Graveyard Full Of Blues weekend tour

Sleepy Eyes Nelson and myself are off on a long-weekend January Scottish tour in support of our split release Graveyard Full Of Blues. Catch us downstairs @ The State Bar in Glasgow (with special guests Jim Dead + Tragic O’Hara) on Friday the 27th, @ The Ale House in Edinburgh on Saturday 28th and @ The Northern Vaults in Montrose (with The Rag’N'Bone Man + Norm Stephen) on Sunday 29th. Hope to see some of you there!

Future Gigs

2012 looks like being a busy year, kicking off with the Dog Moon Howl Glasgow/Edinburgh shows and the GFOB long weekender.  New bookings (solo and band) are coming in all the time – Glasgow dates already confirmed include a gig with Jim Dead plus a Big Blues Day at The Ferry in April.  Please do keep checking www.craighughes.net for gig updates and booking details.

Dog Moon Howl

The new band is now in business.  Our first gig was in Glasgow at The 13th Note on Friday November 11th with Low Sonic Drift and Headless Kross and it was a blast.  Video from that night of us playing Blues Like A Hammer (a somewhat more full-on version of my solo track from 2010) can be found here on YouTube.  Since then we’ve played Bannerman’s in Edinburgh and returned to The 13th Note as special guests of touring English trad-metal crew Morpheus Rising, and are waiting for confirmation on more gigs.  We have studio-time booked and will be recording our first EP in March, for an April/May release.

Again, just to be clear, Dog Moon Howl is not a blues project – this is very much a rock band, influenced as much by Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Rush and Led Zeppelin as anyone.  We can be found on Facebook & MySpace (Click!  ”Like”!  Follow!), or on our very own website - www.dogmoonhowl.com which is filling up nicely with photos, video, band biographies and the likes.

What gigs there have been have varied greatly from a professional point of view – two of the least enjoyable gigs I’ve played, for different reasons, and two or three of the most enjoyable.  All of the latter were at The 13th Note in Glasgow and in different configurations (a solo set and band set – with Jim Dead & The Doubters – on the same night; an all-electric solo set at the first That Devil Music for over a year and Dog Moon Howl’s first gig – my first full-on rock gig in over a decade).

Anyway, that’s this year’s live work all finished up, barring any last-minute bookings, with next year set to be very busy indeed with both solo and band gigs.  In fact, Dog Moon Howl is already set to play a couple of January dates, as special guests of English metal band Morpheus Rising who are out on their first national tour in January in support of debut studio album ‘Let The Sleeper Awake’. Dog Moon Howl will be support for both Scottish gigs (Bannerman’s, Edinburgh 14th and The 13th Note, Glasgow 15th).

In the meantime I have a fair bit of video to trawl through, from solo gigs at The Ferry and The 13th Note, as well as from the Dog Moon Howl gig.  Highlights from these will be uploaded to the Craig Hughes YouTube channel throughout December, during which I promise to make some kind of effort to blog properly.  Honest.

The night had gotten off to an inauspicious start with a few technical problems making me late setting-out and the sudden onset of torrential rain meaning that phoning a taxi was useless (Friday night?  Rain!?  Quick, Morag, turn the phones off!).  I decided to walk the three miles to the venue and as a result had to leave my back-up guitar at home as I was carrying a bag of leads/stock, an amp and my new guitar, a Vintage Synergy electric-acoustic.  Luckily after a bit I was able to flag a cab and got to the Note in time for a quick soundcheck – only to find that the new guitar is fucked.  It seems that somewhere between checking it out when I bought it a couple of months ago and the gig, the pick-up had slipped and was only effectively picking up the bottom four strings, while producing some unwanted distortion for good measure.  Nothing that could be fixed on the spot.  Gah!

