Mark's Blog

From Rotherham to Belgrade and Rome and home.
June 2008

Hello folks, both Dennis and Brendan had been moaning how down beat my blog has been and that I have got to be more upbeat and happy. I cant write to you like a school teacher, so I told them to just leave me alone and write to you through my eyes the way I see it. Enough said.

Our festivals really are well underway now and we kicked of in Rommerskirchen, Germany on May 31st. It was a lovely setting there in like a courtyard (outdoor) with a blues museum attached. Dennis had actually been asked many months previous to contribute his thoughts on his blues guitar heroes to the archive of the museum and it was all very impressive to see our guitarist in such company.

The next morning very early we had an 11am show 350 km away in Saarbrucken and was met with a fascinating old classic motor show in the next square to where our outdoor stage was. I can remember it being very hot and to be honest it felt really odd to be finished at 1pm, job done. We sat afterwards with huge steins of German ale and hot-dogs in the afternoon Sun chatting to the huge crowd that had turned out to see us on this lovely hilltop location over looking the city below. At this point I must thank our dear friend and possibly biggest fan of them all, Mr Manfred Maus and his lovely wife Silvia for helping us with our merchandising etc in Germany, Thank you to you both.

It was then home and the short FLY-Be flight to Douglas, Isle of man and the TT races and indeed air displays and motor bike engines roaring up and down the promenade that rattled the hotel windows late into the night. We played two nights there in like a 70`s type of disco, with our mates Status Quo playing just 800 metres up the road.

We flew back to Luton and straight up to Stratford on Avon for our Cox’s yard show and the delightful countryside hotel who’s name sadly escapes my memory at the moment, but it brought back memories of a happier time in my life, so we wont dwell on this or the gaffer will fine me. I think the band are fed up with me right now in my life as I must confess I have had a major personal upheaval and they have been incredibly supportive in getting me motivated again to play. I thank them dearly.

Ok, onwards and upwards and the new RUDIS blues club in Rotherham, a town where I cant recall ever having been before; I dare say someone out there will say I was there in 78 or so??

Anyway, RUDIS blues club was a complete shock to me for as I went down the stairs I was confronted with a magnificent new club; very similar to the clubs we played in the US. Rudi has done a fantastic job in bringing blues artists into the town and we all thought that the club was up there amongst the best in Europe.

We had a great show there and thank the lovely welcome we received too.
Right, back down the motorway and the brilliant Maltings show in St Albans, and our acoustic show. We always love it in there and it has a nice intimate atmosphere to boot.

Next day we were up early again and out to Imola in Italy and the central town square Imola blues festival. We had a real ball as we asked Andy J Forest from new Orleans and guitarist Roberto Formignani from the Italian band THE BLUESMEN to join us for a couple of songs, and a slash look-alike who also got up with us for a tune. It was one of those rare moments when everything you strive for as a professional musician comes together. Fantastic.

We were tired by this time and decided to not return to London but to stay on for two days as our Milan show was only a couple of days away and quite frankly we are sick and tired of being barged around by young cocky backpackers at Stansted airport.

We stayed in a lovely small family hotel near to lake Garda and the town of Simeone. The hotel had a pool and apart from one German couple we had the pool to ourselves all day. I can remember the four of us going down for a swim the first day sucking our stomachs in and resembling four bottles of milk.

It was not to last as we headed into Milan central park and our evening outdoor concert. This show was the one show where everything went wrong. Dennis had and amp blow up on him into the second song or so, the spare back up amp also blew up after 50 minutes into the show. Nothing could be done, the appreciative audience had to reluctantly see us walk away into the Milan night time darkness and head back to the hotel. This was completely beyond our control as it was a one in a million event.
We came home then out to Elversham in Norway and a hotel blues festival, I can remember trying to get some afternoon sleep in the miserable weather and rain that trickled down the hotel window but it was impossible as other bands were on and my room was 50 metres from the stage. We were cold and damp on-stage that night and if I'm honest I was pleased to get into bed and sleep.

The next morning we were back to Oslo's Guardemoen airport and off again for the 90 min internal flight up to Bodo in the Arctic Circle. As we made the final approach the captain said that air traffic was holding us up as there was an air show going on at the airport. We finally touched down and walked across the tarmac with the thunderous roar of fighter jets above at low level. Fantastic experience.

