Musikblogs

Tattered blues!

Did you ever get the feeling that it's all going faster than you can control or steer, I remember running down the side of a hill as a kid and because my boots had no grip and it was wet I started getting faster and faster and faster! The only thing to do was to try and stay upright and avoid all obstacles at all cost!

Or the time I drove back home from a solo show, in winter, in my VW mobile home, over the black forest mountains, with summer tyres, (am I being descriptive enough?), I had to steer with 2 fingers gently trying to persuade the bus to go back to the other side of the road where it belonged. For those who know the road it is dangerous enough without the black ice that covered it that night, and as I was trying to keep the bus straight at 30km/per hour a VW golf came around the corner way to fast and lost control and drove into an oncoming truck! I cautiously came to a halt and tried to cross the road to see if the driver and passenger were ok. It became very clear to me as I tried to walk on the road that a clear film of ice had covered the road and made it impossible to walk without slipping and falling a few times! I also realised how crazy it was to be driving on the road that night but there was no other choice at this point but to continue. Before doing so I checked that everyone was ok and we called for an ambulance, thankfully the car was the only victim (a total write off) both drivers and passenger were in shock but uninjured. As I drove on through the night I knew it was crazy but for some reason the idea of turning back did not seem an option! I could write another ten examples of coming to the point of no return and continuing rather than turning back knowing that I wanted to see what was up ahead and that behind me was old news, no longer of interest!

About 6 months ago I reached that point of no return with this album, there were times where I knew that turning back was not an option anymore and we would sometimes have to have faith in the band and what we do in order to continue. After recording certain songs twice and three times and working with a number of different producers you sometimes wonder what the right thing to do is, after thinking we had only three songs finished after the release of the first single to radio in Germany we stumbled across a guy called Chris Lord Alge. Chris has a brother called Tom Lord Alge, both are famous amongst musicians for their incredible ability to mix music like musicians heard it in their heads when they were daydreaming of live performance and emotion, Chris received two songs from us as Brian Howes explained that Chris was the only guy who could get this right! You look up he's wikipedia and you don't ask any questions, we've already recorded both songs 3 times and mixed them twice so after having an incredible experience in Vancouver anything was possible! And then both tracks arrived per mail and moved my life from the higher regions of the black forest black ice black night into the lower regions of my stomach I was sick with excitement! I have never heard us like this before never got goose bumps from an emotion, which I thought I knew but someone else rediscovered and presented it to me like ice cream to a child.

After the two tracks Chris postponed everything on he's schedule to mix our (already mixed but not by him!) album, I swear I felt like I had won a prize I felt like they had pulled my ticket number out of the hat and called it out and my reaction is as always when I win something I jump around in excitement and happiness! The mixes are arriving daily and I don't think we have changed a thing he sends us we just sit back and enjoy the fresh fruit of music growing from the speakers! In true band fashion we mail each other great compliments like war veterans who survived the "Big One!" and we all know that the uncertainty that existed some months before didn't feel anything like this feeling now. I have always like the staying power of conviction I love people who truly believe in themselves and their vision or dream, I am not saying that I was always a believer in everything I was doing but some how I never doubted that the right thing would happen my statement to myself and others would be "If it is the right thing to do then the right thing will happen!"

I don't know how long I could lead my life with just hope and uncertainty and somehow confidence but I know that this time was a time to believe in something you needed to complete because if it is not complete then you are not complete. Only in a phase of satisfaction can we move on, only when we feel we have finished the challenge can we undertake a new one. I learnt a lot about self-confidence and conviction on this album and the journey is far from over with the planned release in America early next year. I also learned a new love of music from great people like Julio Reyes and Andres Recio who vibrate when they sense the emotion coming through the speakers is taking over the room! The album isn't finished yet but the end is in sight, I see the home fires burning and I hear familiar voices telling me it's alright to relax and feel a sense of accomplishment. One of the first songs I ever wrote was called Tattered Blues it was for me the marriage to music I was hooked and felt I had found my way it feels good to be back on that path it feels good to be reliving "Tattered Blues".