Presenting Circus Animals

A couple of months ago I started practicing some new tunes with my friend Roslyn Saunders. Ros hadn't sung since she was a kid, but has a great ear and harmonises beautifully with my blues shout. We were doing a few blues numbers, as well as some rock covers and ballads, with me on guitar. I felt we'd never sound good enough as a duo, so I roped in my long time guitar buddy Mike, with a view to gigging small venues. Our first road test was to be Ros's husband's 40th birthday party.

Unfortunately, it snowed heavily that night and Mike was stuck at home. So Ros and I toughed it out, and the result was pretty encouraging, especially since Warren is a complete audio fiend and had the PA tweaked to make us sound as good as we could.

Then Mike told me a friend of his asked him to assemble a band for his 40th. He'd heard us play as White Hot and Blue a few years back and wanted something similar. Mike said he'd try and get something together. He and I were ready. Ros was keen, but where to get a rhythm section from? Luckily Mark Reeves was available, and promised to do his best to scare up a good bass player. Mark has jammed with us on drums at the Empire, with great subtlety and feeling, so I was confident that we'd be good if he could get a reliable bassist. He enlisted Lindsay Somerville, who hasn't played for many a year, but turned out to be a fine player as well as a very sympatico character. The only snag was, because of everyone's other committments, we only had 2 practices in which to get 24 songs tight.

The first night was hard work. The second was a marathon. We knew we could use a couple more to get things really tight, but we were ready. Leo LaDell and Paul Southworth warmed up for us as The Resonators - a pretty hard act to follow. They're both excellent players. I've already written about Leo's skills.

I'd bought myself a guitar pedal - a Line 6 Floor Pod, and since I haven't been doing much TV work lately, had thrown myself into upping my skills on my Strat. I have to say, it was like going back 20 or so years to when I first started playing. Playing 2nd guitar was so new, and the lineup so exciting. Having Ros sing lead on some songs and harmony on most others was a really fresh sound for Mike and I.

I think we were all a little nervous as we started. But that just melted away very quickly. Sure, there were a few little errors due to the lack of practice - endings and things, but otherwise, we felt great. The band really gelled. And of course, Warren was there to make sure the stage sound was impeccable. The upshot is that it wasn't just a one-off. We're a band, and fingers crossed, one that'll be getting a bit more work soon. We're a lot more versatile than the hardcore blues bands I've played in before. I don't know what to call us other than a blues-rock party band. Exciting times. I'm sure we'll find room for some Cold Chisel covers too.