busy busy busy and a new residency in New Cross

The last week in November has been an eventful one for us, and (thankfully) in a good way… The previous Sunday evening we did a great gig at the Vanbrugh in Maze Hill with Ben on Double Bass, which was fun as we are always trying to play more venues.

The people there are trying to establish a live music presence on Sunday evenings and as such have a fabulous vibey environment with a very clean and dry acoustic, but not many punters know about the gig currently. The problem with any Sunday evening gig is that it’s a long haul, the manager and the band have to spend the time establishing it…We know we’ve done Cattleyas for nearly 3 years; there are only so many fans who can turn up, we have a loyal fanbase but we get different people turning up to different gigs

At the Vanbrugh we had some loyal friends turn up, so hopefully we may get a few more there – but we have to play it consistently for people to be aware that its us and established.

Ken from the White Hart Hotel 184 New Cross Road SE14 5AA had seen us at Chu and Chos and wants us to establish an acoustic sit-in on Thursday evenings starting 4 December and he knows it takes time so we will see whether New Cross Gate is ready for us, we are looking forward to it as New Cross almost has a Camden approach to live music…

On Tuesday we had to prep up Nigel/Reggie Pearce from the Tinnies (Tin Gods) for yesterdays gig at Chu and Chos as Ben wasn’t able to do this one. So armed with 8 pads he then had to guess the remaining 17 songs which he did with aplomb.

To add to the frisson, Glenn Tilbrook turned up for a birthday party so we couldn’t really not ask him to play: so for you squeezistas out there he played and sang “Labelled with love”, “Gershwin’s You cant take that away from me”, Peter Green’s “Oh Well, as well as sitting in with about six or seven of our usual numbers.”

Nigel did extremely well and it can be a bit awe inspiring for everyone when someone as capable as Mr T gets going… as he was and still is definitely the guitarist/musician of his generation, watching him play and sing with us is a privilege and if I’m really honest a bit of an education..

Our special Christmas Bash

we are currently trying to work up something special with Nataliya at Cattleyas on 28 December so, we will announce it here when we know more

Special League Charity Xmas Bash 11 December

It seems that the fantastic drummer Jim Kimberley with the band Bruise will be sitting in on Drums for the Specialleague Xmas charity do at long lane in Blackheath/Kidbrooke Dursley Road SE3 on the 11 December which is always a joyous gig, so get in touch with Sharon for tickets, at http://www.longlanejfc.co.uk/mainpages/special1.html

Another Double Bass Player - the spinal tap moment

last Sunday 16 November featured our new Double Bassist Ben Hillyard who is rather good, he has a good ear and fingers and he got a universal thumbs-up! he will not be able to do the 30 November so then we will have Reggie playing who is most super too...

Looking for a bass player

Mark has had to go back to Cornwall to find some unmusical day work we wish him well in his endeavour.... great player...

So unfortunately we are looking for another Bass Player, this is a great pity as we are currently playing very well and we have a few gigs in the pipeline, so if anyone out there in the wonderful world of blogdom wants to play for the Los Dawsons then please get in touch, we have a bass and backline so you only have to turn up with your talent as it were...



fingers crossed

Some new activity, Broadcasts and Bassist

We have a new double bass player Mark Trounson who is a great player and a few years our junior, and a music graduate so hes rather musical... A big wellcome there

We have just been broadcast on the web on Graham Hollands "It's A Frog's Life Acoustic Podcast" in fact we opened up his 66th show "getting my Kicks" with a song that we wont win any prizes in guessing what it was - thank you Mr Troup.

We are putting two new sets together, one of poppier Christmas stompers, and a set of originals to augment our existing three sets of varied material, perhaps 2009 will be our seasick Steve year? we are definitely starting to sound "quite something" to my ears so I am quite excited by the future...

Mike

A Bit to Report, and another review

The most excellent Greenwich Phantom gave us a very fair review and was very complimentary….
http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/2008_08_01_archive.html Thank you!


