Well...we are all
gathered together here today”.. Aaah, c'mon, stop it, stop it now....sorry,
couldn't resist - but we are partying in a Hebden
Baptist Chapel for the first time ever... ok, I'll stop now...brothas and sistas...The Hat is here to give you The Word....Love The Blues...raise your arms and praise the Festival...give generously...ok now I really will stop....hallelujah to that...
Clutching its shiny Best UK Festival Award and
sporting a nice new clean and very desirable T-shirt, the
Hebden Bridge Blues Festival has stormed back into town. The camper
van, the overloaded estate, the transit van and dad's motor have been
unloaded; the voices and instruments have been fine-tuned; the well
travelled crew of fans are fed, watered and are greeting each other
like newly-found seriously rich relatives, that feller has done his 1,2, 1,2... and the organisers are already doing their dodgy ear-to-ear fixed
beam. As Muddy Waters often said...I'm Ready, Yes I'm Ready...
Opening up for a Blues
Festival is never an easy gig. Tonight that short straw was given to
BluesBoy Dan Owen - and it could not have been in safer hands.
Despite
the fact that he is only just twenty one, Dan has the
self-assurance and talent of a seasoned pro and he captured his
packed audience as soon as he picked up his guitar.
Weirdly famous
for appearing both on prime-time Croation television and the Andrew
Marr Politics Show, Dan has quickly established an enviable
reputation in the blues world. With a quite amazing rich voice that
soars and swoops with huge power, he commanded from his first note
when he opened up with a foot stomping and slide version of Walkin'
Blues. He then produced a terrific set of both covers and original
material which included a wonderful rendition of one of The Hat's
favourite funeral songs – Willie Nelson's 'Roll Me up and smoke me
when I die'. High point for The Hat though was when the guitar, voice
and harp all came together for a pew-shaking Little Red Rooster where
Howlin' Wolf almost came and joined us in the chapel. No wonder he is
being mentored by Mick Fleetwood. Now here's an idea....that
peak-time tele programme 'The Voice' should really be dedicated just
to Bluesboy Dan – a proper amazing voice and a class act.
Some time ago, The Hat
described Ron Sayer as one of the blues world's worst kept secrets.
Even though he is well known to fans across the country, The Hat insists that he should be a household name both nationally and
internationally. Here is a song-writer, a quite sublime and gifted blues man, a smooth operator who is able to
throw some jazzy rock blues - even swing - into his set alongside crowd pleasing modern blues - seemingly without effort - and he gave us
the lot in this feelgood main stage performance. Intelligent and articulate music. With the talented Charlotte Joyce adding vocals and keyboard this was a tight smart set and it is no wonder that Ron is nominated in no less than four categories in this year's British Blues Awards.
Aynsley Lister is one of those guitarists that real die-hards with fixed views about their blues have terrible trouble with. Not so The Hat, who loves the rule breakers. Anyone who can start a set at a hundred miles an hour, stop off briefly for a slow blues, divert for a short self-penned tribute to the TV series 'Life on Mars' and finish up with a standing ovation whilst playing a stunning 'Purple Rain' gets The Hat's vote every time.
This was proper headlining at a grown-up Blues Festival. Clearly we were in the company of an accomplished musician but also one who could both get the audience involved with numbers like the shouty chorused 'Straight Talking Woman' and then get the place quietened down with a beautiful self-penned tribute to a Friend.
Many of the numbers were from his soon to be released album 'Home' which is clearly going to be an essential purchase for fans. Aynsley has also surrounded himself with a top flight close-knit band and in particular his keyboard man shone when they played a delicate extended version of 'Feelin' Good'.
Aynsley is the classic blues crossover artist and is clearly as much at home on a rock based stage as he is on a pure blues based one - indeed, in the past, he has toured with Lynyrd Skynyrd and played Glastonbury with huge success. At Hebden he managed to bring that complete range of styles to the stage and deliver them brilliantly with elan and style to an ecstatic audience.
The Hat would suggest that it has probably been a long time since the Hebden Bridge Baptist Chapel has seen so many people on their feet, seeing the light and calling for more...even the tough, hardbitten, musclebound Hebden Crew were transfixed by the power of the blues..
The Hat would suggest that it has probably been a long time since the Hebden Bridge Baptist Chapel has seen so many people on their feet, seeing the light and calling for more...even the tough, hardbitten, musclebound Hebden Crew were transfixed by the power of the blues..
Now that is the real magic of the Chapel Crossroads......
Pip Pip!
The Man in The Hat
Pic thanks to the working thru the night Craig Shaw..
Pic thanks to the working thru the night Craig Shaw..