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From: paul Subject: BGBB NSW Fan Club Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 19:09:48 +1100 This was the inaugural meeting of the NSW branch of the BIG Girls Blues Band Fan Club The membership was set at $50 p.a. I had some slight difficulties getting the full membership dues, so I provided a one time only $50 discount, all were happy with that. The members have some requests, actually demands;
2. T shirts for all NSW members I think I did pretty well. Remember - the Beatles never got a launch of 6 members in their NSW fan club without anyone having heard them play. PS Bucket AKA Rod came late & was too pissed/whacked to understand the concept, he was however happy to pay the full $50 membership subscription if he got the same discount as the others. Paul December 2009 - ...and you think you have problems.......?The trials and tribulations of broken strings, a blown out speaker, a pedal with a dud battery, an illegible setlist and clowns who spill their pina coladas on the mixing desk pale into insignificance compared to the misery of Matteo our Italian sound engineer as exemplified in his email below..."Heeeyyyy no needs to say sorry Justin, you have been rather cute... if you see how I get told off at the restaurant(s) lately... eheheh I have in my mind a sort of fuga in dolby surround of people telling me off all the time eheheh So, don't worry... that's fine for me. Wednesday I have a test where they will ask something like: "why this salad is called like that?" and "can you mention three ingredient in this soup?" and if I don't score at least 90something % I will be sacked! So, be happy... See you in Irelaaaaaaaaaanddddddddd!" To make up for the soup exam (did he pass or fail..........? Watch this space....) we have bought him an XLR/XLR 15m Snake and a nice pretty box to carry all our microphones and thus save the embarrassment of placing them in the old Kelloggs Box. Finally as a special Xmas present for us all we have taken delivery of our new Ford Transit Trend Van which has everything a funk band could need......like an I Pod connection and a coffee holder.....now all Matteo needs are the built in waitresses to practice his foreign tongue skills.....more soon..... Autumn News 2009Lets get straight to it…… Matteo, who we introduced in an earlier news item, has proved a sound engineer of such high quality, intuition, integrity, knowledge of pizza toppings, devotion to duty and all round electric performance that we even allow him to travel with band members in the van; reward indeed ! His knowledge of what plugs into where and which Night Bus goes to West Drayton is unsurpassed and a source of inspiration to us all. There is of course a Dark Side, and although full details and photographs would certainly not climb over your firewalls, we can disclose that Matteo’s Puglian ancestry has equipped him amazingly well with everything necessary to attend to the various (and sometimes curious) needs of Eastern European Waitresses from The West End to Watford Gap Service Station. Yes girls, tighten your girdles, girdle your loins and let The Prince of Puglia take you on a never to be forgotten Switchback (or should that be Humpback?) ride to show you the true meaning of a Romanian Candle or indeed a Polish Sausage. At present Matteo’s adrenalin glands are pumping at an all time dangerous level as he revels in the joys of our new digital Yamaha Desk with more oomph and channels than Coco herself. The Desk is soon to be followed by monitors more powerful than a lizard – so we are assured of breaking all council imposed sound barriers at the switch of a flick or possibly vice versa. At any of our gigs don’t hesitate to come and say “Buono Notte, Ciao, or Berlusconi” to Matteo as he does his thing. He is easy to spot as the one with the headphones trying to sell you a BGBB CD.Now a news item so shattering , so absolutely unbelievable that some less resilient band members have sought medical advice, ingested far too many drugs and bitter shandies to cope with the trauma – Yes its true, Dek, our man with the bottom, we are talking hand carved, home grown bass guitar, the very reincarnation of James Jamerson himself, has turned his 2 cabs of 4 x 12’s into a rather neat coffee table and , for the first time in over 30 years gone and bought himself a new amp. For those of a nerd like disposition (and we know who you are...), its a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 12T .... Its bijou, its 600 watts, and it’s the serious business. More important it does not tower over the band like the WTC, it fits neat and snug next to Alistair the spankiest drummer in any hemisphere you care to mention and together they get the band movin’ and a-chooglin’ in a way that would make the aforementioned JJ – and of course, Mr Please Please himself, the now mentioned JB – shake in their grooves , er – sorry, graves. The added benefit of the size of Dek’s new amp is that there is more room in the van for WAGS and , of course, waitresses. As to the music, both Jane and Justin , our star vocalists, are very busy on other ventures singing, composing, recording, doing stuff at festivals and of course presenting an increasingly confident and soulful vocal front line for the BGBB. The BGBB setlist gets longer, there are plans for a new CD, a forthcoming tour of Southern Ireland (but who is brave enough and sufficiently qualified to ferry Barry’s sax across the Irish Sea…?), plenty of gigs at “new” venues including the Midnight Jazz and Blues Bar and The Kings Head (both in Islington), The Dignity in Finchley and continuing regular gigs at the likes of The Old Explorer, Jazz After Dark and The Crown in Cricklewood where we like to meet old friends and waitresses. As well as playing for you we like to bunny! – so come and say “hullo” next time you are at a gig – full list on this website of course. More next time..but to whet your jaded appetites we shall shortly publish news of the lovely Alice and Txako who are not waitresses but almost certainly why Delbert McClinton sang " He keeps sending me angels....." and definitely a reason for checking out the vocalists in the band rather than seeking out the grizzled features of Senor Cojones who , whilst (like Txako) having Spanish blood in his veins also unfortunately has it on his knees, chin and elbows as a result of pretending he can play football; maybe stick to the air guitar Senor?. Finally Roger would like to say that, contrary to all predictions, he did resist the totally beautiful and highly desirable vintage Tom Murphy Gibson Les Paul in New York when visiting the Apple in August……but why? Surely a snip at $5500 ? May 2008We are excited to announce that the wonderful – and hey, lets say it loud and proud – the beautiful Jane has now joined us on vocals. So now we have Justin and Jane, the “2 Js” upfront we plan to expand our setlist even further to include not only the lowdown funk of Lyn Collins’ “Think” but also an oh so smooth and sexy version of Randy Newman’s “Baltimore” . That’s just for starters – this could go anywhere and probably will ; after all, when you think about it and we do all the time, Motown – Cowtown - Trenchtown – Kentish Town – whats the difference?If you want to know more about Jane come and check her out at one of our gigs. Favourite tipple to get her talking….. Baileys – (oh! Come On – a LARGE one !) - and one ice cube. All Big Girls Blues Band gigs are listed on our gigs section on this site. Jane’s first gig with us is Saturday 7th June at the Old Explorer. Mighty cushty. Old News The Big Girls Blues Band gets a new band member in the shape of Adeola. Adeola has previously worked with Maria Lawson, the X Factor finalist and is currently working with Xan Blacq (Amy Winehouse), Randolph Matthews (Don Blackman, Michelle Escoffrey), as well as The Bridge Band and CK Gospel Choir.Read her Band Biography here and also visit her MySpace page here and StarNow page here to find out more about our great new singer. Melanie has now taken over as the band's manager .  The Big Girls Blues Band will be performing on behalf of Oxjam on the 24th April at The Cricketers Club, 71 Blandford Street, London, W1U 8AB. Call 020 7486 2635 for tickets @ £6 or pay on the day where tickets will be £8. Some of the proceeds are donated to Oxfam. Download the flyer here. |
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The boys and girls in the band were deeply honoured, moved and humbled to receive the unsolicited message below from 12000 miles away - even further than Limerick (see separate News Item....) - and consequently (actually more in fear that they might turn up at a BGBB gig....) have authorised the immediate launch of the NSW Branch of the BGBB Fan Club as requested er , actually........... demanded. A very warm welcome to them all.