Newton-Blues.com

It was great to be back at the Black Bull in East Halton on Friday nite. Nice of the landlord to ask us back after our first gig there back in February. That night he lay sick in bed upstairs above the pub - and we thought perhaps this was why we got invited back - because he had missed the act! But no, he is a bit of a blues enthusiast and appreciated those 12 bar blues refrains drifting up the back stairs. Anyway thanks to him we are again back there in July.

For a change I started my set in obscure deep blues mode, playing Robert Petway’s My Little Girl in a raw loose open G tuning. This is a great track and has all the hallmarks of Petways unique laidback and seemingly ultra-casual style that belies his mastery of emotion and technique. All great blues - and good art in general for that matter, gives the spectator or audience the intimate feeling that they could go off and do it themselves. But of course, this easy, apparently effortless expression is a deceptive illusion. I then went on to do John Lee Hooker’s Hobo Blues, a track so loved by Bonnie Rait. Both were played on the small body martin which is perfect for getting that distortion and bent notes. I always remember Big Bill Broonzy saying that he liked to leave his guitar out of tune so he could bend it back into tune actually during his performances.

Thanks to Scott and Oli and co for giving their valued support at the gig - and a special thanks to Ol for his great pics (David Bailey eat your heart out). There are also a couple of John and Andy of ‘Blues on Tap’. John has been a bit down lately - typical symptom of a misunderstood genius of electric blues. I remeber once on a Bert Jansch LP cover many years ago, the writer described his fingers as being like a ’spider on an electric grid’. Well this would never be more apt than applied to the wizardry of John ‘fingers’ Shelton. But at the Black Bull, John was stood on a stool with a lead round his neck and we all thought he was gonna swing at any moment. Fortunately he was just rigging up the spotlights! Shortly there will be a clip of ‘Blues on Tap’ shot at the Barham in East Hull. A chance for you to witness John’s electric blues and the truly great singing of Andy ‘Gibbo’ Gibson, who is renowned the length and breadth of the country for singing absolutely from his boots. Or perhaps more accurately, should I say from his spats.