Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast

Adam 'Tidy' Burney interview

• Neil Warren • Season 1 • Episode 44

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Adam Burney joins me on episode 44. 
Adam is a south London boy, from Croydon. A stint playing with the punk bands of this area has helped shape his sound with an edge of Blues punk, including in his own band, The Brothers of Mothershovel. 
A big fan of pre-war style of harmonica, Adam has incorporated these techniques into a style which fits into a modern band. Characterised by a rhythmic driving sound which is infectiously danceable.
Adam has recorded some notable tv sessions including some harmonica used in the BBC TV Doctor Who series.
Adam’s latest album ‘Tidy’s Blues Sandwich’ is more of a full-on blues album, recorded with some of the great players currently on London blues scene.

Links:
Tidy's Blues Sandwich album:
https://tidysbluessandwich.bandcamp.com/releases

The Brothers of Mothershovel Bandcamp page:
https://thebrothersofmothershovel.bandcamp.com

Brothers of Mothershovel: Umcha, Umcha album review by Richard Taylor: http://www.harpsurgery.com/umcha-umcha-brothers-of-mothershovel/

Videos:

Hovel Bop video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AhvIwtrH0

Make The Tea/On The Run Again from latest album:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LCYqy7LxQWI&feature=share

Harpin' By The Sea workshop on Noah Lewis:
https://youtu.be/pbV21VF-yOw

Return of Jerome:
https://youtu.be/zxhgT9P9wjo

Wolfie Witcher documentary:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=135_abFUQfk&feature=share

PCP - Let The Fun Begin:
https://youtu.be/xD3lZpDTAqs

Keith Turner and Southern Sound rehearsal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDADnebDAO0


Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com  or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
and Blows Me Away Productions: http://www.blowsmeaway.com/

Support the show

SPEAKER_00:

Adam Burney joins you on episode 44. Adam is a South London boy from Croydon. A stint playing with the punk bands of this area has helped shape his sound with an edge of blues punk, including his own band the Brothers of Mothershovel. A big fan of pre-war style harmonica, Adam has incorporated these techniques into a style which fits into a modern band, characterised by a rhythmic driving sound which is infectiously danceable. Adam has recorded some notable TV sessions, including some harmonica in the BBC TV Doctor Who series. Adam's latest album, Tidy's Blue Sandwich, is more of a full-on blues album, recorded with some of the great players currently on the London blues scene.

UNKNOWN:

MUSIC

SPEAKER_00:

Hello, Adam Tidy-Burney and welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_02:

Hello, Neil. Thank you very much for having me on your podcast. I've been enjoying your series.

SPEAKER_00:

So on your name, first of all, so you have this stage name of Tidy. Where does that come from? Does that relate to your harmonica playing at all?

SPEAKER_02:

That'd be

SPEAKER_00:

nice,

SPEAKER_02:

but no, it doesn't. It stems back from when I moved out of home, lived with a couple of mates. It stems from a Harry Enfield smashy and nicey sketch when they referred to Noel Edmonds as Noel Tidybeard. I had a beard going on at the time and it wasn't even Tidy, but they just picked up on it And then I've never been able to shake it off. And now I've decided to run with it. Brilliant. Inspired by

SPEAKER_00:

Noel Edmonds. You must be the first harmonica player. So you're from, you're a sort of South London boy from Croydon. That's correct. Yeah. But what was it like growing up around Croydon and what got you into music and the harmonica?

SPEAKER_02:

I remember getting

SPEAKER_00:

music,

SPEAKER_02:

early music memories, getting into Elvis, really. I got into Elvis from a very young age. And then that sort of sent me into rock and roll, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, Chuck Berry. And then me and my brother, we had... We used to get these tapes made for Spire. We got older cousins, but they were a bit older than us. They were teenagers at the time. And they used to do us these mixtapes and they used to put a great mix of rock and roll stuff on there. But they'd also put a lot of punk, new wave and rock music. And on that, on one of the tapes, there was a three, I think three, nine below zero track. And it was the sound of Mark Felton just grabbed and shook me. And that was it really. That's made me get on a bus into Croydon and buy

SPEAKER_00:

a home marine band. Brilliant. Yes, of course, Mark Felton has been on podcast a fantastic player and has inspired a lot of players particularly in Britain yes I should imagine yeah do you remember those tracks on that on that tape which

SPEAKER_02:

uh which inspired you I think it's one way street I think it was three times enough and it might have been I'm in a doghouse

SPEAKER_00:

so

SPEAKER_02:

But the sound, yes, and it still grabs me, especially when I hear Mark Felton playing. And then from there, my dad had all these old blues records. And from there, he had Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, and he had a 10-inch of Sonny Boy Williamson I, a fantastic cover, had a Mellow Chick swing on it, probably put the kettle on, Dealing With The Devil. And also he had a Leadbelly one with Sonny Terry playing. It's still, I love Sonny Terry and it was, I think, one of my favourite Sonny Terry recordings and Ain't You Glad and Good Morning Blues.

UNKNOWN:

MUSIC PLAYS

SPEAKER_02:

good morning and of course Muddy Waters and Little Water as well we had some Little Water singles so I dug all those out played them and then that set me off really

SPEAKER_00:

yeah great it's a similar story I think isn't it you hear some harmonica on a sort of more popular record or in your case you know sort of Nine Below Zero record and then you sort of dig into the past and in all those harmonica greats some of which you mentioned there so what sort of age were you when you started playing harmonica I was 13 when I bought my first harmonica and what did you say that was a marine band

SPEAKER_02:

yeah it would have been I remember I went to a little shop in Croydon, and I remember he had one of those puffers. He put the harmonica through the puffer to make sure it was all working, and it was in the old box. I just liked playing it immediately. I really enjoyed the feeling of it, really, and I was off. I just stopped. I just enjoyed making a noise on it to start with, and I didn't know about keys, so I put on the Sonny Boy Williamson 2 record, and sometimes it sounded a bit better than others. I had no idea about different keys and stuff like that, but I think that was probably quite a common problem as well for a players of that generation.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's very different nowadays, isn't it, with the internet and being able to find all this information around. The question I ask quite a lot is, what do you think about the difference between then and now about the way that our generation learns and nowadays?

