Back In The Day: Fords Music Store and Home Grown Amplification
By Tony De Caria and Les FORDS BLUES CONNECTION Now that I think of it all these years later, Fords was destined to have a heavy blues influence many years before I got there. The Purple Hearts had completely blown away three kids at a venue across the road in Stanley St. called “The Bowl”. We had been having guitar lessons for some months and had at the time become rather bored with Shadows instrumentals and the top 40 hits played by the resident bands, finding [...]
Azure Blue CD Review
Azure Blue CD by Craig Claxton CD Review by Tracey Hammell Craig Claxton made excellent use of his time in lockdown during the shift into the “new normal” by writing and recording his first solo album, Azure Blue. Craig Claxton and his fabulous rhythm section ... sometimes known as The Barbarians at the Azure Blue Album preview. L-R Craig Claxton (guitar & vox), John Postlethwaite (dums), Kevin Howard (bass), Brendan St Ledger (keyboards). "It was so much fun to do ... I [...]
Back In The Day – Fords Music Store – Mal Stevens Remembers
BACK IN THE DAY… Intro from MICK POWER Greetings Fellow BASEQ Members and welcome to our second edition of “BACK IN THE DAY” This month we start a two series edition on the history of one of Brisbane’s go to music stores “FORDS MUSIC” Woolloongabba. We discover the main personnel behind this iconic institution and the impact it made on so many upcoming musicians of the day. As an introduction, we hear from the main man behind Fords Music Mal Stevens and, while reading his account of [...]
The “Secret Sauce” from the BBFactory: New Album – Track By Track
So I heard that BBFactory had recorded a new live album and were getting ready to release it with a series of album launches... ... and I harassed and harangued Pedro for more info on it, that "Secret Sauce", as it were, of the album Pedro and Jackson, BBFactory (photo by Dianne Haistie) But first, the BBFactory story so far: ... the band has already released their highly regarded ‘First World Blues’ and ‘Let the Good Times Roll’ albums ( the latter is a live [...]
Back In The Day … Keith “Stretch” Kerwin Remembers.
Hi Folks, this is basically the remnants of memories about the early days of the Brisbane music scene from individual personal perspectives .. and for all intents and purposes concentrating more towards the 'Blues' scenario. My name's Keith Kerwin but possibly more Sanctuary - L-R Mal Logan, Barry Sullivan, Keith "Stretch" Kerwin and Adrian Payne [drums] well known via my nickname 'Stretch'. I was born and raised in Coorparoo, Brisbane, in May, 1949 ... so that makes me approaching my 72nd birthday. I'm the youngest [...]
Back in the Day… Introduction by Mick Power
Welcome to a new series titled “Back In The Day” as we go down memory lane in Brisbane, North / South Coast regions and give us some unusual info that happened in the day, covering from 1950 – to say 1980’s. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Mick Power and I am one third of “The GrooveMasters”. I grew up in Brisbane and from the mid 60’s I was involved in the music business here in South East Qld and in [...]
What happens behind the scenes: BASEQ Jams at the Royal Mail
I wrote the following to help a very new committee member get up to speed on what happens at a BASEQ jam when it is held at the Royal Mail Hotel Goodna on the last Sunday of the month (except Dec: Xmas/NYE, and Jan: too close to Australia day events at the Royal Mail). I've also expanded on some of the points. 12noon - the host band starts to arrive for setup and hopefully a quick soundcheck. At the time of writing, the Royal Mail provides a [...]
AGM Minutes – Yearly Report, election of new committee, etc
BASEQ_AGM_Minutes_251020 (MS Word format)
Hot Days for Scorching Dezzie D and the Stingrays
Dezzie D and the Stingrays are just about to drop another new release, full of danceable and interesting swing and jump blues tunes. But how did that happen? Congrats on your second release. The "followup" seems to be the hardest for artists to be satisfied with, while debut releases have been years in the gestation. Are these originals or reinterpretations of classics? Was there a theme or common ideas running through the songs? The process of selecting songs to make the cut for our second album was [...]
