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.

That Royalty Feeling

Well, I got my first royalty cheque for my novel Like A Flower this week. It's been a long time coming. And it isn't going to change my lifestyle significantly, but it really feels good to get even a little something back for a hell of a lot of work.

There's also been money starting to trickle in from Russ Payne and the Shark Dentists' new all-original album 'In Love With Trouble'. And the feeling is the same.

Words and music may look easy... but they take a lot of hours and a lot of energy. Why do we do it? ... is a good question... I suppose it's what we do and we don't have any choice but to keep on doing it...

Opportunity Begs

Some opportunities are just too good to turn down. And some are just too awful to accept.

My main band, Russ Payne and the Shark Dentists, like to play festivals – not that we don’t enjoy playing the usual circuit of pubs, clubs and parties.

Having just finished a string of festival gigs, we were offered another. All we had to do was fill in an online application and pay a $10 fee – and the application form made it clear that if we played the festival, there would be no cash payment for “this opportunity”.

It’s insulting enough to be paid nothing, but even worse to be asked to pay $10 to be paid nothing.

If you want to see a line-up of bands who are so desperate for a gig that they are willing to pay to play, this will be the festival for you.

Musicians are good at selling themselves short. And I was just reminded of that fact by Stevie Freeman at the excellent Union Music in Lewes, East Sussex, one of the independent record stores that is stocking the new Russ Payne and the Shark Dentists album, ‘In Love With Trouble’.

I said we were happy to sell the album for £7. Stevie said it should be £10: “You shouldn’t sell yourselves short.”

She’s right, of course. 

We can all do better...

Air On A G Harp

Strange things have been happening in the world of harmonicas...

I've been hard at work with Russ Payne and the Shark Dentists recording our second album – the first was more or less a 'live' album, but this one is the full all-original works, featuring guest musos, sort of 'Sgt Pepper's Rocking Blues Club Band'.

It's actually called 'In Love With Trouble' and should be up on iTunes, Amazon etc before too long... as well as appearing in traditional CD form.

Anyway, to start a long story that I may not be able to cut short... the final track was an acoustic number which seemed to be crying out for a violin solo. But as sessions went by and the violinist couldn't make any of the dates... it was decided that the song was actually asking for a blues harp solo.

I play occasional harmonica with the band, but of the six harps I had with me, not one of them was in the right key.

I just had the week between the penultimate session and the final one to buy (and play in) a Marine Band harmonica in the key of G.

Checking by phone to make sure I didn't have a wasted journey to a local music store, I found that they didn't have a G harp in Brighton, they didn't have a G harp in Eastbourne. Or Haywards Heath. Or Lewes. Oh well, it would have to be the Charing Cross Road in London.

I called Macari's, where I usually buy harps, and they didn't have one either. "There's a problem with Hohner sending over harmonicas in the key of G from Germany," I was told. "What kind of problem?" They didn't know.

Days were going by and I was getting desperate. I emailed Hohner in Germany to ask what had happened to the flow of G harps. More days went by and there was no word.

In the midst of this I had to attend my son's graduation ceremony at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. A quick googling revealed a music shop almost next door to the theatre: Hand's Music.

I phoned them, expecting the usual apology. But the man who answered said: "Yes, we've got three of them." "All in G?" "Yes."

Reader, I reserved a G harp and picked it up next day. And shortly after that I was in the studio, playing the last solo on the last track of the album, ready for the last mix. And it came out all right – probably because it had been such a long, hard road to get that damned harmonica there and in front of the microphone.

I still haven't heard from Hohner... But Hand's is my new favourite music shop.