The Bluesfather

The Blues Blog

7th November 2007

A month of musical madness!

Hardly had the dust settled on the Cupar event than the Bluesfather was off to Henry's Cellar Bar to support touring US musician, Micah Blue Smaldone. Micah's performance was mesmeric and the Bluesfather deemed it a great privilege to open for such a stellar act. He's bought two of Micah's CDs and recommends that you make every effort to catch him if he passes through your town. A couple of great sessioms at Dave's open mic at the Maltings on Friday then there was the Oxjam Buskathon at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh's historic High Street on Saturday. This was great fun and the most direct and immediate contact with an audience. As the Bluesfather discovered, you have to assemble that audience to begin with, get them to stop long enough to listen, get them to stop longer to put money in a collecting bucket. The Bluesfather learned later he had been spotted by one of his bosses. He hopes the message gets through - YOU'RE NOT PAYING ME ENOUGH! LOOK WHAT I'M REDUCED TO.

No let up, since Sunday was OXJAM AT HENRY'S, organised, promoted, hosted by and featuring the Bluesfather who had managed to assemble the cream of Edinburgh's acoustic talent: Jym Ponter, Emily Scott, Son of Thom, Rossco Galloway, The Rolling River Band and Al & Al. A couple of sicknotes from the sadly missed Anna K Jarosz and Amy Duncan. An absolutely amazing evening with many of the audience commenting to the Bluesfather on the sheer quality in depth of the acts on view. The Bluesfather's opinion is simply that Edinburgh has a huge reserve of talent which is poorly served by the local press and listings magazines whose writers seem more interested in blagging tickets for touring chart acts than nurturing local performers. The Bluesfather has a plan to change this.

Then there was the surprise ending to the night with the debut of the somewhat under-rehearsed The Modern Blues (see the panel on the Index page). Audience reaction was sufficiently positive to encourage the band to take things further. This band really cooks!

Yikes! Wednesday and it was the Forest with yet another Blue Wednesday featuring Verity Burton and Andy Mackin from Newcastle and Caroline England from Liverpool - part of the Bluesfather's continuing policy of engaging international acts. It was quite a challenge for the Bluesfather to follow two such gutsy female performers but such a joy to listen their sheer quality. This is the big deal for the Bluesfather: he gets to put on acts he really wants to hear and then gets a slot on the same bill. Mmmmmm-hmmmm!

It was an exhausted Bluesfather who reluctantly turned down the offer of a gig at The Smugglers, Sunderland (one of his favourite venues) on the Friday to play alongside Verity, Andy and the legendary Simma.

November looks mercifully quiet. For the moment

18th October 2007

Blues and Beyond

Cupar was a blast. The Bluesfather was astounded to discover that the club was held in a small concert hall complete with balcony! Bring on the Millennium Dome, he says. He wisely announced to the capacity crowd that following the precepts of the club, he would start with some blues and then move out into the beyond. This was not a little nerve-wracking as it was clear that the Cupar audience (some had motored in from Dundee) had not heard an act quite like his. Need he have worried so? Perhaps not. He was overwhlemed by the number of people, undaunted by the beyond who came up afterwards to thank him for his performance and to ask when he would be back. Yet again, some heard echoes of Neil Young in what he does. Flattering and humbling at the same time to be compared to a hero. Perhaps all those hours spent in the early seventies learning the entire Harvest album had embedded the Young style in in the young Bluesfather.

Stevey Hay and the RayVons were amazing and Stevey one of the nicest and most accomplished guys you could meet in music. It was indeed an honour and pleasure to open for such a major act.

The Bluesfather has just picked up another gig at Henry's this weekend (check out the gigs listings in the side panel) supporting the "king of the 12 string", Micah Blue Smaldone, all the way from the States. Oh, and The Modern Blues are on fire! They will be closing OXJAM at HENRY'S on the 28th October. One to make the effort to attend, the Bluesfather suggests.

1st October 2007

Back in blue

Wow! Is the Bluesfather excited! He's only been invited to open for the absolutely amazing Stevey Hay and the Ray Vons at the Blues and Beyond Club in Cupar! Stevey Hay is a legend, having been Charlie Musslewhite's guitarist in the States for a number of years and the Ray Vons are as tight as fuck!

Wow, two! Aki and the Bluesfather have really been getting it down in practice and there is hope yet for a revival of The Modern Blues. Watch this space!

22nd September 2007

Oxjam

The Bluesfather wants to thank all the musicians who have opted in to the Oxjam at Henry's event on the 28th October. He's quite overwhelmed. A big, big, blue thanks to Aki, Blair, Al & Al, the Rolling River Band, Amy, Jym, Rossco, Anna, Damon and Emily. You can always rely on musicians in the pinch. The Bluesfather met with Andy Crosbie, manager at the Oxfam Bookshop in Morningside today and has garnered support from that quarter. Expect a lot of publicity over the coming month. The Bluesfather also wants to thank Henry's for their continuing faith in Blue. Let's make it a biggie!

16th September 2007

Did someone say a month has passed?

Trips to the North East and Inverness and multiple gigs in Edinburgh, Newcastle and Sunderland, songwriting (two new songs) plus attempting to set up an Oxjam event have entirely consumed the Bluesfather's time with the consequence of a sadly depleted blog.

Gigs have been great fun though variably attended, always a risk, but even with the smallest crowd, responses have been great: gigs were at the Centurion, Newcastle upon Tyne; the Ropery, Sunderland; the Forest Cafe, Edinburgh and Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh. The Centurion was packed and incredibly enthusiastic. The Bluesfather was knocked out by the sheer number of individuals who came up afterwards to thank him for his set. The Ropery was quiet but Simma and the Bluesfather had a great time with their joint act: 45 minutes of Simma, 45 minutes of the Bluesfather and 90 minutes of the old Blue Suede Shoes (Simma and the Bluesfather) with old rock and blues standards. Great craic with the audience who really got into it and requested repeated encores. The Forest was it's usual self and it was great to have Al & Al back. Another beautiful set from Emily Scott. Henry's audience was small but enthusiastic: Anna K Jarosz was her usual brilliant self and the Electric Ghosts's 'car-crash-country' was a revelation and a delight!

The Bluesfather has been returning to one of his first musical loves: the slide guitar. He finished his sets at the Centurion and Henry's with four slide numbers. At Henry's he used the electric guitar through an over-driven Marshall amp which together with the old blues-harp in the rack had him sounding like a full-blown blues band. The response from the audience was amazing, probably because they see and hear the combination rarely, if at all. So he's about to ditch the Carlsbro and invest in a Marshall and increase the amount of electric guitar in the act.

Come the 3rd October and the Bluesfather will be celebrating the first birthday of Blue Wednesday. This has been such an unexpected achievement. He is acutely aware that it's success is due to the help he has obtained from Ryan Van Winkle and the volunteers at the Forest, the tremendous, attentive and enthusiastic audiences and the sheer calibre of the acts he's managed to convince to play and their continued commitment. It's a humbling experience. For the third it's a return for Anna and the Electric Ghosts. Promises to be a goodie!

There has been some discussion with Rod from Stevey Hay and the Ray Vons regarding the Bluesfather opening for them in upcoming gigs, though it's still early days. Could be a great combination. Time will tell.

19th August 2007

All change!

Well, nearly all change.

Nothing seems to quite settle down in the Blues-world until it actually happens and, even then, it doesn't always turn out as expected. Consequently, the Bluesfather likes to stay light on his feet. There are some changes to the Blue Friday line-up (see panel to the right) for 14th September. Al and Al are unable to play, but the Bluesfather is delighted to announce that the space they have vacated will be more than amply-occupied by Al Shields' new americana-influenced band, The Electric Ghosts. Anna K Jarosz will, of course, be there and the Bluesfather hopes again to accompany her on the Bonnie Raitt song, Love like a man. He has been practising!

Discussions with Claire at Henry's Cellar Bar are proving fruitful, Blue Friday 1 having been reasonably successful, and once past BF2 it seems probable that BF will become a monthly feature: BF, mid-month alternating with Blue Wednesday, beginning or end of month depending on the calendar. The great attractions of Henry's are the city centre location, its solid reputation as a music venue, an excellent sound system and class resident sound guys like Nora and Damon and tolerably-priced bar. It's also one of the Bluesfather's favourite venues: the sentimental old fool still thinks fondly of the last-ever Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke Band gig held there and their chaotic rendition of Hoochie Coochie Man.

