only the size but also that the venue hosts quite a lot of acoustic duos. I needn't have worried....even though it was never really packed, we went down well. After a shaky start I felt we were really together in the second set.
Again, new songs abound with recent arrivals being 'The Prisoner' and covers such as 'Badge', 'Teenage Kicks' and 'Can't Stand Losing You'. The latter in particular sounding very neet. I love putting in new songs, constantly shaking things up and keeping it interesting for myself and challening for the band! In past bands, I've felt we were restricted to playing the same songs, or had a limited repertoire for one reason or another. Now I'm finally realising some of my 'troubador' dreams of playing a wide variety of my favourite songs. Only another 3000 to go!
The night was fun and I'd score it a 6.
A couple of other things to mention: Don't forget you can chat with me if you have yahoo or hotmail emails accounts. It's an instant chat and doesn't require the installation of a programme, it just loads up automatically when you check your mail. Add my Email to talk about stuff!
Also....'Your Shadow' was recently included in another podcast, a very well-run one called Indie Music Sampler. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
There hasn't been much time for anything else and this week the band is out twice again. I'm still recording the 3rd album and promoting on the web both my older albums and the Paradise Street one. Things are currently busier than ever so I guess I should round this blog off for now and get some more work done, thank you for reading!
Monday, March 16, 2009
A fairly quiet week for gigs has just passed. For the second time in succession The Primrose in Leeds was cancelled due to other bands pulling out. Instead I went to The Chemic Open Mic, which is nearby in Woodside. The Chemic is a haven of respectability in a fairly dicey area, made better by the fact students reside there. They get a bad press but it could be worse trust me. I lived in Salford as a student for 3 years.
This time the Open Mic was busy and I was dissappointed to only get 2 songs. I did 'Words' and 'The Battle Of Who Could Care Less', the latter is a Ben Folds Five cover I learnt and play occasionally. There's a story behind the song in that I used to get Ben Folds requests so I learnt this song, and since then everybody gives it blank looks! So I insist now that everyone cheers like mad during the intro to make learning the damn thing more worthwhile. As usual, I'm about 10 years too late for Ben Folds, but I have to say I really like his music-just I'm not sure Yorkshire is ready for it just yet.
On Sunday I went over to the Strange Reality Acoustic night at the Bell&Crown, Snaith. This was my 2nd visit and it's also become a good venue for the band. The night is well-run and my set was well-received by a smallish crowd (it's normally busier). I have to thank Chris for his brilliant Bob Geldorf-style 'plea' for CD sales at the end of my set! It worked a treat so I really should thank all the people that made a purchase, it's very much appreciated, particularly at the moment.
The Paul Jeffery Band will be busy over the next 2 weeks with 4 shows, starting Friday (20th) at the Moorlands at Ogden, which is a biggish venue by our standards. I'm also at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet, playing solo on Sunday 22nd.
YAHOOOOOOOO
If anyone reading this happens to have a yahoo email account, you may have noticed they've recently started a chat/Instant Messenger which works straight from your web-email account. ie there's no need to install a seperate programme. If so, why not add me as a contact at pauljeffey212@yahoo.co.uk and come and have a chat!
This time the Open Mic was busy and I was dissappointed to only get 2 songs. I did 'Words' and 'The Battle Of Who Could Care Less', the latter is a Ben Folds Five cover I learnt and play occasionally. There's a story behind the song in that I used to get Ben Folds requests so I learnt this song, and since then everybody gives it blank looks! So I insist now that everyone cheers like mad during the intro to make learning the damn thing more worthwhile. As usual, I'm about 10 years too late for Ben Folds, but I have to say I really like his music-just I'm not sure Yorkshire is ready for it just yet.
On Sunday I went over to the Strange Reality Acoustic night at the Bell&Crown, Snaith. This was my 2nd visit and it's also become a good venue for the band. The night is well-run and my set was well-received by a smallish crowd (it's normally busier). I have to thank Chris for his brilliant Bob Geldorf-style 'plea' for CD sales at the end of my set! It worked a treat so I really should thank all the people that made a purchase, it's very much appreciated, particularly at the moment.
The Paul Jeffery Band will be busy over the next 2 weeks with 4 shows, starting Friday (20th) at the Moorlands at Ogden, which is a biggish venue by our standards. I'm also at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet, playing solo on Sunday 22nd.
YAHOOOOOOOO
If anyone reading this happens to have a yahoo email account, you may have noticed they've recently started a chat/Instant Messenger which works straight from your web-email account. ie there's no need to install a seperate programme. If so, why not add me as a contact at pauljeffey212@yahoo.co.uk and come and have a chat!
Monday, March 09, 2009
Three gigs last week, and it was a case of two up one down really. The bad one came first on Wednesday but I'll start with the good ones.
Both were with the band, 3-piece version this week, starting on Thursday at Zephyr Bar in Huddersfield. This was the scene of the band's debut gig and has always been a special place to play, indeed at times it's been the only circuit venue that's been any good. Basically it's a younger crowd who come for a good time. And even the older end aren't predjudiced by what the band does, and we get to play more original material. We had a bit of a falling out over terms last year, but this was definetly a return to form. And whilst there may have been a downturn in trade for them lately it was still a good deal busier than some of our venues!! We had a great night, really rocking out towards the end. Audience-dependent songs like 'Lola' went down a storm and I would say this was clearly an '8'. And there ain't too many of those.
On Saturday we were at The Royal Oak at Paddock which seems to have picked up from a few years ago when I last played there. It was pretty busy and overall we had another good night with plenty of interest and they seemed to like our songs. This one gets a 7.
The bad one was, you guessed it, an Ossett Brewery solo gig. Previous blogs will bare out the details on this-I think I've done over 10 gigs in their pubs and they all have one thing in common. They're shit.
Another bottom of the pile gig this time at the Silver King in Ossett itself. Can I plead with Ossett Brewery to re-think their entertainment policy. Take it from me, no-one wants a music night, no-one. And that's not just sour grapes, they're saying this before I've played a note.
So, after another night of no applause, no audience, nothingness, I did the unthinkable and asked to be paid off. After a bit of 'negotiation' I was paid full money for one set and managed to squeeze into my local pub for last orders. I hated doing this but I'm sick and tired of playing somewhere I'm not wanted. I doubt I'll be doing any more there, thank God. Scores 2.
It's not all doom and gloom on the solo front, I'm doing the Primrose this Thursday and the Bell&Crown 'Strange Reality' night at Snaith on Sunday-both will be original material gigs so that should be fun.
Both were with the band, 3-piece version this week, starting on Thursday at Zephyr Bar in Huddersfield. This was the scene of the band's debut gig and has always been a special place to play, indeed at times it's been the only circuit venue that's been any good. Basically it's a younger crowd who come for a good time. And even the older end aren't predjudiced by what the band does, and we get to play more original material. We had a bit of a falling out over terms last year, but this was definetly a return to form. And whilst there may have been a downturn in trade for them lately it was still a good deal busier than some of our venues!! We had a great night, really rocking out towards the end. Audience-dependent songs like 'Lola' went down a storm and I would say this was clearly an '8'. And there ain't too many of those.
On Saturday we were at The Royal Oak at Paddock which seems to have picked up from a few years ago when I last played there. It was pretty busy and overall we had another good night with plenty of interest and they seemed to like our songs. This one gets a 7.
The bad one was, you guessed it, an Ossett Brewery solo gig. Previous blogs will bare out the details on this-I think I've done over 10 gigs in their pubs and they all have one thing in common. They're shit.
Another bottom of the pile gig this time at the Silver King in Ossett itself. Can I plead with Ossett Brewery to re-think their entertainment policy. Take it from me, no-one wants a music night, no-one. And that's not just sour grapes, they're saying this before I've played a note.
So, after another night of no applause, no audience, nothingness, I did the unthinkable and asked to be paid off. After a bit of 'negotiation' I was paid full money for one set and managed to squeeze into my local pub for last orders. I hated doing this but I'm sick and tired of playing somewhere I'm not wanted. I doubt I'll be doing any more there, thank God. Scores 2.
It's not all doom and gloom on the solo front, I'm doing the Primrose this Thursday and the Bell&Crown 'Strange Reality' night at Snaith on Sunday-both will be original material gigs so that should be fun.