We have done a few gigs at Bobs social and con club in Charlton Church Lane, we have been well received but we seem to be playing when there is no-one there which is a great pity, not least when we learnt a few Elvis numbers for the Elvis death Party. On the other hand Chu and Chos seems to be well established and we have had good volumes of punters throughout the quiet summer holidays. We are hopeful of a gig at the Pilot and hopefully the British Oak which are local pubs which have a nice vibe… and the Pilot is my favourite Pub locally, incidentally the Oak runs a close second…

We have a couple of functions coming up including one as a quartet with our fabulous sometime drummer Mark Walker, a young lad Mark Trounson has been depping double bass at some recent gigs that Chris hasn’t been available for and hes done well, chapeau for scoring a black shirt from the coffers…

And last but not least the incredible Dennis Greaves from 9 Below Zero seems to enjoy our playing as he had been a fairly regular sit-in which has really boosted our confidence as hes rather good...

Recent gigs, Deans post Bout croon

After the success of Dean Powells tutilege (can I use this about boxing training?) with Amir Khan, his other talent (that of singing) was exercised with Dennis Greaves from 9 Below Zero at our last Catteleya gig - a nice number of people and a lovely evening - its actually quite fun.

We had a garden gig where we played to a Vicar and hid friends and family, where he did a lovely version of Nat King Coles "when I fall in love" - ours was slightly less lovely as we hadnt played it before, so the co-host rushes up stairs found it on the internet and prointed it out for the three of us (as usual the formatting is wrong - puts the chords in the wrong place and there are some truly odd chords on these internet fakes...

Bobs Con club has proven to be an interesting gig - we get a regular audience but we are moving it to later as its difficult to muster an audience on a summers afternoon when the wimbledon final is on..... another few functions and some regulars to come along...

My Martin is settling in well though it prefers heavier guage strings, dave has a fantastic Farida parlour guitar he was playing bottleneck on at the last gig - fantastic

Bobs Afternoon at Charlton Conservative Club — 25th May 2008

As far as I know, none our ensemble has ever voted for the C-word. But, highly principled as we are, we accept a gig at the frankly dubiously titled ‘C’ Club in Charlton. Sluts? Youbetcha! I mean we play the blues (ouch!) and we do Blue Moon of Kentucky. How bad could it be?

Setting up in the bar there’s not a cravat or hooray henry in sight and lurching into our first number there’s just a ripple of applause — no ‘bravos’ or ‘top notch chaps’ to be heard. Mind you by the end of our second set the bar seemed fuller, there were tapping feet to be seen and one lady was actually having a bit of a bop. Was the ‘C’ Club falling under the spell of the ‘Dawsons? Or was it simply that they’d been at it since midday and now, by 4.30pm, the sherbets were hitting their mark?

Easing into our third set the cavalry arrived in the form of Nine Below Zero’s Dennis Greaves (and entourage), swiftly followed by Glenn Tilbrook (with young son in tow). With our 6pm end in sight both were quickly given guitars and we launched into various supergroup line-ups as Dennis and Glenn traded their proverbial, and frankly world class, licks and tonsils. Time up we finished with the Monkees’ I’m a Believer with Glenn – and most of the bar — on vocals though he nearly passed out with vocal effort as we — that’s me, actually — struggled to remember the ending. Sometimes we honestly can’t stop. The house was truly brought down.

And after a bit of charity-induced bribery, Glenn was persuaded to carry on giving the by-now packed bar a whiz through Squeeze’s greatest hits in his one-man voice-and-orchestra style. It’s quite something to witness. Okay, it wasn’t quite on the scale of Live Aid, of course, but for an impromptu, unadvertised gig on a grey May afternoon in Charlton, it’ll do nicely thank you.

We’re back — with or without our famous friends – on Sunday 8th June at 3pm.

