Big Blues Festival, Southport

The Stumble are playing on Saturday

This weekend (9 - 10 October) there will be a blues festival in The Atkinson on Lord Street, Southport.

The Atkinson says that: "The weekend is all about the food, and drink, music and a bunch of people who all love the same thing … great music! Featuring Martin Harley, Jaywalkers, Gilmore & Roberts, Amelia Curran, The Coal Porters and Danny & The Champions Of The World ... The line-up is big and bold and presents music that is desperate to be heard! Come along and hear Chicago style rhythm & blues, gospel, rock and roots to the experimental across the 2 day event."

Real ale will be provided by Southport Brewery, Sandgrounder and Golden Sands, and there's a food menu as well. Festival tickets here.

BB King - the thrill has gone

I'm just a local amateur singer-guitarist and my music doesn't have a lot in common with the blues, but it's a mistake to assume that the music someone plays is the only music they like, but I've found it's an assumption a lot of people make.

Although I can't claim to be an expert, I love the blues, from the classic bluesman like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and BB King, to blues-influenced rock artists such as Eric Clapton, the Stones and Peter Green. The influence goes further because, as Muddy waters sang, The Blues Had A Baby And They Named It Rock And Roll. He was right: rock & roll was heavily influenced by the blues, and the basic chord structure of blues and rock & roll can be quite similar, which is no coincidence. Rock & roll also was influenced by country, gospel and doo-wop, but the blues provided the template that took rock & roll through to rock: Fleetwood Mac, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Whitesnake - among many other bands - all acknowledged their music and singing style were derived from the blues. For my money, U2's finest moment was when they played When Love Comes To Town with BB King.

BB King is one of the last of the genuine Mississippi bluesmen. 'BB' has in recent years been explained as meaning Blues Boy, but I remember years ago reading that this was a later revision and it originally had a more racist derivation: Black Boy*. I find this quite plausible, given the racism that these performers had to face through much of their lives: refusal of admission to hotels, or referred to the back door, and the lawful segregation in many aspects of everyday life that they grew up with in the old 'gallant' South. I think we British can take some credit for the fact that, because these blues singers were treated like conquering heroes over here even before they'd played any gigs in Britain, they were ultimately respected by white audiences in the USA. The Rolling Stones must take a lot of credit for showing white Americans what they had in their midst when they insisted on BB King supporting them on a US tour in the late 1960s.

I once thought 'BB King' when I heard on the radio the very first guitar note of one of his songs. I'm quite sure I couldn't have recognised any other guitarist on such scanty information,

Quite simply, an era has passed.

* P.S. (4 June): having listened to a lot of media coverage and done a bit of research on the internet, I've now concluded that this derivation is unlikely, and is probably no more than an assumption. However, my description of the discrimination black performers were subjected to is completely accurate.

Here is BB King playing with the late Gary Moore. It's definitely worth nine minutes of your time.

Blues at the Bothy

Tom Doughty and Graham Bellinger are the guests at the Bothy Folk Club at 8.00pm this Sunday 22 June. Tom Doughty is a superb lap slide guitar player whom I have seen playing at the Bothy on several occasions as well as in Liverpool, but Graham is new to me. I'm told that the two mesh well together. If Tom's previous gigs are anything to go by, the term 'blues' will used on a broader sense - blues have often been featured at the Bothy.

The Bothy meets at the Park Golf Club, Park Road West, Southport, PR9 0JS. On-line tickets. Thwaites real ale.

Maggie is the final guest

Maggie Holland

The Bothy's final guest of 2013 is Maggie Holland. She has been in many blues/folk line-ups since the late 1960s (more details on her website), and more recently has become established as singer-songwriter, accompanying herself on guitar and five-string banjo. In 2000, she was awarded the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for the best song of 1999 for A Place Called England. She has appeared on her own at the Bothy previously a couple of years ago, and in the duo, Hot Vultures, with Ian A Anderson in the 1980s. This gig was originally meant to be with Shelagh MacDonald, but as Shelagh cannot make it, it will now be solo.

It's at the Bothy Folk Club, Park Golf Club, Park Road West, Southport, PR9 0JS this Sunday 8 December at 8.00pm. Tickets are available on-line. Thwaites real ale on sale.

The Bothy will continue with a resident singers night on the 15th and the party night on 22nd. It will then close for Christmas, reopening on 5 January with guests, The Young ‘Uns.

Tom Doughty - blues in the gym

Tom Doughty became disabled after a road accident in 1974, and re-learnt the guitar in an entirely way to how he had played previously; he has been described as "the Django Reinhardt of Slide Guitar".  He has performed in many venues, including Southport's Bothy folk club, and has 3 CDs under his belt. His music is blues-tinged but he doesn't limit himself to one style.

Tonight he will be performing in the gymnasium of the Spinal Injuries Unit, District Hospital, Town Lane, Southport at 7.30 p.m. Tickets £5.00 (all proceeds to Spinal Unit Action Group). Contact Julie Jones 01704 547471, or pay on the door.