Radio Radio – Shaun “Blues With a Feeling” Bindley interview
(Part 1 of a series). Shaun Bindley has been producing the blues radio program "Blues With a Feeling" for 27 years. Here he discusses how this came to be, why he supports community radio, some of the up, downs and what he looks for. BB - Thanks Shakey Shaun for taking the time. Can I start with what motivates and drives you to be part of community radio? SB - I love to make a connection with listeners and being part of such a ground breaking [...]
BASEQ Christmas Bash – Sunday 29th November 1pm
It’s been a long year without live music in our favourite venue, The Royal Mail Hotel. BASEQ is celebrating Christmas and the lessening of restrictions with a bigger than ever Christmas Bash. Please come along and join the party. If you haven’t seen Shakes Fear and the Skeleton Gang you’re in for a real treat – they’ll get this party started with a bang. Young, brash and exciting these guys will have you chair dancing from the first riff. We all love BB Factory – one of [...]
New Release: Lucky Lips bring good fortune and a new Turnaround
Lucky Lips ready for their Turnaround Donna Hourigan and band have a followup to their debut EP, Talk the Talk. I had the opportunity to throw some questions to Donna about the new recording and how it all came about. Congrats on your second release. The "followup" seems to be the hardest for artists to be satisfied with, while debut releases have been years in the gestation. Was there a theme or common ideas running through the songs? As with our debut EP, Talk [...]
Annual General Meeting – Agenda and Candidates.
To all members The BASEQ Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday 25th October 2020 at the Royal Mail Hotel, Brisbane Terrace, Goodna at 10:30am. All members are invited to participate to listen to the reports of the past year, and be part of the process in dissolving the current committee and vote in the election of a new committee. Please find attached the Agenda for the AGM, in PDF versions and MSWord Versions. BASEQ_AGM_Agenda251020 (PDF) BASEQ_AGM_Agenda251020 (DOCX) As standard AGM practice and adhering to [...]
Mitchell Creek Rock N Blues Festival – A Success Story
In September, we had the Mitchell Creek Rock N Blues Festival. This was the first live music festival, as we used to know them, in Australia since COVID-19 restrictions began in late March. It was COVID Safe and absolutely fantastic. There were 3000 people there and it was a sellout event. Lots of people who go regularly with a good dose of newcomers as well, who have said they will be back next year for sure! Jimmy Budgen and his team did a magnificent job of putting [...]
BASEQ Blues at The Triffid!
Cooperation and determination by BASEQ's Dillion James and the team at The Triffid brought live blues back to the centre of town! With a very short lead time of two weeks, Dillion pulled together a "Who's Who" of local talent featuring: Angela Fabian; Blind Dog Donnie; Donna Hourigan & The Lucky Lips Band; and his own Dillion James Band. Harvey Blues; Norman Baquiran; and Matt "Dishpan Hands" Beagley, joined Angela & Dillion's respective bands to form an "All Starr" jam band, leaving nothing in the [...]
LiveStream: Blues Arcadia – How It Was Done
SoundOut Studios Even with using recording setups, there are many ways to tackle how to stream a band. Here, Casper Hall, drummer for Blues Arcadia and owner of SoundOut studios explain how he and the band approached their Facebook Stream. Congratulations, Casper, on an excellent Stream of Blues Arcadia the other week. Can I ask you a few questions on what happened behind the scenes? Firstly, did you float the idea of live streaming to the band, being comfortable with technology, perhaps using the [...]
Membership Extensions
COVID 19 has limited BASEQ's ability to promote & support blues music in the form of live events, festivals and jams. For this reason, BASEQ has decided to extend your membership for a further 6 months. There are positive signs of live music being available again in the near future, with some venues and festivals holding events in the next few months. We will continue to support venues, artists and fans through all possible avenues such as social media and emails to our members. We appreciate your [...]
