Just Blues
(The Story So Far)
The band was formed from the ashes of a rock band named Strangebrew in the middle of the summer of 1993. Peter Wolfe and myself Peter Rudkin pursued our teenage dream of a full weight blues band. Not a half hearted attempt of half blues half rock as so many others seemed to do. We roped in Geoff Austin on harmonica, an old acquaintance from the past, and Darren Fuller on drums who we had played with in the past. In the September Sam Smithson-Brown answered the advert and joined as bassman. All ran fairly smoothly until July 1995 when Sam left to join Toni Vines band. Fergie Fulton of Booze and Blues deputised when possible. Malcolm Graham auditioned in the September and was invited to join.
Sadly on the 2nd.November 1996 Darren Fuller died in his sleep and was buried on the 12 November 1996 at Panfield Church. ( A very miserable day all round.) The band struggled on completing the years gig list with the help of Steve (Cupsy) Cutmore of Booze and Blues as dep on drums.
A replacement drummer was not found until April / May of 1997 when Marcus Foakes joined the band. Unfortunately his heavy rock style drumming, volatile personality and refusal to be directed in any other way than his own ideas saw his demise in the November of the same year. Whilst auditioning new drummers Geof Austin decided to retire as harmonica player.
Once again the adverts where placed and Robyn Slater of the band Red House auditioned and joined as harmonica player and was an instant asset with his input on playing and his work at chasing gigs. After auditioning fifteen drummers John MeHarry a Scot with a good sense of humour and rhythm joined.
The band went from strength to strength with the enthusiasm of the new players. So much so that the decision to record the first CD aptly named “Never Satisfied” was made and started on 11th December 1998 at the Purple Studios, Norwich. The disc not only sounded good but thanks to Peter Wolfe’s untiring input on the art work it looked good too.
Around March / April of the new year 1999 John MeHarry had to quit the band as he had to return to Scotland for personal reasons. (We think lack of funds and his passion for chasing the fairer sex were a great contributing factor).
Again the adverts were placed and after auditioning a few drummers the band enlisted Steve Heinz. (A much younger player than the rest of the band). Once again the choice seemed to be good at first but as time went on Steves strong personality and reluctance to drop his strong Jazz influence caused playing problems and also his lack of commitment to rehearsals and gigs resulted in him being sacked on the 25th September 1999. This date was chosen as the band was booked into Purple Studios on the 1st October to record the second CD “What Now” and the general opinion was that the strong Jazz drums would spoil our style of Blues. With this in mind George Fothergill, a professional player and regular drummer with Swagger, was recruited to sit in on the disc as he had deputised for the band when Steve had been unavailable and had proved to be excellent, playing one of the best “shuffles” in the business. His drumming on the disc was outstanding. Thanks George.
Also on the new disc Kevin Wells 1998 British Harmonica Champion and Giles Vincent Wright played backing brass on Tenor Saxophone and Trumpet respectively on two tracks: - Since I Met You Babe and Let The Good Times Roll. These turned out to be outstanding and subsequently the two turned up at Molly Malones on the 29thOctober and performed the aforementioned songs which live sounded even better and were received very favourably with the audience. Also whilst in the studio Kevin joined Robyn and Peter Wolfe (who has learnt to play harmonica) in a three harp song composed virtually on the spot and hit in two takes with no over-dubbing at all. A must, to be included on the disc.
On the day before the Molly Malone gig Gavin Webb of Red House auditioned and joined as drummer and proved to be a quick learner. Unfortunately Malcolm Graham bassman decided on the day of the Molly Malone gig to resign but would honour the next four gigs. On the next night at the Apple Tree in Little Clacton he threw a tantrum and wanted to leave immediately. Later he apologised and wanted to rejoin the band but the decision to wait and discuss the problem was taken. His resignation was accepted on the following Wednesday and after a few phone calls Kelvin Hill was recruited to dep for the next two gigs with the possibility of joining if all went well and came out of retirement to join the band officially after the White Horse gig at Easton on the 6th November 1999.