Luckily for me, Gaz from Missing Cat came to the rescue and lent me his slide guitar, a cool wee ’80s Vox – which is a solid-body electric (thanks to Sleepy Eyes Nelson and Lew from Ghosts for offers of the use of their guitars as well).  It was tuned to open E flat so it meant singing a tone higher than usual (I tune to D flat as a rule – and retuning another chap’s guitar is just not done!), and modifying the planned set-list to take into account the electric sound and the fact I’d only be playing slide (I had planned to use a variety of tunings on the new guitar), but it all worked out in the end.  Thankfully it went down well, too – must have seemed a bit more of a shambles than usual from out front!

Sleepy Eyes Nelson played a blinder – he always does – including a tune or two I don’t think I’d heard him do before.  I think this was his last UK gig before swanning off to The USA for a tour there with Slate Dump, and I loaded him up with copies of Graveyard Full Of Blues (our split CD) to take with him.

Although we’d been in touch back-and-forward for a while now, this was not only the first I’d played on a bill with Ghosts Of Progress, but the first time I’d seen them.  Great stuff!  A two-piece ‘augmented one-man-band’ line-up, though you wouldn’t guess to hear them that there wasn’t a separate drummer.  There’s just enough blues in what they do to keep that faction of the audience happy, but their set draws more on grunge, punk and even the gnarlier side of Britpop to make a truly splendid noise.

Missing Cat, I’ve played with a few times now, and they just keep getting better.  Tonight they got to play a wee bit longer than previously, and the breathing room of a longer set suits their style but with the audience shouting for more, they were stopped from playing a well deserved encore due to the overly conservative application of the venue’s music curfew (which had been brought forward by five minutes).  Still, it was a fine set.

All-in, the night was a success.  Some issues with the sound guy (spotted by various audience members as being engrossed in his iPhone throughout the night, most notably when ignoring someone on-stage who was having monitor-mix issues), and a pisser that a few people got past the door without paying.  Seriously, if you’re sneaking in to a four-acts-for-a-fiver grass-roots gig ..?  You’re a snidey wee wank.

I got home with some excellent new CDs  – the Ghosts Of Progress album, Exchange Your Problems For Dope & Whisky, is a full-on representation of their live set and doesn’t disappoint. The Missing Cat EP, Rise Of The All-Seeing Cat, a three-incher if ever I’ve seen one, is full of psych-blues goodness in groovy hand-made packaging.  I like their album from a couple of years back very much, but this has better, ‘bare-bones’ production and sounds like a more ‘true-to-live’ picture of the band.

Next up should be a more Americana/roots themed That Devil Music in November, venue to be decided (from here on in, unlike the old regular night, That Devil Music will be an as-and-when alt.blues/roots promotion, with different genre promotions appearing on a similar basis under the ‘That Devil Music Presents’ banner). November also sees a Big Blues Day solo set at The Ferry plus the first outing with the new (rock) band Dog Moon Howl at The 13th Note with Low Sonic Drift and Headless Kross, so that’s shaping up to be a good month.  Onwards!

Of course, as you might expect, the night had a few teething problems – quite a few, actually.  The event kicked off on time, but bafflingly started to get ahead of itself almost immediately, to the extent that things were running a full eighty minutes ahead of schedule before the half-way point.  For people turning up to see a particular act or for nominees arriving in time to check out their categories (or indeed for at least one presenter, Michelle McManus, who turned up on time to find the winners had already been announced) this must have been something of a dampener.

Backstage, things were cheerfully shambolic, which I’m all for.  Dave and I were the first presenters on and literally had to run upstairs on recognizing some press reviews of ourselves being read out in our introductions, via the green room live feed (the ‘green room’ was the downstairs Classic Grand 2 venue).  We left our pints at the side of the stage and strode purposefully towards entirely the wrong set of mics before SNMA main-man Bruce Hotchkies waved us towards the podium.  Then the first envelope arrived and the worst of the teething problems raised its head for the first, though not sadly the last time of the night.  Of the five categories Dave and I presented, only one winner turned up to accept the award.  Okay, another was due to arrive later but of the remaining three, nobody bothered.  One of the awards I announced was Music Retailer – the winner was Fopp, and they couldn’t be bothered sending someone along?!?  I spent a large part of my life working in record shops (including, come to think of it, Fopp – admittedly before they became HMV-lite), and can’t imagine not turning that sort of thing into a staff piss-up.

