Cat Burrito

The second of two gigs for the Dissidents and it was something of a mixed bag. On paper it was a rip roaring success but I must confess that I let the little things get to me, which I don’t normally do. A great start, in that my neighbour’s cat once again tried to come along. She’s a lovely little cat but I can’t see her making old bones - far too risk adverse. I managed to depart on my own and pick up the keyboard player. The venue was Tufnel Park’s Aces & Eights. The sound guy was great, the promoter was super friendly and we had sold out. Despite my fully charged wireless packing up during the first song, it was a great show. Relaxed, friendly vibe and we played well. I had a fair few old friends who I hadn’t seen for years come down and it rounded off what should have been a great night. The problem came around doing the merch store. We shifted 10 CDs, which is good going. However, I had one wannabe haggler, one drunk lady who inexplicably thought I was keeping money from the singer (it’s called being the sober sensible one!) and then one idiot who was actually really rude a couple of times to me. Being pragmatic, this doesn’t normally happen and the problem is clearly them, not me but it did kind of take the shine off of things. I am usually okay with idiots but I must confess that it definitely touched a nerve. I think going forward, we need to split working the merch more and I need to work out why my usually much thicker skin wasn’t so good on this occasion. Bizarre as I am letting a total of 2 minutes cloud what was an otherwise fantastic evening.

Yeah, been playing there for years. Once I played there and came away with a wife… not bad when most people leave a concert with a CD or t-shirt, at best!

The return of Richard Davies & the Dissidents last night at The Beehive in Swindon. Wonderfully cramped and it felt like a proper rock ‘n’ roll gig. Good to blow off a few cobwebs ahead of tonight’s sold out London show.

A small handful may be interested but my musical duo are subject to a one hour radio special this evening on Swindon 105.5. You can listen on your smart speaker, computer, radio or phone. Music, chat, gentle humour. Feel free to dip in.

@bassbiscuits, same as @MichaelDean said. 😎

I quite like the fact that production models usually require a bit of personalisation to suit as it makes them unique to me. I absolutely love my Hofner Verythin long scale bass but they missed a trick not putting white binding around the F-holes so I had that added to mine. It makes them pop out a little more. The original volume / tone buttons were a hideous orange so I changed them and I added the racing stripe. On balance the modifications were inexpensive and I have a truly one of a kind bass.

Yesterday saw a return to the Blue Boar in Aldbourne, Wiltshire. It's been 6 months since we last played there and the deal is normally a 2hr acoustic set. Load in started with the "help" of our new furry roadcrew, Puma. She is lovely but I can't see her making old bones - too inquisitive! We get to the pub and some people had come down from London to see us which was humbling and nice. To be fair they were here anyway but had seen our poster and heard the name. We'd sold a CD before we started and set up our massive amount of kit. I was on mandocello, upright bass, mandolin, acoustic guitar and backing vocals. The London couple were quickly upstaged by a couple that saw us 2yrs ago and were from Spain! Again, I think they happened to be in the area but saw we were playing and remembered us from before. The landlady came up afterwards to say that the locals had been worn down by our consistency in playing gothic music and had to admit we were really good players. That made my night! And we were rebooked for June. I appreciate we're all bombarding each other with our bands, but if anyone is curious, we are live tomorrow on Swindon 105.5FM from 8pm for an hour of music and chat. The show is aptly called "Don't Stop the Music"... and why would we?

My duo is playing my old local for the first time in six months. It's also serving as a post-birthday bash of sorts for me, so you're all invited! Nothing quite says celebration like 2 hours of acoustic goth music.

I lean towards not worrying about it too much. My first band in my adult life was SkinTrade and we had a marginally more successful Skin Trade around at the same time. We had the name first but nobody bandied around cease and desist letters. I then formed The Ex-Boyfriends, only to learn a band in the 70s put out a couple of records using the same name. For a while in the 2000s I was in the Driver Brothers, which was also the name of some DJs and then went on to Case Hardin, who had a country singer in the US who was actually called Case Hardin - nice chap, he bought one of our albums! At the moment, my band has a similarish name to another older act from the same genre. There's nothing original in rock n roll! Until the lawyers get involved, I wouldn't stress it too much.

I come from an Ampeg / Orange background and own / use Blackstar now. I have the practice amp, the 800w head and one of the professional series cabs. I did have the 500w combo which was great too but didn't pair with the cab so I sold it to buy the head (the theory being the head can be taken to gigs when there is a cab, rather than drag the whole combo out). It's all been really good quality. Great tone and I like the built in effects. Going forward, I'm not in a hurry to change anything. I've been lucky enough to use the 8x10 at a couple of big shows which sounds stunning with the matching head.

The vast majority of trades on here go off effortlessly with both parties being happy. We have had a tiny handful of problems over the years, as one would expect with any site. Our quick guide is here Advice for Buyers and seller but I would always just say, even the slightest doubt and wait for a better deal. Personally, I have only ever done bank transfers face to face when collecting or selling the gear.

A rare outing on lead guitar with Deadlight for our producer’s 60th 🎉 It wound up being a showcase of all the local talent, with tonnes of variety. Our original 80s inspired goth is always very well received and we had loads of friendly heckles - “you two are too polite to be goth”, to which I replied, “it’s a very misunderstood genre!”. A really special night and a pleasure to be a small part of it.

Best of luck for the future, whatever you decide to do Dave 😎

Welcome Jeff. My Dad's best friend lives in South Carolina (Columbia) as he married an American lady back in the early 70s. I had the fortune to stay there for a week in 2011 and loved it. I was able to borrow an old 1960s mandolin and sit in on a session at Bill's Music Shop & Pickin' Parlor. A great experience. I got down to the coast and saw quite a bit of the area. Following in my father's experiences, coincidentally my best friend from my schools days is also married to an American lady and lives in Georgia. I've yet to make the trip out to see him though. Enjoy Basschat.