Monday, March 02, 2009
This week the band was out twice and I also squeezed in a solo open mic too.
The Paul Jeffery Band did two regular venues: The Cricketers at Horbury on Friday and the Peacock in Huddersfield on Saturday.
My favourite of the two was The Peacock, we always get a warm reception down there. There's a section of the crowd, the older end mainly, who seem to make the effort to dress up, come out and enjoy themselves. It's something lacking in certain venues! This makes it far easier for us to have a good time too. So I'm happy to give this one 7 out of 10.
The night before was a more difficult night. This is largely because the audience is very transient, in and out, moving around the village. It's like playing each song to a different set of people! Only when the night levelled off and the crowd settled down did we get any attention, and this wasn't until fairly late on. Scores 5.
On the Thursday (the 26th, I'm working backwards here!), I played
at the Puzzle Hall at Sowerby Bridge for the first time since it re-opened last summer. I'm happy to say the pub is still OK and the open mic and music scene is still strong. I only got to play 2 songs (These Eyes and I Don't Need) but it 
was still good to call in for a while. Smile please!! The audience poses for the camera at the Puzzle!!
Nothing much else to report for now, except to say I'm busy building a mailing list (email of course). It's great getting to interract with fans, friends, anyone who shows an interest in the songs really. Have to say my overseas 'following' is leading the way in that respect at the moment, so don't forget it's easy to join the mailing list. Just send an email (blank if necessary) to: paul@pauljeffery.com
The Paul Jeffery Band did two regular venues: The Cricketers at Horbury on Friday and the Peacock in Huddersfield on Saturday.
My favourite of the two was The Peacock, we always get a warm reception down there. There's a section of the crowd, the older end mainly, who seem to make the effort to dress up, come out and enjoy themselves. It's something lacking in certain venues! This makes it far easier for us to have a good time too. So I'm happy to give this one 7 out of 10.
The night before was a more difficult night. This is largely because the audience is very transient, in and out, moving around the village. It's like playing each song to a different set of people! Only when the night levelled off and the crowd settled down did we get any attention, and this wasn't until fairly late on. Scores 5.
On the Thursday (the 26th, I'm working backwards here!), I played
at the Puzzle Hall at Sowerby Bridge for the first time since it re-opened last summer. I'm happy to say the pub is still OK and the open mic and music scene is still strong. I only got to play 2 songs (These Eyes and I Don't Need) but it 
was still good to call in for a while. Smile please!! The audience poses for the camera at the Puzzle!!Nothing much else to report for now, except to say I'm busy building a mailing list (email of course). It's great getting to interract with fans, friends, anyone who shows an interest in the songs really. Have to say my overseas 'following' is leading the way in that respect at the moment, so don't forget it's easy to join the mailing list. Just send an email (blank if necessary) to: paul@pauljeffery.com
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Paul Jeffery Band had a well-earned week off last week, whilst I did just the one solo open mic on Tuesday at the Priestley, sorry, Bradford Playhouse (as it's now called). A welcome return for a great venue, which is still unfortunately in administration. The night was too quiet to make a fair judgement on to be honest. I played just 2 songs (Shadow and 7 Shades). The night badly needs more support to be any good.
This coming week there's 2 gigs with the band on Friday and Saturday, at the Cricketers (Horbury) and The Peacock (Hudds) respectively.
I had a lovely day out on Saturday, as there was no gig. And I'm so glad I didn't waste the day as we were hit with something approaching decent warmer sunny weather! I was in North Yorkshire, eventually making it out to the coast to a beautiful little cove village called Staithes. I'm more and more enamoured with quiet, out-of-the-way places like this. Wouldn't it be a great place to write and record in? Perhaps....
I'm in the process of setting up a flickr account to share photos (as if I needed another job!!), but for now I'll just share a couple of photos. Have fun til next week, when it will indeed be March!
This coming week there's 2 gigs with the band on Friday and Saturday, at the Cricketers (Horbury) and The Peacock (Hudds) respectively.
I had a lovely day out on Saturday, as there was no gig. And I'm so glad I didn't waste the day as we were hit with something approaching decent warmer sunny weather! I was in North Yorkshire, eventually making it out to the coast to a beautiful little cove village called Staithes. I'm more and more enamoured with quiet, out-of-the-way places like this. Wouldn't it be a great place to write and record in? Perhaps....
I'm in the process of setting up a flickr account to share photos (as if I needed another job!!), but for now I'll just share a couple of photos. Have fun til next week, when it will indeed be March!
Monday, February 16, 2009
At The Hop
Most of the snow has shifted now, it took a while, but it didn't affect the weeks' activities thankfully, so there's now just a handful of piles of dirty ice to go at.
My band was back in business with 2 gigs. We finally found a venue with an audience, a full pub (can you remember those?) on Saturday night in the shape of The Hop in Wakefield. This is a fairly new pub in the Westgate area and I was very impressed by it. It was nice to have an audience to bounce off for a change. We had a very good night and it just goes to show that no matter how you play, the crowd makes all the difference. Nice to see a pub that isn't struggling at the moment too. Definetly a 7.
The following day we were back at Berry Brow Lib club for another passable gig. We've done this one a few times now and it's remained pretty consistent. I'll say 6 for that one.
We now have a week off but I will keeping my end up (matron) on the open mic circuit this week.
Other than that, I've been working on tracks for what will be solo album #3, I do hope you're keeping track of my discography...at this rate it shouldn't be too far from finishing. The Paradise Street album is now into the 'promotion' stage, which I must say I'm really enjoying. Web Promotion and album promotion was to start with my least favourite area but now I find myself looking forward each week to doing a bit of marketing. It's a steep learning curve but that's part of the fun. It's just nice to have songs released and then have them some exposure and hopefully keep finding new fans.
See you next week!
My band was back in business with 2 gigs. We finally found a venue with an audience, a full pub (can you remember those?) on Saturday night in the shape of The Hop in Wakefield. This is a fairly new pub in the Westgate area and I was very impressed by it. It was nice to have an audience to bounce off for a change. We had a very good night and it just goes to show that no matter how you play, the crowd makes all the difference. Nice to see a pub that isn't struggling at the moment too. Definetly a 7.
The following day we were back at Berry Brow Lib club for another passable gig. We've done this one a few times now and it's remained pretty consistent. I'll say 6 for that one.
We now have a week off but I will keeping my end up (matron) on the open mic circuit this week.
Other than that, I've been working on tracks for what will be solo album #3, I do hope you're keeping track of my discography...at this rate it shouldn't be too far from finishing. The Paradise Street album is now into the 'promotion' stage, which I must say I'm really enjoying. Web Promotion and album promotion was to start with my least favourite area but now I find myself looking forward each week to doing a bit of marketing. It's a steep learning curve but that's part of the fun. It's just nice to have songs released and then have them some exposure and hopefully keep finding new fans.
See you next week!
Monday, February 09, 2009
The London Trip
Snow is over-rated. Sure it looks pretty on a postcard or when you look out of the window, or when you see a Polar Bear sliding about on it, but when you actually have to contend with it and buggers up your plans, I think we could have waited another 18 years for some to fall.
Yes, the worse snowfalls for 18 years in Britain, sounds bad doesn't it. Until you consider how crap we are at dealing with it, myself included I'm afraid. On a practical level, it meant our Tuesday night gig at the Junction, Queensbury was cancelled. This was a blessing really, as Queensbury is climatically linked with the arctic circle and I'm sure it would have been a Captain Scott-esque adventure getting the vans up there. 'I'm going to push a Mercedes Sprinter, I may be some time...'
With my impeccable timing, it was also the week of my visit to London. This was planned well in advance and to be fair part of it went to plan. I had 3 gigs booked, plus a visit to watch Bradford's opening match of the season at Harlequins. That's Rugby League for the un-initiated, a summer sport, confusing isn't it. The rugby was cancelled so I had no choice but to cancel my Sunday night gig in Hitchin. The previous 2 did go ahead though and ran pretty much to plan.
