OCTOBER 2009
Where's this year going? October already, can hardly believe it! So ... what's new? Well, I did the first GETGO gig in 4 years which was cool, very enjoyable good time rock 'n' roll and nice to be in a band with my bro Paul again. Also been busy with THE DIRTY ROBBERS (see gigs page for upcoming dates) with the new album taking shape nicely at the moment. Speaking of the studio, Jimmy's album is back on track with some new soumds amd even some new drum tracks that I did last week. It's sounding really quite amazing!
Exciting news on the gear front too - I am now proud to be associated with GURU DRUMWORKS, a wonderful custom drum manafacturer based in the North East of England crafting stunning instruments from beautiful exotic woods. Dean Price is a truely world class skilled drum builder and is producing stunning work. I join Steve White, Bob Dalton & Stuie Ellerton on the srtist roster when my custom snare arrives in November - more info to follow ... check out the Guru site for yourself from the links page ...
keep on keepin' on y'all
mc x
JULY 2009
GLASTONBURY & OTHER ASSORTED STORIES!
Well ... festival season is well upon us and I'm making the most of it! The recent warm spell helped and once again, we're all about conquoring the typical English summer rain! I had the misfortune of experiencing the deluge at Glastonbury a couple of weeks back - arriving late on Thursday night for our gig on the Friday with Harmonica legend Johnny Mars to the news that Michael Jackson had passed away (all anyone could talk about - a sad event for sure and unfortunate circumstance, I'm aure the stories unfolding the "facts" of this and other bizarre events of his life will unfold over the next few years ... ). Finding a spot in artist enclosure to pitch a tent in the dark, the mud and the relentless rain didn't seem so attractive ... so we drank some champagne and slept on the stage at The Glade - ROCK & ROLL!!! First time I've bedded down on a drum riser on a festival stage I can tell you! A Fantastic gig was had by all on the Friday with Johnny wowing the crowd in true "Hendrix of the Harmonica" stylee ... marvellous! New pics from the festival are up on the photo page now.
No peace for the wicked as Glastonbury was followed by the Worthenbury Festival with The Dirty Robbers which was a great little festival in North Wales - a nice Blues Fest for us after our success a couple of weeks ago at the Linton Festival. The summer also sees us at Clavistock in the West Midlnads, Upton Blues Festival and the Leamington Spa festival amongst others. Check the gigs & tour dates page for updates...
Marvellous! Have a good summer y'all & hope to see you at a gig soon xxx
APRIL 2009
Been a while ... hope you're still there!
Current news - Check out the exclusive previews of the forthcoming Jimmy Thomas album tracks by visitig Jimmy's MySpace page from my links page. The latest addition to these online exclusives is (YOU MAKE IT) RAIN which features Jimmy's old friend and former Ike & Tina bandmate P.P. Arnold. It's a great tracks and a real treat for all you R&B and Soul fans out there. It is also the first track to feature my fantastic Highwood Snare drum - handbuily here in the England it sounds fantastic. For those interested, there is a link to the Highwood website too ... excellent stuff!
Dates are coming in for summer shows with The Dirty Robbers although we will be taking a short break from playing live while we record the new album. Sessions are due to start in July so watch this space!
New tracks from London band THE GETGO are also up on their MySpace page. I recorded with the band last year and the finished tracks are sounding great. They have that real classic 70's English Rockin' Blues vibe to them in the vein of Humble Pie, Faces, Stones, Free etc (singer Stu Farnham does a great Marriott too!). Check 'em out at http://www.mspace.com/getgorock
We'll be playing some of the tunes at a special gig on April 19th at THE LIBRARY in Islington, London if you fancy it. It's a lazy sunday afternoon kind of vibe with the 1st set kicking off at around 3pm
JANUARY 2009
Happy New Year y'all - here's to a good one! I'm appropriating the Nike slogan for my resolution this year with the promise to "just f*%£king do it" and to get a few things in order! Let's see how it goes ha ha!!
So, the new year brings a trip to warmer climes for me; after a couple of new year shows with THE DIRTY ROBBERS, the GOING BACK TO THE CROSSROADS TOUR 2009 kicks off on the 12th in Abu Dhabi, UAE with a series of shows there, some in Dubai at various venues and also in Doha, Qatar. The line up is as follows:
Jimmy Thomas
Michael Roach
Johnny Mars
Deitra Farr
Jackie Lee
a veritble who's who of the R&B world!
Look out for UK tour dates with The Dirty Robbers from Feb onwards also .... marvellous!
DECEMBER 2008
Thanks to the wonders of dw Kit Builder, you can now downlaod kit plans for my various set-ups on the DRUMS page ....!
November 2008
Unfortunately, the arrangements for the Mary McBride/Quireboys tour have not come together so I won't be doing the dates she has in UK this month & next but hope to work together sometime next year - but please support this fantastic artist by dropping in to one pf her UK gigs on the tour that starts next week. See www.marymcbride.com for more info ...
