Welcome, Slowpaw !

My music is based on American Blues and Rock,  sometimes with a very British flavour,  lots of electricity and volume,  heavy rock with a smile not a snarl, I love to experiment with different styles of music and add a little splash of colour and theatre to the proceedings!

CD Albums:   All my recordings are made in 24 bit mono and remastered in stereo sound, the CD tracks are WAV files and sound much bigger and clearer than the vids and MP3's posted on the net or downloads, so well worth buying!

 Bandcamp - http://slowpawold-timetravelingmedicineshow.bandcamp.com/

   Keep Calm And Play Blues   (February 2013)

Mini-opera  "The Four Ages of Man"

(1.) Youth -  READY FOR THE ROAD

(2.) Marriage and Divorce -  SLOWPAW HAT

(3.) Middle Age -  THE BEATLES ARE BACK!

(4.) Old Age -  I DON'T NEED NO PRESERVATIN' BLUES

5. CYCLE CITY

6.  A SONG FOR BE

7.  DIRTY JIMMY

8. MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO DOWN

9. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A ONE-MAN BAND

ebay.com "slowpaw"

NEW....! Slowpaw Blues (compilation *remastered STEREO February 2013)            

 1. LOST DOG BLUES*
2. DUST PNEUMONIA BLUES*
3. I'M SO DRUNK...AGAIN*
4. YOU GOT TO MOVE*
5. BLUES SINGERS AIN'T PRETTY*
6. VIGILANTE MAN*
7. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A ONE MAN BAND
8. IN MY TIME OF DYING*
9. I DON'T NEED NO PRESERVATIN' BLUES

  ebay.com "slowpaw"

Slowpaw (September 2011)    

   1. BIG FAT YELLOW CADILLAC

2. YOU'RE A CHAV!

      3. THE BALLAD OF FOXY BROWN

 4. LOST DOG BLUES

   5. BIG FAT YELLOW CADILLAC PART 2

  6. PUT 'EM ALL IN THE ARMY NOW!

                  7. WELL I NEVER...                

                                      ebay.com "slowpaw"                                                        

   Slowpaw Brew (March 2012)

   1. SLOWPAW BREW

2. I'M SO DRUNK...AGAIN

3. BROKEN BRITAIN

4. A1(M)

5. DIDDLEY-BOW STOMP

6. ARAB SPRING

7. THE LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 BLUES

8. WINTER WALTZ

9. FOR ABSENT FRIENDS

 ebay.com "slowpaw"

 Playin' Out of the Box (June 2012)     

  1. I GOT (THAT) CIGAR BOX BLUES THING

2. WINDY DREAMS AND SPARKLING STREAMS

3. THE RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC GO TO WORK CEMETARY BLUES

4. JANE...I LOVE YOU x

5. KEEP CALM...AND PLAY BLUES!

6. IT IS WHAT IT IS

7. CHICKEN CATCHER BLUES

8. BLUES SINGERS AIN'T PRETTY

9. ONCE THE LAND IS GONE...   

 ebay.com "slowpaw"

NEW ALBUM FOR AUTUMN 2013

"Folk of Oak"

My story is fairly typical - born and brought up in a Middlesex suburb during the  "baby boom" of the post-war 1950's, still mad on Rock'n'Roll, still mad on "The Blues".

 Teddy Boy punch-ups, hanging round Coffee Bars, sixpence in the Juke Box, girls wearing suspenders and stockings, getting beaten up at the Travelling Fair, The Beatles playing The Cavern or the Rolling Stones at the local dance hall, Hotel or Cinema, big motorbikes, Mod and Rocker fights at Margate, scooter boys in Parkas, Mod suits, Carnaby Street, the Who at the Railway Hotel, Rockers at the Busy Bee, the Chicken Run at the Ace Cafe, Ford Zodiacs and Vauxhall Crestas, Flower Power and Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix playing the Marquee.......I blooming well missed it all !!

I was at school until 1969,  but entered the "real world" in the Skinhead era - witnessed the growing Football aggro at Stamford Bridge and on the streets as a biker, literally got "kicked" out of Ruislip Lido by hundreds of Skinheads , then went Hippy and frequented dingy smoky Pub cellars checking out the underground Prog Rockers, something which has stayed but still appreciate the cultures of the previous years, I eventually got to see many of my old heroes including the Who and Led Zeppelin, was a typical 70's Chart follower, a few Festivals....those were the days, if you asked me today what is the No.1 single i wouldn't have a clue.... but i still have "Be Bop a Lula"...!

