2011 Best Artist Awards - update

Only a few days to go in the voting for the MSI Best Artist Award for 2011.  After a good start, Neil fell behind by over 70 votes, but is now catching up with only 22 votes between him and the award.

There are only a few days to go in the voting, and any help will be very much appreciated.

Just go to http://msi.icweekly.net/contests/msi-2011-awards/ and click on "jiguma" tp vote for Neil.  Ifyou'd like to listen to the song you're voting for ("Spinning") go here http://www.macjams.com/song/65036

See you next year!

PS - just 9 votes behind now - 29/12/11 - thanks for all the support!

PPS - 03/01/2012 - in the lead by nearly 50 votes.  I have no idea when the voting finishes, but winner is announced on 15/01/2012.

KADE BROWN TRIO – SIERRA

PBGB Family Members Ken Vatcher and Pol O’Shea have just wrapped up a major project with the release of a new cd, ‘Sierra’, by the Kade Brown Trio.

The Kade Brown Trio consists of

• Kade Brown on Piano
• Steve Clark on Bass
• Ken Vatcher on drums. 

Pol did the recording and mixing, which is, to put it mildly, fantastic.

Kade is a sixteen year old student ( year 11 in 2012 ) at the Sapphire Coast Anglican College. Kade’s playing places him firmly in the prodigy category. When you hear Kade play, it is very difficult to comprehend that he is indeed still a youngster – his playing sensitivity and his talent are just so awesome !

Add to that the fact that Kade wrote three of the tracks ( including our favourite ‘Dust’ ) on Sierra, and one can’t help but be astonished by this young man.

Other tracks on Sierra are covers of  all time great composers, including Miles Davis, Rodgers and Hart, and Lennon and McCartney.

And Kade’s mentor and master jazz bassist Steve Clark also wrote a track.

Our own Mark Bolsius, Pol O’Shea, and Ken and Susie Vatcher are credited with assisting the project.

‘Sierra’ is as good as piano trio smooth jazz gets, and any jazz fan will be blown away by this brilliant cd.

Locals can purchase Sierra at Magpie Music in Bega, or Booktique in Merimbula.

Or you can just contact us here at the PBGB Blog and we will make sure a copy gets to you

Highly recommended, and a tribute to all involved – congratulations.

Go get it !

2011 Best Artist Awards - HELP!

Neil (as his alter ego "Jiguma") has been nominated as one of the 12 "Best Artists" of 2011 at the "Music Scene Investigations" website.  As with many things American, the selection of the ultimate "Best Artist Award 2011" requires voting from the public.

So, it would be fantastic if you could add a vote for "Jiguma" at Music Scene Investigations - don't forget to push the "vote" button after you've clicked the Jiguma button.

It would be nice to have a PBGBer win this award ;)

GUS FINDS HIMSELF A LONG DISTANCE LOVER

There is a new song on the PBGB Juke Box. It’s called Long Distance Lover and it was written by Gus. Click on the title on the PBGB Juke Box to have a listen.

Gus experienced a separation a while back, and like a lot of people nowadays, he let the dust settle, then began having a look at on-line dating sites. Gus found a few people to chat with and began to feel a bit better.

The title Long Distance Lover alludes to the possibilities offered by such on-line sites.

Anyway, it’s a beauty thanks Gus. We hope everybody likes it. We do, and we are glad that Gus is healing. The old Gus is back !! Like the Cat In The Hat !!

 Long Distance Lover also marks Lyndon’s second production effort for PBGB. Thanks Lyndon, well done
sir ! We reckon it is great having three Producers ( Neil, Lyndon and Pol ) , because all three have quite distinct styles, and the diversity is a good thing. Gives our posted songs some different flavours. Yum.

Players on Long Distance Lover are : Gus Washbourne Writer, Vocals, Slide Guitar; Lyndon Lewis Lead Guitar; Kevin Breeze Bass; Peter Reid Drums.

Ken Vatcher Sings Again!

Last posting from the September 2011 SuperSesh folks !

If we remember rightly, Ken grabbed a mic. and called for a solid slow blues. A  few bars in started into the lyrics of  the 1919 Swanstone, McCarron, Morgan tune “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me”. Click on the title in the PBGB Juke Box on the right of your screen to have a listen.

