*****South of England Steel Guitar Festival - 2017*****

[Basil Henriques]

GREAT selection of pictures, can we use them in the next issue of our magazine please ?

I See Will Cowell scrubs up well and looks the epitome of a Pro ! Just look at the speed of his left hand, the camera couldn't even catch it
And do I see some knickers that have been thrown on the stage at Harry ? (I hate good lookin' young INTELLIGENT dudes)
We/I enjoyed meeting all and are still enjoying reflecting upon the event..Count us in for next year please..

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[Basil Henriques]

Is the idea of a "Green Room" where we can tune up and warm up still floating ?
It would be beneficial in so many ways.
Just bring your guitar to the stage plug-in and play, would put more fluidity into the schedule.
Not that I'm saying there was anything wrong with the way it all went, far from it, it was stage-managed excellently by all concerned..

[U_twelve]

The Green Room/Dressing Room exists & found it very useful in previous years.
However, seems to have been called into play as extra storage space.
Possibly next year we could clear it out (temporarily) & use it for it's intended purpose?

[Danny Mitchell]

Great shots, Jim, and thanks for posting them, Ken

What a fantastic selection of steels on show In Will's pic, is that a tenor guitar or a baritone uke. with the lovely mother of pearl trim?
Great turn out lads It augers well

[Ken Byng]

Is the idea of a "Green Room" where we can tune up and warm up still floating ?
It would be beneficial in so many ways.
Just bring your guitar to the stage plug-in and play, would put more fluidity into the schedule.
Not that I'm saying there was anything wrong with the way it all went, far from it, it was stage-managed excellently by all concerned..

It was originally mooted for me to do a workshop in the green room for a few players, but thankfully we had such a good turnout this year that it was not required. I would far sooner it be used as a QUIET warm up / tune up area, for the artists who are on next. That means that a batting order will have to be put together in advance so that each person will have an opportunity to warm up or go through their program.

At the Dallas Jamboree, there are appointed guys who lift the steels on and off the playing area or stage. That will need consideration for next year.

Basil - re the pics, I'm sure Jim P wouldn't mind you using his photos but an accreditation to the photographer wouldn't go amiss. So glad to see the positive comments coming back following the weekend.

As a parting comment, I have been contacted by a friend from Finland who was expressing a keen interest for him and his fellow compatriot to attend and perform at next year's festival.

[Will C]

Hey, this is really starting to take off, I like all these ideas. Me gusta mucho.

Danny, it's my little tenor uke. I brought it along in case we might get the chance to jam a little Hawaiian style. I run a ukulele group back here in St Ives.

[Danny Mitchell]

Danny, it's my little tenor uke. I brought it along in case we might get the chance to jam a little Hawaiian style. I run a ukulele group back here in St Ives.

Nice Will, you can't beat a dollop of Hawaiian Jam

[Ken Byng]

There were a vast array of different models of steel guitars on display at this year's show. So too with amps. The most popular seemed to be Roland Cubes. I brought two of them with me to play my tracks through, until Jimmy P came to the rescue with his professional set up of PA, mixer and monitor system.

Peavey amps were still proving popular, and you can't beat the fact that many of these amps are still working perfectly after many years in service. Several Fender amps were put to use (and sounded great), including Danny Hughes' little 15 watt solid state jobbie. Jimmy Pritchard's Evans amp sounded big and full as one would expect.

I took my Telonics TCA500 combo amp along for the weekend, and some of the guys were amazed at its size to weight ratio. Next year I may also bring along my Peavey Valve King 100 watt valve combo with 2 x 12" Telonics speakers. Killer tone.

Considering there was so much kit in terms of guitars and amps, changeovers between players ran exceptionally smoothly and for that thanks must go to all concerned. If all of this years attendees come again next year, plus Spencer Scott, Tim Pickin, Jani Sandvik and Peter Nylund who have all shown expressions of interest, we will have one one potentially brilliant show.

We all have 12 months in which to work up a pretty decent show each, and come up with material that is unique to each player. I was pleased that there were not half a dozen different versions of Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain this year, or Mansion On The Hill or I Love You Because. It shows a lot of imagination from players that they are looking for more obscure material to present at steel shows. There were stories behind some of the numbers, including a tune that Will Cowell's father just loved.

Basil being Basil put all of the correct chords in his tunes, including the lovely m7b5 in Moon River. I will meet up with Ron Kew in the coming months and go through some of the ideas that we have for next year's show, including ways of getting a larger number of spectators. The jam session at the end of day 1 seemed to be enjoyed by all participants, so thoughts and ideas on tunes for next year may be in order.

[HarryBohay]

Thanks to everyone involved!

It was delightful to see so many different steels, amplifiers, techniques and some very memorable arrangements of songs, that Demis Roussos tune was a definite highlight!

It was a great atmosphere, well organised and enlightening, I'll be back next year!

H

[mick hearn]

Thanks for that one Harry. It's on YouTube if you want to hear it again. Look for Mick Hearn - steel guitar - Forever and Ever.