Owen's Diary Of A Working Guitarist November 2007

A bloody busy few days again...this week I have been working with the team on getting the new AOG sorted: we're getting there, but with so many new features and companies/ people involved it will be weeks before we are firing on all cylinders! Then watch out - we'll really have something! However, not all my existence is AOG - I am doing a fair amount of live playing and sessions as well as loads of teaching...so here is the first in a weekly column that will hopefully shed some light on what I actually do!

Checking out A New Boozer for pubgigs.com...

Last Tuesday (Nov 17th) Phil ‘The Guv'nor' Arneill, Brother James and myself went over to the salubrious locale of St. Neots, Cambs to check out one of the new pubs that sister company Pubgigs.com are lining up as cool venues for their series of monthly gigs.

The Kings Head is a boozer with a certain amount of personal history - I remember playing there back in the late 80's, as well as watching a very young (well...same age as me, as we share the same birthday) Rob Harris play loads of Level 42/Go West inspired stuff back in the summer of '89...heady days! Phil and the boys are running some regular music nights here, and it all looked hunky dory for the first promotion: Red Soxx on November 23rd. Any bands of a suitable calibre should e-mail p.arneill@pubgigs.com to see about getting involved - they intend upon making this a great high quality well promoted event that will roll out to a select bunch of pubs and clubs in the area this should be a real bonus to the live scene.

A NEW GIG WITH 'SOUTHERN HAT'

Last week I also got the call to play with my old mate Mark Jackson at some gigs in Essex and Leicestershire for ‘Southern Hat'. This will be a combination of Stones, Skynyrd, Free, AC/DC stuff plus and Medicine Hat originals - and with 20+ songs to do AND NO REHEARSALS will be fun! Medicine Hat - for those unaware of the band - are one of the great ‘should have been massive' acts, and I intend upon highlighting their career at a date in the not too distant future. Also, as I think they will be getting back in the saddle again, keep an eye out for them. Actually, those gigs shouldn't be too hard for me as Jim from Red Soxx is also playing (a founder member of The Hat) and I have done numerous gigs with Mark over the years - although this is the first since 2003: most of the tracks I have played live before. Time to test the old memory cells!

Return of Mothers Head FamIly Reunion

Been playing the new Richie Kotzen album loads - review next week - fucking great! The original ‘Mothers Head Family Reunion' album from late '94/early '95 was such a good album and a much needed tonic to those guitar unfriendly days, and this is almost as good - see this lot live in a club and I guarantee guitar nirvana.

Over to Phil Hilborne's...

On Thursday I went to see Phil Hilborne at his house over in Essex... we finished a bloody great interview with the man (due in January 2008) and had a general chinwag - lots going on that I can report on very soon. Had a couple of beers, played some geetaar, and heard some of Phil's new album tracks. You will ALL love this! Got back late and had to cancel some lessons with my understanding students due to the M11...

GIG WITH RED SOXX: THE KINGS HEAD, ST NEOTS, CAMBS NOV 23RD

We played the gig on Friday and it went down pretty well - not a classic gig as the venue was too cold (the heaters not working) but got a good crowd and Jim was on fire on the stix. Still not completely happy with the volume balances I have set up on my Hughes & Kettner ‘Switchblade' (rhythm/lead balance not right yet) - and think I need a separate compressor to get the best lead sounds - but one hell of an amp. First gig using the Hughes & Kettner Celestion Vintage loaded 4x12 stack that I picked up from Tony Rawson and the lads from Machinehead Music in Hitchin (great shop) so maybe it's a case of getting used to that. A very late night though...which wiped me out for the rest of the weekend!

WATCHING HEAVY LOAD, THE SADDLE, KIMBOLTON, CAMBS NOV 24TH

Having said that, it didn't stop me from supporting my old student John Wright on Saturday when he brought his Heavy Load 3 piece down to The Saddle in Kimbolton (unofficial AOG HQ) to play...and fuck me - the best I have ever seen him! Really, those who are after a great new blues guitarist need to check John out. All I can say is Tone, Tone, Tone!!! Top notch stuff - and arguably the best performance that Kimby has seen yet. I intend upon making John better known - so again watch this space. He really needs to be up there with the Matt Schofied and the rest of the UK's new hopes - if any of you are around in January come down to The Saddle and check him out. You will not be disappointed!

I will check in next week and let you know how the gig went...

Cheers!

Owen

The main photo Copyright © William Stephen Thorne, 2007
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