Dean Johnson live in Liverpool

Dean Johnson has been described as "the best songwriter in Liverpool today" by no less a person than Radio Merseyside's Spencer Leigh, who certainly knows a thing or two.  Dean hit the news recently when he was asked to complete a fragment of a George Harrison song, "Silence Is Its Own Reply."  His completed version of the song has been generally well received. I think it's excellent and I can't see the join between the two songwriters' words.  You can hear it on YouTube, and also (even better) live in Liverpool next Friday.

Dean will be appearing at the Liverpool Acoustic Blues Lounge, which is hosted by local blues duo, Blue C.  The gig is this Friday, 4th December (doors 8pm ~ music 8.30pm prompt) in the View Two Gallery (top floor), Mathew Street, Liverpool.  This is likely to be a popular event.  Enquiries:  0151 709 5484 or e-mail Blue C.

If you're unsure where Mathew Street is, click on the map below to see a larger printable version.

Singin' The Blues

Two blues gigs taking place soon on Merseyside. You don’t have to be a blues hound to enjoy these blues ~ accessible for all music lovers.

Bill Hackney (pictured), blues singer-guitarist from Southport’s Bothy Folk Club has a gig in Liverpool on Friday 6th November at the Liverpool Acoustic Blues Lounge. As well as playing blues old and new, Bill also loves the music of Bob Marley and will no doubt include a song or two from the great man in his set. Doors open at 8pm, and the music begins 8.30pm. £5-00. The venue is the 4th floor of the View 2 Gallery in Mathew Street, Liverpool, across the road from the Cavern and a couple of doors along from the Grapes pub. Nearest station: Moorfields (5-10 minutes walk).

Blues On The Rock presents special guests guitar/harmonica blues duo Barramacca on Sunday 8th November (1pm to 4pm). The venue is Fort Perch Rock (actually in the fort, worth a visit in itself), off the Promenade in New Brighton; easy to drive to with ample parking and about 10-15 minutes walk from the station. £5-00.

Your hosts at both these events are Liverpool-based blues duo Blue C, noted themselves for interpretations of traditional and modern blues as well as accomplished original material.

Liverpool Delta Blues

Tom Doughty is a superb lap slide guitar player; I have seen him at the Bothy Folk Club in Southport on several occasions (blues have always featured at the Bothy). He is on in Liverpool tonight in the new Liverpool Acoustic Blues Lounge, which is hosted by local blues duo, Blue C.  The venue, View Two Gallery, is in the legendary Mathew Street on the opposite side from the Cavern, and just two or three doors along from the Grapes pub where The Beatles used to drink.

It's only a few minutes walk from Moorfields Station.  Highly recommended.

Rock, Blues, Folk & More...

Come to a great evening of live music upstairs at Leo's Bar, Nevill Street, Southport, a fundraiser for Queenscourt Hospice, on Saturday 26 September from 8pm to midnight. Free buffet.

Band room with electric music, including Blanket Apology, Shot in the Dark, Next to Nothing, The Runnies.

Acoustic room with folk, blues and poetry including Geoff Parry, Ron Scowcroft and Neville Grundy. Open mike format ~ come along and perform, or just listen.

Voluntary donations on the door. Come along to enjoy an evening of great music and support an excellent local charity at the same time.

John Mayall ~ last of the summer blues?

Yesterday found four of us in a car heading to the Picturedrome in Holmfirth to see British blues legend, John Mayall. We first went into the Old Bridge Hotel next to the venue for some food and drink; Copper Dragon, Timothy Taylor's Best and Summer Wine Brewery Teleporter (5%) were a welcome sight. While we were there, the man himself with two of his band also came in for something to eat.

The venue is a former cinema as the name suggests with acceptable Taylor's Landlord on hand pump; it's a welcome change for a rock venue to have real ale. First up was a group from the Manchester area called Tantrum playing energetic blues rock at full tilt. They are an enthusiastic three piece (drums, bass, guitar), well worth seeing if you get the chance.

Then came the headliner: John Mayall announced his first song as one he had learned from Sonny Boy Williamson ~ high class name dropping. He also did songs by other blues greats, such as Freddy King and Albert King, as well as many of his own. His band are all Americans (and they all look less than half of his age) but still managed to produce that British blues sound, sometimes organ-driven, for which Mayall has been renowned for since the 1960s. As is always the case in John Mayall bands, they are all excellent musicians.

As I listened to one of his own songs, I was thinking that it quite experimental. It went down a storm, and Mayall said delightedly, "I thought that might be too jazzy for you guys." Another song was written after Mayall had dreamt about the blues greats and made a dreamy blue song out of it, complete with references to Robert Johnson and others. I was left thinking how versatile the blues format can be.

During the evening, Mayall played keyboard, guitar and a lot of blues harp. By the end, the crowd were shouting for more, and two encores ensued; for the second Mayall was on his own with just a keyboard. Technical problems caused him to disconnect the microphone and encourage the crowd to sing the chorus while he played. Audience participation thus took the night out.

Mayall is now 75, but played with unflagging enthusiasm and energy; there is no doubt he was thoroughly enjoying himself, as was the crowd, which included many who were too young to remember the Bluesbreakers in the 60s. Highly recommended.