Sadly, after Dave and I nearly smashed the remaining, uncollected, glass awards in slapstick fashion while leaving the stage, the list of non-appearances carried on.  Clearly this was one of the contributing factors to the timetable being thrown away, as there were so few acceptance speeches, although I can’t imagine they were expecting anybody to go the full Richard Attenborough.  There were a few theories as to the poor attendance of nominees.  Obviously some genuinely couldn’t make it along, and the fucked-up scheduling was an issue for others but there had apparently been some industry politics involved.  I don’t know the ins-and-outs of these things – as an independent/underground/grass-roots artist, I expect and hope I never will – but basically there are other organizations out there who felt that the SNMAs were stepping on their toes, so to speak.  A bit of the old school tie territorial pissing.  It all seems rather unfair; although I’m not exactly your awards-ceremony type, I’d have thought that anything aimed at promoting the various music scenes in Scotland would be a generally good thing, no?

However, another reason for at least some of the non-attendance may well have been down to what seems to me to have been a misjudgement in the early promotion of the awards.  When SNMA sent out their initial contact emails, they were asking for a £5 entry fee from labels and artists to put their artists or themselves forward for nomination.   I realise now that this was simply an attempt at fund-raising for the event, which I’ve since heard is standard practice for larger-scale awards.  Unfortunately this likely left the wrong impression with many.  Certainly, I thought these emails and the follow-up reminders were a scam.  I deleted the lot.  After all, it’s not uncommon to receive a few dodgy industry emails during the year usually pushing a paid-for ‘reviewing service’, fee-based digital distribution or whatever, all of which I ignore in light of their sounding supremely cunty.  Then again, even if I was partial to a bit of corporate cuntiness, I’m always skint, so sod that.  Eventually I got another email saying that there was no longer a charge to throw your hat in the ring but by then the damage had been done and I binned that too.

When a month or two later I was informed that I’d been nominated, I was genuinely surprised – and quite chuffed, obviously (although I’m at best ambivalent about the concept of awards in general, I suspect that if I ever won one, I’d spend some time afterwards resisting the urge to have the phrase “I’ve won an award and you can fuck off” tattooed on my face).  However, if I hadn’t been nominated and later asked to present – which prompted me to take a bit more care about looking into the awards – I would probably have ignored the event entirely, largely based on my misinterpretation of those early emails.  I suspect that this is just what happened with some of the ‘no-shows’.

Also off-putting for some at the initial nomination stage, I’m sure, was the eyebrow-raising inclusion of a ‘Covers/Function Band’ category in a ‘New Music’ awards, compounded on the night by the large ‘TV talent show’ element to the event (thanks to Google, I can tell you the MC was a semi-finalist on Britain’s Got Talent, one performer won the X-Factor and another won Pop Stars – also, another of the performers chose to play that Biffy Clyro song that that bloke off of that thing covered that xmas).  Now, I’m not having a go at the individual acts here – everybody’s trying to get by and they’re clearly capable folks in their own respective fields.  Nonetheless, for a new venture trying to differentiate itself from the black-tie world of the likes of the Tartan Clefs, throwing a Lady Ga Ga impersonator and a gaggle of Simon Cowell acolytes into the mix doesn’t seem an obvious route to credibility.

Unfortunately, this will all likely be used as ammunition by the critics of the SNMA.  Indeed, it already has – I read a particularly poisonous blog (reeking of sour grapes) on the subject this morning.

Personally, like I said, I had a great time.  So did the people I talked with on the night, with most of the organizational hiccups being taken in good humour and the atmosphere in the crowd remaining good for the whole event.  It’s worth remembering that this was the first time it had been staged.  It was perhaps over-ambitious – and yet this was an event with national sponsorship held in a full-to-capacity Classic Grand, broadcast live on the radio and internet, presented by Actual People Off The Telly, attended by some honest-to-goodness Scottish music-biz legends.  A hell of an achievement in and of itself.