NOVEMBER 2008
Going Back to the Crossroads - Rhythm & Blues Tour 2009 Line Up Confirmed:
Deitra Farr (Chicago), Jackie Lee (Washington DC), Johnny Mars (South Carolina), Michael Roach (Washington DC) and Jimmy Thomas (St. Louis).
The dates are in for the Middle East & Africa with UK dates to be confirmed soon - watch this space! Check out the tour website at - http://www.backtothecrossroads.com/
SEPTEMBER 2008
Recording activities continue to keep me busy with the Jimmy Thomas album taking shape nicely - hopefully there will be some news on availability before too long!
Also, noticed that a new Bernie Marsden album "SAMPLER" is available from his website priced at a very reasonable £5.99. It's a retrospective of Bernie's more recent solo output and I feature on the 1st 4 tracks of the album. Check it out at www.berniemarsden.co.uk/shop
I have also added some new photos to the gallery .... enjoy!
AUGUST 2008
Just heard that the Jimmy Thomas track "Dirty Rain" will be added to the playlist for Mark Lamarr's BBC Radio 2 show God's Jukebox on Friday 8th August ... be sure to tune in y'all!
JULY 2008
Welcome to the new look website - hope you enjoy looking around!
big love
mc
x
MAY 23rd 2008
Just to let you know that I will be on Mark Lamarr's Radio 2 programme GOD'S JUKEBOX next week playing an exclusive live session with the great Jimmy Thomas. Jimmy is a true original from the early R&B movement, starting his career back in the 50's as part of Ike Turner's groundbreaking Kings of Rhythm and went on to be a featured singer as part of the world famous Ike & Tina Turner Review throughout the 60's & early 70's. We've been touring with Jimmy over the last couple of years and are currently in the process of recording a new album, the tracks on next week's session being the very first airing of his new material ... there will be 5 live perfomances and interviews with Jimmy and the band..
For those night owls amongst you, check it out on Friday night (30th May) at midnight running 'til 3am Saturday morning ... or if you're tucked up in bed at that point, check out the "listen again" feature on the BBC website where there will also be an exclusive online track : http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/lamarrsat/sessions.shtml . The show is available to listen again for 7 days after broadcast...
If you're in the States, you can also listen live from the above link at 7pm (EST), 6pm (CST) or 4pm (PST) ...
If you manage to check it out, I hope you dig it!
DEC 2007 ...
I am proud to announce that I am now a Protection Racket cases endorsee and am using the cases exclusively.
These fantastic British cases are available at the best drum shops and at various places on-line. Check 'em out at the link below to the website & treat your drums to a new winter coat!
keep on keepin' on y'all!
matt
Where's this year going? October already, can hardly believe it! So ... what's new? Well, I did the first GETGO gig in 4 years which was cool, very enjoyable good time rock 'n' roll and nice to be in a band with my bro Paul again. Also been busy with THE DIRTY ROBBERS (see gigs page for upcoming dates) with the new album taking shape nicely at the moment. Speaking of the studio, Jimmy's album is back on track with some new soumds amd even some new drum tracks that I did last week. It's sounding really quite amazing!
Exciting news on the gear front too - I am now proud to be associated with GURU DRUMWORKS, a wonderful custom drum manafacturer based in the North East of England crafting stunning instruments from beautiful exotic woods. Dean Price is a truely world class skilled drum builder and is producing stunning work. I join Steve White, Bob Dalton & Stuie Ellerton on the srtist roster when my custom snare arrives in November - more info to follow ... check out the Guru site for yourself from the links page ...
keep on keepin' on y'all
mc x
JULY 2009
GLASTONBURY & OTHER ASSORTED STORIES!
Well ... festival season is well upon us and I'm making the most of it! The recent warm spell helped and once again, we're all about conquoring the typical English summer rain! I had the misfortune of experiencing the deluge at Glastonbury a couple of weeks back - arriving late on Thursday night for our gig on the Friday with Harmonica legend Johnny Mars to the news that Michael Jackson had passed away (all anyone could talk about - a sad event for sure and unfortunate circumstance, I'm aure the stories unfolding the "facts" of this and other bizarre events of his life will unfold over the next few years ... ). Finding a spot in artist enclosure to pitch a tent in the dark, the mud and the relentless rain didn't seem so attractive ... so we drank some champagne and slept on the stage at The Glade - ROCK & ROLL!!! First time I've bedded down on a drum riser on a festival stage I can tell you! A Fantastic gig was had by all on the Friday with Johnny wowing the crowd in true "Hendrix of the Harmonica" stylee ... marvellous! New pics from the festival are up on the photo page now.
No peace for the wicked as Glastonbury was followed by the Worthenbury Festival with The Dirty Robbers which was a great little festival in North Wales - a nice Blues Fest for us after our success a couple of weeks ago at the Linton Festival. The summer also sees us at Clavistock in the West Midlnads, Upton Blues Festival and the Leamington Spa festival amongst others. Check the gigs & tour dates page for updates...
Marvellous! Have a good summer y'all & hope to see you at a gig soon xxx
APRIL 2009
Been a while ... hope you're still there!
