The Logo

Courtesy of Nik our drummer who's a design and marketing genius, here's our mug shot with our corporate logo incorporated. What an asset everyone's day jobs are turning out to be to this band! Next I'll have to produce a video, Ros (who's an accomplished TV cameraman) will can shoot it, her husband and our sound man Warren can edit it, and Mike can... well I'm not exactly sure how Mike's expertise in fisheries stock assessment is going to help us, but there's bound to be a way!

The Big Picture

At last! A decent band photo, courtesy of our bass player Lindsay (http://www.thebigpicture.co.nz/). We took a few shots in his studio last night before getting down to learning a few new tunes.

So, right to left: Clive Copeman, Ros Saunders, Mike Beentjes, Lindsay Somerville, Nik Sweeney.

Top Blues Albums No.2

Continuing our series on the recordings that have made me the muso I am, I have to say this would have to be in my top 3. And like all good things, there's a story behind it.

As a grad student just learning to play harp, I used to crash parties with a couple of friends, Mike and Arthur. Arthur used to carry this battered tape around. Usually in a pretty trolleyed state, Arthur would accost the owner of the stereo and persuade them to put his tape on. If there was no-one in attendance, he'd just put it on anyway. You know the usual howls this kind of action elicits, especially if you're a party crasher. But that seldom happened. The grooves on that tape seemed to cast their spell immediately. There was little protest, and the party usually amped up by a couple of orders of intoxication and turn into a wild debauch. Or maybe that was just Arthur, Mike and I. Anyway, The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Girls Go Wild was on one side of that tape.

I eventually got a copy of the album and began practicing whichever Kim Wilson harp chops I could figure out. Every band I've been in has done at least two or three tunes from that album. You just can't go past it for 12-bar blues efficiency. Kim's powerful vocals and harp, Jimmy Vaughn's oh-so frugal guitar licks. Notes and chords placed so carefully, you'd think they're gold. To me they are. Don't be fooled by the cheesy cover. If you're a blues fan and don't have this album, get it. It could change your life, or at the very least, your party.

Gesellen

Something to add about the gig last night: There was this mob if strangely dressed chaps there last night, Germans by the sound of them. You may have seen some around. They dress in black bell-bottom pants, white shirts, double breasted black waistcoats and black floppy hats. You could mistake them for Amish missionaries - without the beards.

So who are these strange young men? The beer drinking is a clue. They're young German carpenters, travelling the world getting experience before they settle down and become master craftsmen. It's part of an old German tradition, and a lovely one. They're called Gesellen and their whole travelling bit is a last vestige of European craft guild culture and where we get the word journeyman from. Be nice to them when you see them. Next time I do, I'll buy them a beer, maybe they'll help replace some of the weatherboards on my house. They were drinking heroic amounts of beer last night and maintained impeccable manners and a happy countenance. You can read a little more about them here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,416564,00.html

The Empire Strikes Three

Last night we played at the grand reopening of the Empire Pub's historic third bar - the band bar. Quite a night. Rather than sharing the bill with just one other band, there were five bands through the course of the night. I asked for a reasonably early spot for us - 10 pm. Actually, that's as late as I want to start playing these days. But I only just made it in time.

I'd been out shooting video at a friend's wedding on the beach at Doctors' Point. Leo and the Growling Dogs were there and it was good to play some harp and sing a tune with them. They're such a great bunch of guys. We've got to do some kind of Blues Summit gig with them this year.

Anyway, I got to the Empire bang on 10 and my band mates had my gear all set up and ready to go for me. Thanks to SMS messaging on the drive into town, there was no "Where is he?" "When will he get here?" "Where the $#@% have you been?" They have my enduring love and respect. I just had to strap on my guitar and we ripped into our set...

...Which seemed to go rather well. OK, the stage sound wasn't perfect, my harp setup wasn't ideal, and coming in from the cold straight onto the stage meant it really took me a little while to warm into it. I even made my share of boo-boos, but none of that mattered. Bluestone, which Garth the publican introduced as the renamed Dark Horse, played tight. All the others played out of their skins, and Lindsay has this infectious on-stage fun thing going on. We had so much fun on stage it spilled onto the floor. There was a lively and enthusiastic crowd, and it was great fun to work them, get them shouting back etc. Personally, I could have done without the smoke machine, but there you go. A great start to real gigging again, and Garth even offered us a regular monthly spot. We'll see about that.

We all hung around to see Boog Roberts and The Boogiemen, catch up with old muso mates like Graham Dooley and Mark Reeves, and enjoy a beer or two. Mike even said it was one of his best gigs ever. We'll see about that too. I've got a feeling that now we've got this great little lineup, the best may be yet to come.

Name This Band!

So we've been vacillating over our name again. Seems like Dark Horse hasn't struck a chord with everyone, or the saddle got loose. Anyway, for a while it seemed we were back to square one, unhappy with the name we'd picked and unable to find one that we all felt good about. While I kind of believe the name becomes the band, whatever that name is, your name is still your calling card, and that first impression counts in peoples minds.

So, after practice the other night, we hopped down to the Muso's club to road test a set in front of a small live audience. The music went down well, but more significantly, the handful of members there got into a great game of "Name that Band". Lloyd even pulled out a tattered list of band names from his wallet. He'd been compiling it for years. We almost went for one of them: "INTERIM NAME SUPRESSION". After a brief dalliance with BEDROCK, Mike suggested BLUESTONE, and that stuck. Works not only because of the Blues/Tone factor, but because so many significant local buildings are constructed from Otago Bluestone. Bluesy, simple, and local flavour - big ticks in my workbook. Nik immediately started thinking graphic concepts, which is a great sign. Sure there are a few bands around the world with that name, and a record label, but I think the world's big enough for now for us all to coexist peacefully.

So we'll see if this one sticks!