Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Read The Blog....Watch The Movie.... Book A Ticket...

"...you're good...here's the audience....go now, go now..."
 
The Hat, dedicated romantic-hopeful that he is, doesn't often read the Runes, Tarot, Stars or the lines on his elegant hands – on balance, he would prefer Not To Know.....(if he did and he was any good at it, there certainly would be fewer tearful heart-breaks, more adulation and much more money)....but, right now here is a Confident Hat Prediction. Last year the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival, without any insider information but a lot of Smart Insight, managed to include 16 future British Blues Award nominees in their three day mega blues line-up – and, as you know, some of them went on to collect one of those precious heart shaped acknowledgements of their talent. Oh – and by the way, the Hebden 'family' picked up the Best British Blues Festival Award while they were at it...

So....The Hat's short odds, dead-cert, put-your-shirt-on-its-nose Tip is that this year there will be another Bonanza of Brilliance and the line-up will, once again, raise the bar, with one after another band or soloist staking their claim and marking their British Blues Award card firmly and with finesse.

Just a glance at this year's Headliners reveals a list of the hottest names around (seen here http://yorkshirebluesfestival.co.uk/News.html) , some of whom have just produced spectacular Cds and all are in constant demand, around the country and across Europe. These are major players and the presence of any of them, let alone a hatful, on any festival bill would be great coup anywhere. However, what is always exciting about the Hebden Bill of Fare is that the quality runs through The Whole Card. Unlike the entertaining world of wrestling, at the Hebden Festival there is clearly no such thing as an 'Under Card' and from the Main Stages to the Juke Joints you get talent, excitement, young guns, old masters, brand new girls and boys on the block, acoustic, slide, drum, bass and electric brilliance, singers with golden voices and song-writers with poetry in their veins – and, oh dear, yes, it is going to be really hard to split yourself into enough pieces to get to see everyone. When the nominations for the 2013 British Blues Awards get announced next month you can bet your Cleanest Dirty Shirt that you will be seeing a lot of them when you come to Hebden. The Hat will, of course, be the first to bring them to your attention....

On a totally different and somewhat inferior subject, one of the curious aspects of the Ding Dong Download Furore is the revelation to a wider audience as to how very few copies of a single you have to shift to get into the infamous Top Forty charts. Anyone in the music business has known for some years now that it is Precious Few and quite within the reach of a quick and sustained marketing campaign with either a high profile or a lot of spare cash. It is difficult to imagine that there used to be a music world without downloads or Amazon.....and yet a good popular record would still sell tens of thousands of the physical disc to hit those starry heights. Yes, I know, I know...the rose-tinted good old days...(where payola and bribery could change a chart position!), but nevertheless the numbers would still put today's modest claims in perspective. The Hat delights in the fact that today's singles charts are tomorrow's firelighters and what is much more important is the quality and staying power of the music and the continuous stream of on-coming talent. The Blues is blessed with that in abundance. Just go and look at last week's Eric Clapton's Crossroad Festival highlights to witness the raw joy of that rich tapestry. Yes, as you would expect, all the Big Players were there....but just check out the Buddy Guy set where 14 year old Quinn Sullivan strutted his truly amazing stuff - fulfilling that tradition now hotly pursued by the Hebden Blues Festival organisers..."you're good; here's the space; here's the audience; go now, go now...". Doncha just luv it?

Finally, as most of you will know, The Hat, from time to time turns to his old friend the Inscrutable but Smart cat, Cozy for an alternative view on the Meaning of Life and Other Important Stuff. On this occasion, showing a maturity beyond his years, he asked me to say a word on behalf of...er....A Dog. Without question, one of the stars of Hebden 2012 was blues dog Genghis, best friend of uber blues guitarist Todd Sharpville. Genghis charmed many hearts of many blues fans last year, on the Main Stage and elsewhere and it has been sad to learn that he has been struggling with his health. Glad to say he is battling through and hopefully will soon be back headlining with his rather tasty backing band. We send him virtual plates of whatever stuff he likes most.....

Pip Pip!
The Man in The Hat