SPEAKER_02:

It's incredible, especially when you're looking on Facebook. The standard is incredible, players these days, and it must be attributed to all those great teachers out there. But I'm quite happy with the way I learn. I like learning things myself and getting it wrong, and I wouldn't change that. I like the trial and error way of doing it. How I practice now is exactly how I practiced when I started, really. I put on the old records and you try and keep up. And the more you listen to those classic records, the more you hear, the more you discover, the more you find. And I still find that exciting. If I listen to Little Walter and Sonny Boy or Sonny Terry in 15 years' time, I'm going to hear more different stuff. And I still find that exciting. So I've no plans to change.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think there's a lot of good and bad, isn't there? Obviously these days there's loads of resources and it's brilliant. There's lots of online teachers, loads of online resources to learn from. So that's great. But I think there's some things to be said, isn't there, for sort of that learning yourself. I think you've just got to find what's good for you

SPEAKER_02:

and everyone's got different ways. So like some people learn scales and that's good for them, but I don't think that would work for me. It's what works for you, isn't it? I think as an individual player,

SPEAKER_00:

really. And so you started playing at 13. So what was your journey then? Did you start playing with a friend or did getting to your first band well my

SPEAKER_02:

brother called my brother's a couple years younger than me and he took up guitar lessons so we used to make it's definitely the roots of the brothers of Mother Shovel there we used to make a lot of noise in our bedroom so that was my first playing with anyone else probably about 17 I think I did a bit of a school band as well when we did covers I did play bass for that and I used to play get the harmonica out for a couple of songs and then I joined another covers band playing bass as well and did the same first band I joined I think it was my first pub gig was a band called the CB Blues Band and it was led by an old fellow called Colin Bannigan. He was a boogie-woogie pianist, and he'd been around in the 60s. I think he played with all the old guys back then, I think Alexis Corner and that generation. Yeah, and he was good, and it was a good little band. We played in First Bubbing Croyd and a few gigs up in Greyhorse in Kingston. And that was very good, yeah, and I just really loved it. I just loved playing in a band. I think I've always been in a band since of some form.

UNKNOWN:

MUSIC PLAYS Thank you.

SPEAKER_02:

went in this year and just did a live recording and I also did a duet with Colin he was playing piano we did a harmonica and piano duet recordings as well but I'm not sure where that is probably on a tape somewhere it was probably I don't know how probably it was about 18 then I think

SPEAKER_00:

you mentioned there your your own band is called the Brothers of Mother Shovel when did that band form

SPEAKER_02:

that was way about 2004 2005 I think when we formed the Brothers of Mother Shovel when I was living at home my brother Dan he got into hardcore punk. So he liked Fugazi, Husker Du, And he liked The Clash and all the punk bands, you know, English punk bands. He used to practice downstairs, almighty noise coming from downstairs in the living room with his bass and drums. I wanted to join in and they let me join in. And it could work. The tunes they were doing, the harmonica could work well. So I think that was definitely the roots of the Brothers and Mother Shovel. Then he had a band called Wogan's Wig. They did a couple of gigs. And then after that, we formed another band. Well, I'll spell it for you. We were called ARSE. That was, again, it was sort of punky with a bit of blues feel but it's always a bit of a punk it's punky edge and then we become munch then with the human z's and then we became the brothers and mother shovel it's always with my brother really

SPEAKER_00:

yeah and you play this as you mentioned that you play this kind of form of blues punk almost in a way it's kind of raucous and uh and rootsy and this kind of punk feel about it as well so uh and also that's sort of similar to nine below zero as well is that something you drew some inspiration from

SPEAKER_02:

oh most definitely yeah i always like the fact mark felt and whatever you chuck at him he can play over the top and he always sounds like Mark Felton and he always sounds good and that was always very inspiring but yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

What does the name Brothers of Mother Shovel mean?

SPEAKER_02:

We had a song called Give Me a Shovel and I like the word shovel and we had a bit of a brainstorming and we come up with that as a sort of ended up that as a name. It hasn't really got a meaning but we have you know we've got a mythical character Mother Shovel and we've used her in our video.

SPEAKER_00:

And your brother your brother's in this band so the brothers is it comes from that?

SPEAKER_02:

A little bit yeah yes yeah I think so and the other fellas we yeah we just we like to give it a family feel the band

SPEAKER_00:

and you got this image which is a sort of mentioned South London sort of image to it you know you're wearing bowler hats you know you're kind of some great videos you've made with that band which are quite often on you know kind of around the streets of Croydon or South London and then you know sort of going on commuting on the train and so you've sort of gone for that sort of South London feel to the videos that you make in the image

SPEAKER_02:

yeah we like the bowler hats we're always Law and Hardy fans bowler hats perhaps comes from there yeah we're very fortunate that some of those videos you're talking about were made by three different people and they're all friends of the band and they're all very talented and they they did the business for us so we're very lucky

SPEAKER_00:

yeah no it's a brilliant image and i'll put some links on to uh some of the videos that you've made with that band and uh they're fantastic videos well i really love the the hobble bot video which has got this this sort of giant bowler hat that you're all running underneath

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think that's the favourite of many, I think, the Hovel Bot one, yeah. Yeah, and a great tune as well. It did. I don't think the people of Croydon didn't look too

SPEAKER_00:

impressed when we were making it. We had a good time. Yeah, yeah, I bet you did, yeah. And before then, you played with a band called Keith Turner and the Southern Sound.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I think there was another band. I was in Wild and Fancy. That was... That was probably one of my most busy bands I've ever been in. We had a double bass player, Rockabilly, and a brilliant Alan Higgins on slide guitar and guitar vocals, and Matt Davis on double bass. And we used to busk in Croydon, Sutton, Bromley. And we used to, you know, in those days you could get more gigs. So we were getting sometimes three gigs a week. And that was a good little sound because we didn't have a drummer. So I've certainly worked on my rhythmical playing with those fellas. And after that, I think we probably split up in the early 90s. And after that, I was more into sort of the punk band in another punk band in Croydon called PCP Punk Start sort of type band and then I wasn't really in blues bands for a while really and then yeah but the Southern Sound it certainly got me back into playing blues Were

SPEAKER_00:

you playing harmonica with these sort of punk bands? Oh yeah all the time yeah always harmonica yeah So how would you describe punk harmonica then? How did you approach that?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah all I've ever practised to are the old blues guys really and that's the sort of style I play I just found it easy to put into this music that we come up with really especially when you've got someone like Sonny Terry the energy he's got is you know that's perfect for punk music with energy and isn't it really so it wasn't I didn't find that difficult the other music at Harmonica I really like is the old 1920s players and the Wizards from there all their trains and their big sounds they used to get that energy as well i found i could incorporate into these bands i was playing with

SPEAKER_00:

yeah and uh because you did a workshop at the uk event harping by the sea so you uh you did some tracks of noah lewis and he played with a cannon jug stompers yes