I played at Club Acoustica at The Crown, Twickenham having driven down through the sleet in the afternoon. Thankfully it was a good night. I got a good reception throughout and managed to sell a few CDs. I played 'Shadow', 'Cold Day', 'Whiskey', 'Gods&Angels', 'Coming Out' and 'Freefallin'. During the last song, I was joined by the house band 'The Deputees', whom I have since found out are a very experienced bunch of great musicians, one of which has co-written with Status Quo. I think this was a definite 7 out of 10.
Saturday was at the White Bear at Rickmansworth. This one was more along the open mic format but had a sizeable crowd and most people listened to my set. I did 'Shadow', 'Cold Day', 'Whiskey' and 'These Eyes'. It wasn't quite as magical as the previous night but still solid. 6 out of 10.
Following on from here, I decided to pay a little homage to one of my musical gods. Around 10 minutes' drive from Rickmansworth is the Northwood Hills Hotel where one Elton John, then Reg Dwight, performed his first ever gig. I hoped for nothing more than a swift drink and that there may be some recognition of their place in our musical heritage.
Wrong. The place is basically now an Indian Restaurant with a public bar. It is very bright, shiney and noisy, with a DJ and big screens. It was heaving, but I didn't fit in, so feeling a bit intimidated I had a quick drink and left. I doubt if anyone present, staff or customer, even knew who Elton John was. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Indian restuarants, or that in it's pub days it was any good, but I did feel like there should at least have been some kind of momento-instead any soul and heritage seemed to have been ripped from the place- a feeling I get in Greater London about a lot of things.
That just about covers the latest adventures. With a bit of luck the band should be playing this coming Saturday in Wakefield, then Sunday afternoon in Berry Brow. As long as it doesn't keep on snowing or whatever else is thrown at us next.
Yes, the worse snowfalls for 18 years in Britain, sounds bad doesn't it. Until you consider how crap we are at dealing with it, myself included I'm afraid. On a practical level, it meant our Tuesday night gig at the Junction, Queensbury was cancelled. This was a blessing really, as Queensbury is climatically linked with the arctic circle and I'm sure it would have been a Captain Scott-esque adventure getting the vans up there. 'I'm going to push a Mercedes Sprinter, I may be some time...'
With my impeccable timing, it was also the week of my visit to London. This was planned well in advance and to be fair part of it went to plan. I had 3 gigs booked, plus a visit to watch Bradford's opening match of the season at Harlequins. That's Rugby League for the un-initiated, a summer sport, confusing isn't it. The rugby was cancelled so I had no choice but to cancel my Sunday night gig in Hitchin. The previous 2 did go ahead though and ran pretty much to plan.
I played at Club Acoustica at The Crown, Twickenham having driven down through the sleet in the afternoon. Thankfully it was a good night. I got a good reception throughout and managed to sell a few CDs. I played 'Shadow', 'Cold Day', 'Whiskey', 'Gods&Angels', 'Coming Out' and 'Freefallin'. During the last song, I was joined by the house band 'The Deputees', whom I have since found out are a very experienced bunch of great musicians, one of which has co-written with Status Quo. I think this was a definite 7 out of 10.
Saturday was at the White Bear at Rickmansworth. This one was more along the open mic format but had a sizeable crowd and most people listened to my set. I did 'Shadow', 'Cold Day', 'Whiskey' and 'These Eyes'. It wasn't quite as magical as the previous night but still solid. 6 out of 10.
Following on from here, I decided to pay a little homage to one of my musical gods. Around 10 minutes' drive from Rickmansworth is the Northwood Hills Hotel where one Elton John, then Reg Dwight, performed his first ever gig. I hoped for nothing more than a swift drink and that there may be some recognition of their place in our musical heritage.
Wrong. The place is basically now an Indian Restaurant with a public bar. It is very bright, shiney and noisy, with a DJ and big screens. It was heaving, but I didn't fit in, so feeling a bit intimidated I had a quick drink and left. I doubt if anyone present, staff or customer, even knew who Elton John was. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Indian restuarants, or that in it's pub days it was any good, but I did feel like there should at least have been some kind of momento-instead any soul and heritage seemed to have been ripped from the place- a feeling I get in Greater London about a lot of things.
That just about covers the latest adventures. With a bit of luck the band should be playing this coming Saturday in Wakefield, then Sunday afternoon in Berry Brow. As long as it doesn't keep on snowing or whatever else is thrown at us next.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Paradise Street album is here!
Yes, after months of eager anticipation the new Paradise Street album is now released and online. Titled 'Catharsis' the album is a collection of songs I've co-written, sung by female singers.
Think of it as a side-project to my solo work. I've written far too many songs than I can record, mix and release over the years, and many are in different genres. People are sometimes shocked when I tell them that I've written dance, pop, country and even r&b songs as well as my own stuff.
This album is somewhere along the lines of artists such as Dido, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Alison Moyet. So if you like that sort of music, you should like the new CD. Speaking of Cds, the album is currently available online in both mail order and mp3 download format. Just click here to go straight to the album page!
There's 13 new songs on there, and you can hear 4 of them at the Paradise Street myspace page.
I'm very proud of this album, which is self-produced too. I hope people latch onto the fact that I like doing different projects across genres, so hopefully it will appeal to both existing fans (both of you) and new people too.
If you would like a free download and news on the new project, you can email me here and request to be put on the mailing list.
I think that just about covers everything Paradise Street-wise. I just did the one open mic last week which was at the Chemic Tavern on Thursday. I played 'Prisoner', 'Gods' and 'Can't Stand Losing You' and whilst I don't give open mics a mark out of ten this one is surely one of the best going at the moment. I opened the night and got a good response with a listening audience too. It was a very good sound too which always helps.
I had a quieter weekend for once, with The Primrose gig being cancelled on Sunday. The snow had started by then so I wasn't too bothered about missing out. It's come on harder today so we'll have to see how things go regarding the band playing in Queensbury tomorrow night. Although it never really snows in Queensbury does it?
More importantly there's my trip to London this weekend where I'm going to be playing a couple of short solo sets Friday and Saturday night. You can check my giglist for more details. We'll just have to see if London has thawed out by then.
I'm sure you're both wondering what I did this weekend if there were no gigs. Well, I went to see 'Frost-Nixon' at the cinema on Saturday. It's hardly an action movie but if you've an interest in these characters (as I have) then it should strike a chord. I really enjoyed one of my very rare trips to the cinema. Yesterday (Sunday) I stayed up to watch a very exciting first half of the Superbowl before the highlight of the show:Bruce Springsteen's set! These short sets in front of billions always inspire me, just as it did with Tom Petty last year. They are 2 of my biggest influences so at least it shows they're still popular, very popular.
Monday, January 26, 2009
I'm absolutely knackered today. It could be down to the heavy gig schedule or possibly down to the heavy Chinese Banquet we had last night to celebrate the Chinese New Year!
3 gigs took place in the past 4 days. 3 of mine anyway. To start with there was the gentle warm-up of Verve in Leeds. I played a handful of original tunes including 'Coming Up For Air' from the new Paradise Street album. (see below!). I also had my first play at 'Can't Stand Losing You' by The Police. We're putting it in with the band soon so I thought I'd give it a go. I think the song works but it was moving so fast I forgot quite a lot of the words. It went much better on Saturday night though. The other songs performed were the hardcore regulars 'These Eyes Of Mine', 'Whiskey Coloured World', 'Gods & Angels' and 'Your Shadow'. Not a bad do, reasonably busy too. 6 out of 10.
The Saturday show was at The Kings Arms at Heaton in Bradford. Following on from the recent succesful band gig it was a slightly different, quieter crowd for Saturday-until late on that is! This probably suited my solo set better and I really enjoyed playing a mixture of originals and covers what I like. Late on a crowd of Bradford City fans 'fresh' from a trip to Luton came in, and this at least meant later numbers such as 'One Of Us' and 'Hey Jude' went well. I also got an encore request of a song I actually knew-which made a change! 'Days' by the Kinks, what a nice song!
I'm making an effort to plan the solo gigs a bit better. Otherwise they just become an exercise in keeping going, waiting for the end of the night. I added in the new Police song again plus 'Can't Buy Me Love' as another ancient standard. I also played recent additions 'Learning To Fly' and 'Rosie' and had another crack at the Ben Folds Five song 'Battle Of Who Could Care Less'. It was a pretty satisfying night, so it gets a 7.