On the 13th November 1999 Stephen Foster of BBC Suffolk played the first song from our new CD on his Blues show. Again thanks to Peter Wolfe for keeping the information flow to Stephen Foster.
The band muddled through the November and December gigs with Kelvin helping out but he was under increasing pressure to work on his new home as he had recently moved. Eventually he asked if we minded using someone else as his spare time was being eaten up with the new property. Again we advertised and tried out a few bassists of which only one measured up, an American left hander who knew the ropes and the riffs. Unfortunately he was in a long distant relationship with a lady whom was pregnant and looked to us like another problem. The decision was taken to contact Malcolm who when leaving had said if we needed a hand anytime he would be glad to dep. Also our next gig was the launch of our new disc “What Now” at the Blueberry, Norwich on the 21st January 2000 and as Malcolm played all the bass on the disc it seemed like a good solution. On contacting Malcolm he told Peter Wolfe how he was missing the band and was there any chance of him rejoining. To cut a long story short we gigged a couple of times, had a band meeting to discuss any problems and Malcolm, our lost sheep, was back in the fold.
We have recently invested in a multi-core cable and stage box set up (commonly known as ‘The Snake’) to allow us to recruit a sound man to balance our sound and try to get continuity of sound levels from gig to gig. Paul Crawford a friend of Malcolms' and also a band fanatic who has been along to watch us on numerous occasions was landed with the job and seems to be warming to it nicely.
The new disc was reviewed by “ Blueprint Magazine “ and received a very good score and some very nice comments. They also sent us a post card telling us that the disc was very good and that they hoped to see us at a proper blues festival.
The band seems to be settling in quite well now with the line up that we have. This year (2000) has been our best so far and very enjoyable too. We have had some good gigs at some good venues. Regular bookings at Boswells, and The Blueberry - both in Norwich. Also at The Grapes Bury St Edmunds, Tracks at Kirby Cross and many more. The Milestone in Ipswich was also used for a live recording session for the BBC’s Stephen Foster which he very gratefully gave us two 35 minute plays on his Saturday night Suffolk Blues Show. Two other gigs stand out as being very special to us were The Great British R’B Festival held at Colne, in Lancashire (for which we received a mention in the Blueprint mag.) and The Brentwood Blues Festival where we supported Nine Below Zero in the main theatre. We hope to revisit these gigs next year and have also been promised a spot at the Ipswich Festival and a possibility of a couple of gigs at the Manor Ball Room Ipswich.
We have had some changes in equipment this year. Robyn has at last taken delivery of a Harp Master amplifier. (I say at last as it has been on order since September’99). He has suffered teething problems finding it slightly uncontrollable. It has been back to the maker for a tweek up but I don’t think Robyn is settled with it yet. Peter Wolfe has put his DSL 100 Marshall on the subs bench in favour of a Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker. (affectionately known in the band as ‘The Ball Breaker’ due to its weight.) A very complicated piece of equipment but once sorted out well worth the trouble and compliments Peter’s PRS McCarty very well.
I have abandoned my Pro-Amp Viper of 15 years for a Marshall 800 Lead Series 50 watt head of which I am warming to nicely. It seems to improve my over all sound across the board but I am still playing with the controls at present. We also have had a change in our P A amplification after break downs.
We had an interesting trip to the California Tavern, Norfolk on Friday the 13th October. A typical Friday the 13th you might say. On the way up the van blew out a spark plug. Not a pretty sight. We managed to effect a temporary repair with Robyns' engineering ideas and Wolfies mechanical skills which nearly got us to the gig on four cylinders but alas out it blew again but managed to struggle to the gig. After the gig Wolfie affected a second repair with cooking foil and lots of patience, which got us home in one piece. Robyn made a permanent repair the next morning ready for the gig that night. We are very grateful for this.