SPEAKER_02:

one of my favorite players noah lewis and aside from his harmonica there's so much to learn about being in a band and how to play in a band and when to lay off and how to embellish songs and how to help them along and then and how to come up front and do your solo and he's playing really shapes those those recordings he did back in the 30s. And it's not dissimilar to what Little Walter did in Muddy Walter's band. It's that being a good band player, really, backing up and, yeah, and helping the song, giving it colour and shape and form. So, yeah, definitely a big influence on me, especially with these bands I was in, in the sort of 90s and early 2000s.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, those pre-war players, they're very technically very good, aren't they? And they do some things that are, you know, less orthodox than we're used to with the sort of 1950s blues. You know, there are some similarities, but they play a lot of topical music. top-end stuff, some fast runs, some technical moves. You know, what is it about, you think about the style of those players and, you know, the difference of later?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I mean, it was like D4 Bailey, if you hear his playing, he sounds like a whole band he's knocking out on his harmonica. And that's always been a big influence for me. And a lot of those players were like that, very orchestral, those players on those

SPEAKER_03:

records. MUSIC PLAYS The End

SPEAKER_02:

It's the same for the guitarists. You go into different areas, they were playing different things, weren't they? Different tunings and harmonica players in different areas had their own style and different sound. So I think it was more variety because probably there was less communication wasn't available then, was it? So there was definitely more variety on those 1920 players. And I suppose when records come out, people would be copying players on the records and it's a bit more of a uniform sound, perhaps. I think it was magical about those 1920 players. Yeah, incredible. First Positions, Jay Bird, Coleman, Al Watson I've been listening to. Incredible players.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think you're right. I think absolutely that, isn't it? They didn't have the basis to sort of copy other players and they sort of come up with their own sound very uniquely, don't they? Which is what's really nice about them.

SPEAKER_02:

Sonny Terry, I think he's a classic example of that, really. What you hear, you know it's him immediately when you hear that sound coming.

SPEAKER_00:

So do you do any solo pieces yourself based on that pre-war style?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I do practice along to those and I try and play them. I notice when it comes to songwriting, I write songs on the harmonica completely on the harmonica really once I've got it I'm happy with it I chuck it at the band especially with the Brothers of Mother Shovel I throw it to them and then we'd knock it into you know into the Brothers of Mother Shovel song really and because they've got different influences I might take it somewhere else and I've always liked that I've never been too precious with what I've come up with and it's good to hear it go somewhere else perhaps because the Brothers of Mother Shovel the guys in the back they're not all they like blues but they're not they've got other tastes as well and it goes somewhere else perhaps

SPEAKER_00:

So when you're writing songs on harmonica how do you approach that you're coming up with a melody on harmonica or you and then putting some lyrics to that and then playing what sort of fills between the lyrics or how do you approach that

SPEAKER_02:

well normally it's just the tune really and i practice a lot i'm praying i'm walking around potting around or i'm walking down the street and you stumble across a riff and oh i like that and then you play it and then you're naturally you might just go somewhere else with it and then sometimes it takes longer than others sometimes it'll come quickly but yeah that's how i do it really i just stumble across them a lot of the time the risk because you're playing so much and something you say sometimes quicker than others sometimes it'd be a it It might be a couple of years. I'll patiently wait till something else fits in with what I've come up with.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, the style of a lot of your songs you play, you know, you play sort of quite hard driven. We talked about this punky edge, you know, this kind of quite repetitive licks, which really drive the energy of the sound, don't they? That sort of approach to your music.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, definitely. Yeah, yeah. I like that. Yeah. Trying to get the groove, really, trying to get a good groove on.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it certainly gives them a lot of energy, yeah, definitely. It makes them really effective sounding, yeah. So again, back to the Brothers of Mothershowers. This is your main band, yeah, and you released your first album in 2014, Lay Back and Think of Croydon.

SPEAKER_02:

That's correct, yeah. What about that title then? Well, yeah, we had to try and put Croydon on the map. That was a live, we did that live, that album, which I enjoyed. There's a couple of overdubs here and there, because the violinist, he's a brilliant violinist, but he did the drumming, he's a brilliant drummer. Sometimes when we do gigs, he does both. For that recording, I think he did some overdubs with his violin. So that was a live recording, yeah. So at that time, we were very home, we were doing lots of gigs, so it was quite nice doing a live recording.

SPEAKER_00:

So it was live in the studio? That's correct, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you say, a lot of fiddle on there, and it's great, very effective with the harmonica, the fiddling. I do like the sound. of it together. I quite like playing tunes and lots of people are interested in harmonica playing, fiddle tunes and that sort of things on harmonica. So is that something you're interested in and that's bringing the fiddle in? Because you don't tend to play fiddle tunes, I don't think, too much yourself, do you, on the songs?

SPEAKER_02:

No, no. Brother Dan, he had a friend, Johan, who's a man on the violin and he says, he just invited him round for one, we went regularly practice just in the kitchen and he turned up one and it was spooky because he just joined in as if because they're all our own songs but he just joined in as if he's been playing with us for years really he just intuitively knew where to go and the next week he'd come along he'd play the same songs and he'd play them completely different but it would still work he was he's a superb musician he's listening to what I'm playing and he'd always I would lead and he'd play behind me but he was he's a brilliant player and it's great having him there it helps you play better of course if you've got someone like that doing that

SPEAKER_00:

behind you no yes great yeah and again it definitely gives it that Americana take edge of that album yeah it wasn't intentional it just happened

SPEAKER_02:

really but as soon as he turned up we thought well he's got to stay with us so

SPEAKER_00:

And a song which is really characteristic of the sound, certainly the Brothers and Mother Shovel Band, is this Shovel Pop. Is that where you, you know, the first of this type where you're playing this, you know, as I mentioned, this kind of really infectious sound, you know, quite repetitive riffs. You've got sort of phrases that you're speaking in the background as sort of, you know, as behind it as well. And that's a sort of really characteristic sound of the band, isn't it? Shovel Pop, that was based on Dr. Ross,

SPEAKER_02:

I Feel So Good. But we couldn't quite get it, so we just did our... her own thing with it really but it was based on the dr ross track fantastic player so

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah,

SPEAKER_02:

that's the thing I think people forget about blues really. Really, it's dance music and that's what the original form, that's what it was for and the slow ones were just to give the musicians a bit of a break but they played for people to dance to and you can hear that with Dotter Ross and yeah, it's great. It's a great groove and great killer riffs. Big

SPEAKER_00:

influence, yeah. And talking about your songwriting, did you So you write... what most, if not all the songs, there's quite a lot of them are instrumental, aren't they? But with, and then some of them have these kind of like almost spoken parts by you, haven't they?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

What about that? You know, that, that sort of your approach to singing those and them in those kind of almost kind of spoken parts