Sunday afternoon in The Grove at Leeds was another winner with the band. It's small but the room has a good sound and we can play more originals (7 in total) to a more appreciative crowd. I just wish it paid a 21st century wage! It's a tough call, there's more duff gigs on better money, so I guess it's down to priorities. I had a lot of fun there as with last time, so it gets another 7.
On the Paradise Street front, the album is in transit to the US, after which I'll be sending an email to all the victims on my e-mailing list telling you all about it. There will be the usual free download, plus links and strong HINTS of where to click to BUY it! I've revamped the myspace page slightly so that now there's 4 songs from the new album playing in full. More news to come.
This week it's a little quieter with The Primrose solo set on Sunday night and possibly an open mic visit to The Chemic on Thursday.
3 gigs took place in the past 4 days. 3 of mine anyway. To start with there was the gentle warm-up of Verve in Leeds. I played a handful of original tunes including 'Coming Up For Air' from the new Paradise Street album. (see below!). I also had my first play at 'Can't Stand Losing You' by The Police. We're putting it in with the band soon so I thought I'd give it a go. I think the song works but it was moving so fast I forgot quite a lot of the words. It went much better on Saturday night though. The other songs performed were the hardcore regulars 'These Eyes Of Mine', 'Whiskey Coloured World', 'Gods & Angels' and 'Your Shadow'. Not a bad do, reasonably busy too. 6 out of 10.
The Saturday show was at The Kings Arms at Heaton in Bradford. Following on from the recent succesful band gig it was a slightly different, quieter crowd for Saturday-until late on that is! This probably suited my solo set better and I really enjoyed playing a mixture of originals and covers what I like. Late on a crowd of Bradford City fans 'fresh' from a trip to Luton came in, and this at least meant later numbers such as 'One Of Us' and 'Hey Jude' went well. I also got an encore request of a song I actually knew-which made a change! 'Days' by the Kinks, what a nice song!
I'm making an effort to plan the solo gigs a bit better. Otherwise they just become an exercise in keeping going, waiting for the end of the night. I added in the new Police song again plus 'Can't Buy Me Love' as another ancient standard. I also played recent additions 'Learning To Fly' and 'Rosie' and had another crack at the Ben Folds Five song 'Battle Of Who Could Care Less'. It was a pretty satisfying night, so it gets a 7.
Sunday afternoon in The Grove at Leeds was another winner with the band. It's small but the room has a good sound and we can play more originals (7 in total) to a more appreciative crowd. I just wish it paid a 21st century wage! It's a tough call, there's more duff gigs on better money, so I guess it's down to priorities. I had a lot of fun there as with last time, so it gets another 7.
On the Paradise Street front, the album is in transit to the US, after which I'll be sending an email to all the victims on my e-mailing list telling you all about it. There will be the usual free download, plus links and strong HINTS of where to click to BUY it! I've revamped the myspace page slightly so that now there's 4 songs from the new album playing in full. More news to come.
This week it's a little quieter with The Primrose solo set on Sunday night and possibly an open mic visit to The Chemic on Thursday.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Another fun-packed week with 3 band gigs just completed-not much of a weekend but then that's the way it is if you play in a band.
First up was Friday night @ The Duck n Drake, Leeds. We had a very good first set and a slightly hairy second set as the crowd became a bit animated. 2 thrown out and one fell over the guitar pedals-missing the keyboard this time. If either 3 of these loonies had been hit over the head with a shovel (or whatever I had to hand) they wouldn't have felt a thing.
It's a rare night in there, a great gig but one where you need to calm the crowd down sometimes instead of getting them up as in most places! At times it resembled those old pro-prohibition films in the States where a bar would be filled with violent drunks smashing the place up. We'll be back there soon! Scores 7.
Saturday 17th was our first trip to the Bell & Crown, Snaith. The Middle East as we put it. I've played there once before on my own and it was packed then. This time it was also pretty busy, the place to be in Snaith it seems. We had a good night with no-one falling over us this time. It was well-recieved and we took some more dates. A very nice evening really. Give it 7 again.
Last night (Sunday 18th) was a return to the Bridge Tavern in Bradford. It was pretty quiet which restricted things a bit, and also was a bit tiring after the previous two nights. We played OK though and everyone was pleased at the venue. I'll give it 5.
So we move into another week, just as hectic as the last one. I'm doing Verve in Leeds on Thursday, then the Kings Arms at Heaton Saturday on my own. The band will be playing a Sunday afternoon set at The Grove where we had one of our best gigs a couple of years ago.
The new Paradise Street album is now set-up for digital and worldwide distribution, which means no excuse for not buying one! When it's online for sales I'll let you know.
First up was Friday night @ The Duck n Drake, Leeds. We had a very good first set and a slightly hairy second set as the crowd became a bit animated. 2 thrown out and one fell over the guitar pedals-missing the keyboard this time. If either 3 of these loonies had been hit over the head with a shovel (or whatever I had to hand) they wouldn't have felt a thing.
It's a rare night in there, a great gig but one where you need to calm the crowd down sometimes instead of getting them up as in most places! At times it resembled those old pro-prohibition films in the States where a bar would be filled with violent drunks smashing the place up. We'll be back there soon! Scores 7.
Saturday 17th was our first trip to the Bell & Crown, Snaith. The Middle East as we put it. I've played there once before on my own and it was packed then. This time it was also pretty busy, the place to be in Snaith it seems. We had a good night with no-one falling over us this time. It was well-recieved and we took some more dates. A very nice evening really. Give it 7 again.
Last night (Sunday 18th) was a return to the Bridge Tavern in Bradford. It was pretty quiet which restricted things a bit, and also was a bit tiring after the previous two nights. We played OK though and everyone was pleased at the venue. I'll give it 5.
So we move into another week, just as hectic as the last one. I'm doing Verve in Leeds on Thursday, then the Kings Arms at Heaton Saturday on my own. The band will be playing a Sunday afternoon set at The Grove where we had one of our best gigs a couple of years ago.
The new Paradise Street album is now set-up for digital and worldwide distribution, which means no excuse for not buying one! When it's online for sales I'll let you know.
Monday, January 12, 2009
A slightly quieter week last week, I did the open mic at The Yorkshire Rose, Guiseley on Thursday night. I played 'Your Shadow' and 'These Eyes Of Mine' and also continued to play some recently learnt covers: 'Learning To Fly' (Tom Petty&Heartbreakers), 'Rosie' (Jackson Browne-what is that song about I wonder??), and 'How Long' by Ace. I play all the latest hits!
Speaking of Ace, Paul Carrack was back at the Ritz Ballroom Friday night, and I was there having fun again watching one of my all-time favourite singers/keyboard players in my home town. Nobody comes to Brighouse. It's hardly surprising, most people are trying to get away from it. But for the past 10 years one of my idols brings his fantastic band and they bring the house down. A gig at The Ritz is always an experience, it's straight out of the 1960s, I just wish more artists would play there. This year the dance-floor was packed, and he played quite a lot of new material which is hard as people don't really know the songs. I was quite merry by the end and couldn't resist getting Lindsay 'no dream impossible' Dracass' autograph! She was after all Miss Eurovision 2004!
Sunday afternoon featured the return of the Paul Jeffery Band to The Railway at Berry Brow, Huddersfield. One of our fondest venues from 2007 (we missed last year as the pub was up for sale) was back on form again. It's just about the smallest playing space imaginable and it took a while to fill up, but by the last set (of 3) we had people's attention and as before the original tunes shone through. 'Whiskey Coloured World' was outstanding I thought. Scores a 7. (nb: I'm not rating open mic nights).
So it's onto another crazy week, 3 in 3 nights with the band, 16,17,18 January. Please check the listings. More and more bookings seem to be coming in at the moment.
The Paradise Street album 'Catharis' is totally finished and I'm now printing the complimentary copies (no, you can't have one!), and then it's ready to be distributed to the States from whence it will be digitally distributed to Itunes etc... Will it top previous records of $2.66??!
