DAVE HANNAGAN AND ANDY O’DONNELL – ST. JAMES INFIRMARY BLUES

A tough day at the office

A while back Andy and Dave dropped by The Shed, sat down with their acoustics, and played a couple of tunes. 

It is a rare pleasure to hear Dave sing. 

When he and Andy launched into St. James Infirmary, we thought “this is going to be good”. And it was. 

Have a listen – click HERE

Dave and Andy have each been contributing to Shed goings-on for a while now. We are humbled.. St. James Infirmary is the third song we have posted featuring Dave, who is considered by many local musicians as friend, mentor, and source of musical knowledge. 

Click HERE to find your way to Dave’s other two PBGB Shed recordings thus far. 

Dave has been a guiding light for Andy ever since Andy was a little tacker, so it is a rare treat to sit and watch these two make music together. 

Thanks Andy.......thumbs up sir!

Andy is one of the Bega Valley’s most popular musos. He plays here, he plays there, he plays most everywhere. Stare at a stage around here for long enough and Andy is sure to appear! You can read more about Andy’s musical exploits by clicking HERE. St. James Infirmary is Andy’s second PBGB posting. Click on the tune Always A Way in the PBGB Juke Box on the left of your screen to hear what happened when we were fortunate enough to have Andy sing and musically direct the PBGB original tune ‘Always A Way’. 

And by the way, you can catch a glimpse of Andy shaking his arm off on the video of Big Car No Shoes which appears immediately below this post. The vid was shot at Andy and Lyn’s fabulous Cheeky Mango Cafe. 

So it is always a great pleasure to have these guys turn up at The Shed, and we look forward to more visits..............any time boys !! 

St. James Infirmary is a true blues classic. No-one knows for sure who wrote it, so it is often credited as ‘traditional’. What we do know is that it was a very popular song with jazz bands back in the 1920’s. Versions were released by such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. More recently it has been covered my artists including Lou Rawls, Van Morrison, Rickie Lee Jones, and The White Stripes. 

Great versions they may be, but around these here parts we know many a local will be blown away by Dave and Andy’s interpretation. Enjoy !!

"BIG CAR NO - SHOES" VIDEO FROM THE CHEEKY MANGO

Thanks to Grant Webster for this video:
Post by Grant Webster.

HAPPY OZ DAY AT THE CHEEKY MANGO

We are very happy to have been invited to play a small part in the musical festivities at the Cheeky Mango Café's Australia Day party.  Music starts at 3:00.  See you there.

Update: due to likely weather issues, the event has been moved indoors - should be a big crowd .............. in a very small venue ................. and with a B3 Hammond  :)  Bookings recommended!

And a good time was had by all :)

Pete and Chris settling the groove.

John and Rob

Neil and Jen

John and the mighty B3!

BIG BAD HANDSOME MAN - VIDEO FROM NETHERCOTE MUSIC FACTORY

Jen Halper makes this Imelda May song her own - with a nice solo from Rob Smallwood.

Post by Grant Webster.

CAT FACED GIRL VIDEO FROM NETHERCOTE MUSIC FACTORY.

Here's the first video from Saturday evening at Nethercote Music Factory.
A good night was had by all, and great to do at least a short live gig with such a capable bunch of players - Jen did a great job of vocals.
Thanks to Grant Webster for the video.
Post by Grant Webster.

NETHERCOTE MUSIC FACTORY - BLACKBOARD NIGHT

Here's a heads up for a little incognito PBGB crew appearance at the Nethercote Music Factory blackboard night tomorrow night (Saturday 17th January).  John, Chris, Rob, Jen, Pete and Neil will be trying out a few songs - look for "Big Car - No Shoes" on the board ;)

We'll be the ones in dark glasses - should be on around 8:30.

NEIL'S NEW ALBUM "INTO THE BLUE" NOW RELEASED

Finally!

Neil's fourth album of original songs is ready to be released into the wild.

You can listen to the tracks and/or buy the digital version of Into The Blue here.  The CD version will be available shortly - printer problems have put that on hold for the next week or so.  Watch this space!

"My 4th collection of original songs. A fuller, rounder sound than my previous 3 albums, with new songs, and a couple of re-mastered earlier songs (lifted significantly compared to their original versions).  

I'm pleased to have a number of international collaborators on this one - Fran Dagostino from Boston, Massechusetts on guitar, John Libby from Boston on keyboards, Anne Cozean from North Fork, California on backing vocals and Mike Watkins from Virginia on drums - some familiar names there if you have the "Neil Porter Collection" :) I'm also very happy that I have a "live from The PBGB Shed" song here, featuring Chris Ralfs on fretless bass and Peter Reid on drums. Finally, Jan Porter joined me on backing vocals on "Money To Burn" - very glad that Jan was ready to join in again. You'll find reggae, some interesting time signatures, RnB and acoustic rock here - plus something a little harder :) 

The last song, "Eggshell Walk", is dedicated to the late, great Fran Dagostino from Boston, USA who plays all the astonishing guitars. Although I never physically met Fran, we Skyped a couple of times and he was good enough to play lead guitar on a few of my tunes for me. From all reports, Fran was a seriously good guy. He is very much missed, even here on the other side of the planet.  