SPEAKER_03:

to them.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I clean my

SPEAKER_02:

head down. I'm not really a singer as such. If I come up with lyrics I'm happy with, use them with conviction, it works okay, I think. And that's what I tend to do. Yeah, and obviously talking. I like the fact that talking on records is good. Yeah, one of my earliest, just after Elvis, was Ian Durian. When I heard him, I can remember seeing him on Top of the Pops and I was absolutely blown away by him. And also another fella who I should mention is when we were younger, we used to go and see Wolfie Witcher and his brewing Camden used to play Saturday afternoon, one o'clock till five. Fantastic harmonica man, fantastic performer and great comedian as well. His band used to play blues, ska, New Orleans, R&B, Otis Redding tracks, and Wolfie, underneath all the clowning, his harmonica was a brilliant, soulful player. And he'd be playing along to Otis Redding tracks perfectly, but a great, great player. But he sang in a London accent as well, which was, it was refreshing really. He sang in his own voice. Definitely an Yeah,

SPEAKER_00:

and I think the sound you get with the band is, you know, you talk about blues being important, you've always played to blues, but it definitely has that modern sound to it. It doesn't really sound like necessarily just a blues. You'd have thought it'd be quite commercially appealing as well. You know, it does sound almost poppy in a way, doesn't it? And it's a really good use of the harmonica in that

SPEAKER_03:

setting.

UNKNOWN:

. Woo-hoo!

SPEAKER_02:

try yeah and so there's a lot of influences it wasn't just a blues influence me and my brother always like the who and we like punk and everything really and and scar and you know we just like all sorts of music really so we did you know try and incorporate whatever we could really it was without being too contrived about it i think we just wanted to see what

SPEAKER_00:

happens with it

SPEAKER_02:

really

SPEAKER_00:

in 2017 you released another uh album um yeah just five tracks on this one but yeah another one from the the brothers of mother shovel and uh some great some really good lyrics on this one so um for example you talk about Oxbridge Chumps which is talking about how certainly in the Britain how all the top jobs go to all the people who've been to all the private schools yeah so there's some political comment in that

SPEAKER_01:

one Oxbridge Chumps

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, Bubba Dan wrote that one. Yeah, yeah. I think they're great lyrics, actually. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And then you've got Brian, which he's also got some righteous lyrics about. Is that inspired by the life of Brian, the Monty Python film? It is. That's my brother

SPEAKER_02:

again. He wrote those lyrics. Yeah, that is definitely... Yeah, it's inspired by Brian.

SPEAKER_00:

But you're doing all the singing on the album.

SPEAKER_02:

No, my brother, he sang... brian and he sang uh oxbridge okay and i yeah i think i sang the other tunes on that on that cd yeah

SPEAKER_00:

yeah so so a good one and and shell life another one with a great sort of overdriven sound on the

SPEAKER_02:

harmonic so I think all my harmonica on that is acoustic. It's all recorded in my brother's house. What we did on a few of those, we doubled up the harmonica because I do a few takes and then we think, hang on, if we put them together, that sounds good. So there was a bit of that going on. It's not too much effect, but we did double up a bit on the harmonica. It wasn't alive at all. We did that for people doing their different parts. I mean, they could really, you know, it's not always easy. People got jobs and families, but we got around to it. And yeah, my brother did a great job mixing it. And also, yeah, really pleased with that album. That was the one we sent to Richard at the heart surgery. He does a really good review of it on his website. I'll put a link for that great because we you know as all bands do we sent the cd off and i sent it to richard taylor down at his harp surgery he went crazy for it it was great it was really nice and he wrote a cracking review he really i think he really got a suss with that review and that led us to playing at the harping by the sea which is yeah i think the band all agree it was our favorite gig was played at harping by the sea with um with victor piotas and roy mcleod that was a great night for us

SPEAKER_00:

i mean what about the that you know the value of making albums and you know getting yourself some exposure and it leading on to to other things It's difficult, but at the end of the day, we

SPEAKER_02:

enjoy doing it. And that was the most important thing. And we've got that CD done and we've got the videos done.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, as much as anything, getting it down is good. But it does give you a certain, well, it gives you something to send out as demos, if nothing else, doesn't it as well? But, you know, making albums quite often isn't cheap, is it? And, you know, you've got to take the time and effort to do it as well. That's right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, great to get them down. But yeah, I think more and more people are having to make their own. And it's, you know, it costs quite a lot. It can cost quite a lot of money. So, yeah, it's interesting. the value of CD or albums these days. Yeah, yeah. Okay, and then you released a sort of single with them as well, Can't Catch Me.

SPEAKER_03:

Can't Catch Me

SPEAKER_00:

that off one of the existing albums or did you record that again

SPEAKER_02:

again that was we I think there's two versions that we did it on the first album as live and then again my brother did it at his house yeah we just took a bit of time with that and yeah it's nice I like both versions actually they're both different it was a good job I think it was a bit more layered and we got a friend another friend of ours Alan to sing because I tried singing it and we knew we'd been in band with Alan before and it got him to do the business

SPEAKER_00:

yeah and you did some other singles you released so Return of Jerome Return of Jerome was that

SPEAKER_02:

was part when I joined the Southern Sound there's a record shop in West Wiccan called Rolling Records run by Steve Willis he had a word with Wayne Hopkins double bass player to tell him to put a band together Wayne's he's a very experienced double bass player been on the rockabilly and rock and roll scene for years and he picked these players he put a band together so he had me On harmonica, we had Ian Dollar Bill. Check out his one-man band stuff. Dollar Bill was fantastic. He was on drums. Tony D'Avolo, superb guitarist, who was on my last album. And Andy Wren, who's another great guitarist. And Wayne on bass. And he put his band together and we did an album as a sub and sound. And then Steve wanted me to put out a single as well. So that's where Return of Jerome came from. It was based on Bring It To Jerome. I was trying to do that, but again, couldn't quite nail it. So we sort of changed it around a bit. and in the studio and we yeah and come out with slightly different sort of yeah a song of its own really

SPEAKER_00:

yeah no it's great and again i implore everybody listening to check out the video to this so i'll again i'll put a link on the front of the podcast page so uh the video is great as i mentioned it's recorded at a train station and you've got your baller hat on you and you're there playing on monica and the great thing is dancing ted people have got to watch that video to check out dancing ted it tells about dancing ted yeah jerry's

SPEAKER_02:

his name jerry brill he's fantastic i was playing in that video i could hear and wheezing and struggling for breath as he was busting his moves. But he did a fantastic job there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's great. So explain to people. So he's on a train station, this kind of commuter sort of feel about it. And this guy comes along looking on disapprovingly as Adam is there playing the harmonica and singing. And then he sort of, as the song goes through, he can't help but start dancing to the song and he busts some great moves, doesn't he? So it's a great watch that video. Yeah. You've got to watch it. Yeah, I love the video. Yeah. And then you just released an album. You just put an album together in last year, in 2021. So this is called Tidy's Blue Sandwich. Was that recorded before the pandemic started or during it? No, no. I