As you know by now, we frequently have a long onward journey onto the town etc of the show, but not this time, for in fact the concert was to take place in the arrivals hall of the airport.

We entertained some amazing Norwegian champion ballroom dancers into the small hours, and I can remember one nice moment where Brendan and I sat in the dressing room after the show at 1am looking at the mountains in perfect daylight sunshine. Wonderful!

I must take this opportunity to thank our wonderful Norwegian agent Mr Kjell Inga for his belief and support over many years of working together. Ps thank you Oslo airport for the 38 pounds bill for four drinks, strewth!
Home and back to the hotly debated terminal five at Heathrow... well, we thought it was magnificent, calm clean and quiet, and out on the BA flight to Serbia and her capital, Belgrade. We played atop of a hillside looking down over the city and her evening splendour shimmering out like the crown jewels. We were in the company of some of the best blues musicians in Serbia, Hungary and Russia and I must say that I don’t think in all the many years I have been around the world playing, that I have ever been made to feel so welcome by so many people. The Serbs are a tough people but with big hearts. Thank you Serbia for allowing us into your hearts.
I’m almost finished, but Brendan wanted me to make the point that the two last two shows were in the great wine growing areas of the world, the first being in the Bourgogne region of France where we played alongside the ANIMALS in an old castle grounds, and our final show in the Montepuciano region in Italy where we all got bitten by Italian mosqitionis, ha!

We flew home from the absolutely packed Rome airport on Sunday, and with your permission I'm going to make a cup of tea now and sit out on my balcony and give my index finger a rest. Its 12 midday, I started the blog at 8.45,

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Chucks back in town!
April, 2008

Hello all, I'm sorry for yet again a late blog, and to be honest, I have no excuses except to say that I just couldn't get motivated or indeed inspired to share with you our adventures.

Our year started with a back breaking German and Swiss tour that gave us very few days off throughout the whole of January, Gerry and I fell ill midway through with attacks of benign positional vertigo that waxed and waned throughout January and right up to yesterday when I didn't know the ceiling from the floor when getting out of bed in the morning.
We had brief trips out to Slovenia and Milan as well as going back to the old Bluesiana club in Velden Austria last month too.

It was also nice to go out to Feurtuventura two weeks ago to play a festival, but not nice to come home after the 100 club show in London to grab only three hours sleep and charge back to Heathrow to catch the red-eye out to the Canary islands via Madrid the next morning.

I think in all honesty, the highlight of the twelve weeks since I last wrote had to be the Chuck Berry show at the 100 club two weeks ago. I know for a fact that it was especially important to Dennis as the Gibson 335 guitar that Dens mum and dad bought him in around 1977 was directly linked to Chuck Berry as he is one of Den’s heroes. So it was especially poignant that we be opening for Chuck and that Den’s Gibson be there on-stage gleaming out through the stage lights and steam of this great club.

I know that Dennis was eager to get a photo of Chuck (now in his eighties) and himself, but we now learn that the great man was very tired as he was in the middle of a string of European dates so rushed back very quickly to his hotel suite in Central London.

Brendan's daughters continue to attract record company interest as the Slumming angels (myspace) and I don’t think it will be very long before we are supporting them. Dennis' son Sonny continues to turn heads with his rare and raw talent as a young drummer to be, my son Louis can’t make his mind up if he wants to suck and blow a harmonica, sing, or play a guitar, he tells me that "girls don’t fancy a harmonica player dad", but they love the guitarist in a band, so with that I have advised him to buy a harmonica harness, sing and play at the same time, and that way you can’t fail son.

We have a little downtime at the moment so I have been continuing to decorate my apartment, I have spent £120 on matchpots alone as I'm a perfectionist, but a perfectionist who cannot make a bloody decision, therefore the wall is still not painted.

Brendan is busy in the Studio with his girls, Dennis has been pressurising me into yet more slavery, one example being the "Pull over there please driver, I'm hungry" comment when acting as his chauffeur last week after arriving back into Heathrow.

Gerry continues to lose his home to some type of termite infestation in Tours, France. Tut, tut, tut!

I trust this has brought you more or less up to date 13 April, and hope that you are all well and happy.

We would like to thank all our old road crew who were there at the Mick Jagger centre, Dartford, and are all incidentally all near millionaires now, and of course all our families and girlfriends etc... well... families.

God bless you all, Felts x