So
as 2015 romps to a conclusion amidst a great disturbance in the
Force, it's time to take a look back over this year's #TUNEICEF
project.
The
album itself is available here:
https://tuneicef.bandcamp.com/releases
and I have to say, it's our biggest and best yet! 21 tracks ranging
from Aled Horler's orchestral metal insanity to Mollie Lee and
Charlotte Bond's achingly gorgeous acoustic track, by way of Dave The
Rock Band's ridiculously catchy pop/ rock offering and Billy Edwards
more-Darkness-than-The-Darkness squealer, to name but a few! There
are some terrific tunes on there so well done to everyone who's
helped make this year's album a reality – particular thanks go to
Matt Chubb, without whom it's safe to say neither the album nor the
gig would have been possible.
So
after months of frenzied writing, recording, mixing, Facebooking and
hashtagging, we've got ourselves an album to be proud of! Next stop –
the launch party. Thanks to The Beacon for hosting this one, and
thanks once again to Matt for providing his PA, as well as Jon Bell
for providing the use of his exquisitely lovely Les Paul and Marshall
half stack to complement my humble little Laney combo!
So
after a frenetic and confused set up, it was Billy Edwards who kicked
off proceedings with “Hold On” - and it's a measure of how
frenetic set up was that whilst introducing him my mind went blank
and I completely forgot his name! Oh well, only been teaching him
about four years... but he did a sterling job getting us all into the
groove and laying down a scorcher of a solo – this young man goes
from strength to strength, having helped out with 2014's
Winterwonderland2014 project -
https://leicestershiremusiccollective.bandcamp.com/releases
– and 2013's Songs For Syria.
Dave
The Rock Band were up next, with “Christmas #1” and our alter ego
The Formidable Ale Society track “Sunshine”, before mellowing
into an acoustic section with Beth Hartshorne, whose hypnotic
folk-rock stylings impressed everyone (despite yours truly having
forgotten his capo, when her first song was in Fm...) - a genuinely
captivating performance from a very talented artist.
Jacob
Waltens joined us next, taking a break from his Rockschool Grade 5 to
provide a lovely version of “Little Wing” and drop jaws on “Sweet
Child O' Mine” before Dave The Rock Band took the stage again,
augmented by our guest keyboard player and Honorary Dave, Leigh
Blount.
The
stage was then set for The Bench That Rocked, containing my student
Tom Ion and former students Billy Chamberlain and Luke Billingham –
we first met these guys again in summer 2014, they impressed then and
they are simply superb now. Check out their alter ego, Dawn Of
Anubis, where they release their own material, you won't regret it.
The boys did a sterling job, belting through their own material and a
good few crowd pleasing classics (including another impressive
version of Sweet Child O'Mine)! Lead guitarist Tom is preparing for
his Rockschool Grade 5 and when he goes for it, frankly I'm not sure
the examiners are going to know what's hit them!
Then
it was over to Dave The Rock Band to close proceedings and by this
point the audience were well and truly revved up! We hammered our way
through our set list of ROCK classics – including yet another
Sweet Child O' Mine featuring a guest vocalist from the audience , and let me tell you – as a guitar teacher,
when you've just had two of your students get up and absolutely shred
that song.. it's actually pretty nerve wracking! Still, we gave
it our all, and I had the privilege of putting Jon's Les Paul/
Marshall rig through it's paces before we convinced the man himself
to get up and strut his stuff, and Jon soared through a superb
“Parisienne Walkways” before Dave close the evening with the
double whammy of everyone favourite guilty 1980's pleasures - “The
One And Only” and “Every Rose Has It's Thorn”. Apologies to all
those who wanted more but we were dead on our feet by that point!
So
to everyone who helped make this project possible, I offer my
heartfelt thanks, wish you all a very Merry Christmas – and we'll
see you in six months to kick off next years!