As you heard on the PBGB version of Hound Dog ( click on title on the PBGB Juke Box ), Ken has a great growly blues voice, and on ‘Naughty Sweetie’ he once again provides us with a mighty fine vocal performance. The song is full of humour, and Ken does it proud.

Well done Brother Ken !  Top work !!

The support line up for Ken was :

POL O’SHEA - BASS, GUITAR ( LEFT CHANNEL ) , SLIDE GUITAR

GARRY CARSON JONES - GUITAR ( RIGHT CHANNEL )

LYNDON LEWIS - RHYTHM GUITAR

MARK BOLSIUS - KEYBOARDS

PETER REID - DRUMS

And again, the immaculate production work was done by Pol. Can’t thank you enough Pol !!

So that folks, wraps it up for the September 2011 SuperSesh. PBGB is absolutely honoured to have the super talents of so many of the district’s leading musical lights coming along to  The Shed and hanging out , playing and having a beer– we love it, and just can’t get enough.

Thanks to everybody who came, played, drank, laughed and listened – hope to see you all again very soon !!

Pete

Dave Hannagan sings the blues. Beautifully!

As reported in the blog post of October 1, 2011, (scroll down to find it), Dave Hannagan turned up to the SuperSesh, and proceeded to croon a couple of great blues numbers. Dave sang the Howlin’ Wolf / Willie Dixon 1966 classic ‘Built For Comfort’, and T-Bone Walker’s 1947 opus ‘Stormy Monday’. Click on the song titles on the right of your screen to hear just how beautifully Dave interprets these songs. Well done Dave ! Super work !

 Dave is very ably supported on both songs by the following stellar line-up :
 POL O’SHEA - GUITAR (LEFT CHANNEL)
GARRY CARSON JONES - GUITAR (RIGHT CHANNEL)
MARK BOLSIUS - KEYBOARDS
KEN VATCHER - DRUMS
KEVIN BREEZE - BASS

 Beautiful work all ‘round guys – stunning !

 A special mention needs to go to Pol....... Busy as Pol is as a professional music producer ( Pol is the In-House Guru at Turingal Studios ) he very generously offered to take three of the SuperSesh song audio files away with him, and to see what he could do. We know Pol is an obsessed perfectionist, and we know he has put many, many hours into the production of what you hear on these songs. Pol has surgically made good, mixed and mastered these two songs, plus ‘My Naughty Sweetie’ which is the subject of the next post. ( see above ). The results, we hope you agree, are nothing short of outstanding.

So a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ goes to Pol for putting all that effort in. PBGB and The Shed are humbled Pol !

Pete

Safe Hands

Here are 2 versions of "Safe Hands" for your listening pleasure.  The first, below is a video version by Neil and 6 musical friends from the US and Norway.  Video and audio mixed and mastered by Neil, it features John Libby (Boston MA US) on keys, Anne Cozean and Marty Ross Vining (North Fork CA US) on backing vocals, Thor Oliversen (Stavanger Norway) on  guitar, Mike Watkins (Stirling VA US) on drums and Chris Flynn (Houston TX US) on bass.  Neil is singing and playing second guitar.  This international collaboration was made possible through MacJams - http://www.macjams.com

Check the song notes for more information.

The second, by PBGB with Sasha Dee is in the JukeBox on the right, and features Pete, Ken, Kev, Neil and of course Sasha.

Blue Pool

A new post - "Blue Pool" was recorded a few months ago and for a time, left to mature due to Chris' medical leave from PBGB. It's a song of Neil's, with Pete on drums, Chris on bass and Neil on vocals and guitars - originally recorded live in The Shed with acoustic guitar, with the electric added later in the studio.

Recording and mixing by Neil.

See how many Bermagui references you can find in the lyrics :)

Have a listen using the new alphabetically sorted PBGB JukeBox on the right of the page.

Pete’s Out There Somewhere

Click on  “ I’m Out There Somewhere”  on the right of your screen to have a listen to  Pete’s latest offering.

The song is about  a time in  Pete’s life circa 1980. Pete did find that place somewhere -  it turned out to be Crescent Head on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.

