“The Chapel Welcomes Spectacular Music....Hebden
Congregation Will Go Bananas....Crew And Family Deliver The
Goods....World Watches In Amazement!”
It's not the awards - it's the blues..
Crikey! The Hat is beside Himself! And so should
you be - not just because you like the exciting idea of two Hats
standing next to each other – but because, at last, I am able to
give you the Inside Leg on the 2014 Hebden Bridge Blues
Festival....so break out the Absinthe, the Stolichnaya and the
Laphroaig. This is an absolutely stunning programme of talent.
Next year's Festival is set to become The
Collectors' Edition. With more bands and solo artists than ever
before, a special one-off T-shirt, more innovations, longer
performance hours and an unlikely-to-be-repeated themed Sunday night,
this is THE one Festival you will boast about in your local hostelry;
the one where people will offer you outrageous favours to get their
hands on your super hot wristband; the one where people you don't
know will want to be your new Best Friend in the hope you can smuggle
them in and the one to tell your grandchildren about until they want
to leave home and do it themselves. So hold on to your hats, strap
yourself in and let's first boggle our eyes at the Main Stage in The
Chapel.....
You will need to limber up quickly because Friday
night's Main Stage line-up is going to lean right off the stage and
snatch you clean out of your dancing shoes. First on to get you fired
up and locked on in the traditional solo opening spot will be Julian
Burdock bringing us his one-man stunning blues guitar extravaganza, loops an' all, Many of
you will also know him from his fine singing and guitar work with the
much loved 24 Pesos. Oh Yes! Let's start the class with Class!
Now you are hot, my friends and to keep the
temperature up David Migden and the Dirty Words are on stage. . New to
Hebden, this hard hitting crew absolutely crashed on to everyone's
horizon earlier this year when they won the fiercely contested UK
Battle of The Bands. Making waves everywhere – funky, soulsy,
bluesy, shouty – these guys will hit every taste bud you have.
Prepare yourselves.
And then come our First Night Headliners –
Virgil and The Accelerators.
Another coup for the Crew! In huge demand in the UK and in Europe as a result of their terrifying touring schedule, they have told us that they are really pleased to come and join our Hebden Family – and wow, are we pleased to see them. This tight dynamic trio have a massive fan base and you will be mad not to be there boogying in the front row. Playing a jet, turbo, dynamite-powered flavour of blues and rock these guys will peel the paint off the Chapel walls and leave you shouting for more. You will barely have breath at the end of their set – but keep the reserve tank topped up for the usual mad party that is Paddy Maguire's Midnight Jam when the stage gets packed with an amazing array of blues people having fun...
Another coup for the Crew! In huge demand in the UK and in Europe as a result of their terrifying touring schedule, they have told us that they are really pleased to come and join our Hebden Family – and wow, are we pleased to see them. This tight dynamic trio have a massive fan base and you will be mad not to be there boogying in the front row. Playing a jet, turbo, dynamite-powered flavour of blues and rock these guys will peel the paint off the Chapel walls and leave you shouting for more. You will barely have breath at the end of their set – but keep the reserve tank topped up for the usual mad party that is Paddy Maguire's Midnight Jam when the stage gets packed with an amazing array of blues people having fun...
Sorry y'all but there is no let up for you in the
Chapel on Saturday! Don't be late as first up are the fantastic Blues
Boy Kings. This group are becoming Festival Favourites everywhere.
Proper grown up original blues with a terrific swing played by
talented musicians. Dance Alert – you will be throwing shapes
pretty quickly once this band gets rocking!
Now Listen. It would be a mistake to go anywhere
at this point – as this is when the minor nuclear explosion that is
Paul Lamb and The Detroit Breakdown light up the Amps. They take no
prisoners as they tear into their hundred mile an hour set. Huge Hit
at Hebden last year, Paul, Layla and Joey are coming back to our
family stage and once again, will be shaking the rafters.
Saturday's Headliners are The Motives featuring
Matt Taylor. This is a
pure class, straight out of the Blues Top Drawer. These four superb musicians attract superlatives whenever they play live and now you will get a chance to see the originators of that brilliant recent debut album that has had the reviewers scrambling for words of adequate praise. Smart, cool, brilliant urban blues, sharp, soulful, original – and that's even before The Hat has added his luminous prose. Cancel everything else. This is where you have to be on Saturday night. Oh, and then there's that Midnight Jam of course!