The Centurion gig on the 30th has turned into a wee mini-tour of the Northeast with a blues-harp support role to the legendary Simma at the Ropery, Sunderland on the 1 September. Jim, old university colleague, and Eileen have kindly arranged sleeping accommodation and Jim has said he will attend the Centurion gig although both he and the Bluesfather know that Jim does not approve of the Bluesfather's modern take on the Blues. The Bluesfather has said he will perform a couple of slide numbers by way of compensation.

15th August 2007

The best gig ever

Bluesdaughter Zoe and Bluespartner Mark arranged for the Bluesfather to attend the only Edinburgh appearance of Seasick Steve at the Liquid Room on Victoria Street last night, the 14th. The Bluesfather had been feeling queasy all day at work with a stomach bug which has decimated the Blues-family over the past week and was unsure if he was going to make it. However, by the clever ruse of not eating anything and giving the wee bugs nothing to chew on he managed to avoid the vomiting which seems to have characterised the ailment.

Having made it to the gig the Bluesfather was transported by Seasick Steve to another level. To call his music "blues" is to give it an altogether too narrow focus. Sure, it is based on the rhythms and sequences of the blues but Steve's fiery guitar technique masks considerable skill under a downhome guise and the subjects of the songs stray far from usual blues topics being almost wholly autobiographical. His spoken word "stories" between songs are delivered in a lilting Southern drawl which is poetry in itself, giving character and resonance to tales of a hard life and a connection to the well-fed and well-dressed Festival audience. His self-deprecating humour and astonishment at his current celebrity was a joy to see:. "Me here, playing' to y'all like this, it's like I could make flyin' saucers come out ma ass!"

By now, all sensations of queasiness had disappeared but, he can tell you, it was an exhausted and ill Bluesfather who finally made his way home, symptoms only temporarily abated by the Seasick Steve experience.

If he's in your area, or anywhere close (or far!) go see the truly amazing Seasick Steve!!!!!

At a more humdrum level, the Bluesfather has picked another Newcastle gig on the 30th of this month and will be taking the Blue Wednesday circus to Henry's Cellar Bar on 14th September for a reprise of last month's Blue Friday this time featuring Anna K Jarosz (again) and Al and Al (great stalwarts, supporters and contributors to BW). The Bluesfather is looking forward to it.

9th August 2007

Back to work

The Bluesfather is amazed how an interesting past-time has become work. Setting up Blue Wednesday month-by-month, making sure performers are happy, trying to pick up other gigs, negotiating with Henry's about a possible Friday night once a month, puzzling over The Modern Blues, continuing to write songs: yep! It could take over life as we know it. Is the Bluesfather looking for a bit sympathy? Probably! Still he wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun.

Simma has produced another gig at the Centurion which, as regular readers of this blog will know, is one of the Bluesfather's favourite venues. Will it be the fourth or fifth time this year? Maybe time to see if the Bluesfather can organise his North East tour? You may notice a wee bit switching of acts at Blue Wednesday. Vee and Andy are not able to come up till October so Emily has very kindly agreed to swap. The great thing as far as the Bluesfather is concerned is that no-one is dropping out and he's able to maintain the same high quality that has become the significant feature of Blue Wednesday. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

The Bluesfather bumped into Aki busking with his mate, Simon, on drums in Victoria Street this afternoon right in the heart of the festival. Excellent stuff, totally funky from the Funkmeister himself. Aki still thinks there is some mileage in The Modern Blues. The Bluesfather should sit down with him and see what is practical or just draw a line under it.

3rd August 2007

Holidays

The Bluesfather has had a week off work, largely to ensure that his 14-year-old grandson has been reasonably occupied. Walks along the Union Canal and the Water of Leith have proved that adolescents do, indeed, retain the use of their legs and can gain a certain amount of enjoyment out of a simple activity provided those activities are contrasted with something less physically demanding but high on entertainment values. Trips to the Secret Bunker in Fife and the Falkirk Wheel seem to have filled that gap. The Bluesfather has to confess to a certain amount of pre-holiday week dread, imagining scenes of Kevin and Perry awfulness, but is pleased to report that everything went extremely well.

Mid-week was Blue Wednesday, back again at the Forest after it's brief sojourn at Henry's Cellar Bar. A surprise guest, Melissa Devrost from Vancouver, Canada, was a late addition to the bill but extended hours during the Festival meant everyone got a good set. It was great to have Kelly and Ian back up from Newcastle for a return visit and Jenny Lindsay did a star turn on the performance poetry. A great evening all round. Next month will be a reprise of last year with the newly returned from the States Ali reunited with Al in Al and Al and a third (!) visit from Newcastle by Vee and Andy.

26th July 2007

"Angie who?"

At the gig at the Centurion on the 22nd the Bluesfather was packing up after his set when the guy who plays African drums with Frogma (renamed for the night, Fray and the Bentos, for no good reason that anyone could discern) said something to the effect that the Bluesfather must be influenced by Angie especially on the basis of his first two songs, the old stalwart, Label and a new one, Small. Thinking that the said drummer was referring to the Davy Graham song, Angie, the Bluesfather started on a ramble about having seen Graham and Bert Jansch in London in the late 60s.

Not quite what the drummer was getting at, apparently, as the Graham/Jansch references sailed right past him. No, this Angie is a singer. The Bluesfather hadn't the heart to tell the drummer that Label was written some time around 1973 as a tribute to Graham/Jansch though, it has to be said, without their facility round the fretboard and probably pre-dates the Angie in question. A little hunting on the internet turned up a likely Angie (very talented) who is certainly not 44 years old. Check out Angie Palmer. Some excellent stuff and, if one were to post-rationalise the influence thing, not to be sniffed at. The Bluesfather is flattered to be put in the same bracket.

The summer really is not the time for blogging. Too much else going on. Will try to keep up come autumn.

7th July 2007

Ashington

On Monday past the Bluesfather was introduced to his new project at work - a masterplan for Ashington town centre in Northumberland. It would seem that the Bluesfather has truly become imbued with the spirit and actuality of north east England. Clearly, for his employer there were certain advantages in having the Bluesfather undertake this work, not the least of which was the local knowledge and contacts he had acquired during his sojourn there. And, true to form, the same characters have started re-appearing. Does this mean the Bluesfather is in competition with his former employer, celebrated North East architects, Waring and Netts? Let us call it merely friendly rivalry.

Researching the history of Ashington, as the Bluesfather was required to do for a report he had to write, is rather like saying, as the Bluesfather once heard someone say at a gig, "This is one of Jimi Hendrix's old songs." The point being Hendrix hasn't written much recently and Ashington hardly existed as a community before 1867 when the colliery was founded. Just because a history is short or recent doesn't mean to say it's not interesting. As a mining town or, as it was styled in the early 20th century, "the largest mining village in the world", the structure of the rows of cottages is fascinating for those, like the Bluesfather, who have an interest in urban design and history. A map of 1923 which caught the eye of the Bluesfather shows all the cottages connected by narrow guage tracks to the colliery. These carried wagons which removed refuse and night soil (shit to you lot) from and delivered coal to the cottages. An amazing, mechanistic, dystopian creation which, no doubt, was conceived in a spirit of benign paternalism, however misguided. Such a narrow construct of life which sets it's boundaries precisely within the confines of the colliery can condition generations of workers and their families, which, on reflection, is probabaly what it was supposed to do. Even the 1920s cinema was named after a local dialect word for a pit pony: The Wallaw Cinema.

The Bluesfather was drawn to reflect on another workers's town he had visited: Zlin in the Czech Republic. In 1928, Le Corbusier was invited by Tomas Bat'a, the footwear magnate, to design a new community for the workers in his shoe factories. In the event, the town was designed by Bat'a's in-house architect, Vladimir Karfik (who the Bluesfather met at his 90th birthday party in 1991) with Corb as a shadowy consultant. The contrast with Ashington could hardly be greater though dystopian megalomania was never far away even in Zlin. In his 16 storey office block in the centre of town (then the tallest structure in Europe) Bat'a had his office constructed in a vastly over-sized lift with huge doors which allowed him to travel up and down the building and appear without warning on any floor he chose. No slacking in Zlin, then.

