My Gap Years

There seems to be a three-year gap to fill in... 

Since 2017, when the blogging stopped, there have been two more Kettstocks – both Kettstock2 and Kettstock3 ran over two nights rather than just one, and were both huge successes. Sadly, we lost a great singer and a great man in Bill Deacon. And sadly, the Russ Payne Band came to an end due to a perfect storm of personal difficulties – but not the traditional "musical differences".

Bassist Bill Keller and I diversified into jazz, in Brighton and London respectively, and were both playing and gigging up until the pandemic hit.

I joined the staff of the excellent magazine The Oldie for a year and a bit, before eventually retiring from the fray. I have continued as a freelance writer and as an editor and contributor to www.Pembrokeshire.Online, the community website for my favourite county.

And I have continued to travel... My latest piece, on following in the wake of Odysseus, will be in the December 2020 issue of The Oldie.

That piece is 1,200 words... but behind that are something like 70,000 words that made up my journal from March to October 2020, An Odyssey in the Year of the Plague.

I'm now editing that journal and will start posting it here very soon...

Complimentary Medicine

The last time I played drums on an album – 'In Love With Trouble' by the Shark Dentists – the reviewer in Blues Matters magazine complimented me... on my harmonica playing. That was, of course, welcome – although the drums are my first instrument, I do like to contribute a bit of blues harp on the side.

But it was good to find my drumming has finally been noted by Blues Matters, in its review of the new album 'Liquor And Iron' from Russ Payne and Unison Bends. (I did also play four bars of wistful harmonica to set the scene for the epic track 'Heading Out East' but, understandably, that didn't get a mention.)

Anyway, we're all grateful for the positive comments about our work. So here is the full review:

RUSS PAYNE AND THE UNISON BENDS

LIQUOR AND IRON

(Thousand Smiles Records)

The album opens brightly with the funky This Life (Gonna Be The Death Of Me), Russ Payne’s vocals and guitar riffs distinctive and engaging. Nigel Summerley’s infectious rhythmic drumming on Saskia’s Got A Gun provides the perfect backcloth to the conversational vocals and clipped guitar style. The pace slows with the balladic It Could Have Been Me; the textured vocal harmonies, Saal Seniveratne’s fluent keyboard skills and Payne’s soulful guitar interludes create mood-inducing crescendos. The clever tempo changes on All Talk add to the atmosphere of another good original song. The slower burning Waiting At The Gate, Certain Tears and the title track showcase the versatility of Russ and confirms his status as a very fine singer, songwriter and guitarist. Bassist Bill Keller and drummer Summerley maintain the high-energy grooves of Sometimes and Oughta Know By Now in the tradition of great, explosive power trios. Payne’s searing guitar solo and vocal harmonies with Jake Rousham stand out on the catchy, up tempo Good Luck. An impressive album, Liquor and Iron proves that the gap between relative unknown bands and those at the forefront of the current UK blues explosion is very narrow indeed.

Practise, Practise, Practise...

Bassist Bill Keller and I tried to book a studio in Brighton for a Unison Bends rhythm section rehearsal - and gave up after the third one we tried was fully booked. And this was early evening and midweek.

There are obviously a lot of bands in Brighton. But it's more or less the same story everywhere. Unless you book well in advance, you won't get a rehearsal space.

So where are all these bands playing – apart from in rehearsal rooms? Are they actually gigging or just rehearsing?

The number of venues booking bands seems to be shrinking – and the number of bands seems to be increasing. It's always been tough to get gigs, but now it's getting even tougher.

You could be forgiven for asking: what are we all rehearsing for?