As we say goodbye to NZ Music Month the Hamilton Blues Society is going on the road to Rotorua this weekend to take part in the “Ladies Sing the Blues” show, as part of the BOP Blues week beginning Saturday. So if you have no plans for the long weekend that could be a great place to start.
Meanwhile, the big news is that one year later we have enough money in the kitty to purchase the Club’s very own brand new DRUM KIT! It will be on show and available for all you keen drummers to have a go on at the 12th June Jam, with a few drumming prizes to give away. We will also have a showcase from Johnny Stash… before they head to the recording studio.
· The Next Jam night is June 12th at Biddy’s – 8pm – DRUMMING Special!
· COMING SOON…. Our “HAVE A GO” concept is still under construction, and at this stage it will involve extending the Jam nights to include starting at 7pm-ish, for a ‘Have a Go Hour’. This is to encourage the novices among us to develop your skills in the earlier stages of the night, when the audience is smaller and less daunting. If you would like to be part of this, please email us, we would be looking to start this at the July or August jam.
· Don’t forget to keep an eye on the HBS website www.blues.co.nz/hbs, which we try to keep up to date and relevant, with upcoming gigs and photos of the last jam, so if you noticed having your photos taken - that’s where they end up!
Other upcoming events
· BOP Blues Jam Jun 4th 7pm The Belgian Bar 1151 Arawa St, Rotorua
A reminder about the regular blues jam held on the first Wednesday of the month over in Rotorua at the Belgian Bar. Door charge is $5 non-members and no charge for BOP Blues members & participating musicians.
· BOP BLUES WEEK FESTIVAL May 31st – June 7th, Rotorua in various venues
An 8-day Blues music festival in Rotorua. Venues include cafes, bars and theatres. This festival coincides with the 2008 Targa Rally and will include a ‘Street Party’ during the ‘Show and Shine’ event.
The line-up includes some of NZ's hottest Blues performers, including Kokomo, Anton Elkington Band, Blue Smoke, Johnny Stash, The Self Righteous Brothers Blues Ensemble, Hot Club Sandwich, Lil' Ian Goodsman, Hammond Gamble, The Mike Garner Band and the Billy TK Junior Band.
· BOP “Ladies Sing the Blues” show May 31st 7.30-10pm The Belgian Bar 1151 Arawa St, Rotorua. Featuring our very own Chris Maydon, Zeb Davies and Pauline Sinel. WE are also taking our own HBS band with us, John Maydon, Bruce Dennis, Herbie, and Simon on upright bass.
· Mike Garner, Bruce Dennis & John Maydon Jun 8th 7.30pm Diggers Bar
Come and see the founding father of the Hamilton Blues scene, Mr. Mike Garner, in a rare Hamilton performance showcasing his wonderful finger-picking style with Bruce & John.
Other Notices
· Membership 2008/2009 renewal. Yes it’s that’s time - with our membership year ending on the 31st May. So if you would like to keep on supporting the Club and receiving benefits on door charges, etc. please post a cheque to the Club at PO Box 805 Hamilton 3240, or make payment at one of the upcoming jam nights.
· HBS Committee 2008/2009. The committee welcomes 3 new members; Herbie, Fraser Muller and Steve Schwartz, and thanks outgoing member Ian McCook. The new committee for 2008/2009 is: Nate Taiapa, Pauline Sinel, Tony Hunt, Andrea Morrison, Bryon Steenson, John Maydon, Kevin Ballinger, Fraser Muller, Steve Schwartz and Herbie. We usually meet on the 1st Thursday of the month at 7.30pm. Please email us if you have any matters you would like us to discuss.
· HBS Members Achievements: Bruce Dennis’s song ‘Ain’t Gonna Run’ from his debut album “All Our Days” has been announced as a finalist in the Country Music “Song of the Year 2008” competition. The winner will be announced in Gore on 30th May.
Other Reviews
Hamilton Community Arts Council (HCAC) Live Music Forum Monday 26th May review by Pauline
Last week I went to an evening put together by HCAC to discuss the sustainability of the Live Original Music Scene in Hamilton. It was a very successful night that went for 3 hours instead of the planned 1.5 hours and it was standing room only. All aspects of the Hamilton music scene were presented, with members of Council, an MP, Radio presenters, promoters, venue owners, sound techs, performers and press reporters, etc.
It is the first of many sessions and the group identified some big long-term issues to be addressed, such as the need for Hamilton/BOP to secure a ‘BNet’ station on the FM frequency, of which there is lots of history apparently. HCAC is putting together a document to cover the issues and where to from here.
If you would like to be added as an interested party to the mailing list just let Pauline know. Meanwhile, if you are putting on Live Music in Hamilton HCAC has just put a great resource online at http://www.hcac.org.nz/file
Also, along the lines of Online Resources from the Hamilton music scene, don’t forget to check out the following directories:
http://www.nicksmusicbasement
Darcy Blues Guitar Workshop Sunday 25th May review by Ray
This two hour plus Blues guitar workshop was held at Da Capo music centre on Norton Road. About 12 people (all of differing guitar playing ability) turned up with their gear and Darcy started the workshop with introductions and a question of "what each person wanted to take away from the workshop?" As you can imagine the list stretched from fundamentals of blues guitar playing, slide guitar, rifts along the guitar neck, to the guitar styles of Hendrix and Clapton. With this somewhat "unrealistic request-list", the workshop started off with pentatonic and blues scales that lead onto riffs that could be played at different positions (mainly in major or minor key positions) on the guitar neck. Each style of lesson was interspersed with tales about different bluesmen and their style of guitar playing. Once everyone was familiar and comfortable with a basic riff Darcy covered vibrato, hammers and pull-offs. The workshop ended with some "Hendrix chords" and tips about different styles of Blues playing. The time went too fast!
Because of the broad base of "expectations" we didn't quite cover all participant requests (no slide guitar for instance) but nevertheless I am sure everyone enjoyed it and took some tip home with them. Darcy shared his passion and formidable knowledge of blues guitar freely and openly and the organisation, facilities and hospitality at Da Capo were excellent. Overall a good first-up workshop and a great idea to both expanding and keeping the Blues alive in Hamilton.
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