Blues Central is pushing the bar higher with two great South Western blues bands, a testament to just how much blues talent resides in the South West. Howling Onshore is fronted by the very talented vocalist, sax and blues harp player Lindsay Baker and backed with guitar wizard Steve Checker. Both have showcased their skills at past Jams. Ponyfish will rollout their own originals, the ever popular Adam Morrison on harp and vocals backed by guitar slinger Dom Marzano. This will be a big, big afternoon. Don’t miss it.
The first jam of 2023 inches forever closer. Your New Year’s resolution should be “play more music and be happier”. The best way to burn off those festive season excesses and expunge your body and soul is to front up at a jam. Better than a diet, better than any self improvement programme is a darn good jam day blow out. An afternoon in the shade and a cooling sea breeze with friends at the edge of the bay soaking up the atmosphere at the Parade. Enough said, we will see you there.
A slight change of plans for Sunday folks. We are excited to announce that blue’s legend Martin Lee Cropper will be the main act onstage for the first part of the afternoon. What Martin doesn’t know about blues is hardly worth knowing. He is passionate about Delta blues and an exponent of the National guitar. We are all in for a magnificent treat. Martin will be followed by even more blues classics from eNJoy. For those Stumptown fans, fear not, Stumptown will be playing Blues Central later in the year. Come and join us on Sunday for some of the best blues you are ever going to hear.
Hopefully, everybody has had good Christmas and maybe (if Santa has been) we will see some new instruments at the jam sessions next year.
Well, in December we had our final jam session of 2022 and it included some of the usual suspects, a number of new combinations of musicians and some interesting and impressive performances. A number of members were pretty gobsmacked to see Ron Kinson taking lead vocals for one of the sets and Gary Green providing excellent support on the harp(?) for Ron. The usual high standard of musicianship was maintained during the afternoon and it is obvious that members are working on their chops to ensure they do not let anyone down when they play.
We also seem to have a group of loyal supporters who, whilst not being musicians, are members and regular attenders and enjoy what we do at the club, and probably the beer and food at The Parade as well.
December produced a number of challenges for the club, which may not have been apparent to most members, but illness and accident impacted the committee and there were some hectic decisions that had to be made. Unfortunately, Gary Palfrey, the new club secretary, had an accident on his motorbike so he was out of action and the rest of the committee tried to cover the responsibilities of Gary. As they say, everything was alright on the night.
We have created a new sub committee to try to establish how many bands have been formed in the club as the club is sometimes approached to see if we have bands available for gigs in the area. The gigs that crop up are often “small” gigs that might require a band for about an hour. The sub committee will try to find out which bands have been formed and if the bands feel ready to do gigs. This may include bands that can do a 45 minute spot, a 90 minute gig or a whole gig. It would also be helpful if “band members” let the sub committee know how they are going and other information such as if the band has a PA or not.
The first Jam Day of 2023 is coming around pretty fast. As the first Sunday in January is the 1st January, so the Jam Day (3rd Sunday) will be 15th January.
We also have Blues Central at Froth Bunbrewery on Sunday the 8th January and some new ideas for Blues Central are being considered. This is another reason to let us know if you have formed a band and would like to perform on the big stage, (soloists and duos included). I think we are going to have some great sessions at Blues Central, Froth and with our regular jam sessions at the fantastic Parade Hotel it will be a great year to be involved with the South West Blues Club.
We are ready to take the year out with a hiss and a roar. It’s been a great year, great music, some great music sessions so let’s give 2022 a great send off. Come and join us for our last jam of the year. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The second Sunday of the month is Bluesday at Froth. This time, not one but two bands will perform for the afternoon. First up at 2pm is Dave Tiger and the Allsorts. Dave Corcoran is on stage with Dave and Jim, plus we hear, a guest from out of town. Then for the second half of the afternoon Gary Green and The Igniters are back on stage for the second time at Blues Central. Indulge yourself with a pre-Christmas treat, an afternoon of blues at Bunbury’s newest tavern. Just the excuse you need to sneak in a few early ‘Yuletide cold ones’, to the sound of some great music. See ya there.
This is the run up to summer and we are hoping to be outside in the sunshine. Make sure you get along for an afternoon of fun and music with friends. Whether you wish to play or just sit and listen, a cool drink in hand at the edge of Koombana Bay is the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. See ya there.
We have a good contingency of club musicians and bands representing the club at this years Blues at Bridgetown Festival. Two club bands are playing on the community stage in the main street so get along and give them a bit of support. As far as we know the markets are back so the Festival will be back to full strength and it will be a great weekend. Two other club bands Stumptown and Stage Left are playing at Freemasons and we have Old School Blues and eNjoy busking on Saturday and Sunday. See you there.
We had another great jam day on the 16th October at The Parade Hotel. The first notes were played at 2.00pm and the music went through to 6.00pm. There are some great photos of the day on the club Facebook page. The jam day seems to have two aspects to me. The early part when a lot of people are keen to get on “the stage” and there is a lot of activity around the “board”, and then the second half when the vibe gets a bit more laid back with musicians being a bit “cooler”. As I said last time the jam is only possible because of the dedicated club members that arrive at The Parade early, between 11am and 11.30am and then get the gear out and set it up. Key people are Vice Chairman Gary Green and Treasurer Ron Kinson who have the technical know-how about setting up the P.A., and then there are the people like myself who provide the manual labour involved in carrying everything in. The big challenge will come from next month onwards when we play outside and get to set the pergola up, which is like trying to pass an initiative test to qualify as an officer in the armed forces.
We had a good response to the call for more hands to help in “setting up” and “putting away” and this made the whole task easier and more enjoyable. Thanks for that and keep it up. Helping in this way is a good way to ensure you get on the “board”.
November is a time of year to renew membership. To get on the board to play at jam sessions you need to be a member (unless it is your first time playing) so please ensure you have renewed your membership.
A number of club members are playing at The Bridgetown Blues Festival this year so if you get there please support them if you can. At this time I do not have details of where and when members are playing but Saturday seems to be the day when they are involved.
While we are on the topic of support please get along to the SWBC Blues Central at Froth Tavern held the second Sunday of the month and support South West Blues Club bands on stage. It is a great chance to hear an afternoon of blues in a wonderful new venue.
Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Join us for an afternoon of smokin’ hot blues with Bunbury’s own Smokin’ Joe. This five piece South West Blues Club band is running hot with a string of local gigs under their belt and now for the first time playing at Froth for November’s Blues Central. The sessions just get better. See you at Blues Central: Froth Tavern the second Sunday of the month.
