Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alan Hodges on October 2, 2011 at 2:21am

Hi all, just posted some pics of the daytime event of Boxstock.Check out my home page. It was fantastic to meet everyone,see some amazing instruments and builds and hear tons of superb music. The evening gig blew me away. Some amazing performances! A massive thank you to John and everyone else involved in organising what was a great weekend. Many thanks. (will post videos as soon as poss. I have most of the open mic performances)

 

Alan.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 2, 2011 at 3:59am

Well...I'm back home...what a weekend!  A HUGE thank you to everyone involved -  players, dancers, audience, helpers, venue staff...simply everyone . Since Friday afternooon untill mid Sunday afternoon, I seemed to have lived, drank (only a little), ate (very little), slept (hardly at all) Boxstock 2011.

 

Was it a success?....well, that's for you good people to say. There were so may little moments over the weekend that gave me the massage that it had all been worthwhile...too many to recount right now, but thanks to everyone for your kind words. Sorry if I didn't have time to speak to everyone, and sincere apologies if I wasn't able to say thanks and farewell, see you next time to all my friends, old and new. 

Permalink Reply by smojo on October 2, 2011 at 4:20am

I thought I just posted something but can't see it, bugger, have to write it again. Anyway great huge big thanks to John for all his sterling efforts. What a cracking weekend, I'm crawling on the ceiling with adrenalin. Loved the gig to bits, open mic superb too. Met some lovely people, some old friends, made some new ones, missed a few that couldn't make it.  I guess there's lots to discuss over the next few days. Need to visit a few Nation members pages too. Need to suss out how to make an ebow! Wow was that trurkish music and dancing good. Was it a success? Are you kidding John? Bring on the next one.

Permalink Reply by Mark on October 2, 2011 at 5:20am

Another big dose of thanks to all who organised the event. I'm just beginning to recover from watching Ben Prestage - I think my initial reaction was not unlike Ben's in that there was an immediate feeling of "wow, even if I practice for ever I'll never be able to play even a fraction as good as that". Pleased to say I haven't burnt my guitars and have now picked one up and begun playing again.

Permalink Reply by Malcolm Wright on October 2, 2011 at 6:10am

Just back home in sunny Kent after an amazing weekend 'up norf'. Before I went I thought it couldn't get better than 2010...........but it did, by bloody miles! The guitar building workshop was an inspired idea (I'll be in touch John to nick that idea for a couple of festivals down here next year), the open mic at the pub was a blast - Roosterman doing The Clash?....brilliant, just brilliant, and the gig on Saturday left me speechless. Both Hollowbelly and Tinqui8 raised their game and turned in a stunning set, the cigar-box-dancers (?!!)...well, who'd 'a thought it?, but the man of the night was Mr Prestage. I'm sure it won't be long before some video of his set is posted and I for one want to relive every minute of it. I'm a big Seasick Steve fan and have seen him play numerous times from before he was picked up by the media over here, but I have got to admit that even he hasn't left me mouth-open-astounded quite like Ben Prestage. If I could play the drums OR the harp OR the bass OR the guitar OR sing just a tenth as good as him I'd be well chuffed, but to see one man do the whole lot all at once.......well, I don't know what to say.  I'm going to trawl through my photos and I'll post a few up to try and give a flavour of what went on, but in the meantime a huge thanks to John and Ben for an immense effort in getting the weekend sorted, a big cheers to everyone that showed an interest in my ham-fisted efforts at guitar/amp builds (my old 50's style radio amp has got your name on it Hollowbelly!!), and to everyone I shared beers, pizzas, egg McMuffins, taxis etc etc etc with....to the next time my friends.

Permalink Reply by Spike on October 2, 2011 at 6:14am

Just adding my two penn'orth.

 

A great day - thanks to Chickenbone John and the good people at the Homegrown Music Collective for organising a brilliant event.

 

I bought a new guitar from Roosterman; Dr. Croc was really pleased with his "£12 Special"; Chickenbone's slide guitar workshop was extremely helpful (the song Thumb Hang by Canadian metal legends Anvil will always remind me of correct slide technique from now on!); the lunchtime gig by Lost Tone and Stumblecol was great, and Dr. Croc and I got the chance to play a bit of open mic (only the 2nd time I've played in public).

 

The evening concert started and finished with two eye-openers. The Bhangra dancers and looped Arabian/Indian/Blues music by the one-man orchestra was very inventive and quite hypnotic - I imagine the young lads at the front table were definitely hypnotised! CBG stalwarts Hollowbelly and Tinqui8 can be relied upon to deliver solid entertainment and did not disappoint.

 

But nothing could have prepared me for Ben Prestage. Forget Seasick Steve - the old hobo's a raw amateur compared to the force of nature that is Prestage. Great voice; utterly stunning, jaw-dropping skills on CBG, lowebow and cigar-box fiddle, and an amazing foot percussionist (was the ghost of John Bonham hiding in Ben's boots?) This guy is absolutely world-class - get him on Jools Holland's show fast! Ben's set was easily worth the ticket price (and more) alone!

 

All in all, a hugely entertaining day. Kudos once again to the phenomenally hard-working Mr. Chickenbone John and his trusty helpers.