Speaking of Ace, Paul Carrack was back at the Ritz Ballroom Friday night, and I was there having fun again watching one of my all-time favourite singers/keyboard players in my home town. Nobody comes to Brighouse. It's hardly surprising, most people are trying to get away from it. But for the past 10 years one of my idols brings his fantastic band and they bring the house down. A gig at The Ritz is always an experience, it's straight out of the 1960s, I just wish more artists would play there. This year the dance-floor was packed, and he played quite a lot of new material which is hard as people don't really know the songs. I was quite merry by the end and couldn't resist getting Lindsay 'no dream impossible' Dracass' autograph! She was after all Miss Eurovision 2004!
Sunday afternoon featured the return of the Paul Jeffery Band to The Railway at Berry Brow, Huddersfield. One of our fondest venues from 2007 (we missed last year as the pub was up for sale) was back on form again. It's just about the smallest playing space imaginable and it took a while to fill up, but by the last set (of 3) we had people's attention and as before the original tunes shone through. 'Whiskey Coloured World' was outstanding I thought. Scores a 7. (nb: I'm not rating open mic nights).
So it's onto another crazy week, 3 in 3 nights with the band, 16,17,18 January. Please check the listings. More and more bookings seem to be coming in at the moment.
The Paradise Street album 'Catharis' is totally finished and I'm now printing the complimentary copies (no, you can't have one!), and then it's ready to be distributed to the States from whence it will be digitally distributed to Itunes etc... Will it top previous records of $2.66??!
Monday, January 05, 2009
First one of the new year, Happy New Year everyone. I know this is a depressing time of year for many (when you realise its the same shit, different year) but I've always quite liked it. I'm not a huge fan of Christmas as it is these days, so in some ways I look forward to January more.
Not that there's been much respite since New Year...3 gigs already chalked up for 09.
New Years Day in the afternoon may seem an odd time to play, indeed that's what I though, but the Old Pond at Hove Edge was pretty busy throughout. Busier than a lot of gigs last year anyway!! We played a fairly strong set, had lots of good feedback, and were home in time for tea-a curry in my case. We were even subject to a whip-round to get us to play on, but I politely refused and the money went to charity. What a generous start to the year! Who said people were tight in Yorkshire? This scores a solid 6.
Moving on to the following night (Fri 2nd), we were at the Kings Arms, Heaton. This is fast becoming one of my favourite pubs on the circuit. We're well-looked after and the crowd is appreciative. We played 5 originals and had a good reception, particularly in the 2nd half. I'm very pleased to be going back there to play solo on Jan 24th, as well as with the band later in the year. Tonight's act of generosity: possibly the oldest chap present offered to help us load out! This gets a 7.
The final onslaught was Sunday night at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet. This is one of my long-standing solo venues and I try to play as much original material as possible. Ian Wingate was also playing, doing 2 sets. Whilst not quite as good a night as we had last time, the evening was fairly pleasing. I stuck to my plan of playing lots of my songs, plus less well-known covers of songs I love. These included Tom Petty's 'Learning To Fly' and Jackson Browne's 'Rosie'. It's nice to be able to do songs like those and not get blank looks. Score 6.
That just about wraps up 'week 1'. A fairly busy start considering it was technically still holidays. A last-minute computer problem meant I couldn't sell copies of the new Paradise Street album. Hopefully I can very soon. All the artwork is done, first test copy done, just one final adjustment-and the computer said no!! All being well, it will be released very soon this month. In the meantime I've plenty of other recording to be doing, I've a 3rd album half-way through as well, you have been warned!
Not that there's been much respite since New Year...3 gigs already chalked up for 09.
New Years Day in the afternoon may seem an odd time to play, indeed that's what I though, but the Old Pond at Hove Edge was pretty busy throughout. Busier than a lot of gigs last year anyway!! We played a fairly strong set, had lots of good feedback, and were home in time for tea-a curry in my case. We were even subject to a whip-round to get us to play on, but I politely refused and the money went to charity. What a generous start to the year! Who said people were tight in Yorkshire? This scores a solid 6.
Moving on to the following night (Fri 2nd), we were at the Kings Arms, Heaton. This is fast becoming one of my favourite pubs on the circuit. We're well-looked after and the crowd is appreciative. We played 5 originals and had a good reception, particularly in the 2nd half. I'm very pleased to be going back there to play solo on Jan 24th, as well as with the band later in the year. Tonight's act of generosity: possibly the oldest chap present offered to help us load out! This gets a 7.
The final onslaught was Sunday night at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet. This is one of my long-standing solo venues and I try to play as much original material as possible. Ian Wingate was also playing, doing 2 sets. Whilst not quite as good a night as we had last time, the evening was fairly pleasing. I stuck to my plan of playing lots of my songs, plus less well-known covers of songs I love. These included Tom Petty's 'Learning To Fly' and Jackson Browne's 'Rosie'. It's nice to be able to do songs like those and not get blank looks. Score 6.
That just about wraps up 'week 1'. A fairly busy start considering it was technically still holidays. A last-minute computer problem meant I couldn't sell copies of the new Paradise Street album. Hopefully I can very soon. All the artwork is done, first test copy done, just one final adjustment-and the computer said no!! All being well, it will be released very soon this month. In the meantime I've plenty of other recording to be doing, I've a 3rd album half-way through as well, you have been warned!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Special Bonus Blog - Review of 2008
I know I said it was the last blog of 08 last week, but I thought it would be nice to review the year a little bit, and wrap up the rear end of the year as well.
Firstly, a quick word about last week. The PJ Band did it's last gig of 08 at The Owl, Rodley on Saturday night. Well, after some problems with the diaries there during the summer, I'm pleased to say the night went very well!
It's always good to see a pub where people actually go to watch a band, and this is one of the few where this is still the case. It makes for a better night all round. We also get to play more original material to a more discerning audience. Gone are the ignorant bastards that don't want to know. As a result we played well, enjoyed ourselves, and although it was quite tiring at the time I'm very happy looking back on the gig now. I hope we'll be back there before too long. Scores 7.
Thus the year's gigs are over. I've purposely avoided New Years Eve for the band, we're not really a party band and it's a night that can go horribly wrong-it has in the past. I'll be glad to be on the 'right side of the bar' that night I can tell you. It's the first time since the Millenium I've not worked december 31st.
THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS
Looking back it's been another busy year. There's always times when I think I should be working harder but looking back it's been a very full year and it's only on reflection that I realise quite what I take on at times.
I've categorised a few elements in no particular order:
GIG SCENE/PUBS/THE BAND: Our first full year of gigging regularly with the band was certainly eventful. I knew I was taking on a daunting task to begin with and am glad to say it just about came off although at times my nerves were frayed.
The target was one show a week and we hit this in a roundabout way. The target goes up to 6 a month next year (for the first part) and we're already on 8 bookings for January. So far it seems despite the 'credit crunch', smoking ban and all the other miriad of excuses there is still enough work available for us.
Speaking of the crunch, I'm not oblivious to it's effects of course. A lot of our gigs have been very quiet, poorly supported affairs. In some instances it's a case of 'why bother?' and I wonder how much longer some places will stick at it. Some are still very busy though and people were certainly spending money.
As far as the audience reception is concerned, there's usually a few who are interested, the orignial songs haven't really held us back and we've had some good comments. Of course, there's been a few numpties on both sides of the bar-but that's not going to change whilst we're still playing pubs.
The main thing I'll remember is the chaotic way in which the line-up changed, sometimes it was predicatable, sometimes it certainly wasn't!! It was a close-run thing at times but overall I'm looking forward to next year when we'll attempt to do even more shows, no doubt with even more musicians bailing out at any given in-opportune moment!!
SOLO GIGS: With the band taking more of a priority solo gigs were less frequent compared to 07 when I was dashing here there and everywhere playing open mics and showcases. I still did quite a lot and as usual some were better than others. The back end of the year was particularly slow for solo gigs and given that the last one I did at The Primrose was really good, I'm really looking forward to doing some more shows.
I went into the year aiming to phase out open mics, but having done this I'm now wondering whether to keep them going, as a way of trying out new songs and more obscure covers under no pressure. Also, compared to some of the booked gigs, there's several advantages to an open mic-no pressure and home in time for the pub! Sometimes CD sales are higher at unpaid gigs too.
Another thing I learnt was that I shouldn't fear a younger crowd as often they're more open-minded than the close minded bigots in the band pubs. Granted they can treat me as a curiosity, but if that makes them curious enough to buy a CD then great!!