Dave Burrluck

Working Hard Sunday 18th May with Glenn Tibrook, Dennis Greaves and Mark Feltham

We thought it would be a quiet night, Chris delivered his amp to Cattleyas before picking up the Double Bass he said it was empty, as there were only a couple in with their kid… So we were all prepared to play a set of new numbers which is always a slightly avant garde experience as we tend to break a lot of new numbers in when there are fewer people in case of glitsches (which we’re good at… Los Dawsons by name Les Dawson by nature).

However a group of recognisably pro musicians turned-up as we were getting ready to play; they were clocking the gear which is always a bad sign… Thankfully a double bass adds to the equation, so we are not going to be playing Sultans of Swing (ah then yet again perhaps we should). I could swear I knew the young lady in the party (a bassist I think) and the chap in the corner was Christopher Holland, and our Chris knew another fellow who was a producer etc and then Glenn Tilbrook arrived so they were indeed his rather capable band.

ah……… the guitarist of his generation, a fine singer, songwriter extraordinaire and damn hes just about the finest acoustic guitarist in London, and suddenly I’ve got to play a solo – my fingers suddenly become leaden and my voice out of key… We know Glenn as hes sat in a few times over the years and we are always a little nervous cos hes just that bit too good… he didn’t disappoint here either… like a greyhound out of the traps; three songs that brought the house down. Follow that if we can ….

Just as Glenn is disappearing with his band the Fluffers and the production chaps (apparently they’re in the Studio recording) Dennis Greaves and Mark Feltham turn up – two more world class musicians – Thankfully I am less nervous with these guys as I’ve played with them a few times and I know what and how they do their stuff. Though we still have to make certain that I don’t stuff it up as they don’t make mistakes.. and we are busking…. we then spent the rest of the evening working our socks off to make certain we backed these two most excellent guests…. An enthralling but tiring performance- an exacting standard was set. Dennis plays guitar with a drive and enthusiasm that is infectious and when coupled with Marks virtuoso Harmonica playing the audience were on the edge of their seats.

Dennis’ son Sonny played Djembe on a few numbers, and we thought for a young lad he did well, good timekeeping and telegraphed well!

Thanks gentlemen it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to make music with you, Both Chris and Dave played beautifully all night - a good one

see the link above about the mad night.....

Mike

Pleasant Valley Sunday Party; last match of the season at Cattleya

Sunday 4th May 2008

Well... we decided to start a lot earlier than normal to play to the Addicks and any other supporters that were there…. so much for “forever blowing bubbles” type of songs. Our listeners seemed a remarkably sophisticated music loving audience..... and the chap (I believe) who wrote Valley Floyd Road was in attendance for the first set and seemed to be tapping his feet

Seemed a nice vibey evening with 35 or so songs delivered hopefully with a bit of aplomb we must nail Pleasant Valley Sunday

Super Geeky stuff – our equipment

Someone at the last gig wanted to know how we have a distinct clarity when were playing: (which can be a disadvantage if we make a mistake…) So apart from not playing very loud, and being acoustic and not doubling parts; here is what we use for the tech heads out there.

Daves set up is simple – he uses a top of the range spruce and mahogany cut away Alhambra Spanish nylon strung which has a pickup in it, straight into a AER classical combo amplifier.

I use a variety of steel strung guitars – a cutaway lowden 012 with a fishman magnetic active humbucker p/u, a mahogany 000 martin with a fishman active humbucker, a Hohner Gruhn with a lace magnetic passive or piezo (I think its an artec) or a Maton EGB 808 which is piezo, all of them through a Trace Eliiot acoustic combo, I prefer the fishman sound set up with a jazzy tone though Dave prefers a sparkly acoustic sound, so the Maton currently gets the biggest thumbs up.

Chris uses a Double Bass (usually my Hungarian ply one) with a David Gage transducer into a Gallien Kruger combo. We use condenser AKG handhelds on phantom power into a Peavey PA for vocals only. so nothing that special really. We are very aware of not stamping over each other which may have more to do with the separation of our sound.