Blues in the Bush Drive-In Concert – POSTPONED – Date TBA
Live music is starting to happen again although in a different way than before. We have venues with 'sit down' cabaret-style live music and then we have drive-in concerts. With drive-in concerts, you get to go along and sit in the comfort of your car and enjoy seeing live music with the sound also being played through your car stereo. Buy your tickets here now: http://www.driveinconcerts.live/blues-in-the-bush.html Drive In Concerts Live and Blues Association of SE Qld (BASEQ) present 'Blues in the Bush' featuring Russell Morris, BB [...]
BASEQ Blues at The Triffid
BASEQ are busy teaming up with some great venues to give people some live Blues music! The Triffid is our co-host for this great live event. BASEQ Blues at the Triffid will showcase some of Brisbane's finest blues musicians and performers: Angela Fabian, Blind Dog Donnie, Harvey Blues, Lucky Lips, and the Dillion James Band. With the Triffid leading the way in COVID safe protocol, live music can be enjoyed whilst adhering to mandatory safety measures. After recently starring in the Voice, Angela Fabian will take to [...]
BASEQ AGM
Can you lend us a hand to keep our association alive and growing? The Blues Association of South East Qld warmly invites you to join us at our ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING on Sunday the 25th of October at 10.30am at The Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna. Have you thought of playing a more active part in promoting Blues music? It may surprise you to know that even 2 or 3 hours of your time per month can have a big impact! BASEQ is a totally volunteer [...]
LiveStream: BBFactory Single Launch – How It Was Done
(image curtesy of Dianne Hastie) Unprecedented times, unprecedented measures. More musicians are turning to using live streams - via Facebook, Youtube ... even Zoom - to reach their audience. Reconnect with audiences, chances for musicians to play together, pushing technical boundaries, the reasons are many. I chatted with Pedro from BBFactory on how they went about doing their recent live stream to launch their new single "Keep Yo Mama" ... the recording of the live event can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdPUPoxUWP0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congratulations, Pedro, an [...]
Mitchell Creek Rock ‘N’ Blues Fest 2020 – The Show Must Go On!
Mitchell Creek Rock ‘N’ Blues Fest 2020 - The Show Must Go On! Story by Tracey Hammell Jimmy Budgen, Festival Director, Mitchell Creek Rock 'N' Blues Fest. Mitchell Creek Rock ‘N’ Blues Fest is the first music festival to be successfully awarded the COVID Clean Practicing Business Program certification and given the green light to go ahead this September, paving the way for other festivals to follow! With all the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, you may well be wondering how this magically came about. Well, [...]
BASEQ Raffle Postponement
BASEQ is sad to announce we are postponing the draw of our current raffle indefinitely due to the current social distancing circumstances surrounding the COVID 19 pandemic. BASEQ President Paulette Steele will contact ticket holders directly in the coming weeks. If you do not receive a communication please message us via Facebook or email BASEQ at president@baseq.org.au Tickets already purchased will be honoured at the time of the new draw. Ticket holders, who wish to, can obtain a full refund. Please message us via Facebook or [...]
Josh Cheyenne – Natural Blues
Recently I was at The Colonel's "legendary" Blues Jam at the Morrison Hotel Woolloongabba and ran into Josh Cheyenne, who - as was mentioned earlier in the day - had just released his first CD. So I bailed Josh up just outside the restaurant and pressed him for details ... Congrats on the release of your new CD. Many thanks! I've been more of a side-man for others, on lapsteel and slide-guitar over the years so didn't concentrate on my own recordings, or my own lineup [...]
BASEQ Memberships – How-To Create Your Profile
The BASEQ webiste has the ability for members to update their personal information, and to create a profile (that could be useful to for musicians in promotion). To do so needs to ensure the members can log in. If you signed up as a BASEQ member via the website, you will already have created your login email address and password. You can skip the first part of these instructions. Some BASEQ supporters, however, have taken out BASEQ membership by not using the website sign-up. These instructions will [...]