Lyndon took over  the production of this one  pretty early in the piece and ran  it right through to the finish line. So this song is  Lyndon’s first production of a PBGB song.  Well done Lyndon !

Players on I’m Out There Somewhere are :

Pete on Vocals and Drums

Kevin on Bass

Lyndon on Lead Guitar

Neil on Rhythm Guitar

Words - Pete, music - Neil

PBGB JukeBox

With all the changes happening on the blog, we decided to look at re-jigging the songlist in the new Jukebox to better represent where PBGB is at the moment. Neil was happy to drop a couple of his ("No Relief In Sight" and "Mad Hatter") and Pete has dropped "Serve It Up".

In place of these, we have added a Shed version of Neil's "Blue Pool" (listen for the Bermagui references in the lyrics), with Chris on bass, Pete on drums and Neil on guitars and vocals. It's based on a live take in The Shed but with an added lead guitar track by Neil.

Keep watching the page for further changes, including a major rebuild of the site by Mark Reid in the not too distant future.

You can download most of the songs in the JukeBox (including a number of previously available songs) for free by clicking on the JukeBox.

You can also share the PBGB JukeBox with your friends by clicking on "Share" and copying the code for your preferred look and your preferred online community/email.

JENNY HALPER WHIPS ONE UP

When Chris arrived at the September 26 SuperSesh, he brought along a long time friend and fellow muso – Jenny Halper.

We soon discovered that Jenny has a great singing voice, so we offered her a microphone and launched into  George Gershwin’s 1935  classic  ‘Summertime’.

You can hear how brilliantly Jenny sang it by clicking on ‘Summertime’ on the right of your screen.

Well done Jenny, and welcome to the PBGB Family !!

Thanks for letting us post the song.

Jenny has indicated strongly that she would like to do more PBGB stuff, and Jenny............ we can’t wait !!

As we indicated on the post for Hound Dog ( one post below ) we had a few drinks at the SuperSesh and nobody took notes.

So we THINK the line-up goes like this :

Jenny Halper on Vocals:

Mark Bolsius on Keyboards

Pol O’Shea on Bass

Garry Carson Jones, Gus Washbourne, and Lyndon Lewis on Guitars. ( Again, don’t ask what order !! )

Pete  on Drums

By the way, PBGB featured  different versions of Summertime on both our third and fourth cds back in 2007 and 2008, so it seems to be a bit of a perennial PBGB favourite.

Not surprising really, old George knew a thing or two about writing a great song !!

Hopefully Summertime will not be the last post from the SuperSesh, so watch this space for more.

Ken Vatcher goes four on the floor

Late in the September 26 SuperSesh, Ken sidled up to a microphone, called out “Let’s do Hound Dog” and whispered to Pete “Four On The Floor Rock Beat please Pete”, and whammo!

Off we went into the old (1952 in fact) Leiber and Stoller classic that Elvis made super famous. The original version was sung by Big Mama Thornton, but the PBGB version (click on Hound Dog on the right of your screen) features the one and only Ken Vatcher on vocals.  Fantastic Ken, well done sir!

One of the principles that underpins PBGB is that we always try to encourage people to go musical places that are a little outside their natural comfort zone. We knew from previous episodes in The Shed that Ken could sing up a storm, so we have been waiting......and waiting........and now, here he is on lead vocals.

Thanks Ken, great fun, and thanks for letting us post it.

Who is playing on it?

Well, we think (we had had a beer or three by the time we played  this, and nobody was taking notes) it probably features:

Ken  on Vocals

Pete on drums

Lyndon, Garry, Pol and Gus on guitars (don’t ask what order!)

Mark on keyboards

Neil on bass (in actual fact Chris played bass at the time, but the recording turned out to have no bass track so Neil dropped a new bass track in later).

PBGB bungs on a rocker!

Enjoy

Should be more September SuperSesh songs coming to the PBGB Blog very soon. Watch this space.

Another Super Sesh

Monday September 26 saw another Super Sesh in The Shed.

PBGB was honoured to have another stellar line-up of local musical luminaries in The Shed for an afternoon of fun and general musical bonhomie.

We had a full house, with the following in attendance :

Pete, Gus, Kev, Chris, Ken, Lyndon, and visitors Dave Hannagan, Pol O’Shea, Garry Carson Jones, Mark Bolsius, and Jenny Halper.