As an avid music fan I heard and loved many Rock-based trends and fads that come and go over the years;  The Beatles,  local band The Who,  the 'Stones, the 60's white-boy Blues Boom of John Mayall, Cream, Free, Fleetwood Mac, The Groundhogs and Led Zeppelin - Jimi Hendrix was huge, Prog Rock with all its diversity still holds a great fascination for me, and the emergence of Heavy Rock and Metal, Classical Music revealed its magic to me in the 90's, and Post-bop Jazz - over the years I built up a good collection of Vinyl LP's and 45's which still remain my favoured music storage medium.

I saw many bands live over the years including Queen, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, and Bo Diddley on stage in London with his big red square guitar which left a great impression on me. After a very messy second divorce and "mid life crisis" in 2002 I decided to learn to play guitar - I had a recurring dream where I was standing on a stage in a huge stadium in front of thousands of people, but froze with embarrassment as I couldn't play a note...

I took guitar lessons from a very good local teacher but was hampered by a hand injury received some years before, and struggled along as a lefty...I also learned the basics of Drums and Bass after almost giving up on six string guitars completely.  I saw Seasick Steve on Jools Holland using three strings, eventually did a bit of research and found CBG's !  

I messed around with "real" guitars for 10 years and never got anywhere, i was always pulling them apart as they never sounded right anyway, and they were so big and clumsy, too many strings got in the way of the music, i could never "connect" musically - i was never even inspired enough to write a song on them, they sounded like everything else - a Gibson sounds like a Gibson, Strat sounds like a Strat, just like all the others!

TIME BLOG 

Events in 2011 have been a revelation in my music, I have found and been influenced by Mike Snowden and a lot of great characters on Cigar Box Nation and immensely enjoyed building and playing my new found instruments!

Playing my first live sets at the 1st Devon Shindig, the Denham Garden Party and the Sidcup Soiree was quite a fruitful learning experience, more to come I hope and some changes planned!

After a relatively busy year - seven builds, three live shows, an album of covers "Slowpaw Blues" and seven of my own new songs on "Slowpaw"  I am planning to write some more songs and build some new guitars during the Winter, I will certainly not be hibernating! (-:

January 2012 - busy working on the "Slowpaw Brew" album and sketching out songs for my third original album, new build "Resolution" completed, five live shows lined up around the country...it's looking like the makings of another great year!

March - released my 2nd album of original songs  "Slowpaw Brew"  !

My return visit to Sidcup almost went tits up due to technical difficulties, a "return visit" to the drawing board has resulted in a complete gear overhaul including new amps and guitars and a revision of the pedal board...like, er...sold...!

The discovery and inclusion of an Orange "Tiny Terror / Dual Terror" amp has opened up new and exciting sound possibilities live and in the studio!

April - new build "Comedy & Tragedy" was added to the fold made from remnants of previously recycled builds, surprisingly turned out to be my best sounding build so far and am planning to replicate the "body brace" design on future builds! 

May -  a newly acquired Marshall 4 x 10"  speaker cabinet should liven up things on the live front, busy working on songs for "Playin' Out of the Box" and rehearsing for upcoming live gigs!

June -  Released my 3rd album of original songs "Playin' Out of the Box" - with plenty of new songs in the bag I'm busy rehearsing for this Summer's live gigs !

September -  had an amazing Summer!  -  Brian's Devon Shindig in July, StumbleCol's Cambridge CBG Festival in August, bought a new "Slowpaw Bus", John Maw's Denham Garden BBQ in September and to crown it all a slot at the Boxstock Friday night open mike in Manchester, met Mike Snowden...and managed to get a "Beatles CBG Tribute Album" launched with some great contributions from 'Nation members - 48 tracks in all! !

Will settle down to write and record more original songs for my 4th album "Keep Calm and Play Blues" and work on a few new builds over Winter...who knows what 2013 will bring...? (-;

December - Slowpaw Cigar Box Guitars web site launched, made one for Brickdust Steve and three new builds to advertise as sale models.  Co-ordinated the CB Nation's 2012 Christmas Album.

January 2013 "Keep Calm and Play Blues" released in STEREO 

February  "Slowpaw Blues" revamped and remastered in STEREO

April        "Ready for the Road" , "I'll Always be a One-Man Band" and  Slowpaw  profile featured on BackStreetRadio's "Cigar Box Theatre".    Plans taking shape for five live gigs coming up in the Summer/Autumn and a CBG Radio project taking shape!

May 3rd Launch of CBG.UK Radio!

http://www.slowpawcigarboxcigars.com/

'He knows not where he's going

for the ocean will decide -

it's not the destination...

it's the glory of the RIDE.'

-Zen Dog.

"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence." — Henry David Thoreau

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