29th June 2007

Changes

Just when he thought he had left the North East for good (except for the occasional flying gig) the Bluesfather seems destined for a return! His new dayjob with 3DReid architects (one of the UK's Top Ten architectural companies) has offered him the prospect of heading up a very large urban renewal project in Ashington. More news on Monday. Dare we say the Bluesfather is intrigued and not a little excited? Even now, after all these years plying his trade as an architect, when one might have thought that a world-weary cynicism might have gripped the Bluesfather, he has to say that there's little to compare to the thrill of a new project. Even in the trenches of getting a building out of the ground or when struggling to get some quality into the finished workmanship the business of making something new and unique is still a blessing. Writing songs, playing music, drawing or making buildings, it's all connected: order out of chaos, something where before there was nothing.

As the Bluesfather wrote in Simma's Song, "what makes us happy never lasts", and so it is with some sadness that he has learned of the imminent sale of the Forest Cafe by the owners, the University of Edinburgh. It is an inevitability in a city with such a dynamic economy that the unconsidered trifle does not remain unconsidered for long before someone with big bucks picks it up. The concern, surely, in this perfect, gleaming new society where money is the bulwark against disturbance and difference, is that the imperfect, the incomplete, the plain downright perverse will be squeezed out with hardly a glance and then we will all turn round and realise it has gone and, gone with it, something of the texture of life that all the polished granite and stainless steel in the world cannot provide.

The Bluesfather has put out a call for a celebration of the Forest Cafe, it can't be saved, in the remaining months. Go listen to poets, writers, musicians; see films, jugglers, improvisation; experience the impromptu, the sudden, the accidental; enjoy the good, the bad and the supremely indifferent; live with the weird, the wonderful and the plain woeful; eat the best felafals, nachos and veggie chilli in town; take your own beer, wine, stuff. And if you're a poet or a writer or a musician or a performer or an exhibitionist or have stuff to unload get yourself on to someone's bill and chance your luck with the erratic PA and one of the most enthusiastic audiences anywhere. The Bluesfather will be there to the very end.

Let the good times roll!

23rd June 2007

Catch-up time

It's been a hectic three weeks for the Bluesfather since the last substantial blog. Firstly, several days were spent burning a first batch of CDs and updating the graphics and inserts. While there is an appropriate home-spun quality to the production it does take a bugger of a time to put together!

3rd June 2007

A great Blues-family celebration for the younger Blues-daughter Hannah's 30th birthday on the Sunday with a barbecue in the back garden which the Bluesfather had spent some unaccustomed hours tidying the previous day. All four Blues-sons and daughters with partners and six grandchildren were there. Daniel was in charge of the barbecue and vast amounts of food and drink were consumed. With the party winding up to enable small children to be fed, watered and bedded at around 6 o'clock it was into the trusty Bluesmobile for the Bluesfather and off down the A1 to play a gig at the Centurion Bar in Newcastle.

Barely through the door at the Centurion, Bluesfather out of breath, guitar out of tune, and he was told he was on! Oh, no, he wasn't! Too soon. So Simma and Dan Walsh jumped up the list to the relief of the Bluesfather who settled down to enjoy. "What are you doing?" says Simma. "We're on!" Yes, it was Simma and the Blue Suede Shoes, that well-known scratch band, for whom the Bluesfather plays blues-harp though no-one had told him they were playing that night! On stage it was astonishing how all the old Simma and Lindisfarne songs came flooding back although the Bluesfather hadn't played them in over a year. Two songs in and he realised he hadn't contacted the Blues-home to let the Blueslover know he had arrived safely. A bit of furtive texting got a laugh from audience when he had to explain what he feared more: an accident on the A1 or not letting the Blueslover know he was well!

Two great bands, Our Joe's Mullet and the Unstable Tables and it was the turn of the Bluesfather. A handful of old favourites, a couple of newies off the current CD and then a self-indulgent return to the rarely used slide guitar for a final three. The Bluesfather is always amazed at the response the slide gets! Managed to sell 6 CDs. Ian Courtney (great singer/songwriter) had offered a bed at his new house in Camperdown (the Bluesfather loves the name) which, along with Ian's company, was infinitely prefereable to the 2.00am trek up the A1. It also meant the best bacon roll in the North East next morning at Otterburn.

12th June 2007

Hannah's diploma show at the appropriately named Out of the Blue gallery in Leith was a great evening with some fantastic photography on display. Her exhibit concentrated on musicians and bands she has been photographing around Edinburgh. Very dynamic stuff. The Bluesfather featured (modestly) in two of the images!

13th June 2007

Blues-grandson had been picked for one of the junior Carlton Cricket Club teams so it was off to Haddington for a league match against a local team who were very good. Not a great evening for Carlton as they were defeated. Still, Ben and his partner produced half the total Carlton runs between them and stayed in long enough to frustrate the Haddington bowlers. A suicidal attempt at a quickie run by his partner had Ben run out, stranded in the middle of the wicket.

14th-17th June 2007

A late drive down the A1 (again) and Ben, the Blueslover and the Bluesfather were headed to their hotel in Newcastle preparatory for weekend of cricket at the third test, England versus the West Indies, at Riverside in Chester-le-Street. The first day was a total washout, though it was instructive to see a cheerful English stoicism in play as spectators turned the lack of cricket into a visit to the pub. The Blues-spirits were raised by a meal at the favourite Indian restaurant, the Valley Junction in Jesmond, that night. The Blues-family encourage all visitors to Newcastle to make their way to the Valley Junction.

About four hours play on Saturday was an improvement of sorts and an opportunity to see the Barmy Army at close quarters. It's questionable how much cricket these guys (and it's mostly guys) in fancy dress actually see. In-jokes, chants, mexican waves, baiting of security staff, beer glass snakes, balloons are what seem to take their interest. Oh, and the constant fearful din!

While Ben and the Blueslover had dinner in the hotel the Bluesfather crept into Newcastle for a stealth visit to Enigma where Casual Kai, Simma and Verity Burton were playing. Arriving unannounced and seeing the surprise on their faces was priceless! A couple of blues harp numbers with Simma and Casual Kai were followed by Nick loaning the Bluesfather Lee's left-handed guitar for an impromptu set. Fabulous fun!

A full day's play on a sunny Sunday more than made up for earlier disappointments and Ben managed to get autographs of Monty Panesar and Ryan Sidebottom among others as the players left the pavilion.

The rest of the week

The Bluesfather and Al had another rehearsal on Tuesday and practised one of the Bluesfather's new songs; at the time it had no words or title, but with a bit work on Wednesday had become "Bird on the wing" with five verses. With Aki (Ahmed Remally) finding it difficult to make rehearsals he and the Bluesfather decided simply to wing it at the Maltings on Friday and rehearse/play for only the second time, first time with an audience. The crowd reaction was sensational and the Bluesfather thinks he may have a new band. No-one would believe that they had played together for only the second time, although the more astute musicians, Al Shields (see him next week at Blue Wednesday) and Dave who organises the Maltings evening, had picked up on the constant subtle stage signals between the pair as they made their way through the set. Great times!

21st June 2007

Too much happenning!

The Bluesfather can hardly believe it has been three weeks since he has troubled this blog. An extended catch up will be logged this weekend.