Who are these people ?

Info. on Garry can be viewed under a previous PBGB Blog posting dated July 4, 2011, and by clicking HERE

http://www.myspace.com/garrycarsonjones

At the July Super Sesh Garry sang and played lead guitar on his song I Am, which you can play by clicking on the title on right of screen. Brilliant Garry !

Dave Hannagan has a fine musical pedigree, including a stint with Greg Quill’s Country Radio – see

http://www.milesago.com/artists/quill_radio.htm

But best of all, Dave is a fabulous blues singer who absolutely starred on Monday, and we hope to post a song from the Super Sesh featuring Dave on vocals very soon.

Pol O’Shea, likewise, has a life-long connectivity with the world of music – far too much to mention here. But if you Google Pol O’Shea you will see just what we mean. Pol played some superb guitar lines on his trusty Strat at the Super Sesh, and again, we hope to post an example or two of his brilliant licks very soon.

Mark Bolsius made a very welcome return to The Shed on Monday. You can read more about Mark, and see what a handsome fellow he is,  by reading PBGB Blog postings dated 17 and 20 February 2011. You can also hear Mark’s great keyboard work clicking on the song ‘Autumn Leaves Jam’ on the right of this page.

Jenny was a first time ‘Shedder’. Welcome Jenny !  Jenny has sung with a number of bands around the district, and when you hear her you will hear why ! We hope to post Jenny’s excellent rendition of the George Gershwin standard ‘Summertime’, soon.

PBGB extends a warm welcome to all these great artistes. Please make a habit of dropping in for Seshes !

Monday was just great fun. What with 11 people in The Shed all blazing away ( and having a beer or three ), and with no agenda other than sheer enjoyment, getting good recordings is a secondary concern. But we have listened through the afternoon’s proceedings, and we should soon be able to stitch together some songs that will give friends of PBGB a chance to hear what these great musos can do. Watch this space !

Some photos of the newcomers............

Pol’s Strat. If that were a hot rod it would be called a Rat Rod. Is it in fact a Rat Strat ?

Pol - Thanks for coming Pol - blistering licks!

Jenny and Dave - A very warm welcome and a standing invitation to come on back.

Garry - Always a big happy smile!

PBGB Blog Revamp

You’ll notice a new look PBGB Blog.

The new photo of ‘da boyz’ better represents those who  are currently making regular contributions to PBGB.

Who are they ?  Well from Left to Right, we have all the usual suspects.........Lyndon Lewis, Ken Vatcher, Chris Ralfs, Neil Porter, Peter Reid, Kevin Breeze, and Gus Washbourne.

The Backdrop shot is of the Pambula Rivermouth.  Home sweet home !!!

Why the changes to the PBGB Blog ?

Neil has managed  the PBGB Blog, and most every other technical aspect of all things PBGB ever since he joined us nearly three years ago. We are sharing  the work a little more evenly.

So now Pete’s son Mark is going to maintain the Blog for us.

Mark is a new media whiz. Mark shot and put together the fabulous Tell Me Honey video you can play on right of screen.

See more of Mark’s work here.

Welcome aboard Mark !

Kevin on Bass

In mid 2011 it became clear that Chris was suffering what would likely be mid to long term 'issues' with his wrists, and those issues really required that Chris take it easy on the bass. Fortuitously we saw an ad in the local paper by a bass player who was looking to play some music.

This led to our recruiting of Kevin Breeze as a bass player. Kevin plays really solid bass, and fits into The Shed very nicely indeed.

As of early September, Kev is still enjoying The Shed very much, and having recorded The Sasha Project with us ( listen to Lifeline for an example of Kev's bass skills ) is now a fully fledged member of the PBGB Family. Welcome Kev !

Chris is still with us of course - just resting the wrists at the moment.

THE SASHA SESHES !

Back in 2009, local singer/guitarist Jack Biilmann contributed his interpretation of John Butler's 'Ocean' to our 5th cd. It was  Jack's very first recording. You can listen to it by clicking on the title in the PBGB Vault. 

About a month ago, Jack’s Mum Clare told us that a friend she had staying for a few weeks was a fine singer and would like to visit The Shed. Deal done. Enter Sasha Dee.