SPEAKER_02:

always fancied doing what I've done with the Brothers Mother, coming up with songs and throwing them at a more blues-based band to see what happens, really. So it was a similar sort of thing to the Brothers Mother Shuffle. I got my songs and I chucked them at these fellows I've seen. Tony Dive, who I've mentioned before, we hit it off... immediately when we play together. He's a fantastic guitarist, very creative, and we always play well together. So I wanted Tony on board. I've got Marco Bruno, who I've started playing with in the last few years. Again, get on very well with personally and musically. I've done a few gigs with him. He's great, very good blues guitarist. And I wanted them, it would be good to get them together. And there's a drummer, Loris Peverani, a fantastic drummer. I've seen him around, played with Steve West and Jake Vegas, great player. And Orlando Shearer, another someone I've seen in the last few years on the sort of blues scene in London fantastic double bass pass I thought if I get these guys together I chuck my songs at them let's see what happens and that's what I did I recorded them I had the songs up my sleeve I recorded them on my phone and then I just put them you know put them on whatsapp because it was the pandemic and the restrictions we couldn't rehearse really so put the studio dates and we went in rehearsed them the songs then laid them down so two sessions two day sessions and we did four songs on each day I was really very happy of how it went the guys were brilliant really

SPEAKER_00:

yeah and like you say you got together some of the great players off the London Blues scene.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Are you aiming to have a separate band of Brothers of Mother's Shoveler or is that just a one-off?

SPEAKER_02:

Long before the pandemic started, we went into lockdown, really. We decided to hibernate. It was getting a bit difficult for us all to practice every week. And we just decided to knock the gigs on the head and just get together occasionally for social. We have been doing, we do a once a year kids charity event at the Oval Pub in Croydon, which we have great fun. We do a lot of silly games and we might get another artist to play. And we always play about five o'clock in the afternoon so we can play for the kids. And that's become quite a regular thing now for us. And we're hopefully we'll get it going again next year. So we don't want to split up. We'll keep it going. But hopefully we tie these blues sandwich, the name of the band. I'm looking to try and get gigs with that outfit. Definitely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and as you say, it's definitely got a bit more of a blues feel about it. Like you say, those guys definitely blues players with it. And you did an album launch in the Oval Pub in Croydon in July. That's right. Yeah, and so a few of the songs in there. So you've got Mudball Mooch.

UNKNOWN:

Mudball Mooch

SPEAKER_03:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

It's definitely a sort of Little Walter sounding song. It's certainly the most Little Walter I've heard you playing. Is that something you did a bit with trying to get a Little Walter type instrumental?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I worked all that whole song out. It's not unlike Little Walter. He would have just played everything off the cuff, trying to give it a big band feel, trying to sort of always like big bands and count Basie. I wanted to try and give that sort of feel to the song as well. And I can't deny the other influence on that track is two of my sort of favourite players, Paul Lamb and Steve West Western, definitely an influence of them on there, try and take what you can from these great players. You've got a song called A Nod to Noah. So is that Noah Lewis? Yeah, that is definitely us. It's got two ways. I've got my boys called Noah as well, and he's a teenager. So sometimes we communicate just by nods these days. So there's a little bit of that, but it's also, I play a bit from Devil in the Woodpile. I sort of mix that into the, and also the main riff, I didn't actually, the main riff of it as well, I was listening to Springdale Blues and he just plays it. which I use as a main riff. So yeah, it's definitely influenced by his playing.

UNKNOWN:

Hey, hey!

SPEAKER_02:

And it will start

SPEAKER_00:

aiming for a bit of occasion feel on that as well. Yeah, yeah, it's good stuff. And then you do these, we touched on them a little bit, you do this hip-hop song, which, you know, you've done a few songs like this. We mentioned the hobble bop and you play this sort of style of, you know, what you would call kind of bop harmonica. You know, what's your approach to that? And, you know, how would you describe that style?

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

It's got to come from Sonny Terry and those 1920 players, again, because they're just playing on their own, really, holding the rhythms. I sort of work off a rhythm, get the rhythm going, and you can work the riff off the rhythm. I think that's what I do there. Yeah, and if you put it on top of a band, it's great. You can go places.

SPEAKER_00:

They're very infectious songs. I really love those songs. And I think, you know, it's kind of a unique sound to your playing that, not jazz bop, is it? But it's this kind of, you know, dancey type. Yeah, yeah. Rhythmical sort of bop playing, isn't it? Yeah. Use it to dance to, I guess you'd say. Yeah, well, that's, yeah, that's hopefully yeah that's that's the aim yeah and you've also got uh chad strength singing a couple of songs so he's a singer who sings with paul lamb yeah

SPEAKER_02:

chad was fantastic yeah that day yeah because i my vocals i thought for a whole album might be pushing it a bit because me and my brother used to take turns so i think the songs i chose for him it wouldn't work so well i think the songs i sing on this yeah i think i'm happy with the ones i i do sing on but those songs it needed it needed someone like chad to do the business and he certainly did he i sent him the songs on tape he breezed into the studio and and he just knocked them out perfectly. And it was really nice to hear you're singing my lyrics. And he sort of owns the lyrics. He was brilliant.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, he's got a great voice as well, hasn't he? So great to get

SPEAKER_02:

him on. He sings anything. Whatever he sings, he sounds like Chad, and he's fantastic.

SPEAKER_03:

¶¶¶¶

SPEAKER_00:

So you recorded this at the studio, this Buffalo recording studio, yeah?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it was good. Yeah, we had a great engineer. He was a very laid-back guy. Yeah, it was a nice feel to the place. We did it live. It's mainly live. There were a couple of overdubs. I wanted it to be live, quite like any imperfections. I think there's nothing wrong with them sometimes. I mentioned Ian Dollarbill. He mixed it for us as well, and when I sent it to him, it was bleed from all the instruments. He worked wonders, yeah, and I think it does give it an old sound, really. I'm really happy with that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think a lot of people approach blues albums by doing it in that live sort of way don't they and obviously it's more efficient time wise in the studio to do it that way of course because you can kind of play your songs as you as you've been rehearsing them that's right yeah yeah got a great feel about it as you say and um any particular you know setup on that i use with the harmonica for that album again no it's just into

SPEAKER_02:

my friend the basement and my bulletini mic yeah that's that's all i wanted really and i think yeah and i did a couple acoustic ones as well so

SPEAKER_00:

and so the album put it you haven't put it on streaming platforms but it's available i think on your bandcamp.com sides to it yeah I've just put it on we put it on

SPEAKER_02:

Bandcamp this week yeah I think I probably will get around to Spotify at one point yeah and I've got it on CD as well

SPEAKER_00:

yeah so people want to support you and buy the album or in CD form or online tracks from Bandcamp I'll put links on to that so they can check that out so but yeah certainly get some samples on Bandcamp yeah no it's a great album really a lot of fun as well and oh good glad you liked it so we'll touch on a few of the other people you play with you mentioned Marco Buono there is an Italian guy who plays a around London. You've been doing some gigs with him and you also played one of his albums, didn't you? It was called Acoustic Escapes a few years ago.