31st May 2007

Cricket, global warming, ladies' night, jamming and stuff

Cricket

It has always been a mystery to the Bluesfather why the English persevered with cricket. Now the Bluesfather is not about to give you all that usual guff about arcane rules, boredom and stuff, because he is of the opinion you either "get" cricket or you don't: he "get's" it. No, his interest is roused by the fact that here is a game which requires periods of settled, reasonably clement weather for up to three(!) days at a time but which has originated in a climate struggling to maintain settled, reasonably clement weather over the space of an afternoon. It may be that the deeper philosophical, even spiritual, aspects of the game need to be set against the vagaries of the English summer for the realisation of their full ontological potential: in that dealing with things as they are, in their essence, so to speak, cricket seeks not to transport us to a staged, mythic gladiatorial contest but, in contrast, attempts to remind us of the ordinariness of human events and how easily they are derailed. Our (Scottish) national poet, Robert Burns, no great shakes with either the cover drive or off-spin, the Bluesfather is led to understand, put it quite simply as, "the plans o' men gang aft agley." Observing recent weather, the Bluesfather is inclined to the view that curling up in front of the fire with book of poetry and a wee dram is perhaps existantially preferable to a freezing afternoon at Raeburn Place watching the optimistically named Scottish Saltires struggle through another game against a county side. Still, it did allow him to see Sidebottom in action recently and feel pleased at his merited call-up to the England team.

Global warming

In the space of fifteen minutes this afternoon, just as the Bluesfather was delivering the Blues-grandson to cricket practice at the Carlton Cricket Club's beautiful ground at the Grange (incidentally, for students of 1930s architecture, the ground offers the best available view of William Kinninmonth's staggering white cubist house of 1932) the monsoon arrived. Lighting crackled and sparked directly overhead, cherry-sized hail-stones fell so rapidly that they built up in little drifts against walls and the rain was so heavy that it was impossible to see clearly more than fifty meters ahead. Within five minutes every road was a small river, every road crossing a ford and any incline, of which there are very many in Edinburgh, a rushing torrent. In the twenty seconds it took the Bluesfather to stagger twenty meters from the car to the pavilion and back,lugging a laden cricket bag, he was soaked to the skin. "Drookit", as they say in his country.

Ladies' night

The Bluesfather has been resisting calling it that since it seems so patronising, as if a night has to be reserved for ladies to shield them from the rude boys. But last night at Blue Wednesday it was truly Ladies' night: Susanna, Anna and Emily presented a programme of music that was as exciting for its instrumental diversity as it was for its musical styles, voices and songs. A surprisingly hushed Forest Cafe were simply transported by the sheer talent and performance on stage. It was a somewhat sheepish Bluesfather who rounded off the evening, endeavouring to play those of his songs that fitted with what had gone before. A beautiful, beautiful evening.

Andy, manager of the Oxfam Bookshop in Morningside came along. It was great to see him again, such a genuine guy and running the best bookshop in town (and the Bluesfather is not saying this because he himself worked there). Andy had clearly of alcohol taken, though not to excess, and his cheery shout of "Play My Babe" at the end of the Bluesfather's set had your hero adjusting his position (sitting to standing), his instrumentation (strapping on the reliable B blues-harp), his musical key (retuning the guitar from D modal to conventional tuning), his demeanour (soulful singer/songwriter to strident blues-shouter) and, frankly, the tone of the evening. Still, everyone went out on a high and there was, yet again, some dancing being done at the back of the room and Anna, very coyly, asked if the Bluesfather would play some blues with her in the future. Musical collaboration, it's what it's all about.

The Bluesfather has to say that Blue Wednesday is a real privilege. He gets to put on acts he wants to hear, he gets to play on the same bill along with some real talent and those self-same performers want to make music with him (the Bluesfather is feeling a trifle uncomfortable with that last phraseology, but let it stand). The only downside, and it's more of a voyage of discovery than a problem, is the Forest PA, parts of which move around the room mysteriously between one gig and another. Where will we find the amp this month? Where the mics? The leads?

Jamming

Just enough time to say in this sprawling blog that the Bluesfather, Al Clarke and Ahmed Remally finally got together Tuesday past for a jam to see if there's a future in it as a three-piece. They will be getting back together next week and will definitely play Henry's Cellar Bar on 30th June, perhaps even with a drummer on board. The Bluesfather wants to call the band The Modern Blues. Watch this space.

19th May 2007

Two-year-old sabotages Bluesblog!

With the room containing the computer also doubling as guest bedroom for the visiting Blues-tot, the Bluesfather has been kept away from the blues-blog for a week, and what a week! The reason the Blues-tot is staying at the Blues-house is simply that Blues-daughter 1 has given birth, last Tuesday evening, to the long-awaited twins. Suffice to say they are boy and girl (exactly as the Bluesfather predicted), called Travis and Olivia (not as the Bluesfather predicted), and they and their Mum are doing well. The trusty Bluesmobile (or, as it is fondly, if not a little inaccurately, known by the Blueslover; "the gay hairdresser's car") has been on stand-by since last weekend doing general ferrying duties. The Bluesfather supposes, on reflection, that the scene had been effectively set last Sunday.

To explain: the Bluesfather is not a morning person and it was to his great surprise (and, one might conjecture, his consternation) on entering the dining room last week to find virtually the entire Blues-tribe having a noisy, messy and lengthy breakfast. He guessed that since his home-cooked Indian feast the previous Sunday had not induced childbirth the following week, the Blues-family were having another go at breakfast. All thoughts of a quiet bowl of muesli, a soothing cafetiere of coffee and a read of the Observer newspaper were banished from his consciousness. Some of the breakfast participants finally departed at around 4.00! Perhaps he exaggerates: the Bluesfather is not that grumpy (possibly)!

By Tuesday, the Blues-family focus had transferred to the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, that huge airport departure lounge masquerading as a hospital and about as far from the city centre as the airport itself, where the Blues-daughter was safely in the hands of the Simpson Maternity Unit. This left the Bluesfather in sole charge of the Blues-tot for a day and half. By Friday, he had forgotten how restful the office actually was, how undemanding and logical the clients were and how tidy life could be.

The Bluesfather engineered a brief respite on Friday evening with a return to Dave's event at the Maltings Bar. Good to see Dave again and to meet Jym Ponter, who sounds increasingly like Simma, after a long absence. The Bluesfather has to confess to a nagging worry that the habit of solo performance had drifted away from him following the demise of e/t/c. The return to the Maltings was therefore something of a contrived test.

He was considerably more nervous than usual when he took the "stage" at 11.30pm and worked his way through The Bluesfather, Label, Venice, Simma's song, Blue star and My babe. As an experiment he ran Label straight into Venice and Simma's song into Blue star as a pair of medleys. This seemed to work really well and he thinks he will add Enigma triangle on to the back of Blue star to extend it's scope and dynamics. Still slightly shaky when he came off, the Bluesfather was surprised and delighted that several people came up and say how much they had enjoyed the set.

I think we may safely say, the Bluesfather is back as a solo performer and is looking forward to the upcoming Blue Wednesday. To cap it all off, he's picked up another gig at Henry's Cellar Bar, one of his favourite venues and the scene of the last-ever e/t/c gig. He's hoping to do it as a three-piece with Al Clarke on bass and Ahmed Remally taking Nick's role on lead guitar. e/t/c rides again? Stay tuned.

12th May 2007

Thinking again, writing again, debating again

One of the things the Bluesfather was noted for before his sojourn in Newcastle upon Tyne was his ready facility in writing about architecture. A regular column and book reviews in the architectural magazine, ARCA, for nearly two years before it's sad collapse in 2003 (greatly missed) and articles in various other architectural publications were as much a feature of his public persona as the music, maybe more so. A four year dearth of architectural writing, however, had him questioning his commitment to and engagement with the subject. So it was with a sense of "come hell or high water" that he agreed to present a paper to his colleagues at 3D architects Friday past.

Initially it proved as difficult as he imagined in getting started, but once the kernel of an idea had lodged in his brain the old architectural rottweiler was off and running along a familiar groove: the house, what it means, how it nurtures us, the opportunities it presents, how it is denied to so many, how it is woefully misread in architectural theory, etc. If you can be bothered, you can check out the Bluesfather's general drift at Intbau, click on Essays and scroll down to Dreams of Houses. Not an easy read, but possibly worth sticking with.

The forum in which the Bluesfather's most recent animadversion on architecture was presented was the remarkable DAZ (Design Action Zone): a regular Friday lunchtime discussion and activity session organised and presented by staff at 3D Architects and attended by everyone from the humblest tekkie to the most senior director. It's loud, argumentative, uproariously amusing and for the presenter genuinely intellectually challenging and a credit to a mainstream architectural company that it can engender and maintain such interest and debate at such a high level.