Have a great 2015!"

Neil

JUST TAKE ‘ONE STEP’ AT A TIME

‘One Step’ started out when Pete put forward a set of lyrics, some ideas about drum patterns, and a desire to see what might happen if we pushed the ‘heavy’ button. 

Pete invited John to contribute some melody and riffage. 

Neil then conjured up a killer bass line and added the guitar parts 

With that all done and dusted Pete stepped up to the microphone, and.............there you have our latest offering ‘One Step’. 

This may well be the heaviest PBGB song to date. It all came together as a sort of sideline project while things were otherwise a bit quiet. Can’t have that! 

You can listen by clicking right HERE or by clicking on the title in the PBGB Juke Box. 

Pete played the Drums and sang the thing. 

John Drews conjured up and played the Keyboard parts 

Neil played the Guitar and Bass as well as doing all the production stuff. 

Enjoy !

JENNY HALPER MAKES A WELCOME RETURN TO THE SHED, AND ROB SMALLWOOD AND JOHN DREWS MAKE THEIR DEBUTS ON IMELDA MAY’S ‘BIG BAD HANDSOME MAN’

We have been very fortunate to have John Drews and Rob Smallwood joining us in The Shed over the past few weeks 

John is doing a great job of bringing his long neglected keyboard skills back to life, and Rob is a very tasty guitar player. The sounds of The Shed are morphing yet again ! 

Anyway, Rob, John, Chris, Neil and Pete were kicking some ‘try out’ tunes around, when Jenny Halper banged on the door  “Jen.........Haven’t seen ya for ages. Come in come in. Welcome back..........a long overdue return to The Shed”.   In came Jenny, pulled out her iPhone and played us Imelda May’s ‘Big Band Handsome Man’.  Sounded good.............” let’s give that a run.”   

Played it once, thought about it for a minute, turned on the recorder and did THIS.  We’re chuffed. This is one of those magical Shed moments when something really fun drops out of nowhere. This recording is pretty much straight off the desk. 

There were no re-takes, no add-ons, no dubs, nothing – what you hear is what happened. 

It is our first recording featuring Rob and John, so........ a hearty welcome to the PBGB Family lads. And a very warm welcome back Jenny. Let’s do it again 

Jenny Halper sang 

Rob Smallwood played an electric guitar he made himself 

John Drews played Hammond organ 

Neil Porter played guitar 

Chris Ralfs played bass 

Peter Reid played drums

LOCHIE MARSON JOINS THE NEW GENERATION SHEDDERS

Pambula Beach resident Lochie Marson recently recorded his first original composition ‘Night Without Stars’ in The PBGB Shed.

You can listen to it by clicking HERE.

Lochie is just fifteen years old, and is a pupil at Eden Marine High School.

By the time he was ten Lochie had a vocal coach and was singing at school functions.

Since then Lochie has taken every opportunity to appear in public. He has played at events including the Lions Club Christmas Carol nights, the Eden Whale Festival, Merimbula’s New Year’s Eve Big Gig, and the Bermagui Seaside Fair.

So committed is Lochie that he can also be found busking here there and everywhere.

In 2014, Lochie played to a packed house at the Canberra Area Theatre Awards.

He also played in the Spectrum Theatre Company’s sell out production of ‘The Sound Of Music’.

Lochie has the support of a number of the top musicians in the Bega Valley. That started way back when he was ten, when he was fortunate enough to have Colleen Spillane, a superb vocalist, take him under her wing.

Lochie has studied guitar under the tutelage of Peter Heaton since he was eleven.

PBGB Family Member Garry Carson Jones  also teaches Lochie guitar, as well as providing mentoring and support.

Lochie’s current vocal coach is David Willis, his music teacher at Eden Marine High and a huge influence and supporter.

Mandy Siegel, another PBGB Family member, has also been helping Lochie by sharing her wealth of knowledge of the performing arts.

So it is pretty clear that Lochie enjoys his music and is intent on seeking out advice and coaching from the very best teachers he can find.

When we found out we could help Lochie out, we jumped at the chance. PBGB is more than happy to join the many seasoned Bega Valley musicians who, by virtue of their teaching, coaching and support, ensure that the Valley continues to nurture our  amazingly talented young musicians.

Night Without Stars is Lochie’s first recording of one of his own compositions.

We already have a deal with Lochie – anytime he is ready to record any more original songs, he is very welcome to do so in the PBGB Shed.

So keep your eye on this website for more Lochie compositions.

It was a pleasure to work with you Lochie !  Welcome to the PBGB Family.  Keep writing songs, and hopefully we’ll see you back in The Shed soon !