Current news - Check out the exclusive previews of the forthcoming Jimmy Thomas album tracks by visitig Jimmy's MySpace page from my links page. The latest addition to these online exclusives is (YOU MAKE IT) RAIN which features Jimmy's old friend and former Ike & Tina bandmate P.P. Arnold. It's a great tracks and a real treat for all you R&B and Soul fans out there. It is also the first track to feature my fantastic Highwood Snare drum - handbuily here in the England it sounds fantastic. For those interested, there is a link to the Highwood website too ... excellent stuff!
Dates are coming in for summer shows with The Dirty Robbers although we will be taking a short break from playing live while we record the new album. Sessions are due to start in July so watch this space!
New tracks from London band THE GETGO are also up on their MySpace page. I recorded with the band last year and the finished tracks are sounding great. They have that real classic 70's English Rockin' Blues vibe to them in the vein of Humble Pie, Faces, Stones, Free etc (singer Stu Farnham does a great Marriott too!). Check 'em out at http://www.mspace.com/getgorock
We'll be playing some of the tunes at a special gig on April 19th at THE LIBRARY in Islington, London if you fancy it. It's a lazy sunday afternoon kind of vibe with the 1st set kicking off at around 3pm
JANUARY 2009
Happy New Year y'all - here's to a good one! I'm appropriating the Nike slogan for my resolution this year with the promise to "just f*%£king do it" and to get a few things in order! Let's see how it goes ha ha!!
So, the new year brings a trip to warmer climes for me; after a couple of new year shows with THE DIRTY ROBBERS, the GOING BACK TO THE CROSSROADS TOUR 2009 kicks off on the 12th in Abu Dhabi, UAE with a series of shows there, some in Dubai at various venues and also in Doha, Qatar. The line up is as follows:
Jimmy Thomas
Michael Roach
Johnny Mars
Deitra Farr
Jackie Lee
a veritble who's who of the R&B world!
Look out for UK tour dates with The Dirty Robbers from Feb onwards also .... marvellous!
DECEMBER 2008
Thanks to the wonders of dw Kit Builder, you can now downlaod kit plans for my various set-ups on the DRUMS page ....!
November 2008
Unfortunately, the arrangements for the Mary McBride/Quireboys tour have not come together so I won't be doing the dates she has in UK this month & next but hope to work together sometime next year - but please support this fantastic artist by dropping in to one pf her UK gigs on the tour that starts next week. See www.marymcbride.com for more info ...
NOVEMBER 2008
Going Back to the Crossroads - Rhythm & Blues Tour 2009 Line Up Confirmed:
Deitra Farr (Chicago), Jackie Lee (Washington DC), Johnny Mars (South Carolina), Michael Roach (Washington DC) and Jimmy Thomas (St. Louis).
The dates are in for the Middle East & Africa with UK dates to be confirmed soon - watch this space! Check out the tour website at - http://www.backtothecrossroads.com/
SEPTEMBER 2008
Recording activities continue to keep me busy with the Jimmy Thomas album taking shape nicely - hopefully there will be some news on availability before too long!
Also, noticed that a new Bernie Marsden album "SAMPLER" is available from his website priced at a very reasonable £5.99. It's a retrospective of Bernie's more recent solo output and I feature on the 1st 4 tracks of the album. Check it out at www.berniemarsden.co.uk/shop
I have also added some new photos to the gallery .... enjoy!
AUGUST 2008
Just heard that the Jimmy Thomas track "Dirty Rain" will be added to the playlist for Mark Lamarr's BBC Radio 2 show God's Jukebox on Friday 8th August ... be sure to tune in y'all!
JULY 2008
Welcome to the new look website - hope you enjoy looking around!
big love
mc
x
MAY 23rd 2008
Just to let you know that I will be on Mark Lamarr's Radio 2 programme GOD'S JUKEBOX next week playing an exclusive live session with the great Jimmy Thomas. Jimmy is a true original from the early R&B movement, starting his career back in the 50's as part of Ike Turner's groundbreaking Kings of Rhythm and went on to be a featured singer as part of the world famous Ike & Tina Turner Review throughout the 60's & early 70's. We've been touring with Jimmy over the last couple of years and are currently in the process of recording a new album, the tracks on next week's session being the very first airing of his new material ... there will be 5 live perfomances and interviews with Jimmy and the band..
For those night owls amongst you, check it out on Friday night (30th May) at midnight running 'til 3am Saturday morning ... or if you're tucked up in bed at that point, check out the "listen again" feature on the BBC website where there will also be an exclusive online track : http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/lamarrsat/sessions.shtml . The show is available to listen again for 7 days after broadcast...
If you're in the States, you can also listen live from the above link at 7pm (EST), 6pm (CST) or 4pm (PST) ...
If you manage to check it out, I hope you dig it!
DEC 2007 ...
I am proud to announce that I am now a Protection Racket cases endorsee and am using the cases exclusively.
These fantastic British cases are available at the best drum shops and at various places on-line. Check 'em out at the link below to the website & treat your drums to a new winter coat!
keep on keepin' on y'all!
matt
