Eugene's Trick Bag (Steve Vai Guitar Cover)

This Was #TUNEICEF 2019!

It's done! All tracks mixed and uploaded, the launch party a roaring success (more on that in a bit) and you find me mopping the sweat from my brow and contemplating all the glorious collaborations that 2020 may have to offer our little community... but first, a run down of the album (available at https://tuneicef.bandcamp.com/album/tuneicef-2019 )

“Litter” - The Ladykillers. One of mine that has (more or less) stood the test of time since the late 90s, given a rejig and a lick of paint as I'm planning to revisit and finish up these songs next year, finally do a version I can be happy with!

“Winds Of Change” - Phil Matthews aka The Village (https://www.thevillage.me.uk/ ) - our stalwart contributor, Phil has been lending his classic guitar pop material to this project since 2015, and his stuff is always a joy to hear.

“Misfortune” - The Formidable Ale Society. One of my old mates from the mid-2000s who overcame an astonishing lack of instrumental ability to churn out a clutch of classic songs, which I put a bit of spit and polish on to make a presentable version of!

“Hindenburg (Manoeuvring In The Dark Mix) – A Short Dark Stranger (https://ashortdarkstranger.bandcamp.com/ ) Hailing from Leeds, another old mate of mine from music college waaaaay back when, with a unique (and utterly demented) brand of electro-pop! If you happen to get the chance to see him perform.... take it!

“Who We Are” - Jonezy (http://jonezyuk.co.uk/ ) - the one, the only! If you haven't seen or heard this man yet, go out and find him! Jonezy is a bona fide local legend, an absolutely explosive live performer full of energy, with a great pop sensibility. Full on hip hop with huge singable choruses, and I really do hope we can collaborate on something in 2020.

“Third Sea” - Beth Hartshorne (https://www.facebook.com/Beth.Hartshorne/ ) - another regular contributor, Beth is a superbly talented singer songwriter with a folk edge and a fantastic voice. Again, another artist I hope I can work with in the coming year!

“Stairway To Euphoria” - Rory McKeating. The first student track! This instrumental is Rory's first go at writing a song influenced by Led Zeppelin and Polyphia.

“These Days” - James Martin. What, you thought I was going to make my students do a song and not do one myself?

“Day By Day” - Graham Waller. Another student track, Graham did the guitars and bass and wrote the lyrics, none too shabby!

“The Freeway” - Wolfie Wickes. Aged just 10, Wolfie has managed to craft a really catchy pop song, and partial credit to mum Lucy for helping out with lyrics!

So that's the album – onto the gig!

With our regular venue under refurbishment, I was lucky enough to find a replacement in Loughborough's Cask Bah, which is a fantastic little venue right in the town centre. Craig the owner is a die hard live music fan, and he's really thought about what bands need and how to cater for them – the result being that we had PA, half a drumkit and amplification lined up ready and waiting!

I kicked things off with a couple of acoustic tunes and a little explanation of exactly what was going on, and then handed the reins over to Jonezy, who proceeded to blow the roof off with an absolutely storming set, an energy level more suited to Wembley than a little pub on a wet Sunday evening! Once again proving he is absolutely one of the best live performers round the area, the guy is a legend.

Wolfie and I took to the stage to perform Freeway next, and following Jonezy was daunting enough for me, let alone Wolfie on his first ever gig, but he handled himself well and very much enjoyed the chance to crank his guitar through Craig's beautiful 1979 Marshal valve amp!

Next up, Dan Porter and Sam Gascgoine laying down a few blues tunes with me on bass – the boys soared through “Parisienne Walkways”, “Hideaway”, “I Saw Her Standing There”, “Walking By Myself” and a medley of “Johnny B Goode”, “Blue Suede Shoes”, and “Great Balls Of Fire”, and despite a wardrobe malfunction and an impromptu guitar switch, they were absolutely on fire! A good few jaws dropped watching them, and these two are only fourteen! After repeated calls for an encore, I led them through “Mustang Sally”, and despite never having played it before, the pair of them nailed it – the future of the blues is very definitely in safe hands.

Beth Hartshorne followed that with a stunning acoustic set – brilliant songs, fantastic vocals and as a former teacher I'm pleased to see Beth had been clearly been practicing as she was laying down some very nifty fingerstyle patterns. Keep an eye out for her, she's got real talent.

Seeing as Dan's grandparents had just shown up, we threw together an impromptu performance if “Sweet Home Alabama” with Dan on lead, Sam on drums, Tom (our dep for the night) on bass, me on vocals and rhythm guitar with Beth helping out on backing vocals. It was at this point I started to notice that the cough and cold I've been carrying for the past few weeks was not going to leave me alone.. kudos to the band though, they were rocking!

Then it was time for Dave The Rock Band – or rather, half of it, featuring former student and Superhero Dep Tom Hetzel filling in on bass for us, who'd managed to learn pretty much all our set in the space of two days! We blew through Van Halen, Killers, Kings Of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs to a rioutous reception and made it all the way to the Dave signature song, “The One And Only” by Chesney Hawkes (come on, you KNOW it's a truly great song) before my voice gave out completely..

..at which point all that remained, with the one remaining note left in my vocal range, to thank everyone who had helped out, to thank everyone who had showed up, to thank Craig for his brilliant little venue and for having us, and to wish one and all a very happy Christmas!

And with that, I'll sign off the blog the exact same way. Thanks everyone, and a very happy Christmas and New Year – see you in 2020!