One of the most laudable aspects of these awards is that they are, at least in part, about levelling the playing field for the grass-roots music industries in Scotland.  It’s all very well being able to record and release your music in a world apart from major labels and the likes, but getting that music noticed can be a right bastard – we need all the help we can get!  For that reason at the very least, I hope that this year’s event has been both a success and a learning experience for the organizers – and that there’s plenty more to come.

Oh, and no, I didn’t win!

When reading the – less common – pieces defending the Old and decrying the New, the arguments tend to be more personal and simplistic.  Individuals – more often than not music fans, not setting themselves up as ‘experts’ – bemoaning the downfall of the record shop, the album sleeve, audio quality etc. because these are things they value.  Occasionally, there might be a noise made by musicians of the Old school, unhappy with the New, crying ‘thief’ (file sharing, no matter the scale is a wholly terrible thing – it is clearly theft – music is not ‘free’ simply because it is there for the taking) and making clear their unhappiness at the fact of their business, livelihood, lifestyle and – yes – art being undermined and devalued.  Unfortunately there is a tendency for these individuals to sound uninformed, wary of change, ignorant of the mechanics of the new business models and even of the condition of the old ones.

My position then is firmly between the two.  As a grass-roots musician and small business owner,  I can confidently state that my business, effectively a ‘micro-label’, would not exist without modern technology and the new routes to market afforded by the internet and changes in the industry.  I also have extensive experience of working in music retail in just about every type and size of record shop you can think of, have been involved in small-press publishing and have promoted gigs since my teens – all areas which are seriously affected by the ‘digital revolution’.  As an artist, I usually make my recordings available on a pay-what-you-like basis, often giving certain items away free (both digital and hard copy), while keeping my CD prices low.  As a fan, I have used file-sharing via blogs and torrents for years.

I’ve found frustrating some of the bollocks I’ve seen written and heard said on the subject, from both sides of the Old/New divide.  As I mentioned last time, I’m going to be posting a few blogs on this (the one you’re reading serving as an introduction) – like I said, I’ve heard so much shit being spouted, I feel like it’s time to spout some shit of my own.  I’ll be breaking it down into the different component parts of the industry, as I understand and have experienced it, so I’ll be posting a piece on the record industry itself (recording/manufacturing), one on live music, one on retail and so on.

I don’t know if any of this will really be of interest to anyone ‘out there’ but it should serve as a good way to organize my own thoughts on  the subject.  If nothing else.

Things have been busy which is good.  The album launch for Jim Dead’s “Ten Fires” was a blast.  I played a solo set and as part of Jim’s band The Doubters.  Check out the AmericanaUK review here and a clip of the band set here.  The album is out now and picking up strong reviews.

As well as “Ten Fires”  I’ve also played the electric and lead guitars on the first track from Scaedunengan – the first solo project from ex-Morpheus Rising frontman and old mate/band-mate from back in The Day, Graeme Tennick.  Details here, listen/free download here.

Work is progressing on the new band, Dog Moon Howl, and we may well have a drummer sorted by next month.  Thanks to some eBay bargains I’ve managed to get sorted for amps and the likes so gigs should at least be loud.  Keep an eye on us here (Facebook page) and/or here.

There are a few other projects on the horizon, both music and writing.  In addition, I’m planning a four-or-five part blog here on the new music industry and how it affects grass-roots players such as myself.  I hear so much bullshit being spouted on the subject I thought it was time I chimed in with some of my own …  Watch this space.

Gigs coming up in Glasgow and Edinburgh, keep checking the website or the anti-social networks.

Anyway, looking about me, the notion that just one person had been swept up in glory leaving the other several hundred of us behind seemed about the right saint-to-sinner ratio for the Maryhill Road.  Twenty minutes later – that time spent in a Post Office queue with some chibbed-up methadone-monkeys – I knew what hell was.

