Friday, September 14, 2012

We would like to thank our parents, our fridge and our psychiatrist...

 
It gives us great pleasure...
 
 The Hat has wrenched his blog back from the Assorted Celluloid Loonies who hi-jacked it the other week. Quite easy really - a bit of Snopake correction fluid (Yes, they still make it) and some scissors sent them back to the mad fictional world whence they came. However, what remains behind flickering on the Big screen, is the Big smile and the heart shaped British Blues Award for best UK Blues Festival.
 
Now that the beaming back-slapping has subsided, the short tearful speech about not-being-able-to -do-it-without-you, is over and we have gone back to the cold cruel world of daily realism, I think it is worth taking a look at why and how this came about, as clearly it was not an overnight wheeze dreamed up by someone with a spare piece of shapely glass.
 
In a recent post, The Hat interviewed the two main organisers of the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival and at the close noted that it seemed evident, to him at least, where the dynamic for the event came from. But it is also clear that whilst these two have described a well thought-out and defined 'philosophy' about what they were trying to do with the blues in Hebden, there is also a ready acknowledgement of all the other factors that go to make up such a successful event. Musicians, fans, venues, pricing, accessability, relevance, the intangible 'vibe' – the list goes on and they are all important. Additionally, any event organiser will bend your ear for an hour reminding you that there is no replacement for hard work, a good team and crossing your fingers behind your back.
 
Talking to the musicians involved in both the first and second Festivals (the Hind Leg of the Donkey was specially invented for The Hat), it becomes quickly apparent how much they enjoyed themselves and I am certain that they say that because it is true and not because it's something the organisers want to hear. As one who has been on the receiving end of a few band Hysteria Moments, The Hat can spot insincerity from behind a high stack of Marshalls. From the world weary headliners to the guys with a first time slot at a Juke Joint, The Hat got the same feed-back – how good it was to be treated humanely, how nice it was to have knowledgable friendly stage-management, how good it was (bizarre this) that they were made so welcome and - even though they only got a small free bag of home-made Hebden sweeties - there were no green rooms, souvenir beer mats and complimentary bottles of deadly fruit juice – they still took away bags of goodwill and friendship. Ok, there were hiccups and the occasional diva-ish twitch. I can recall the sound disappearing for the opening speech of the first Festival, the battle to get Paddy Milner's keyboards working just two minutes before he started his set – and the guitarist who waved his contract at a passing assistant demanding immediate payment...but hey, stuff happens....and that guitarist ain't coming back...
 
It is not rocket science and it is easy to see how and why musicians respond to such grown-up treatment. Above everything else, to have your musicians going away from your Festival, sometimes to another country and all round the world, openly acknowledging their enjoyment of your gig, is a priceless commodity. It cannot be bought. It has to be earned.
 
And then there are the fans. The Hebden spectators, the enthusiasts, that wonderful colourful mix of young and old, shiny and creased, some frighteningly well informed but all refreshingly willing to embrace the new, the young and the unknown. Many travel hundreds of miles. They unfailingly give of their money, time, fervour, re-booked holidays, knackered camper vans, late nights, no sleep, hangovers, the wrong food and continuous bad hair days. On the Festival website, on its Facebook page and indeed, on this blog, it has become the norm to talk of the Hebden 'Crew' and the Hebden 'Family'. There's no membership, anyone can join in and they are all over the world. They are totally appropriate names for this motley crew and The Hat would suggest that this doesn't happen by accident. One wonders how many other small new festivals would have summoned up that mad charabanc to Newark Castle or have managed to evoke that ever-present jokey, droll and enthusiastic Hebden blues badinage in such a short time. Of course, they will argue and debate the finer points and defend their favourites like all blues fans everywhere in the world - and it is done with passion and good humour. However, I'm not sure you will find too many of them in the middle of those bitter and often personal rancorous arguments that frequently rage on Facebook and in the columns of the Blues and Guitar magazines. Pretty chilled, that extended Hebden Blues Festival Family...
 
Of course, the profile of the Festival is one thing, but the content is king. Listening to the organisers talk about how they gather the line-up together is interesting (sorry Mr Irrelevant, hello Buddy Guy and we might take your call Jo Bonamassa) and I urge you to check that YouTube interview as soon as you get a moment. The notion of relevance is a common theme. They are prepared to give space to young blood, to singer-song writers just making their way, to good bands who need to find a bigger stage, to those fabulous 'almost breaking-thru' acts who need a higher profile. The number of acts from the Festival that were nominated for Blues Awards says a lot about the line-up selections. At the same time, we all know that Love Never Paid The Gas Bill (by the way, this is a twelve bar blues that the Hat knows well) and somewhere down the line philanthropy has to pay its way. Hence the need for some high profile, well known talent, decent headliners and proper publicity.
 
The mix is clever, knowledgable and it works. If you go to the Festival and stay late for the wonderful Midnight Jams, you get the chance to see how it works. The big guns on stage, cheek to jowl with the newbies. Heroes trading chops with their fans. A wonderful one-off concert moment that manages to put together some of the happiest, hottest and hilarious musical moments to ever grace the small stage. Put that together with that family I was telling you about and you have got to get it bottled and take it home with you.
 
Lastly, a small word about that behind the scenes team without whom any Festival would never get off the ground. The Hebden team really is quite small in numbers. As always they are invisible and unpaid. Unlike the recent 'gamesmakers' they don't get a pretty shirt or a mention in the national press, but they do have the same huge smiles, the unlimited supply of patience, a love of what they do, an extraordinary talent for suffering fools moderately gladly, the ability to stand in a freezing admission doorway for ever without complaining and can fold flyers and stuff envelopes like Billy Whizz.
 
All in all it is not a bad package. Led from the front, it is a fine young Festival and it is not difficult to see the qualities that got it on that short list ahead of some bigger, richer and better established gigs. The award is fun to have and the Hebden Blues Festival can be justly proud to be acknowledged and have received it......but The Hat is pretty sure that nobody is in it for the accolades.
Gotta keep on keepin' on, guys....
 
Pip Pip!
The Man in The Hat

Thanks to Christine Lerman for the pic.