All he can say is that the Bluesfather did not disgrace himself in front of his international audience and he was really pleased at how debate went. He was also pleased at the many who completed his totally unscientific questionnaire. He hopes to publish the statistically suspect results next week. Oh, what was the topic? "Kevin McLoud: Friend or Foe?", an examination of how architecture is presented on the box and whether it is just another facet of reality television, what effect that might have on how it is understood and represented and what that representation actually omits or censors consideration of. It was much, much more fun than it sounds!

Architecture rocks!

4th May 2007

What goes around, comes around

Strange to relate, but the Bluesfather's former employer, Rob, was in the office on Monday on joint business with his current employer. They share clients! On the same day, the ole bluesman was in Glasgow trying to encourage his team on projects for another client he shares with Rob. Has architecture come to be so cosy? Bizarre. The Bluesfather was sorry to miss Rob whom he'd always seen as one of the good guys. You don't meet too many in your life and you need to value those you do.

47-46 is not a score we see in association football, American Football, perhaps, but even there it's nerve-racking and might be compromised by turnovers in the play or an accumulation of yellow flags. There are yet the enigmatic Tories and the bend-with-the-wind lacking-in-principle Liberals to contend with. Still, Scottish politics hasn't been as interesting since the Poll Tax protests. And it presents some REAL questions for that Scotsman-manque, Gordon Brown: disliked in England, his political base withered in Scotland! No wonder Bambi is finally going to announce his departure date in the next few days. Legacy, schmegacy. Tony Blair WMD, surely not KC or CBE.

Triumphalist? Moi? Absolutment non; mais'apres moi le deluge, peut-etre!

Composing, composting

The Bluesfather is presently working on three songs at the same time! Like all Bluesfather projects, they are long in germination; some riffs have been kicking around rootless for five years or more but have suddenly found themselves a musical harbour. Time to disembark and unpack reflections, adventures, losses, gains, the stuff of life. The Bluesfather was reading in the Guardian about Pete Townsend's Lifehouse project. 36 years in the making! Can it be so? Empires have risen and fallen. Still, ever the adventurer, he's about to give it a try. Will it presage a new musical direction or is it simply a crock of shit? Possibly not the right frame of mind in which to undertake a "scientific" (oops, there he goes again) experiment. Mmmmm-hmmm...set the controls for the heart of the sun.

27th April 2007

Order and indeterminacy

This evening the Bluesfather stood at a bus stop in Princes Street waiting for his transport home. It is fair to say that he had consumed some alcohol with his very convivial workmates at the Tonic Bar just off George Street, in the centre of town, where the trainee cocktail barman was juggling the plastic bottle up his back, over his shoulder, across his hips, round the houses - oops! - on the floor. We've all got to learn, so philosophises the Bluefather as he awaited the number 4. Looking east along one of the greatest prospects in urban Europe - fuck it! urban anywhere - his eye was caught by the incomplete colonnade on top of Calton Hill. Designed as a replica of the Parthenon by the Scot William Playfair in consultation with the Englishman Charles Cockerell, the early 19th century's greatest Greco-classical architects, in the days when Hugh William Williams, a painter of some regard in those times, had characterised Edinburgh as the Athens of the North, it sits on top of its psuedo-acropolis and closes the eastern end of Princes Street.

Promoted initially as the Scottish tribute to its substantial losses in the Napoleonic wars (always far more Scots casualties based on far more soldiers in action per head of population in this so-called United Kingdom of ours), its classical authenticity, attention to detail and construction methods proved so costly that only a section of the portico up to the architrave could be built before funds ran out. It sits now, incomplete but tantalising, at the same three-quarter view to Princes Street as its original presents to the visitor to the Acropolis. At one and the same time it represents the sublime authority and conviction of classical architecture and philosophy while in its incompletion the indeterminacy of human interaction. The Bluesfather is often drawn to speculate what its effect, scenographically and urbanistically, might have been on Princes Street and the city at large had it been completed. The openness and internationalism of the Scottish psyche might have been constrained by yet another classical copy while the cleansing east wind, bringing trade, art and ideas from Nordic Europe, as it has always done, might have been blocked by its southern bulk.

The Bluesfather rejoices in its Athenian order, how that provides a framework, only just, which implies behaviours of democracy, which are then undercut by its transparency, incompletion and insubstantiality. Democracy is only ever viable to the extent which it can countenance question, deal with challenge, incorporate difference, accept criticism, approach indeterminacy and act effectively on it. The Bluesfather feels we live in times when we are at a tipping point. We live in a distrustful society where the government of the day has created and operates universal instruments of surviellance. The Bluesfather recalls with amused affection, now, the clumsy Special Branch filming of his and other's activities in the sixties as they protested the Vietnam war, squatted in Council houses deliberately kept off the waiting list in order to attract the better-off, shut down the university or performed agit-prop drama at the Traverse. There's probably a Bluesfather file somewhere in a dusty archive. But such a homespun approach has been superseded by the pervasive power of the electronic state. Your indeterminacy, what makes you you, can now be characterised by state agencies as a determined and anti-social order, a conspiracy, a threat.

We don't have to live like this. We don't have to be the slaves in the underbelly of a post-Athenian society.

Use your vote, your future freedom of action (and perhaps your freedom) depends on it, and use it wisely on May 3rd.

19th April 2007

Busy, busy

The last couple of weeks have been so hectic that the Bluesfather has hardly had time to get to the blog, never mind get to the point!

Life and work

Almost three weeks in and the new job is turning out better than the Bluesfather could have anticipated. Firstly, his new colleagues are a really friendly and welcoming crew and seem to have the knack of making everyone feel at home, from the German, Polish, Norwegian, Chinese and Indian architects who have come to work in Scotland to the old lag himself. Secondly, the work itself looks really promising (more on this at a later date). Thirdly, the work is in exceptionally stylish city centre offices. All good for the Bluesfather recently returned to his native city. And this is a city he is seeing through new eyes, almost as if he were stranger in his own country. Four years away is not so long but somehow Edinburgh has grown rapidly during the Bluesfather's absence into it's status as a genuine capital. The Scottish Parliament may huff and puff and seem a thing of questionable value in itself but it is the fervour of Edinburgers in siezing the opportunities offered by devolution (that somewhat unfortunate half-way-house) that has changed the city for good and for the good. This is a grown-up place to be.

One of the Bluesfather's favourite city walks (and this is a man who has walked through many European cities: Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Bratislava, Riga, Venice, Lisbon, Basel, Helsinki) is to start at the Filmhouse on Lothian Road (having fortified himself with felafels and Staropramen in the bar) and head almost directly south in a near straight line through Tollcross, Bruntisfield, Burghmuirhead, Church Hill to Morningside, a distance of about 2 miles and an almost unbroken line of specialist shops and facilities. Along the way he can call in at: a Polish bakery; a German bakery; an Italian bakery; a Thai supermarket; two cake shops; two French delis; a Mexican deli; two Italian delis; two cheese shops (that's all they sell); five art galleries; two art supply shops; a music shop; a designer furniture shop; a head shop (bet you thought they didn't exist these days); three cinemas; four theatres; one concert hall; a library; a community centre; a university; several Indian, Italian and Chinese restaurants; a Kurdish restaurant; a Turkish restaurant; a French restaurant; two of Edinburgh's most interesting bars - Bennett's and The Canny Man's; more cafes than you can shake a stick at and all with pavement tables; the remains of Scotland's oldest golf club (now a pitch and putt). If you want your Edinburgh in microcosm, you could do worse than retrace the Bluesfather's footsteps.

You could say the Bluesfather is glad to be back.

8th April 2007

Middle-eastern Easter feast

At Christmas the greater Blues-family agreed no presents for the adults since it was largely a waste of resources and that each family would host one feast throughout the year with contributions from the rest. Today we had an amazing Middle-eastern meal with everything from falafels to a lamb and apricot stew with avocado, aubergine, yoghurt and humous dips, couscous, pittas and salads along the way. Everyone chipped in and and we crammed 12 people round the dining table. Heaven help us when it's the full 16 later this year. Perhaps an extension is needed. The meals are memorable in themselves and constitute real family activity as everyone cooks in shifts in the Bluesfather's tiny kitchen, amuses errant bairns, sits and drinks, eats or clears up. The Bluesfather is looking forward to the next meal!