The first solo gig of 09 will be the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet on January 4th. Here I'll be hoping to play more originals, and more new covers-it's the closest thing I've got to a 'home-crowd'.
ALBUMS, SONGS AND THE INTERNET: As usual I spent vast amounts of time adding friends on myspace and building databases etc... As usual I've met some wonderful people abroad who I'd never ever have known about without a tour pre-internet. My 'web-presence' has improved steadily mainly down to the time invested keeping it ticking over. I have limited charisma unlike some on there!!
My frustration at this led me to invest a small fortune on a Cyber PR campaign, of which you can read about in previous blogs. It was useful in getting my music out to more folk, getting me a few nice reviews and some podcasts and airplay. The downside was I had to do even more work and still had to log-in to myspace every day to keep traffic moving. However, one of the biggest long-term benefits has been the germination of the idea to start my own label-given some of the contacts and methods I've learned of. My new Paradise Street album is going to be almost totally web-based, so virtual promotion needs to be a big priority next year.
A FEW AIMS FOR NEXT YEAR:
1) Hit targets for doing more band gigs-moving towards two shows a week, build a live following and try not to have a meltdown in the process.
2) Do more intimate solo gigs playing more choice material, unleash the troubador within and hopefully sell a few CDs to students.
3) Totally revamp my official website (yes-that's this one!) into 'Web 2.0' format, whatever that means.
4) Increase web traffic and web hits and promotion to a much higher degree.
5) Watch more stock car meetings.
6) Win the Brighouse Quiz league.
7) Dance with Christine Bleakley.
8) Do anything with Christine Bleakley.
and finally.... the much-anticipated 2008 AWARDS: The phone-lines are now closed, and the results have been fabricated.
1) BEST VENUE: The Peacock, Huddersfield. It may have a rough exterior but inside it's been the warmest audience we've played to this year. A credit to live music in the old tradition.
2) BEST GIG: The Peacock with the Band March 22nd. I guess it was a little unexpected but it was a good night.
3) WORST VENUE: The Snooty Fox, Oakworth. No fun in playing to an empty room.
4) WORST GIG: The Rock n Heifer December 6th, no fun in playing there either.
5) BEST VENUE LANDLORD: It's got to be Ali at The Plough at Warmfield.
6) BEST SOLO VENUE: The New Inn at Barwick-in-Elmet.
7) WORST SOLO VENUE: The Shepherds Rest at Sowerby Bridge.
8) WORST ADVERTISED GIG: The Abbey Inn Band gig.
9) HONOURABLE VENUE MENTIONS: The Kings Arms, Heaton. Berry Brow Liberal Club. The Owl, Rodley.
10) WORST TOILETS: The Church Steps, Batley.
Happy New Year :)
Firstly, a quick word about last week. The PJ Band did it's last gig of 08 at The Owl, Rodley on Saturday night. Well, after some problems with the diaries there during the summer, I'm pleased to say the night went very well!
It's always good to see a pub where people actually go to watch a band, and this is one of the few where this is still the case. It makes for a better night all round. We also get to play more original material to a more discerning audience. Gone are the ignorant bastards that don't want to know. As a result we played well, enjoyed ourselves, and although it was quite tiring at the time I'm very happy looking back on the gig now. I hope we'll be back there before too long. Scores 7.
Thus the year's gigs are over. I've purposely avoided New Years Eve for the band, we're not really a party band and it's a night that can go horribly wrong-it has in the past. I'll be glad to be on the 'right side of the bar' that night I can tell you. It's the first time since the Millenium I've not worked december 31st.
THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS
Looking back it's been another busy year. There's always times when I think I should be working harder but looking back it's been a very full year and it's only on reflection that I realise quite what I take on at times.
I've categorised a few elements in no particular order:
GIG SCENE/PUBS/THE BAND: Our first full year of gigging regularly with the band was certainly eventful. I knew I was taking on a daunting task to begin with and am glad to say it just about came off although at times my nerves were frayed.
The target was one show a week and we hit this in a roundabout way. The target goes up to 6 a month next year (for the first part) and we're already on 8 bookings for January. So far it seems despite the 'credit crunch', smoking ban and all the other miriad of excuses there is still enough work available for us.
Speaking of the crunch, I'm not oblivious to it's effects of course. A lot of our gigs have been very quiet, poorly supported affairs. In some instances it's a case of 'why bother?' and I wonder how much longer some places will stick at it. Some are still very busy though and people were certainly spending money.
As far as the audience reception is concerned, there's usually a few who are interested, the orignial songs haven't really held us back and we've had some good comments. Of course, there's been a few numpties on both sides of the bar-but that's not going to change whilst we're still playing pubs.
The main thing I'll remember is the chaotic way in which the line-up changed, sometimes it was predicatable, sometimes it certainly wasn't!! It was a close-run thing at times but overall I'm looking forward to next year when we'll attempt to do even more shows, no doubt with even more musicians bailing out at any given in-opportune moment!!
SOLO GIGS: With the band taking more of a priority solo gigs were less frequent compared to 07 when I was dashing here there and everywhere playing open mics and showcases. I still did quite a lot and as usual some were better than others. The back end of the year was particularly slow for solo gigs and given that the last one I did at The Primrose was really good, I'm really looking forward to doing some more shows.
I went into the year aiming to phase out open mics, but having done this I'm now wondering whether to keep them going, as a way of trying out new songs and more obscure covers under no pressure. Also, compared to some of the booked gigs, there's several advantages to an open mic-no pressure and home in time for the pub! Sometimes CD sales are higher at unpaid gigs too.
Another thing I learnt was that I shouldn't fear a younger crowd as often they're more open-minded than the close minded bigots in the band pubs. Granted they can treat me as a curiosity, but if that makes them curious enough to buy a CD then great!!
The first solo gig of 09 will be the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet on January 4th. Here I'll be hoping to play more originals, and more new covers-it's the closest thing I've got to a 'home-crowd'.
ALBUMS, SONGS AND THE INTERNET: As usual I spent vast amounts of time adding friends on myspace and building databases etc... As usual I've met some wonderful people abroad who I'd never ever have known about without a tour pre-internet. My 'web-presence' has improved steadily mainly down to the time invested keeping it ticking over. I have limited charisma unlike some on there!!
My frustration at this led me to invest a small fortune on a Cyber PR campaign, of which you can read about in previous blogs. It was useful in getting my music out to more folk, getting me a few nice reviews and some podcasts and airplay. The downside was I had to do even more work and still had to log-in to myspace every day to keep traffic moving. However, one of the biggest long-term benefits has been the germination of the idea to start my own label-given some of the contacts and methods I've learned of. My new Paradise Street album is going to be almost totally web-based, so virtual promotion needs to be a big priority next year.
A FEW AIMS FOR NEXT YEAR:
1) Hit targets for doing more band gigs-moving towards two shows a week, build a live following and try not to have a meltdown in the process.
2) Do more intimate solo gigs playing more choice material, unleash the troubador within and hopefully sell a few CDs to students.
3) Totally revamp my official website (yes-that's this one!) into 'Web 2.0' format, whatever that means.
4) Increase web traffic and web hits and promotion to a much higher degree.
5) Watch more stock car meetings.
6) Win the Brighouse Quiz league.
7) Dance with Christine Bleakley.
8) Do anything with Christine Bleakley.
and finally.... the much-anticipated 2008 AWARDS: The phone-lines are now closed, and the results have been fabricated.
1) BEST VENUE: The Peacock, Huddersfield. It may have a rough exterior but inside it's been the warmest audience we've played to this year. A credit to live music in the old tradition.
2) BEST GIG: The Peacock with the Band March 22nd. I guess it was a little unexpected but it was a good night.
3) WORST VENUE: The Snooty Fox, Oakworth. No fun in playing to an empty room.
4) WORST GIG: The Rock n Heifer December 6th, no fun in playing there either.
5) BEST VENUE LANDLORD: It's got to be Ali at The Plough at Warmfield.
6) BEST SOLO VENUE: The New Inn at Barwick-in-Elmet.
7) WORST SOLO VENUE: The Shepherds Rest at Sowerby Bridge.
8) WORST ADVERTISED GIG: The Abbey Inn Band gig.