 

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 2, 2011 at 6:31am

Thankyou....my work here is done....well, I'll take a couple of days off.  I reckon Dawn is part of the HomeGrown family, and her Khalgani dancers are great example of just fusing together some different influences and mashing it all up...Andy Bole and I go back a long way with the Sutton Blues Collective...just goes to show the power of networking and connections. And as for Ben Prestage, I really don't think I truly understood what I'd booked when I managed to get him...a towering talent.  

 

Klaatu said:

Just adding my two penn'orth.

 

A great day - thanks to Chickenbone John and the good people at the Homegrown Music Collective for organising a brilliant event.

 

I bought a new guitar from Roosterman; Dr. Croc was really pleased with his "£12 Special"; Chickenbone's slide guitar workshop was extremely helpful (the song Thumb Hang by Canadian metal legends Anvil will always remind me of correct slide technique from now on!); the lunchtime gig by Lost Tone and Stumblecol was great, and Dr. Croc and I got the chance to play a bit of open mic (only the 2nd time I've played in public).

 

The evening concert started and finished with two eye-openers. The Bhangra dancers and looped Arabian/Indian/Blues music by the one-man orchestra was very inventive and quite hypnotic - I imagine the young lads at the front table were definitely hypnotised! CBG stalwarts Hollowbelly and Tinqui8 can be relied upon to deliver solid entertainment and did not disappoint.

 

But nothing could have prepared me for Ben Prestage. Forget Seasick Steve - the old hobo's a raw amateur compared to the force of nature that is Prestage. Great voice; utterly stunning, jaw-dropping skills on CBG, lowebow and cigar-box fiddle, and an amazing foot percussionist (was the ghost of John Bonham hiding in Ben's boots?) This guy is absolutely world-class - get him on Jools Holland's show fast! Ben's set was easily worth the ticket price (and more) alone!

 

All in all, a hugely entertaining day. Kudos once again to the phenomenally hard-working Mr. Chickenbone John and his trusty helpers.

 

Permalink Reply by Graham Alibone on October 2, 2011 at 6:51am

Thanks for a brill day and night on Saturday, next time we meet John and crew,I owe you a pint [2]. Take care all and remember what Chickenbone John said were are like 'a fellowship'. Thanks to those who gave me guidance and help with my playing. We are the Cigar Box Nation.  G.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 2, 2011 at 9:37am

Blimey..."fellowship"...you mean people were actually taking notice of what I said? Thanks for those kind words Graham..means a lot to me.

 

Graham Alibone said:

Thanks for a brill day and night on Saturday, next time we meet John and crew,I owe you a pint [2]. Take care all and remember what Chickenbone John said were are like 'a fellowship'. Thanks to those who gave me guidance and help with my playing. We are the Cigar Box Nation.  G.

Permalink Reply by Alan Hodges on October 2, 2011 at 9:54pm

Hi all. Have just uploaded all my footage from the open mic sessions on friday.(almost 1 hour) I managed to capture at least something of most performances until my battery ran out!! For some strange reason, my computer decided to split the file in two. So my apologies to roosterman, his performance gets split! Check out the following links. Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-0RmMxo1Zg

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr_-TGzKf2w.

Once again, many thanks to all for a great weekend

Will post evening gig footage as soon as poss.

Permalink Reply by Strolling Tone on October 2, 2011 at 10:40pm

Hey Olivier - Great to see you again - Your performance on Saturday was outstanding. 

Glad to hear that you've arrived home safely without the travel problems that you had to endure last year.

 

I'm looking forward to the next time we meet mon ami.

Merci pour vos aimables paroles -

 Jusqu'à la prochaine fois que nous rencontrons -

Tone 

TINQUI8 said:

hi UK friends o),   just to let you know that i'm back at home safe :),,  and earlyer that i was thinking, , i could have catch a plane sooner  so,, everything was so cool this year,, one of the best week end of this year  for me :),, it was like holiday !!, sun, good travel etc...    it's like i have family in UK now o),, really happy to see again the old friends,,  and meet lot's of new one !!,  

thank's a lot to everyone for recieve me like that  guys,, thank's to Chikenbone for all his work !!,   i'm really happy to be here on friday it was a such great night o),,  so many good players !!,  "losttone" ( i'm still singing in my head 'my baby she love meat o),  love this song o),,  "stumblecol" was so good !!, and the best was to be there for the first Roosterman performance :) !!!,     so many thing to remember etc..... 

saturday was great great !!!,   i really enjoyed playing  for you guys,,, HB was great !!( thank's again for your stuff bro ..) ,, and awesome Ben Prestage !!, wow, how can we play drum with feet like that ?,, awesome,  !! ,, 

 

so,, you understand that i'm really pround to be a little part of the Homeground "!!  ,,  cheers friends,, 

 

Merci à tous,,,  o)

 

i've made vidéo, photos etc..., will share some later,,  ( the sound is not so good on the vidéo -(, so i will try to choose the best i can)),

 

keep in touch brothers....  and see you soon,,                    Olivier,,,

Permalink Reply by smojo on October 2, 2011 at 11:07pm

Just to say thanks to Andy Leonard for taking over the role of HGMC secretary from me. I have not been able to contribute much in the role owing to other time consuming commitments and don't have the drive to either. John and Ben have been the driving force behind this and I am grateful for all the efforts they made to bring this together and they do need some help. Hopefully in the future I will be able to support it in some other way.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• Next ›
• Page