Jim, Tommy and I drew up a bit of a battle plan over some light refreshments, roped Tommy’s brother/studio co-owner James in on bass and after a single rehearsal, braved the ice and sub-zero temperatures of winter 2010 to make a bloody good record.  It’s called “Ten Fires” and will be available from June 2nd.

A quick word about production/co-production: Tommy is the technical eyes-and-ears.  He knows his studio – the room and the kit – and knows his way around the software.    Occasionally I’ll make a really great suggestion about microphone placement or some-such, and Tommy will have the good grace to pretend not to have already thought of it.  Ultimately, it’s my job to stand in the corner of the control room drinking generic Red Bull and shouting “More bass!  More bass!” – it all seems to work out in the end.

The plan was for the album to be roughly half-and-half acoustic/electric tunes, which is more or less how it worked out.  This suited me perfectly, allowing me to spend quality time with the electric guitar, something I’ve not had much scope for recently.  In fact, I play acoustic on only one track – a little bit of slide on My Heavy Heart, My Aching Bones and do a bit of almost-harmony backing vocal on another.  Tommy gets in touch with his inner Dylan with a spot of moothy on Hotel.  The rest of the acoustic tracks are solo performances from Jim (although I, er, play the radio on one …), with the remainder of the album performed as a band, with a real live-in-the-studio vibe that owes a lot to Neil Young & Crazyhorse or Hindu Love Gods, that sort of thing.  It was fun being part of a session band and although Jim was happy for us to weigh in with ideas and didn’t shy away from our various tendencies towards heavier sounds, I think we all tried to reign it in and to keep a mental image of the ‘hard americana’ concept in play.

June 2nd also marks the album launch at The 13th Note, Glasgow, where, after a solo set of my own stuff, I’ll be joining Tommy and James to back Jim as The Doubters.  That threatens to be fun.  Come along – pay your fiver at the door and you’ll get a copy of “Ten Fires” as part-and-parcel.  Which is something of a bargain, because listening back to the album, it really is the tits.

Gigs + Recording

Next up – a couple of Glasgow dates: The Vagabond Social Club – Friday, May 6th @ The State Bar, then the album launch for Jim Dead’s “Ten Fires” @ The 13th Note on June 2nd.

Most of May will be taken up with the writing/recording of some incidental music for a film, and much of June will be spent finalising some demos for  a couple of different band projects (more on that below).  As a result, there won’t be a lot of live work etc. during that time, other than what’s listed above.  However, bookings are being taken for the second half of the year with a few That Devil Music events on the horizon, so watch this space (or keep an eye on craighughes.net).

Band projects (musicians wanted!)

Things are beginning to move on the band-front. I’m hoping to be involved with at least a couple of different ongoing projects and am looking for interested musicians.

First up is the retro/stoner/psych/heavy-alt.blues/rock trio I’m putting together with me old mucker Bryan Campbell (ex of Dublin’s 13 Conditions) on bass. Vibe-guide: think Sabbath, Groundhogs, Hendrix, The Who, Zeppelin, Neil Young & Crazyhorse etc, on up to Clutch, Fu Manchu, QOTSA, White Stripes, Dinosaur Jr. and so on. We were safe in the knowledge that we had a drummer ready to go from end of May/beginning of June – not so, as it happens.

We’ll start advertising properly in mid-May but if you’re a drummer who’s interested in that sort-of-thing, feel free to get in touch sooner rather than later … (see HERE for contact details).

My hands are currently all solid and weird feeling after getting a bit careless with the superglue earlier … I also hacked into my finger while whittling down a dod of wood, and so at least said superglue came in … er … handy.  Definitely more effective than a plaster.

The most interesting thing for me has been blocking the trem, something I’d never done before.  I read up on it before declaring ‘fuck that!’ and artlessly setting about it with a hammer, some scrap wood and some superglue.  Oh, it’ll be fine.

With any luck by tomorrow I’ll have a sort-of-new slide guitar.  Still plenty of time for something to go horribly, horribly wrong, mind.