The Dunedin Muso's club went well. Not a huge crowd, maybe 30 or so people, but definitely an enthusiastic bunch. Work's keeping me pretty busy, and everybody's got other committments over the next few weeks, so it's time for a few weeks hiatus.
The band is tightening up nicely, playing a lot more intuitively. Our sound is really defining itself as distinct from the other local blues acts like King Leo or The Boogiemen. We play very eclectic mix of high-energy, intense blues. Quite a punky London edge to it, dut to the influence of Nine Below Zero. I've loved those guys after seeing them on TV in the 80's and am a huge fan of Mark Feltham's harmonica playing as well as Dennis Greaves' guitar. After cogitating on our sound and stage style, Nik has come up with some new imagery for the band's website, which I promptly put up. Later we'll give it a thorough overhaul.
I just spent some of my gig money on a new toy: A vox AC30 Amplug. I'm loving it. Now I can practice electric guitar in the living room! I'm taking it on vacation to Wanaka next week. Looks like there's plenty of snow so the skiing should be good. I may not get to practice much guitar at all. That's okay. After the last few weeks, I'm actually looking forward to a break!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Empire Wakes Up
I popped into The Empire Pub yesterday to chat with the owner Garth. He and his wife Kate were on vacation in the UK when they had to come back and rescue the place. The folks he left in charge hadn't had it two weeks and things were falling apart at the seams, hence them stiffing us for our fee. Good on Garth, he put things right and gave me the balance of our cash.
Last weekend we played the NHNZ winter party in their TV studio. It's a great room, we had a fun crowd and had a ball.
In other news, Nik has been working on our visual imagery and as you'll see, we had a new photo shoot in Lindsay's studio. We took a few, but the one above is my favourite. It's us alright. This Saturday we're playing the Muso's club. Not a high paying gig, but we're looking forward to it.
Last weekend we played the NHNZ winter party in their TV studio. It's a great room, we had a fun crowd and had a ball.
In other news, Nik has been working on our visual imagery and as you'll see, we had a new photo shoot in Lindsay's studio. We took a few, but the one above is my favourite. It's us alright. This Saturday we're playing the Muso's club. Not a high paying gig, but we're looking forward to it.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Empire V
Last night we got together at Lindsay's apartment for a few band photos before the gig. Now that Bluestone's sound is defining itself, it's time to look at marketing ourselves around town. Nik's come up with some new graphics, and I got myself a new suit for gigging. It might come in handy for weddings and funerals too. Hopefully Nik'll have all the new imagery for me to update our website later this week.
Anyway the gig was pretty good. There were a couple of guitar leads that didn't exactly go according to plan, but I was pretty happy about how I improvised. The other lads played out of their skins. The best part was that when I messed around with the format of songs as practiced, everyone was relaxed enough to go with it. Despite the nasty chill outside, we had a good little crowd for most of the night.
The only downer was that the new management stiffed us for half our fee, claiming some misunderstanding with Garth and Kate about the money and time we play. They say they'll sort it out and get back to me this week. If we end up not getting the rest of our whack, I'd be happy about canning our further dates there and concentrating on getting a demo recording done to get other gigs elsewhere. Stay tuned.
Anyway the gig was pretty good. There were a couple of guitar leads that didn't exactly go according to plan, but I was pretty happy about how I improvised. The other lads played out of their skins. The best part was that when I messed around with the format of songs as practiced, everyone was relaxed enough to go with it. Despite the nasty chill outside, we had a good little crowd for most of the night.
The only downer was that the new management stiffed us for half our fee, claiming some misunderstanding with Garth and Kate about the money and time we play. They say they'll sort it out and get back to me this week. If we end up not getting the rest of our whack, I'd be happy about canning our further dates there and concentrating on getting a demo recording done to get other gigs elsewhere. Stay tuned.
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