Music

If you've not checked out the music page recently, do so now! There's some new stuff on there which the Bluesfather hopes you like.

7th April 2007

All good things must come to an end

The Bluesfather is delighted to report that The Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke Band went out on a considerable high last night at Henry's Cellar Bar to an enthusiastic audience of family, friends and Henry's regulars. Yet another round of applause for a sound check! Could get used to this! Al managed to get a recording of a wholly unrehearsed version of Hoochie Coochie Man with which E/T/C bade their farewell. The amount of incidental laughter on the track (mostly the Bluesfather's) is testament to the amount of fun Roger, Nick and Al have had over the past two months. The Bluesfather would like to thank Henry's for the opportunity to go out in such style and in particular to thank Nora for such great sound - the band has rarely sounded that good! The Bluesfather who, all said and done, is just an old fart referred to her as the "sound man": a minor lapse, he hastens to reassure, and not indicative, he hopes, of latent sexism.

Leur fecilitations, aussi, aux les deux etudiants francais qui avons donner enthusiasme a l'evenement. Merci et bonne chance! Peut-etre, votre Anglais sont mellieur que le Francais de le Pere-bleue!

Al and the Bluesfather wish Nick a great holiday in India and every success when he returns to the UK later this year to attempt to make his way in the music industry in London. Meanwhile, early discussions with Ahmed Remally as Nick's replacement on guitar are moving towards a jam later this month to determine whether a working partnership is possible. He and the Bluesfather had a useful conversation at the gig and Ahmed's second exposure to E/T/C doesn't seem to have put him off.

The Bluesfather has hopes that Blues-son 1 will manage to get a handful of tracks of the new CD up on the website very soon. Too much technology for the Bluesfather to handle. Meanwhile he is pressing on with designing the CD cover which should be ready mid-week.

3rd April 2007

Done!

As the Bluesfather types this blog he's listening to This is the modern blues by the fabulous Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke Band; 30 minutes of Emmerson and Trepka songs plus a "live" version of their set-stopper, Willie Dixon's My Babe. Eight songs in all, soon to be available on CD and to download.

An unfortunate reaction to his injections for his India trip has put Nick out of action for the Acoustic Circus gig on the 4th. Still the Bluesfather is primed and ready to go and has been practising the guitar and harmonica parts for Hoochie Coochie Man for a duo with the legendary Simma. The Bluesfather is also incorporating a visit to his former employers, the well-known North East architects Waring and Netts, to tidy up the ends of his contract. Ends and beginnings.

The Bluesfather has managed to secure a gig this Friday the 6th at the entirely salubrious Henry's Cellar Bar at which The Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke Band will definitely play their absolutely last gig. Not to be missed; they're on at nine and will play This is the modern blues. Check out the set list on the last blog.

Nothing daunted, Al and the Bluesfather expect to be jamming with new guitarist and drummer within the next few weeks. Watch this space and the Bluesfather's usual haunts.

30th March 2007

"This is the modern blues!"

On that rather dramatic note E/T/C (The Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke Big Band) introduced themselves and played their last Edinburgh gig at Blue Wednesday at the Forest Cafe on 28th March to a packed, exuberant and enthusiastic audience. They were preceded by a great solo set from Al Shields whose band, ArdentJohn, are about to start a tour of the North of England. The Bluesfather was particularly taken with Al's business of the phone call - mid-song (!) - from his sound engineer Graham. Got a huge laugh from the audience. He was followed by Kate Fox from Newcastle upon Tyne whose challenging, funny and serious poems soon silenced a noisy musical crowd and had them eating out of her hand. She is at the Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A short solo set of his own quirky songs by Nick Trepka introduced the dynamo that is (or was) E/T/C!

For the sake of an almost wholly imaginery posterity here's what they played: Cut away, words and music, Roger Emmerson; vocals, Roger Emmerson; guitars, Nick Trepka and Roger Emmerson; bass, Al Clarke; Black heart, words and music, Roger Emmerson; vocals, Roger Emmerson; guitars, Nick Trepka and Roger Emmerson; bass, Al Clarke; Venice, words and music, Roger Emmerson; vocals, Roger Emmerson; guitars, Nick Trepka and Roger Emmerson; bass, Al Clarke; Slow implosion within, words and music, Nick Trepka; vocals, Nick Trepka; guitar, Nick Trepka; harmonica, Roger Emmerson; bass, Al Clarke; Quiet life in the city, words and music, Nick Trepka; vocals, Nick Trepka; guitar, Nick Trepka; harmonica, Roger Emmerson; bass, Al Clarke; A time of love, words and music, Roger Emmerson; vocals Roger Emmerson; guitars, Nick Trepka and Roger Emmerson; bass, Al Clarke; Gaffer tape, (instrumental) music, Roger Emmerson; guitars Nick Trepka and Roger Emmerson; bass, Al Clarke; So many roads, words and music, Otis Rush; vocals, Roger Emmerson; guitars, Nick Trepka and Roger Emmerson; harmonica, Roger Emmerson; bass Al Clarke; My babe, words and music, Willie Dixon; vocals, Roger Emmerson; guitars, Nick Trepka and Roger Emmerson; harmonica, Roger Emmerson; bass, Al Clarke.

E/T/C haul ass down to Newcastle upon Tyne on 4th April 2007 for their final final gig at Acoustic Circus at the Bridge Hotel, Castle Garth, 8.00pm. It'll cost ya to get in: £3.50. This gig has special significance to the Bluesfather. Not only is it the last of E/T/C it is also, to the day and hour(!), the second anniversary of his first gig at Acoustic Circus at the Bridge Hotel, an evening which opened musical doors to him throughout the North East and, ultimately, back in his home town of Edinburgh. Can there be a dry eye in the house?!

"This truly is the modern blues!"

21st March 2007

Working together

The Bluesfather, while reserving his position on his blues-harp playing, would never make any great claims for his guitar work. He can, however, compose the occasional standout song which seems to connect with the other musicians he meets up with. This has led to a number of interesting and rewarding collaborations which seem to represent the best aspects of being in music and the genuine sharing nature of fellow-musicians. These thoughts have been prompted, inevitably, by the imminent demise of The Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke Band on Nick's departure for India.

The Bluesfather's first collaboration was way back in 1968 at Edinburgh University with fellow-architecture student and leftie, Jim Jeffrey, who taught him the rudiments of guitar (and that's how the Bluesfather's playing has remained: rudimentary!) while performing a kind of Sonnie Terry and Brownie McGee act. The Bluesfather then went on to play his Sonnie to Stuart McHardy's Brownie, though Stuart really preferred playing Django Rienhart on the fabulous 'D' hole Macciferri guitar he owned. That act was effectively blown out of the water when the Bluesfather saw Sonnie and Brownie live in 1969 in Portsmouth! BB King and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac were on the same bill. The Bluesfather and Stuart met up again in 1975. By this time the Bluesfather was writing songs and gained immeasurably from Stuart's advice and experience as both musician and wordsmith. Label dates from this time. Interestingly, it was Jim again who got the Bluesfather, on his return to live performing, involved with Derek, Brian and Jim, himself, stalwarts of the North East blues scene, in the Sidewalk Blues Band in 2005, which regrettably struggled over the matter of a bass player. Good experience, though, and reminded the Bluesfather how much he enjoyed just being a blues-harp player, relieved of the demands of fronting an ensemble or playing solo.