We soon decided that it would be nice to record some songs with Sasha and send her home from holidays with a cd of her efforts under her arm.

Sasha chose to work on four of our songs, and we have wrapped up Sasha’s mini cd.

We thought we would post a couple of the songs Sasha chose on the PBGB Blog.

Hence, if you click on Safe Hands in the PBGB Juke Box, or Lifeline in the PBGB Vault, you will hear Sasha in all her glory ! Enjoy.

The version of Lifeline in The Vault is the first posting of Gus’ great song.

It features :

Sasha Dee on Vocals

Gus Washbourne on Rhythm Guitar/bgv

Neil Porter on Lead Guitar/bgv

Ken Vatcher on Drums

Peter Reid - bgv

And on Bass, Kevin Breeze’s first posting.

A warm welcome to the PBGB Family Kev and Sasha !!

Thanks for coming Sasha – it was great fun.

Hope to see you In The Shed Again real soon !

“Project Sasha”

Snaps of Kev and Ken working hard on our latest project.

Curious ? We should be able to post some results soon – stay tuned !

KEVIN BREEZES IN

Saw an ad in the local paper about a month ago. Read something like ...”mature aged bass player looking for opportunity to play some music”.

So we rang. Spoke with Kevin Breeze, and explained as best we could what PBGB actually is ( not that easy ). Referred Kevin to our blog site and said that if he liked what he heard we would be very pleased to have him along for a Sesh.

Well Kevin did like what he heard and he came along, and as it turns out, he fits in very nicely indeed.

Kevin grew up in the Southern suburbs of Sydney and played with a few bands around that area. He moved down to the far South Coast around 2003 and is establishing a telephone and data installation and maintenance business.

He plays a Gibson SG bass and a Hohner "Beatle Bass", and is currently picking up on a few of our songs, plus helping us develop a newie or two.

Hopefully we will be able to post a song with Kevin playing on it soon. Watch this space !

Welcome aboard Kev. Hold on – hope you enjoy the ride !

In mid 2011 it became clear that Chris was suffering what would likely be mid to long term 'issues' with his wrists, and those issues really required that Chris take it easy on the bass. Fortuitously we saw an ad in the local paper by a bass player who was looking to play some music.

This led to our recruiting of Kevin Breeze as a bass player. Kevin plays really solid bass, and fits into The Shed very nicely indeed.

As of early September, Kev is still enjoying The Shed very much, and having recorded The Sasha Project with us ( listen to Lifeline for an example of Kev's bass skills ) is now a fully fledged member of the PBGB Family. Welcome Kev !

Chris is still with us of course - just resting the wrists at the moment.

DAVE CROWDEN, GARRY CARSON JONES, ANDY O'DONNELL, KEN VATCHER JOIN US FOR A SUPER SESH

Dateline July 4, 2011.

Thanks to the super strong musical networks of the mighty Ken Vatcher, we had some of the Bega Valley's absolutely finest players in for a truly fabulous Sesh.

Special guests Andy O'Donnell, Garry Carson Jones, and Dave Crowden joined Pete, Neil, Ken and Lyndon for an all in jam. Pete, Garry, Andy and Neil each sang a song or three. Dave and Neil shared bass duties. Ken and Pete played musical drum chairs. The beer fridge shrugged off the onslaught with a typical, snotty sort of 'nice try boys' attitude. Chris ( currently on sick leave with a crook wrist ) popped in to say hello.

Dave is very active in the Bega Valley music scene. A teacher at Magpie Music, Dave is also the godfather figure and mentor for Guitarama, a group of Dave’s students. Click on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhR0rgGqrMQ

to have a look at Guitarama in action. That’s a Dave composition folks – nice work Dave.

Andy is a prolific and very popular gigster ‘round these here parts. Andy is one of the famous O’Donnell Brothers, lead vocalist and guitarist with The Figmentz ( which features Ken and Dave – incestuous ain’t it ? ), amongst other gigging combos. Click here

http://www.reverbnation.com/andyodonnell

to access Andy’s page on Reverbnation and hear some of his work !