The British Library Gig for Perforce

We were invited to provide the musical entertainment at Perforce Softwares annual event which this year was at the British Library. We were very well treated by Perforce, Leiths (the event company) and the Library security.

For any musician or other performer corporate events have a slightly surreal quality, as the logistics make an interesting pathway to the actual performance... Compliance with risk, health and safety and electrical applance safety testing go hand in hand with whether weve managed to consider the right balance for the sets we have to provide for our audience.

This is all before youve actually struggled round the odd oneway system that now exists round the back of the new Kings Cross St Pancras conurbation, I remember reading a blog of a classical double bassist saying that musicians should be exempt from the congestion charge: I think the congestion charge is a good thing, but it doesnt seem to actively discourage the many vehicles we were in competition with to get into London for 4.30pm.

The thing that seems dramatically to have changed over the twenty years of playing in the west end apart from the increase in the sheer volumes of traffic is the total inability to find reasonable cost for parking as there seems to be nowhere to park, what I like about Italy or France is that it doesnt seem to be one large parking meter like London seems to be these days. Rant over..... I found somewhere to park (with the help of thr Library security man) that didnt have a yellow line - wow a rarity.. and an enormous thank you...

Now theres an idea for a membership website, a route finder for avoiding the congestion charge and then free parking - back to 1980s bliss...

And back to the gig; everyone we were involved with were charming, thoughtful and helpful.. A big thank you to Anna Spiering and her colleagues at Leiths, and Dave Robertson (Director of European Operations at Perforce) his colleagues and Fay for her fantastic Front of House duties.

We seemed to go down well and we were paid a few compliments, a nice evening all in all..

Influences; repertoire and how we sound...

One of our regulars reckon we have a Southern Swing to us, as with most bands we dont really know exactly how we sound... these are the common originators of the repetoire we perform so if you like these - you will hopefully like us, our music spans early Jazz and Blues to recent acts, through rock, Bluegrass, Country, Rockabilly, latin and Swing, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, Punk, New Wave, Indie etc.. so a mixture indeed... The Rolling Stones Ry Cooder Muddy Waters Elmore James The Stray Cats Big Joe Turner Ray Charles Captain Beefheart The Revered Gary Davis Blondie Nat King Cole James Taylor Frank Sinatra Thin Lizzy Gilberto Gill Mose Allison Nina Simone Roxy Music Wilson Picket The Police Martha and Vandellas Albert King Tom Waits Kurtis Stigers Sonny Landreth Jackson Brown Townes Van Zandt Bruce Springsteen Counting Crows Bessie Smith Chuck Berry Joni Mitchell Razorlight Van Morrison The Beatles Billie Holliday The Monkees Lyle Lovett Elvis James Brown Big Bill Broonzy Gary Moore.... and a few I've missed too ...

Chu and Chos 9th March and another potential venue also beckons...

We tried out a few more varied songs than is usual and the repsonse was very positive.

It also seems that we are going on tour as the Manager at the Conservative club at the bottom of Charlton Church Lane wants us to play there; if the British Oak at Old Dover Road comes good too... and <> a gig in the clubhouse at Rectory Fields (Blackheath RFC) our lives would be complete.

The Meridian magazine are to run an article on us too, are we hitting the big time?

Mike

We have now set up a Los Dawsons Google Group

This is for as many of the Acoustic gigs as we can find, and to generate some interest and activity heres the link http://groups.google.com/group/the-los-dawsons join in!

As ever the more the merrier

Mike

An invite for acoustic music aficionados

Come along and have a homespun Sunday evening in Charlton, we are always surprised at who turns up, (there are occasionally some really famous people who come and sit in) and it makes a far better start to the week than worrying about work next day at 9am....

Come and enjoy a varied well played and energetic acoustic performance...

Gus our old bassplayer is now living in Geneva (good luck Gus and Elin) So we now welcome the fantastic Chris Morgan to our trio acoostica The Los Dawsons... and a fine bassist and addition he is...

As ever the gig is free and Natalias hospitality is legendary...