9) HONOURABLE VENUE MENTIONS: The Kings Arms, Heaton. Berry Brow Liberal Club. The Owl, Rodley.
10) WORST TOILETS: The Church Steps, Batley.
Happy New Year :)
Monday, December 15, 2008
In the penultimate week before Christmas, things have been pretty busy here. Another 2 gigs played, more experience gained, another argument with a mad woman, just about normal I guess.
My band morphed into 'function-mode' on Saturday night to play to a room full of miserable buggers who were something to do with British Telecom. We played mainly soul stuff, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding... no original tunes. It was good fun and the band played superbly.
A lot of people danced and enjoyed themselves so I shouldn't let the one dissenting voice spoil things. It's just that I'm rubbish with confrontations. It was quite funny with hindsight. We were accused of playing 'niche music...more suitable for university students'. Yes, songs from the 1960s, students are clearly getting older these days. Not to worry, I kept to my basic PR skills...I told her to piss off.
Oh and just for the record we were underpaid by £20. Hopefully this was a clerical error, or perhaps I had some long-oustanding phone bill unpaid.
Sunday afternoon was back to normal fare at The Bridge in Huddersfield. It was very quiet but the band played as if to a full stadium. I exagerate not. The versions of 'Heroes', 'White Room' and 'So Lonely' at the moment are an immense sound. It's just hard to take when the song ends, reality kicks in and you realise you're a nobody playing to half a dozen folk. Still at least nobody complained this time. It scores 5.
The Paradise Street album is now but one mix away from completion. Then it's a quick once-over on the tracks and the layout and we're ready to go. For those that don't know, this is a side project as an outlet for some of my material more suited to female singers (I don't really like singing about my unrequited love for boys). There's 13 songs and the whole thing has been a joy to work on. Brilliant vocal performances and guitar work, I've really grown to love these songs. Hopefully it will sell a few copies too, or at least gain more exposure, I think it's deserving.
One final gig this Saturday (20th) is at The Owl, Rodley. Ironically, it's where we played our first show of the year too. Then it's on to Christmas time. As I'm saying this I realise this will be the last blog of 2008 (barring any major record deals) so it only remains for me to say thank you, merry Christmas, Happy New Year and for those that complain at my gigs: piss off.
My band morphed into 'function-mode' on Saturday night to play to a room full of miserable buggers who were something to do with British Telecom. We played mainly soul stuff, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding... no original tunes. It was good fun and the band played superbly.
A lot of people danced and enjoyed themselves so I shouldn't let the one dissenting voice spoil things. It's just that I'm rubbish with confrontations. It was quite funny with hindsight. We were accused of playing 'niche music...more suitable for university students'. Yes, songs from the 1960s, students are clearly getting older these days. Not to worry, I kept to my basic PR skills...I told her to piss off.
Oh and just for the record we were underpaid by £20. Hopefully this was a clerical error, or perhaps I had some long-oustanding phone bill unpaid.
Sunday afternoon was back to normal fare at The Bridge in Huddersfield. It was very quiet but the band played as if to a full stadium. I exagerate not. The versions of 'Heroes', 'White Room' and 'So Lonely' at the moment are an immense sound. It's just hard to take when the song ends, reality kicks in and you realise you're a nobody playing to half a dozen folk. Still at least nobody complained this time. It scores 5.
The Paradise Street album is now but one mix away from completion. Then it's a quick once-over on the tracks and the layout and we're ready to go. For those that don't know, this is a side project as an outlet for some of my material more suited to female singers (I don't really like singing about my unrequited love for boys). There's 13 songs and the whole thing has been a joy to work on. Brilliant vocal performances and guitar work, I've really grown to love these songs. Hopefully it will sell a few copies too, or at least gain more exposure, I think it's deserving.
One final gig this Saturday (20th) is at The Owl, Rodley. Ironically, it's where we played our first show of the year too. Then it's on to Christmas time. As I'm saying this I realise this will be the last blog of 2008 (barring any major record deals) so it only remains for me to say thank you, merry Christmas, Happy New Year and for those that complain at my gigs: piss off.
Monday, December 08, 2008
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
I've pointed out before that there's often more to write about a bad gig than a good one. A good one generally is one that goes to plan, therefore not much to comment on other than it went to plan. A bad one however throws up more talking points.
This weekend, for differing reasons, my intrepid band were faced with 2 bad ones. Friday being bad and Saturday downright ugly!
On Friday we played at the Snooty Fox, Oakworth. Avid readers of this blog (both of you) may remember that this once solid venue seems to be struggling from a terminal shortage of customers.
When this happens 2 things usually occur: 1) The pub is quiet leading to a poor atmosphere, obviously.
2) Those that are present tend to be hardcore locals who don't wish to be entertained, or people who have strayed into the cold atmosphere and therefore also don't wish to be entertained. This leads to a situation where the minority of 'anti-band' audience becomes the majority.
In the case of the Snooty, all this is fairly academic. The facts are that the pub was DEAD, we played at one stage to nobody, and rounded off with a crowd of 2 (they were very enthusiastic though!). The last time we played here in August the same thing happened, except that time we also had the stoney-faced locals to contend with. This time they pissed off into the pool room.
Needless to say, not a good night. Predictable if nothing else (and we didn't get any trouble from the staff). I think it's probably time to knock this one on the head before they do. A shame, but there simply aren't enough people to make the night viable.
This one scores 4. It could be less but I felt we did a good job as a band and played well.
Saturday night was where the major problems occured. Again, I can only say that the one consolation was that it wasn't entirely a surprise. We've played at the Rock n Heifer twice previously and had a good night each time. However, on both occasions I had a bad feeling about the Lady of the House, Mandy. She reminded distinctly of a couple of similar characters we've met in the past.
Let me explain. Some pubs, generally ones that don't have regular weekly entertainment, take the attitude that the band is at their disposal for the evening and get over-involved. Usually this can be mis-interpreted as a good thing as sometimes they are over-involved by being over-keen and enthusiastic. This manifested itself at both the previous visits in us getting a good reception and being paid a little extra to play a little longer. No real problem in that except that at this point we're tired and want to go home, as with July my voice is tired too, and whilst it all seems very polite, it's actually very controlling and the band is 'owned' by the venue at this point. Also at these venues there's a need to extract a pound of flesh from the band and part of the entertainment becomes seeing how long the band will play for.
That's the good part. The downside to all this is that I recognised in Mandy the potential for irrational behaviour and trouble-making, sometimes drink-induced. A few years ago we were stung at a venue when after some great nights the landlady, intoxicated, turned on us for no good reason. Here we faced a similar scenario. The first set was fine, no problem. Then about half-way through set 2 I noticed her body language had altered. She began studying our poster intently and I realised what was coming. By now the band wasn't going down particularly well. It was another thin crowd of mainly locals who'd pretty much decided to talk and ignore us. So we finished the set and I prepared for a confrontation I knew was coming about 20 minutes prior.
We were then lambasted for not playing songs by the artists on the posters, not doing an encour, costing too much, having too long a break, playing too many originals and generally not doing as we did before.
All bullshit. I knew straight away this was an argument I wasn't going to win, so I made sure we got paid the correct amount and left. In response to the series of stupid complaints she made I did my best to use logic and defend what we did. This was pointless as logic wasn't really present in the first place.
For the record, the posters contain a sample of the sort of music we do. This is obvious to anyone with a grain of common sense a guide to the sort of music we do, not a programme. We only missed off one artist. I didn't do an encour because the audience didn't deserve one and I knew what was coming: the bollocking would have happened anyway. I specifically asked what time the 2nd set should start and was told it was up to us. We play there for our minimum fee. We played exactly the same number of orignials (4) as last time and the time before.
etc... etc.... it doesn't really matter. The main thing is we won't be going again and I'm glad I'd mentioned to the band previously that there was the potential for trouble with an erratic landlady here. It amused me that her husband, when called for his opinion, thought we were 'fine' and told her to 'calm down'. It didn't work. I only hope there'll be some sort of phone apology but of course there won't be. And I won't get my chance to say 'fuck off' either.
Sometimes I get a 6th sense that there's trouble. I hope I don't sound paranoid. It's perfectly rational because it fits the pattern of previous ugly events. 2 good nights, then one bad one for no reason.