2005-06 was also notable for the duo he formed with Ed Lauret (the, then, 17 year-old guitar genius). Ed's jazz-influenced playing gave a mellower feel to the Bluesfather's music and supported and encouraged him in his finger-picking; all of which is evident on the Accidents and Emergencies CD. On reflection, the cryptic notes on the CD cover don't do justice to Ed's musical contribution in developing and extending the songs. The Bluesfather is pleased that such a solid record exists of their joint activities and the many gigs they played together throughout the North East. Also at this time the Bluesfather joined with Simma, the justly highly-regarded North East performer, playing goodtime blues-harp in a number of scratch rock'n'roll bands. Playing with Simma was always interesting. The set up would go like this: Simma - Do you fancy playing a gig at ..... on..... It will great - The Bluesfather (without thinking) - Yes - Anything between two hours and two days later Simma would come back with - Oh, by the way, that gig. I meant to tell you, it's a Beatles / Elvis Presley Tribute - (and both of those are true) The Bluesfather - But I don't know any Beatles / Elvis songs - Simma - Don't worry. It will great - And it always was even though rehearsal amounted to a brief 5 minutes in the gents toilet agreeing keys and chords, even when we played as a five-piece with the addition of the lead guitarist and bass player from Sundown and a congas player.

Barely back in his home town of Edinburgh and the Bluesfather encountered Nick Trepka at an Open Sessions night at the Mercat in October 2006. Nick is a guitarist of a very different sort to Ed though with the same ability to construct stunning improvisations on top of the Bluesfather's chords and melodies: very rocky, bluesy and punky. He made the Bluesfather think of Blues-son 2's exhortation, "Play those ole punk-blues!" which is perhaps what he had always wanted to do. Nick also had a considerable repertoire of his own songs. A couple of jams elicited a set of Emmerson and Trepka songs they both felt comfortable with and enthusiastic about playing and so was born the Power Blues Duo.

Al Clarke, now detached from Al and Al since the other Al was in the States, joined up in January playing bass and the group became, briefly, the Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke Band. They're coming up to their last gigs together: Edinburgh on the 28th of March and Newcastle on the 4th of April. As with his time with Ed, the Bluesfather, through the agency of Nick, has a CD in the works which will provide a great record of the E/T/C Band. It should be available by the end of this month.

The next collaboration? Who Knows? But don't doubt that there will be one!

12th March 2007

Blue Wednesday

It was a real pleasure to have Verity Burton and Andy Mackin return to Blue Wednesday on the 7th and play a great set. The Bluesfather was delighted to be asked to guest on blues-harp on Red. Solo sets from the Bluesfather and Nick Trepka (fighting a cold) were followed by the Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke band and the evening rounded off with a blues-funk jam featuring Vee and the Bluesfather on vocals, Nick, Andy and the Bluesfather on guitars, the Bluesfather on blues-harp and Al on bass all crammed together on the tiny stage. As always our thanks to the great Forest Cafe audience and staff. On the food front, the Bluesfather recommends the falafels.

Recording

Recording of the Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke CD is proceeding apace with virtually all the guitar parts completed and a start made on the bass and vocals. The running order will very likely be the same as the standard set. We hope to have the CD available by the next Blue Wednesday on 28th March which will feature the fantastic Kate Fox and the legend that is Al Shields.

5th March 2007

A night in Newcastle

Nick and the Bluesfather had a great gig at the Centurion in Newcastle on Tyne on Sunday the 4th. It was a somewhat nervous Bluesfather who returned to one of his favourite venues, unsure of the reaction to his new, joint set with Nick. He needn't have worried. The new, driving arrangements, the searing lead guitar and blues-harp work and the new songs seemed to make a connection with a busy Centurion audience. He'll be back with the full Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke band on 4th April at the Bridge Hotel and as a solo act on 3rd June again at the Centurion.

24th February 2007

Gigging and recording

Gigging

The Bluesfather played an unusual (for him) gig at the Forest Cafe on Wednesday past. Ryan van Winkle, who runs the Forest, had invited the Bluesfather to round off his Golden Hour, an evening of film, poetry, playlets, monologues and short stories, with a set of his songs. It was a different experience playing to a literary crowd who actually listened to the lyrics; quite scary too, but in a good way. Yes, and he had them dancing to the coda of Simma's Song and the ever-reliable My Babe. The whole sense and atmosphere of the evening took the Bluesfather back to 1967 and it was reassuring that in these spectacularly crap times there are some constants of human experience and expression that have value. Should the Bluesfather say "Right on?" Well, why not?

There seems every possibility of future literary/musical collaborations at the Forest. Strange playing a gig solo for the first time in a few weeks as Nick Trepka's band, NT and the people who use them was simultaneously wowing them at Bannerman's on their farewell outing. The Bluesfather was disappointed he couldn't make it.

Recording

This whole recording thing has been considerably interrupted by gigging and in getting Al Clarke up to speed with the set, Nick and the Bluesfather having had a headstart of a couple of months playing together. What the Bluesfather had planned in late 2006 has been transformed. Instead of just himself, the second CD will now feature the Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke band in a selection of Emmerson and Trepka songs. The Bluesfather is really pleased about this as the band has been a rewarding musical experience and has taken some songs in entirely new and exciting directions.

The scope of the music has expanded With Nick contributing some of his own excellent songs and playing the kind of aggressive lead guitar the Bluesfather has been looking for, while Al's brilliant, inventive bass has added a third solo instrument as much as providing a solid foundation. It's been good too for the Bluesfather to get back to playing blues-harp on some of the songs, particularly Nick#39;s Slow Implosion Within and Quiet Life in the City and on the aforementioned My Babe: four lead instruments together on occasion as the songs merit it!

Collectively Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke have decided not to pursue the addition of a drummer meantime. There is every chance that Nick and the Bluesfather will get the rest of the guitar parts down in the coming week with the intention of completing the CD in March for a launch at the Forest Cafe on 28th March followed a week later with a second at the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne on 4th April. At least now with a deadline they may actually get it done!

19th February 2007

Looking forward

Nick and the Bluesfather were saying only the other day while practising how much they were looking forward to the upcoming gig at the Centurion in Central Station, Newcastle. This has always been one of the Bluesfather's favourite gigs for a number of reasons. First, the setting is staggering: the most spectacular, wholly intact, extant room entirely clad in Burmantoft Tiles; walls and ceiling, conservatively valued at £3.5m! Created in 1892 to the designs of the GNER architect, William Bell, within the shell of John Dobson's imposing station building, it's a masterpiece of Victorian Baroque. There is also another fantastic Burmantoft installation at the Central Arcade at Monument where you can also visit JG Windows' excellent music shop. Second, the organisation of the gig by Audio Angels is perfect: a musicians' room with beer and the phenomenal Jerry on the sound, back projections and announcements. Third, is it's sheer convenience for your travelling musician from Edinburgh.

The new set has bedded in well now and Nick and the Bluesfather feel really relaxed playing it. It's a mix of Emmerson and Trepka songs which allows both to play more complex versions of the original songs while allowing enough improvisational freedom for a certain amount of controlled showing off! The set is likely to be Cut Away (Emmerson), Black Heart (Emmerson), A Slow Implosion Within (Trepka), Quiet Life in the City (Trepka), Venice (Emmerson), A Time of Love (Emmerson), Gaffer Tape (Emmerson) and, possibly, one of their favourite blues covers, Little Walter's My Babe (Dixon). To find out what they actually play, head for The Centurion, Central Station, Neville Street, Newcastle upon Tyne at 8.00pm, Sunday, 4th March 2007. Also on the bill are Steve Daggett (formerly of Lindisfarne), the fantastic Kelly Brownell, the sublime The Art of Kissing and the entirely unstable Unstable Tables. Enjoy!

8th February 2007

Birthday week

The Bluesfather celebrated his 59th birthday on Monday with a mild sense of amazement that he's managed to make it thus far on life's troubled path. A family party began with ales with Blues-sons in the Caley Ale House at Haymarket. The Bluesfather stuck to his traditional local brew, Deuchars, which is produced in the brewery at the foot of his street in Shandon while Blues-son 2, in the true spirit of the Euro Beerathon, struck out with some Weiss bier concoction. Lots of lovely presents: slippers (not exactly rock'n'roll but extremely comforting, nonetheless); gourmet jam and confections; Seasick Steve and Sufjam Stevens CDs; and a wartime aircraft-spotter's model of a Wellington bomber which, with the Lancaster inherited from the Blues-parents, looks like becoming the basis of a new collection/obssession.