UNKNOWN:

.........

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah,

SPEAKER_02:

Marco, yeah, he's a great guy to play with. We get on well. He loves his blues guitar and he likes, you can tell he's studied the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s players. And yeah, we work well together. Just got one gig coming today, so hopefully more gigs with him.

SPEAKER_00:

Cool. And so you played with a few other bands as well, you know, through the years. So you've played with the Swaggots.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That's got another one with a great video on the chain gang building a sort of train line going up as well. The 525 Express, a sort of a train feel about it. My brother did that video. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

That was based on a record by the Soul Agents, I think they're called. An organ beat group from the 60s. Great, great record. And we, yeah, we based it on that. So were you just invited to, you know, to record on their album? No, that's, again, that's part of Rolling Records. And Wayne Hopkins, a double bass player, we put this, Steve Willis wanted us to put a band together who he chooses the records to do, and he chose Low Rider. We did a version of that as well, a sort of rockabilly, rocking version of Low Rider, the war song.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, a great one, yeah. I had Lee Oscar on and talked about Low Rider with him, yeah, so a great riff for the harmonica there. And another one you play with PCP, Let the Fun Begin, a really sort of hard-driving pop song, this one.

UNKNOWN:

MUSIC PLAYS

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that was back in the 90s. That was with some fellows who lived in Croydon. They'd seen me playing with Wild and Frantic, the blues band I was in, and a fella called John Bishop, very talented guy. He thought it'd be good to get some harmonica on some track, and he put a band together. Yeah, great fun playing gigs, a lot of jumping around on stage. I think Let the Fun Begin was probably, that was one of my first songs I wrote, and I pitched it to the band, and then John and the rest of the guys, you know, took it somewhere else. It probably wasn't how I envisioned it in my head, but yeah, I love what they did with it. And again, if you hear that riff, it's probably what you're talking about. the bop harmonica really it's a little bit of that in there the rhythm

SPEAKER_00:

and recently I've seen you you play with a band called the Riffs who are a ska and reggae band that's right I've just recently joined that band

SPEAKER_02:

and they've been around since I think 1989 they formed they had a sax player who unfortunately couldn't play with them anymore and they fancied a change so they I'd known the drummer I'd done recording with a drummer back in the 90s and they said let's try it with harmonica so they chucked me about 22 I think 20 songs and I've had to it's been great fun learning because I've had to learn try and learn all the sax parts i've done one gig with them we've got a few more gigs in the diary so yeah i'm looking forward to working more with them and it's good as well because i've some of their songs a lot of minor songs so i've been chance to play some third position and and play my you know second position but minor you know the minor notes

SPEAKER_00:

yeah that's good so you got more you've got more gigs with these guys playing yeah yeah on reggae yeah that's great stuff yeah yeah how do you feel that for people who were you know looking to get out playing and maybe join some bands for the first time you know how would you advise that it sounds like you've done it is you know you've gone out playing pay basically people have seen you play you've got to know other musicians and that's led on to other things is that is that what you'd uh how you'd say

SPEAKER_02:

yeah it's a bit worrying now isn't it i'm just looking at croydon in the 90s when i was playing regularly it was about 10 venues you could play yeah and now in croydon it's just the oval really that you can play and it's that's the way it is for everyone every town isn't it and probably not just in this country as well and it's music it seems to be on a sort of downward trajectory with a little bit live gig situation before pandemic we've just got to see what happened you're hoping that people are going to want live music when it gets back to normal again.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think we're all interested in the impacts of the pandemic, aren't we? As you say, music was, you know, there was less live venues before and there's probably less now. Yeah. But we're all sort of hoping there's going to be a great appetite for live music, you know, as people start going out more and enjoying, you know, appreciate the live music maybe more than they did before. Appreciate what they were missing. Yeah, I mean, I certainly know in Reading, I used to have a regular monthly gig in a place in Reading and that place currently has not reopened so that's like another one which is one of the yeah you know not many pubs which had live music which yeah that's another one bites the dust there's definitely worries there um but yeah let's uh well we keep plugging away yeah see what happens well yeah you gotta keep playing you gotta keep so uh so you've done some uh some interesting session work so on uk tv and i'm probably known around the world is uh you've you've done a session for doctor who

SPEAKER_02:

yes i was i think i was about 18 when i did that and well I was very lucky, really. My friend, Dominic Glynn, he'd been working on the series before. He'd done a few shows. He'd done the theme tune. He'd done incidental music. The character in that series, The Happiness Patrol, one of the characters was a harmonica player, but the fellow couldn't play the harmonica. So, fortunately, Dominic got me... yeah it was a great experience yeah because i had to try and sink it in over the you know i was watching it and sinking it in and also did some backing music as well yeah a really enjoyable experience yeah

SPEAKER_00:

Brilliant. So

SPEAKER_02:

did you get

SPEAKER_00:

to go to the BBC studios and everything for that? No, no, it was all done in Dominic's studio at his house. Oh, still great. And is that just in one episode of Doctor Who?

SPEAKER_02:

The Happiness Patrol, it might have been three episodes or four, I can't remember now, but it was used throughout the harmonica. It was different bits of music that Dominic composed and I played along with as well in the backing. And

SPEAKER_00:

yeah, and you're paid by seconds. Do you still get royalties from that? Occasionally I get a check, yeah. Oh, brilliant, yeah. And you also played on another really popular UK show called Red Dwarf. Yeah,

SPEAKER_02:

it

SPEAKER_00:

was a great show. get that was with Dominic

SPEAKER_02:

again that's a sort of Sonny Terry house music

SPEAKER_00:

brilliant yeah so yeah great to be in a really popular show certainly here in the UK so question I ask each time is if you had 10 minutes to practice what would you spend those 10 minutes doing what I personally I

SPEAKER_02:

don't know if this is good advice but what I what I like to do for my own well-being is if I've got 10 minutes I think well I could get a Noah Lewis tune in there I'll put that tune on try and play along with that I'll put a Sonny Terry one on and then I'll probably put two Little Walter ones on and then once I've done that it's almost like praying really i've done that and i feel good for the day then i can do what i can play and play and do what i like but i like to know that i've listened to the masters and tried to learn something off them each day really so 10 minutes i could get each track two minutes 50 i might be it might be a squeeze but four classic blues songs