This one could have scored 6 at 10:00pm, but instead will be relegated to the 'room 101' of my gigging career. Score 2.
What about the good you may ask? Well, only that mixing the Paradise Street album is going well and I continue to be inspired by the comments of fans on myspace. Needless to say most aren't British and I only wish I could play to a room full of these people instead. Bookings are also up for early next year despite the credit crunch. I played a magnificent function with Atlanta Soul on the Monday night to 1500 people, oh, and I've joined the local quiz league...see, not so bad after all!
This weekend, for differing reasons, my intrepid band were faced with 2 bad ones. Friday being bad and Saturday downright ugly!
On Friday we played at the Snooty Fox, Oakworth. Avid readers of this blog (both of you) may remember that this once solid venue seems to be struggling from a terminal shortage of customers.
When this happens 2 things usually occur: 1) The pub is quiet leading to a poor atmosphere, obviously.
2) Those that are present tend to be hardcore locals who don't wish to be entertained, or people who have strayed into the cold atmosphere and therefore also don't wish to be entertained. This leads to a situation where the minority of 'anti-band' audience becomes the majority.
In the case of the Snooty, all this is fairly academic. The facts are that the pub was DEAD, we played at one stage to nobody, and rounded off with a crowd of 2 (they were very enthusiastic though!). The last time we played here in August the same thing happened, except that time we also had the stoney-faced locals to contend with. This time they pissed off into the pool room.
Needless to say, not a good night. Predictable if nothing else (and we didn't get any trouble from the staff). I think it's probably time to knock this one on the head before they do. A shame, but there simply aren't enough people to make the night viable.
This one scores 4. It could be less but I felt we did a good job as a band and played well.
Saturday night was where the major problems occured. Again, I can only say that the one consolation was that it wasn't entirely a surprise. We've played at the Rock n Heifer twice previously and had a good night each time. However, on both occasions I had a bad feeling about the Lady of the House, Mandy. She reminded distinctly of a couple of similar characters we've met in the past.
Let me explain. Some pubs, generally ones that don't have regular weekly entertainment, take the attitude that the band is at their disposal for the evening and get over-involved. Usually this can be mis-interpreted as a good thing as sometimes they are over-involved by being over-keen and enthusiastic. This manifested itself at both the previous visits in us getting a good reception and being paid a little extra to play a little longer. No real problem in that except that at this point we're tired and want to go home, as with July my voice is tired too, and whilst it all seems very polite, it's actually very controlling and the band is 'owned' by the venue at this point. Also at these venues there's a need to extract a pound of flesh from the band and part of the entertainment becomes seeing how long the band will play for.
That's the good part. The downside to all this is that I recognised in Mandy the potential for irrational behaviour and trouble-making, sometimes drink-induced. A few years ago we were stung at a venue when after some great nights the landlady, intoxicated, turned on us for no good reason. Here we faced a similar scenario. The first set was fine, no problem. Then about half-way through set 2 I noticed her body language had altered. She began studying our poster intently and I realised what was coming. By now the band wasn't going down particularly well. It was another thin crowd of mainly locals who'd pretty much decided to talk and ignore us. So we finished the set and I prepared for a confrontation I knew was coming about 20 minutes prior.
We were then lambasted for not playing songs by the artists on the posters, not doing an encour, costing too much, having too long a break, playing too many originals and generally not doing as we did before.
All bullshit. I knew straight away this was an argument I wasn't going to win, so I made sure we got paid the correct amount and left. In response to the series of stupid complaints she made I did my best to use logic and defend what we did. This was pointless as logic wasn't really present in the first place.
For the record, the posters contain a sample of the sort of music we do. This is obvious to anyone with a grain of common sense a guide to the sort of music we do, not a programme. We only missed off one artist. I didn't do an encour because the audience didn't deserve one and I knew what was coming: the bollocking would have happened anyway. I specifically asked what time the 2nd set should start and was told it was up to us. We play there for our minimum fee. We played exactly the same number of orignials (4) as last time and the time before.
etc... etc.... it doesn't really matter. The main thing is we won't be going again and I'm glad I'd mentioned to the band previously that there was the potential for trouble with an erratic landlady here. It amused me that her husband, when called for his opinion, thought we were 'fine' and told her to 'calm down'. It didn't work. I only hope there'll be some sort of phone apology but of course there won't be. And I won't get my chance to say 'fuck off' either.
Sometimes I get a 6th sense that there's trouble. I hope I don't sound paranoid. It's perfectly rational because it fits the pattern of previous ugly events. 2 good nights, then one bad one for no reason.
This one could have scored 6 at 10:00pm, but instead will be relegated to the 'room 101' of my gigging career. Score 2.
What about the good you may ask? Well, only that mixing the Paradise Street album is going well and I continue to be inspired by the comments of fans on myspace. Needless to say most aren't British and I only wish I could play to a room full of these people instead. Bookings are also up for early next year despite the credit crunch. I played a magnificent function with Atlanta Soul on the Monday night to 1500 people, oh, and I've joined the local quiz league...see, not so bad after all!
Monday, December 01, 2008
I'm a little bit pushed for time today, not that I want to make you feel rushed in anyway, but I'll catch up on the latest podcasts and things next time-I'm sure you can wait until then!
The band did 2 gigs last week. Tuesday night we were up the Junction at Queensbury, no fog this time just a nice thick frost. The audience was sparse but as this was a chance to play the set as intended I fully enjoyed myself. We played a relaxed set, and I thought we delivered it very well. If there'd been more in it would have been a good night.
I'm happily scoring it a 6.
On Saturday night we ventured down through the ice and fog to The Peacock on Leeds Road, Huddersfield. This is a venue with character. By rights it ought to be one of those places you avoid on a dark night (and it was certainly a dark night), but in actual fact it has a respectable clientelle for bands and we always go down well. It wasn't as busy as previous visits but it certainly maintained it's status as one of my favourite venues. That's now 3 good ones in a row, surely some sort of record!!
The gig will largely be remembered for the fact that I played all the bass lines as we were down to a 3-piece on this occasion. I faced this with some trepidation but after a couple of practice sessions felt it was worth a go. Yes, things got so desperate I had to practice.
So we played the full set with a mixutre of 'split sounds' whereby I could play the bass with my left hand and some piano in the right. I also dusted down my legendary remote 'keytar' for a few of the guitar-driven songs: such as The Police numbers and the Cream ones. All in all, it was a great night and I'm very grateful to Dave and Norm for helping me hold it together. It was a very special night in that respect.
I'm tempted to give it an 8 or 7 and a half but I think we'll say 7 as there's no half-marks under this system!
I've managed to progress the Paradise Street album to the point where there's just 3 mixes to go now. The release will be January, so more details to follow, along with the rest of the stuff, next time.
The band did 2 gigs last week. Tuesday night we were up the Junction at Queensbury, no fog this time just a nice thick frost. The audience was sparse but as this was a chance to play the set as intended I fully enjoyed myself. We played a relaxed set, and I thought we delivered it very well. If there'd been more in it would have been a good night.
I'm happily scoring it a 6.
On Saturday night we ventured down through the ice and fog to The Peacock on Leeds Road, Huddersfield. This is a venue with character. By rights it ought to be one of those places you avoid on a dark night (and it was certainly a dark night), but in actual fact it has a respectable clientelle for bands and we always go down well. It wasn't as busy as previous visits but it certainly maintained it's status as one of my favourite venues. That's now 3 good ones in a row, surely some sort of record!!
The gig will largely be remembered for the fact that I played all the bass lines as we were down to a 3-piece on this occasion. I faced this with some trepidation but after a couple of practice sessions felt it was worth a go. Yes, things got so desperate I had to practice.
So we played the full set with a mixutre of 'split sounds' whereby I could play the bass with my left hand and some piano in the right. I also dusted down my legendary remote 'keytar' for a few of the guitar-driven songs: such as The Police numbers and the Cream ones. All in all, it was a great night and I'm very grateful to Dave and Norm for helping me hold it together. It was a very special night in that respect.
I'm tempted to give it an 8 or 7 and a half but I think we'll say 7 as there's no half-marks under this system!
I've managed to progress the Paradise Street album to the point where there's just 3 mixes to go now. The release will be January, so more details to follow, along with the rest of the stuff, next time.
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