Yes, yes....we know you are world famous and want to be Family..
....but did you vote for us?
The Hat's inexorable
rise to the top and the rewards of fame and fortune was once
interrupted by a sojourn spent as a cook on a variety of oil rigs.
This equipped him with many skills – quite apart from that of being
able to knock up scrambled eggs for two hundred, hand roll four hundred
perfect bread rolls every morning, outsmart many tall, eighteen stone,
dangerous hard-hatted Roughnecks and set fire to sixty chickens
whilst singing the blues and wearing Clogs and Checks. Multi-taskers
take note. No, the real life-skill was in the way you used your
precious down-time...
The soft options were
to sleep, lose your wages playing nine card brag and counting down
the days to going home. However, if you were smart you did none of
the above. Being a rebel, fighting the system, listening to music and making lists were
the life-savers and one of The Hat's great coups was to briefly
commandeer the plant PA system and give them all a blast of a Broonzy worksong.
Astonishingly, the subsequent predictable furore over the blatant breaking of
safety procedure resulted in a spontaneous unofficial vote amongst the crew as
to whether I should leave on the next chopper or be allowed to stay.
The result - a Serious Caution but permission to stay – has always
reminded The Hat of the power of the democratic vote. It was a while
ago – but I am coming back to this voting thing....
However, my purpose
today is not to corral your bodies into behaving irregularly. I am
sure most of you have that covered and like The Hat, have long ago made a decision about where that should stand on your list of things
that you should get round to doing one day. Nevertheless, see below if
you feel sterner and more immediate remedial action is needed*. No, today I
am going to auto-suggest to your brain, and subsequently your
fingers, the need for You to do Your Thing for the blues that you
love, cherish and support..
Breathe Deeply, Relax,
Close Your Eyes. This will not hurt. Listen to my words. Take my hand and imagine you are on an oil rig and you have it in your power to save some bloke from the dole queue. Yes. Yes? The Hat is expecting
you to vote.
Every year, after long
consultation,The British Blues Award panel produces exhaustive lists
of nominees for every branch of the blues world. Inevitably, like
every list Anywhere, Everywhere, there is always a small flutter
about who should and should not be nominated. Disgusted of Cheam and
Tunbridge Wells and Humph's friend Mrs Trellis from North Wales say their
piece - but that indignation quickly subsides and a widespread accord
takes over that recognises that the lists are honest, as accurate as possible and
genuinely reflect the situation in the blues world at that time.
The Hebden Bridge Blues
Festival has an impressive history over the years of playing host to
dozens of the talented nominees in almost every category – and
indeed, many of the subsequent winners. If you go to the Festival
website awards page – (click the gold logo on this page) - you will
see a list of the nominees who have played at the Festival. Some,
like Ron Sayer, who is nominated in an impressive four different
categories, are known across the land; others, perhaps less famous
young guns are equally delighted to be on one list for the very first
time. Don't ever let anyone tell you a nomination is not important
and awards are meaningless. They are Anything But and being
acknowledged by your peers is a goal to which most of us would love
to aspire. Bravo to every nominee - and to those who played Hebden -
we would like to especially embrace them all as members of our Hebden
Family.
And now, as Tom Waits
put it, 'the large print giveth - and the small print taketh away' -
so where is the coda, the clever final clause, the box that you tick
without reading The Hat's terms and conditions... because you would
really like to get back to what you were doing earlier.? Well, I'm
sorry, there is no catch. Just this blatantly obvious bit of
canvassing....
Last year the Hebden
Bridge Blues Festival bounded in and won the Best UK Blues Festival
Award. If you went to the HebFest this year, you will know that it
was even better. The vibe, the crewing, the organisation, the
beautiful fans and the spectacular line-up of musicians; they were all better,
better and better. The Festival has been nominated again for the Best
Festival award, and again, it is up against some pretty formidable
nominees. The organisers cannot offer you tax reductions, better
schooling, housing and health services. They cannot even guarantee
the safety of your mum's winter fuel allowance. For Heaven's Sake,
they don't even have a shiny leaflet full of shallow promises to bung
through your letter-box along with the pizza delivery leaflets.
However, what they do have is a determined commitment to deliver
another even better Festival and welcome an even bigger Family to
come and join them. You and your friends only have a few days left. The musicians and The Festival need your
vote....and you can do it by going to that gold logo awards page NOW...
Pip Pip!
The Blues Man In The
Hat
*Naked fear of reprisals
for covertly encouraging Sloth obliges The Hat to point out that if you are
seeking svelte sinews and self-confidence and live within reach of Hebden
Bridge you could contact the awesome Kate Dakers via the Hebden Bridge Boxing Club Facebook page. Tell her The Hat
sent you....that'll make her laugh...