Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sounds, Sums, Sex and Sites.

As the late great Humphrey Littleton used to say "I have been inundated by a letter from a Mrs Trellis of North Wales". I bumped into my Mrs Trellis whilst hanging around recently in the Festival corridors of power with my collar up and my hat down and she was keen that I should tell you about Phil. This I am glad to do. Phil is like a plumber. He often works in dark cramped conditions, is usually unappreciated and you cannot do without him. Also, he knows how to suck through his teeth when asked to consider a job and he has perfected the Gallic shrug and the rolled eye. However, the comparison stops there. Phil is the brilliant HBBF sound man and he has round shoulders from all the professional praise that was heaped on him after the first festival. Any fool knows that bad sound destroys a gig and one of the many ten out of tens that came to the festival was for the sound support provided. We love Phil. Glad to hear that he has accepted the offer of a better cushion for his chair and musicians nationwide will be pleased that he'll be back for more next year...(ok Mrs Trellis?)
The benevolent dual Dictatorship that heads up the Festival has been having a tough time lately. It's that moment when decisions have to be made about line-ups. This ain't easy. Everything goes into the mix. You start with talent and move through audience pull and availability and get into skirmishes about fees, venues, up and coming versus established and so it goes on.....all the while fending off agents, friends and fan requests. As yet, nobody has demanded bowls of red smarties and three bottles of Jack Daniels for their dressing room but the balance between putting on the best possible show and going completely mad and bankrupt is a delicate one. Given half a chance, any events organiser will corner you for three hours with tales of artistic derring-do battling the evil dark forces of fiscal common sense. Even the Hat, notoriously light on his feet when it comes to dancing through these event problems, recognises that blues players just play the blues - and the rest is for other mortals to sort out. It occurs to me that a bit of that £101 million lottery win might be a good place to start. I'm sure the team will crack it but as the title of that guitar documentary goes..."It Might Get Loud"...!

The dictatorsI have to confess to a lifetime love of women musicians....but that, as they say, is another three pint story. There was a huge response before last year's festival when the proposal was floated that there should be a dedicated 'Women of The Blues' night - so much so that rumour reached me that Paddy and Jason couldn't satisfy them all - at least that's their story. Nevertheless, the packed schedule allowed adoring audiences to hear some of the best female blues talent around. Sadly, they get so little festival air play. You will be pleased to hear that word has it that they will be back storming the Picture House once more. The audience response will be great and the team feel good about making sure that women are properly on the bill once again - and quite right too.
I have heard that the Festival website is getting a make-over and it will be a delight to use. As someone who still treasures his quill and parchment and usually employs any passing eleven year old when it comes to things digital, it will be quite emancipating using a site that you can understand, is easy to navigate and looks good. Also, as an added bonus for the cognoscenti, I gather that there may even be a rather attractive picture of the Hat in one corner. So, to coin an excellently appropriate phrase, 'chapeau' to designer Lee and his stunning pixels. 
Tell your friends about it.
Pip Pip!
The Man in The Hat