The Jon Amor Blues Group – Gig Review

Telford’s Warehouse, Chester, 03/11/12

A rainy night in Chester, just a stones throw outside the ancient Romano/Mediaeval city walls stands Telford’s Warehouse, venue for tonight’s visit from ex-Hoax guitarist Jon Amor and his deceptively titled ‘Blues Group’.

The Jon Amor Blues GroupFor the previously uninitiated, The Hoax were one of the UK’s most successful Blues exports of the 1990’s, sounding nothing whatsoever like the Blues/Rock dirge music devolution that dominates British ‘Blues’ in the 21st Century. Continue reading “The Jon Amor Blues Group – Gig Review”

Pick Withers – A Road Well Travelled – (A Drumdoctor Interview)

The following is an interview I conducted with former Dire Straits drummer, Pick Withers, in 2010. A shortened version appeared in the July 2012 issue of Modern Drummer magazine. This is the full, Continue reading “Pick Withers – A Road Well Travelled – (A Drumdoctor Interview)”

Alison Krauss & Union Station, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 14/07/12

If I were lucky enough to meet Robert Plant and be allowed to say one thing to him, it would have to be;

I get it.

After watching Alison Krauss & Union Station perform to a sold out Liverpool audience, it’s understandable how being the singer in one of the biggest bands in Rock history fades into the background, when confronted by what can only be described as an emotionally moving musical experience, totally out of the comfort zone of the average British Rock star. Continue reading “Alison Krauss & Union Station, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 14/07/12”

Stuart Adamson, 10 Years Gone, Crossing Three Decades

Big Country - 'The Crossing' Cover1983 was a year of immense personal change within my so far, brief lifetime. Being a mid teen, my body excelled in throwing mood-swings, courtesy of the hormones that efficiently executed their role of upsetting the DNA apple-cart. The year hadn’t started well either; schoolboy ‘musical differences’ within my band threatening to trash 1982’s progress, plus the departure of my favourite drummer Continue reading “Stuart Adamson, 10 Years Gone, Crossing Three Decades”