SPEAKER_00:

yeah so you'll play along to four yeah four great blues songs yeah yeah yeah i think again a lot of people our generation probably did that didn't they spend a lot you know spend a lot of the time learning by playing along with records which maybe people don't do quite as much now with all the internet resources which which we touched on earlier on. So do you go to the trouble of, you know, sort of transcribing, writing stuff down, or do you just play along when you're

SPEAKER_02:

doing this? No, I'll never do that. No, I'll just play along. And if I miss it, I think, well, I'll get it next time. I don't get too bogged down in it, you know, replicating it exactly. And it's not just picking up the notes, it's picking up how they play the notes and the phrasing and the feeling. And it's so much to absorb. And, you know, as I've discovered, the older you get, you realise there's more to absorb. So it's that really. It's so much to take from each of those classics. players

SPEAKER_00:

we'll get on talking about gear now so what's your harmonicas of choice I've always liked the normal marine band

SPEAKER_02:

that's my favourite I played the crossover and the deluxe I quite like them but it's never the same and I like a marine band especially once you've broken it in a bit and you get to a sweet point definitely my favourite harmonica I went through a phase of seeing different ones and spending more money and I'd always be disappointed and I kept saying I'll never do it again and then I'd do it again but now I finally I think no I'll stick with the marine bands. They're the ones for me. Do you do anything about customising them? No, but Tim Corbett. He lives nearby and he's in a band called Gentleman Tim and the Contenders. Great harmonica player. He was around my house and he noticed I had a big bag of my old harmonicas. And he said, do you mind if I take some? So I gave him a bag. He fixed up, very kindly fixed up, I mean, one in each key. I think A, B and C, A, B flat. And he did a nice little range for me. And I must say, they were very good. And I think he started doing it. He started customising and he done a great job. Yeah. So he's worth checking out. Tim Corbett. Yeah. But I think I might contact him to get one every now and then but I think I'll always stick with the marine bands really. Do you have a favourite key of Daytonic? I like an A flat actually I'll tell you why because A flat is I just like the feel of an A flat and also it's one I have in my pocket so when I'm out walking around or in the shops I can do that I haven't been doing that recently of course with my mask but I've got it and I can play it nice and quietly and if you're playing it round the house it's not like if you're bowing an F which is probably more likely to get on people's nerves in your family don't upset them too much so it's a nice key and it's i like an a flat and also one of my favorite albums is an offer you can't refuse we bought a horton that is i think absolute best most of those tracks are in a flat that's a absolute masterpiece harmonica playing especially a harmonica amp playing as well

SPEAKER_03:

so Do

SPEAKER_00:

you play any different tunings on diatonic?

SPEAKER_02:

No, I did have, I think I had a natural mine. I did it for the brothers of Mother Shovel. It's called Abroz Cabroz. And we, yeah, that was great fun. And I really enjoy playing that, but I should play it more really. Cause I, even though the scale's different, I found my way around it quite easily when I probably dig that out again and start using it. But generally no. Second position is the one I really, I love. And that's the one I really concentrate on. But I, you know, I enjoy playing first and third as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. You know, we touched on that, you know, playing different positions. Obviously you mentioned the pre-war stuff quite a bit. a lot that's played in first position and some third position you talked about with Scarban that you need to play some third position stuff on there so yeah so what about the different positions and your approach to using them? My main confidence is definitely

SPEAKER_02:

on second position third one I like playing it but I need to get more I do it with Marco sometimes in live experiment with it live but I need to get my chops up on it but in the Scarban it's been good I've been using it and it works well because especially with the Scarban it's quite interesting again it goes back to those 1920s players when they're and those train sounds. It's incredible how many you can get that chugging rhythm, especially when it's on and off beat. I've been using it with the riffs quite a lot. And again, it's these 1920 players. They serve you well, I'll tell you, a lot of their tricks.

SPEAKER_03:

MUSIC PLAYS

SPEAKER_02:

Do you play any overblows? No, I don't play. At the moment, my goal is to play the notes I know and play them better, really. I'm working on concentrating on the notes I know at the moment. I'm not taking any of that on board. It's always great to hear people doing it, but I'm concentrating on the notes I know. And again, it's all to do with the players. I love all these 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s blues players. They're the ones I'm still learning from. So, yeah, that's enough

SPEAKER_00:

for my plate. No, that's great, yeah. Ombisher wise, do you use tongue blocking, puckering, anything else?

SPEAKER_02:

I think I mainly tongue block, but I do pucker as well. I do pucker, but it's mainly tongue blocking. I didn't know anything about that when I started. I just puckered naturally and I was just puckering. That's the way I thought. And then I had a baptism of fire when I went to see Paul Lamb back in, that was the late 80s at the Station Tavern in Latimer Road. Fantastic pub, brilliant Sunday lunchtime session, shaky Vic. He's a great harmonica player from the 60s great style great style and he fronted the band great band and then paul lamb he rocked up one day and then that was it i couldn't i just couldn't believe what i was hearing and that was when i realized there's more there's more going on from then i think i started trying to use my tongue especially he used octaves i could that that what i couldn't i could do the octaves thing but then realizing you had to do it for everything yeah so it started back then really from here lorry garman was there at that pub in the pub as well another great player and i think at that time i never realized when i heard little walters records i always assumed it was a chromatic because i couldn't really relate to what i was hearing to a diatonic harmonica and i sort of just he must be chromatic he can't do that and when i saw that paul lamb and lorry garman i thought all right it is a bit of a shock it was all like yeah he's done on a diatonic open my eyes up the tongue blocking it come from learning from those fellas are always very helpful as well

SPEAKER_00:

yeah yeah definitely yeah yeah yeah and the you mentioned chromatic there so do you play any chromatic at all

SPEAKER_02:

no I don't I like hearing chromatic I have played it but I'm not in gigs I've played around with it and I've enjoyed it but I don't get quite the same pleasure out of the reeds chromatic reeds as I do on the diatonic harmonica I think for that reason I think I'm quite happy sticking with a diatonic I love hearing you know hearing William Clarke Steve West Western playing the chromatic it's a great thrill but for me at the moment I'm just playing as I say concentrating on my diatonic harmonica really yeah no no Playing