Garry is, amongst other things, a teacher at Magpie Music, a solo entertainer with a big following, the boss man of The Poddy Dodgers, and a key member of Frankie J. Holden’s Stumbling Wilburies ( as indeed are Ken and Dave ). Click here

http://www.myspace.com/garrycarsonjones

to have a peak at Garry’s MySpace page.

Now folks you need to be aware that Monday’s Sesh was a jam. Nothing was pre-planned. The (full) line up had never played with each other before. We didn’t play the same song twice (except for Tell Me Honey). So the version of I Am that you can hear by clicking on the title in the PBGB Vault, was a first time learning experience for everybody bar Garry, who wrote it, sang it, and played guitar. Garry was supported by Dave on bass, Neil on slide guitar, Lyndon on guitar, and Pete on drums. Have a listen. It’s a beautiful song Garry, well done sir, anything off the top shelf for you.

By the way, I Am is also the first song we have posted that features Lyndon on guitar. There you go Lyndon. Well done sir !!

Seems everybody had a real good time. We certainly hope so, and wait with baited breath for any of these guys to make a return visit.

Thanks for letting us post a ‘roughie’ Garry – you’re a good sport.

And Ken, thanks for getting it all together.

Hurry back y’all !

Tell Me Honey - the Movie ;)

WORLD WIDE LAUNCH OF LATEST PBGB VIDEO

Pete’s son Mark, visiting from Melbourne, wandered into The Shed with his camera about a week ago and started shooting.

Next thing we know we have a new video !

We think it’s a hoot.

Have a look by clicking HERE

So THAT’S what goes on in The Shed !!

CATHY MIDDLETON JOINS IN

Thursday April 21 saw Cathy Middleton join us for a fun sesh. Cathy is a long time friend of Chris's. They played together in well known South Coast Band Roxygen. Cathy has played at the Narooma and Cobargo festivals amongst other prestigious gigs. Cathy is a great keyboard player and saxophonist, and she joined in on some of the songs we are currently piecing together, plus a couple of our older songs.

Cathy lives in Melbourne now, so we don't expect to see ( hear ) her in The Shed very often, but we sure enjoyed having her and would really love to see her in The Shed again.

So Cathy, thanks very much for coming over, and any time you are back around these here parts, please do not hesitate to come on back and play some more songs with us - great fun !

PETER BRUNT AND LYNDON LEWIS DROP IN

A couple of Thursdays ago, PB and Lyndon Lewis popped by.

PB had come over to say good-bye – he has accepted a new job up in Ballina and he and Lyn are moving very soon. PB played bass and sang some for PBGB for a good while, and features on three of our cds.

Since Pete took leave he has been playing bass for Lyndon’s 50s rock band ‘Shadoogie’.

Thanks for coming over to say good-bye Pete – that was really nice of you. We all wish you and Lyn all the very best with your new adventure up North !

It so happened that Lyndon had his trusty Strat in the car, so he dragged it out and we played a few songs together. We all liked what we heard, and Lyndon has been back a couple of times and is adding some really tasty licks to some of the songs we are currently working on. Lyndon is enjoying the challenge of getting his head and hands around some of our original material.

We hope that before too long we can capture a good recording of Lyndon’s guitar work. Watch this space.

So welcome aboard Lyndon !

You can have a look at what Lyndon gets up to with Shadoogie by clicking on http://www.shadoogie.com.au/Welcome.html

GUS POPS OUT A NEWIE

In early March 2011, Gus turned up at The Shed for a sesh, and, with the recorder rolling, popped out a great version of Technology, a song he had first brought to us late in 2010.

It is a typical Gus Gus song, sharing with an open heart Gus’s feelings and emotions about his day to day life.

Most people will relate to the frustrations Gus feels about the overwhelming onslaught of new technology and the pressure to master the operating instructions !

We think this version has just the right feel, mixing up a chunky sort of rhythm with quirky fills and tongue in cheek lyrics.

Featuring Gus ( the writer ) on lead vocals and guitar, Neil on guitar and backing vocals, Chris on bass, and Pete on drums, this version is a live take, with the only add-ons being Neil’s backing vocals.

Put on your headphones or good desktop speakers and click on ‘Technology’ under The Shed Giveth banner on the right hand side of the screen to have a listen.

Enjoy !