Still Wearing Jeans

I borrowed my dad's car recently and to break from the monotony of the road I chanced a listen to what ever was in the cd player. On this occasion it was a pleasant surprise - Don Williams, which has been a staple for in car journeys with my dad ever since I was a kid. As such i know all the the songs and the words.

His song Amanda was getting played and the line 'Im proud and 30 and still wearing jeans' sent a shiver down my spine. I was instantly transported back to a childhood memory of me looking at Don's lp covers with him wearing jeans, denim jacket and cowboy hat and thinking that 30 was a long way off and how old he was. needless to say im now over 30 and proudly wearing jeans.

Sideburns with Don

Winter Fest

So that's us well into the 2nd week in January already! This normally marks the start of the bad weather and people retreat indoors to a warm place by the fire to weight out this bleak month - however it seems that this year, winter arrived earlier than normal leaving us free to enjoy the onset of Celtic Connections. Quite possibly the only redeeming feature of January in Scotland?? and the best cure for the post new year hangover. What else would you do in Scotland in January?

I'll be hoping to catch a few shows this year and will report back on any that I manage to see. A few highlights are: the long awaited reunion gig of Love & Money, The Waterboys, Richard Thomson, perhaps the oldest group in the world - The Blind Boys of Alabama aswell as some of the best UK grassroots level artists at Hazy Recollections.

There are always too many too choose from (over 1500) but I am not complaining, so bring on the best part of winter - Celtic Connections.

Pike River Mine Disaster

The tragic events at the Pike River Mine on New Zealand's West Coast made headlines around the world.

I was deeply saddened for all the 29 miner's and their families but was taken aback when I saw a familiar name on the list of those lost.

From my time spent in Christchurch I had the pleasure of knowing Allan Dixon very well. Al was not a miner when i knew him but had been in the past and must have returned to the coast to work in the mines once again.

Al was a fantastic example of all that is great about New Zealand, he was a very friendly, generous and good fun person to be around, fiercely proud of his country and the West Coast in particular - an all round good bloke.

Al was always up for a laugh and one time on a visit to the Hokitika Wild Foods Festival he took great pleasure in trying to get us all to eat Hu Hu Grubs (not recommended) where I chickened out of eating a live one and opted for a bbq'd one instead.

On another occasion Al took us on a tour around his home town of Runanga and the mines where he used to work. He had lost friends in the last mining accident on the west coast and his kinship for his fellow miners was clear.

The West Coast of New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places in the world and it's hard to believe such a stunning place can be home to such a tragic event.

It is evident from the stories in the news that mining is in the blood of the community and this event will hit everyone hard and I really hope that lessons can be learned from this to avoid such an event again.

I am very grateful of the times spent in Allan's company and very pleased to have known him.

 for the latest news visit stuff.co.nz website

Mr Nice?

As mentioned in a previous blog, i once turned up at a gig to see Gillian Welch only to find out i had the wrong night once I had paid to get in and stood through an hour of rambling life story of Howard Marks. At that time I had no idea who he was but put up with an hour of his increasingly drunk and stoned chat before leaving. He must of said something that intrigued me that night as the movie of his life story is now out and I felt compelled to go and see it.

So the upshot is I quite enjoyed the movie, how this chancer found himself setting himself up as an international drug baron, conning the authorities and pretending to be an all-round mr nice guy. There in lies the problem. The movies portrayal of this charachter is comparible to a rock n roll star, particularly at the end with the standing ovation he receives and at no point is any remorse highlighted, for either the victims of his trade, via drugs or his direct dealings with the IRA and the arms trade he helped finance.

He seems to be still making money from his drug years with his book, tours and now movie, but i for one was glad i walked out that night.

I also at long last got to see Gillian Welch with Dave Rawlings & The Old Crow Medicine Machine in Glasgow recently making up for my prior error!.

Glasgow Americana Festival 2010

Keeper of the Americana flame in Glasgow  - Kevin Morris of The Fallen Angels Club has just delivered 5 days worth of Americana music to the city of Glasgow as part of the 4^th Glasgow Americana Festival.

I only managed to make it along to a few shows but enjoyed them all. One of which was that of Northern Irish songwriter now based in Nashville - Ben Glover, who had jetted in to open for Tift Merritt. Ben gave a storming performance of songs from his album Through The Noise, Through The Night with a brilliant version of Atlantic City thrown in to the mix for the CCA crowd. His cd is hot property in my household  - I love the lyric ‘she’s got the same last name as a well known whisky’ from the track Full Moon Child  - I’m convinced the surname in question is Grouse.

It was also good to see 2 Glasgow based acts take part in the festival on the final night at Stereo. Adriana Spina, who I’ve previously only seen as a solo performer, filled the venue with some glorious vocals complimented by some fine accordion and Cajon playing by her 2 bandmates. Going by what I heard, her soon to be released new album will be good’un.

Local lads Woodenbox and a Fistful of Fivers pack a mighty punch with their trademark live shows and they did not fail to disappoint. I’m convinced they caused some structural damage to the basement of Stereo such was they accuracy of their shooting high energy Mariachi flavoured songs into the crowd – definitely worth a few fivers more.

The screening of ‘The Duct Tape Messiah’ a documentary on Texas songwriter - Blazey Ford at the GFT brought another dimension to the festival and highlighted again the popularity of the Americana scene and its appeal to the Scottish audiences- long may the festival run.

This years acts included-

Tift Merritt
Eilen Jewell
Frazey Ford
Kevin Welch & Alana Levandowski
Gurf Morlix
Girlyman
The Southern Tenant Folk Union
Brian Houston & Yvonne Lyon
The Porch Song Anthology
Roddy Hart
John Taylor
John Alexander (yes me)
Full Tonne Kid, Stephen Maguire and Paul McLaughlan
Jake Cogan and the Liberty Roses
www.glasgowamericana.com