SPEAKER_00:

those notes better, really. And you mentioned that your main amp is the bassman, the Fender bassman. Is that right?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I've had that since the 90s, mid-90s. It's a reissue. I was never really happy with it. And I'd set it up at gigs and I'd crank it up. And when I got the sound, it sounds better now. As soon as I got it to the point where I liked it, the sound man would tell you, you've got to turn it down. And then I'd have a sound I wasn't quite happy with playing through. I got it modified the last couple of years and got no idea about the tech. But I think they've changed the bias and changed the valves a bit. And it's great now. It's got a great sound. And I've got a nice sound at a lower volume, so I'm not upsetting sound engineers, which is good. And do you have a smaller amp you use as well? I do. I've got a Honey Boy amp, which is a lovely-looking amp, which I've used for some recordings. My newest amp, which I'm really happy with, is a Quilter. It's a great amp. It's so powerful. It's a little amp. I've done gigs with Marco. I used to take it to Ain't Nothing But. You can take it on the train. You can also do bigger gigs. it's got a huge it projects wonderfully and and it's a yeah it's not a valve amp it's got a great sound yeah and i'll keep it pretty patient i don't i don't put any reverb or i keep the sound quite simple setup but yeah i'm really happy with that so it's and it's reliable as well you know it's always going to work so and i've got a lug it hasn't got the weight of the of the bass so yeah i'm really happy with

SPEAKER_00:

the quilt ramp very good amp yeah great so it's a solid state you're saying not tube yeah yeah

SPEAKER_02:

yeah

SPEAKER_00:

but you're still getting you're still able to drive it quite well Yeah, and the bulletini mic

SPEAKER_02:

works wonders for it. It really does. So yeah, very happy with that.

SPEAKER_00:

Great, yeah. So microphones, you mentioned the bulletini there. Is that your main mic of choice? Yeah, yeah. I like that. So that's the Greg Heumann one, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's fantastic. Is

SPEAKER_00:

that the small

SPEAKER_02:

one? Yeah, yeah. I like the size of it. It's perfect for your hands. And it's got a lovely warm sound. I like the warm sound, really. I've just bought another one that's very good of a fellow called Robert Huyske, H-U-R-S-K-E. I think he's made one for Paul Lamb. And it's very reasonably priced. I bought that only last... I've got it last week. And that's great as well. It's got a bit more of a harsh sound, so it's better for more Chicago stuff. That's very good. But the bulletini suits me because I think I've got a bit of a country, especially a country sort of feel to some of my playing. I like the bulletini for that. It really helps

SPEAKER_03:

me. MUSIC PLAYS Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

So you're going for a bit more of a clean sound, you think, sometimes?

SPEAKER_02:

I like the valve sound. I just like the amp. It's not too distorted, but you're just pushing it a bit. That's the sound I like, really. When you're playing acoustically, what might you use for that? Probably the SM57, actually, yes. Which also sounds great. I was shocked when I shoved that through the bass, and that sounds great. Sometimes you get a bit hung up on the bullet mics, but really happy with the sound you get with that through an amp as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, I mean, Paul Butterfield basically played an SM57. Well, he played a sure a 545 but a 545 is more or less the same as an SM57 it's just got a bit you know a slight different casing I think so.

SPEAKER_02:

Ah right yeah I've seen I've seen Laurie Garman do that as well it sounds yeah well he's a great player it sounds great.

SPEAKER_00:

Well I know Laurie's a big fan of Paul Butterfield so I have no doubt he's. Yeah he knows his onion. Yeah and so you don't you don't use any effects at all you know no reverb no delay at all?

SPEAKER_02:

no I've tried I've put perhaps I've tried pedals and I just it froze me a bit I don't know why I just can't get to grips with it and I'm no as I said what I need to concentrate is how I play the reeds really that's what I'm really working on now is how I play those reeds and so that's the most important thing to me so I've got I've got no excuses now I've got I've got a great bassman I've got this quilter and I've got a bulletini so I'm not giving myself so many years I thought when I've heard these great players I thought they must have this or they must have the effects pedal and realise of course they don't so now I've got no excuses I've got my equipment and it's working on those reeds

SPEAKER_00:

really yeah what about over the last year and a half during the pandemic what have you been doing with yourself on the harmonica well I just practice

SPEAKER_02:

I have to practice I need to do it every day it's something I've just got to do so I've been continuing with that as I said studying the old masters I always break it down half the session will be with the 1920s and 30s masters in Sonny Terry and then I do and I've really increased my little water study because there's so much to learn. I've really stepped that up over the last couple of years. And also, yeah, obviously, you know the names obviously it's Junior Wells and the big Walter Horton James Cotton and the Sonny Boys but also you know Papa Lightfoot and Jerry McCann all those other guys there's so many you know it's great so it's a never ending supply especially now with Spotify you can find more tunes so you know I do that for an hour or so and then I'm just walking around pottering it's in my mind and I'm playing as well so hopefully you know I've stumbled across riffs and I put them on my phone so got to a point where I've got to go through my phone really and start sifting out the good ones and doing something with them really

SPEAKER_00:

yeah that's good so yeah yeah so when you hear a good riff you like to record it on your phone so you can keep it and yeah

SPEAKER_02:

yeah yeah that's yeah that's

SPEAKER_00:

definitely yeah great so you're somebody who likes to as you say practice every day do you spend a lot of time practicing then each day or just something you like to do really regularly

SPEAKER_02:

yeah I make sure I do it every day and yeah it's something I'm well being I

SPEAKER_00:

love doing it I love it so yeah yeah it's got to be done great to hear yeah and I'm the same you know it's you have to do it don't you so

SPEAKER_02:

yeah yeah I don't it's just something you have to I can't even explain what it is that drives me to do it but if I didn't do it something would be missing you'd probably find the same it's hard to explain but I'm glad it's there because you've just got to do it haven't

SPEAKER_00:

you and then final question then so you touched on you know some of your plans with your new album but any other future plans coming up over the next six months or so

SPEAKER_02:

no no it's a great thrill to me I've always wanted to do an album and I've done that now so that really chuffed about that yeah gigs I love gigs I love playing lives So hopefully more gigs. I've got a gig with Marco coming up today, gigs with the Riffs. That's going to be good. And hopefully with Tidy's Blue Sandwich, I'll get some gigs as well and see what happens there. And also, yeah, I do work on songs, so there's no rush. I haven't got any pressures, but I'm going to, in a long-term plan, would be to do another album at some point. So I've got a few tunes up my sleeve. I've got to get some more and I've got to dig some lyrics out. So they come to me eventually. I'm not prolific, but if I hang around long enough, I'll get an idea. idea and get some more lyrics so yeah that's more of the same really keep it rolling

SPEAKER_00:

so uh thanks so much for joining me today adam tidy bernie

SPEAKER_02:

thank you very much thank you paul and i really enjoy your show i look forward to hearing more keep it up it's great

SPEAKER_00:

work thanks so much adam and that's episode 44 thanks so much for tuning in again it's just over to adam to play us out with the infectious style of hip-hop harmonica so