2001
Well here we are in 2001. Quite a busy year ahead of us; Peter Wolfe has made a move and now lives in the Mendlesham area of Suffolk. This has stretched us out a bit and cramped rehearsals but we are working round the problem.
A new gig for us at Easter was Burnley Mechanics (Olivers Bar, Festival Stage.). A great gig enjoyed by crowd and band. A long trip but well worth the trouble.
Another new gig for us was the Crawdaddy Club at Basildon. A true blues crowd who appreciate the music and a very nice venue to play.
We were also invited to play at the Ipswich Music Day 8th July by Stephen Foster on the BBC stage.( Once again thanks to Stephen for his untiring efforts for the music world). It was great to play in the open air for a change and to such a good audience. The gig didn’t go without its problems though. You are on the stage with your kit at a whirlwind speed with no time to sound check or settle the equipment. As we were about to start Malcolms' bass rig would not fire up. We had gigged the two previous nights before and it had been trouble free. Consequently Malcolm had to be wired direct to the PA, which was fine out front but a little hairy on stage as for the first couple of numbers he had little fold back so could not hear it himself. The soundmen soon sorted out the problem and the set went well. I don’t think that the crowd noticed the problem out front thanks to the soundmen. (Paul Crawford included). Malc had his rig checked and the problem was a faulty speaker lead.
It was soon August again with The Great British R&B Festival at Colne in Lancashire. This year we have two spots. A 1.30 pm. set on the North Valley open air stage which went well helped by sunshine would you believe and the second set at 6 pm in the Crown which was packed and was also very well received. Our first set, as last year, was followed by “The Upsetters”. A very good band and a great bunch who we enjoy playing with and listening to and are becoming good friends. We hope to be able to gig with them in the future perhaps at Colne or a double gig with them at a later date.
As usual with bands things never stay the same and once again we are auditioning new drummers. Gavin Webb who has been with us for the last 2 years has been dividing his time between us, and Red House, as they were struggling to find a drummer. Our last gig with Gavin was Boswells, Norwich. He had decided that he wanted a change from Blues bands and had auditioned with a show band and got the job. We wish him well in his new venture and his sense of humour will be missed.
2002
We have had a 6 week lay off whilst trying to sort out a new drummer. During this time I have purchased a PRS Santana and after a slow start we are becoming good friends.
We have been auditioning drummers for the past 3 weeks and have more to do yet. A tiresome business but we are looking for a drummer who can play ’the elusive shuffle’ which suits our style and is a must. All I can say is ’watch this space’ for news of our new recruit.
This Thursday 7th Feb. we have been invited back to the Crawdaddy Club, Basildon and have once again commandeered the help of George Fothergill on drums and I am sure we are all looking forward to it. Catch you all later.
After auditioning quite a few drummers we all agreed to settle on Sandy Sutherland who hails from Felixstowe and fits us well. Sandy like us has been around the block a few times and is up for going round again. Peter Wolfe and I first met Sandy a couple of years ago at a birthday party in Dereham, Norfolk where he was performing with Andre De Moler (see biography). The party host was Rocky one of our old singers from way back and wanted Wolfie and I to sit in on a couple of numbers with the band so that he could sing. We agreed and busked a couple of songs with Andre on keyboards, his base player and Sandy on drums. Wolfie and I were impressed with Sandy’s playing and his feel for the music. We met again last year when he deputised for us at O’Reillys in Lowestoft so it was no real surprise that after a brief try out we all agreed that this should be a good combination.
We are now near the end of April ’02 and have had a few gigs with Sandy and the combination is working well. His ideas and input are greatly appreciated and things seem to be working very well. I personally, being part of the rhythm section, find him very easy to work with and enjoy his sense of humour and believe me that’s very necessary with a hard working band. So from me, and the rest of the boys - “ welcome Sandy to the mad house.”
Before I close this part I would like to say congratulations to our sound man Paul Crawford for completing the London Marathon. ”Well done mate, I get knackered just unloading the van !!!!!”. Bye for now. Peter R.
Continued on The Story - 2