A terrific gig at Blue Wednesday on the 7th with Anna Jarosz demonstrating yet again why she is such a talent. The Bluesfather is so pleased she's part of the Blue Wednesday team. She will be back. Emmerson/Trepka/Clarke had their second outing and, to judge from the numbers dancing in the audience, are really beginning to get it on. Lots of nice comments from people at the end of the night. Exciting news on the Blue Wednesday front as we go international with acts from Alberta, Canada and Seattle, Washington, USA, in addition to the trusty Newcastle crew.

19th January 2007

Down in Newcastle 1-2-3

Down in Newcastle 1

The Bluesfather was down in Newcastle yesterday for a meeting on work matters with his boss, Rob, and his colleague, Chris: a pleasant meeting in the soaring Central Square Cafe on Forth street just behind Central Station.

Down in Newcastle 2

Perhaps yesterday was not the best day to visit Newcastle. Not because of the dire weather promised over the car radio which failed signally (and thankfully) to materialise but for the palpable air of gloom which hung over the town. Newcastle, usually so gay in black and white, was now just.....BLACK. Some sporting disaster, the Bluesfather learned later, had brought about this depression, as if a Magpie had had it's booty thieved in turn.

Down in Newcastle 3

Exiting Central Station the Bluesfather was struck by the two-storey stump that was all that remained of Westgate Tower. Work had started in Spring 2006 but the Tower's straddling of Westgate Road had necessitated a careful and controlled demolition. But what a change now that it is gone. The lowering presence which so ruined the townscape of Westgate Road and Neville Street and compromised views of the Station, the Engineers' Hall, the Lit and Phil and the Club adjacent (now occupied by JD Wetherspoon), a 1970s concrete toad of precisely no architectural merit squatting over not only the Victorian urban form but also the mediaeval and, worse, its Roman precursor, the Vallum linked to Hadrian's Wall (now somewhere under Westgate Road and certainly to be found in the footings of the Engineers' Hall) has been replaced by sky. The Bluesfather hopes similar attention will be given to near-identical structure which ruins Pilgrim Street and he regrets, that when the choice was available, the tower of flats over John Dobson Street (how the poor man must be turning in his grave) which compromises the southwards view of the Civic Centre, was reclad not demolished.

A ps. about CD towers

The Blueslover had discovered that IKEA in Gateshead had the CD towers she had searched for in vain in Edinburgh and Glasgow, so the Bluesfather was dispatched to purchase the same. Not one of the world's more devoted shoppers, the Bluesfather, like a latter-day Theseus, made his way through the tortuous and time-consuming maze that is IKEA to get to the self-service furniture warehouse. Then, disaster! No sooner had he got the objects of desire down from the warehouse racking, ready, finally, to attain the check-out, than the fire alarm went off and everyone was told to quit the building. And there they stood, the sought-after CD towers, languishing on the polished concrete warehouse floor with little likelihood, or so it seemed, of gracing the svelte living room of the Blues-house. Some time was spent lurking about in the cold car park before readmittance to what passes for Aladdin's Cave in our benighted culture allowed the Bluesfather to retrieve the lonely towers.

And very well they look too, now installed near the stereo.

7th January 2007

A new year

A fabulous New Year gathering of all three generations of the Blues-family, 14 strong, put considerable pressure on the catering and dining facilities at the Blues-house but the Blues-lover came up trumps, as usual. How the system will cope next year with the addition of twins by Blues-daughter 1 is a bridge to be crossed.

Blues-daughter 2 has her own website for her growing photography business. There are really great photographs to view and the Bluesfather recommends you pay it a visit.

The Bluesfather starts the year with a slew of gigs in Edinburgh and Newcastle and hopes to add to this list over the next couple of weeks. The Trepka/Bluesfather collaboration goes from strength to strength with a great evening at The Southern Bar on Edinburgh's bohemian South Side. The pair were astounded to discover they were the only acts booked for the evening but, ever resourceful, they played from nine to eleven without repetition: half an hour each with solo material then an hour as a duo and still with material to spare. They're looking forward to their next appearance on the 31st.

The much-postponed rehearsal/jam with Alasdair Clarke happens this Thursday and all three are intrigued to see how it turns out.

27th December 2006

Saturnalia

The Blues-family was somewhat scattered throughout the UK (to Burton and Inverness) on the 25th but enough turned up to the first Christmas breakfast before departing to other venues to make it fun (does the Bluesfather sense another family tradition in the making?). A quiet dinner later in the day. The week leading up to Hogmanay looks like being busy as the Blues-hordes return and the numerically ever-increasing Blues-family (another two due in May 2007) squeezes itself round the dining table. The Bluesfather is beginning to feel somewhat patriarchal these days!

Your boy Blair who promoted the Bongo Club event has very kindly come back with a couple of gigs at The Southern Bar in January (see the side panel) which the Bluesfather will do as a duo with Nick Trepka. Together with the Blue Wednesdays this is a great musical start to the New Year. Alasdair Clarke, one half of Al and Al, has agreed to team up to play bass with Nick and the Bluesfather while Alistair Kilgour (the other half) is in the States for 7 months. Should be interesting!

A guid Noo Year tae ye a'!

15th December 2006

Keeping busy

The Bluesfather and Nick Trepka returned as a duo to the Troubadour Sessions at the Mercat on the 6th. This went down well enough to encourage them to repeat the act at the Maltings on the 8th and again at Blue Wednesday at the Forest Cafe on the 13th (more of this in a moment). Meanwhile, the Bluesfather got a late call to act as solo support to Vitamin Flintheart at the Hobo event at the Bongo Club on the 10th. This last was great fun and with an extended set allowed the playing of some of the back catalogue. A couple of rarely-played slide guitar numbers using the second guitar followed yet another guitar strap malfunction, this time on A time for love. With the guitar now flailing around, unsupported at the neck, the Bluesfather was required, in time-honoured rock-style, to put one booted foot on the monitor and balance the instrument across his thigh. Even got some applause as he simultaneously hit the sequence of descending ninths in the bridge! Rock on! The Bluesfather is hopeful of further gigs at the Bongo Club.

The last Blue Wednesday of the year was on the 13th. Anna K Jarozs played a beautiful first-time set, triumphing over the Forest Cafe's out-of-tune piano. She will be back. Nick and the Bluesfather played some solo stuff before combining for an amplified set of their, by now, regular set. Even the hastily-rehearsed A cut away (that afternoon), a new addition, seemed to work. It was a great way to end the first three Blue Wednesdays. The Bluesfather would like to thank all the musicians - Alistair Kilgour, Aladair Clarke, Verity Burton, Andy Mackin, Anna K Jarosz, Nick Trepka - and the enthusiastic and supportive audiences for making Blue Wednesday a success. The Forest Cafe has provided the ideal venue for the event and is in discussion with the Bluesfather over dates for 2007.

The Bluesfather is off with Blues-grandson 1 to collect the Christmas tree this afternoon while the Blueslover attends her office Christmas party (enough said). Later, tonight, he will be listening to Nick's band NT and the people who use it at Henry's Bar, Morrison Street.

Live Appearances

Occasional

The Bluesfather is to be found from time to time on Mondays at Whistlebinkies, Niddry Street, Wednesdays at Bar 38, George Street and Fridays at the Maltings, St Leonard's Street, Edinburgh.

Regular

• 28th November 2007
• Blue Wednesday at the Forest Cafe, Bristo Place, Edinburgh 8.00 - 11.00pm. The Bluesfather, Alison and the Mings, Al & Al and Jym Ponter
• 2nd December 2007
• Acoustic Angels at the Centurion, Central Station, Neville Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 8.00 - 11.00pm. The Bluesfather, other acts tbc
• 19th December 2007
• Blue Wednesday Christmas Party at the Forest Cafe, Bristo Place, Edinburgh 8.00 - 11.00pm. The Bluesfather, Al & Al and Dave Law and guests
• 23rd December 2007
• Acoustic Circus Christmas Party at the Bridge Hotel, Castle Garth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 8.00-12.00pm. The Bluesfather, Simma, Verity Burton, other acts tbc
• 12th January 2008
• Acoustic Night at the Wynd Theatre, Melrose, 8.00-11.00pm. The Bluesfather, Anna K Jarosz, Little Pebble and Ainslie Henderson