Well, I did warn you ...Sunday will be Special –
so don't even think about going home early. Those Organiser People
sure are Smart! The Hebden Sunday is going to be a themed Blues-Rock
night – and from start to finish you will be throwing shapes,
joining in, leaping up and down, waving imaginary lighters and
hugging people you don't know. The Hat will of course be there
swaying gently in his Chelsea boots and rattling his Rolex.
Two enormous favourites of the Festival are back
with us. Both of them, now with huge followings around the country,
are tearing their way upwards into the blues stratosphere. Yep –
amazing blues rockers Northsyde and Russ Tippins will bring you
Sunday on a very hot plate. If you have not seen either of them
'live' then this is a unique opportunity to grab them both and go
totally Barmy with the Best.
But....but...but wait...even as you arrive, the evening kicks off with two of the best blues rockers around. The tremendous Australian bluesman Gwyn Ashton, taking a break from his constant European touring, will open up the evening with his inimitable steel and strat set and then the Mark Pontin Group takes the stage. Described variously as bringing a new twist to the blues rock genre and an ebullient and soulful breath of fresh air, this young group have already collected an impressive list of playing credits alongside some of the best in the business. Hot.
But....but...but wait...even as you arrive, the evening kicks off with two of the best blues rockers around. The tremendous Australian bluesman Gwyn Ashton, taking a break from his constant European touring, will open up the evening with his inimitable steel and strat set and then the Mark Pontin Group takes the stage. Described variously as bringing a new twist to the blues rock genre and an ebullient and soulful breath of fresh air, this young group have already collected an impressive list of playing credits alongside some of the best in the business. Hot.
So. I will say that again. Slowly. Sunday...
Gwyn Ashton, Mark Pontin Group, Russ
Tippins,Northsyde plus the Midnight Jam. Cor Lummy Guv! Sunday night is a whole award winning UK Festival
on its own. No wonder The Hat is beside himself. But Wait.... I've
only just got going...
“Hebden Packed with Crazed Acoustic And
Electric Blues Fans....Non Stop Top Music....Hours Extended To Cope
With Demand....Caterers on Emergency Standby!”
Once again, right across the three days of the
HebFest the two stages at Salem Mill – The Electric and The
Acoustic play host to some of the best talents the British Blues world
can offer. To help their ever growing family of supporters this year
the organisers have arranged to open the afternoon sessions an hour
earlier at 1pm. As a result, oh lucky people, we can see more –
young acts nervously taking their first few public steps,
well-established artists making time to play to an appreciative and
very smart audience and some Festival Favourites coming back home to
party with The Family. Full details of the timing and day slots for
both stages will be published shortly on the Festival website (click
the gold logo on this page) – but here is a lip-smacking taster of
the goodies that the Organisers have provided for you: -
*The Electric Stage plays host to: The Marcus
Lazarus Band; Tom Attah and The Bad Mad Clan; Tim Hood; Zoe Schwarz
Blue Commotion; Katie Bradley; The Mustangs; and The Nat Martin Band.
*The Acoustic Stage plays host to Jack Broadbent;
Dave Arcari; Angelo Palladino; Wooden Horse; Red Dirt Skinners; Matt
Woosey; and Dan Burnett.
*The Outlaw Stage (special exciting Saturday afternoon sessions in The Chapel): Forty 4; The Bare Bones Boogie Band; and Makuini.
*The Outlaw Stage (special exciting Saturday afternoon sessions in The Chapel): Forty 4; The Bare Bones Boogie Band; and Makuini.
*Once again the Organisers were besieged by hugely
talented bands who wanted to play at any of the incredibly popular
Juke Joints scattered around the Festival. The talent that packs
these half dozen venues is worthy of another free festival on its own
– and sadly it is impossible to include everyone.
If you want to catch any of these class acts –
and remember entry is Free – here is the first list of some of the
bands in that great line up:- The Bonny Mac Band; The Tom Gee Band;
Private Dicks; Geds Blues Band; Lewis Hamilton; Killer Bees; Greasy
Slicks; and Jed Thomas.
No need to bring your hiking boots – all these
venues are within walking distance of each other and the main stages
– and you can stop off and have a bite to eat in one of Hebden's
super cool feeding stations.
Well, my friends, it has been fun being the
messenger bearing such good news – but nowhere near as much fun as
it will be for those three days next year at the 2014 Hebden Bridge Blues Festival! I
will of course be back to tell you more. This Festival is Small But
Beautifully Formed...(just like The Hat really)...but (unlike The Hat) it won't cost a
fortune...
Tell your friends. Book the tickets. Go now. Go. Go Now.
Pip Pip!
The Blues Man in The Hat