DECEMBER 2004
Rhodes gives you more...for the same price...offer must end sooooon. It’s great to be up to date! I hope that we will incorporate some more interesting items now, but it won’t all happen at once. Any sensible suggestions gratefully received!!

Have been a tad busy finishing the new record at guitar player Jim Mortimore and drummer Malcolm’s place in Sussex. The new technology is pretty mind boggling for us ancients, but with Jim’s help we hope to be kicked screaming into the 21st century.

He has been scrambling around the drum sounds and tinkering with the beats, so that when you pop it onto the turntable, I mean the ipod, it won’t sound like Thomas Edison cut it. The whole band has chipped in too with suggestions and arrangements too. Charlie Hart and myself worked over quite a long period on the tunes so we are hoping for an improvement on ‘CHANNEL FEVER.’ It’s different anyways. Having said that it’s surprising how many people have been mentioning to me lately how much they really like ‘CHANNEL FEVER’ though it does appear to be a well-kept secret in the music world.

The new title is ‘GAMAROOSH’ which sounds quite exotic but don’t ask what it means I leave that for you to find out.

We also have some great guests. David Gilmore plays some excellent crunchy guitar on his vintage 0001 Stratocaster, notably on the moody ‘JUNKMAN’ and ‘IT'S AMAZING (what people throw away). The superlative Sam Brown accompanies me not only on that track and ‘RAIN’ but sings a blinding duet on ‘GOT ME WHERE YOU WANT ME’ which is a zydeco inspired song, a rare beast indeed. Last to get on the record was a blues tune I wrote, ‘BLUES IN C’ a little romp, listing heroes of yesteryear and cut in a soulful Al Green style. I managed to collar brother Mick as he was in the studio playing some of his own tunes. Together we sang it through and he added harmonica. All in all that was an added bonus for the record.

Guitarist Billy Jenkins appears too with some nice guitar work on a track of Charlie’s and Frank Meade dubbed on some sax too. But above all the thing is a band production and very much the work of Jim who is mature beyond his years not only in his playing but also in the application to shape and complete the record with very limited funds.

But more of the fun and less of the funds. As of now Ben Waters and I are off to Oz come the first of January so that is pretty exciting particularly as I have never previously been down under. I look forward to seeing all the relatives there and wonder what might have been had my mother, or rather her mother, stayed there and not returned during WW1 with all her children. We’ll leave the history till later though.

Also on the cards is a trip to Canada come next August so I am trying to plan that one too. I would love to get out to the USA but the visa restrictions are so tough it needs a lot of organising and pre planning not to say a few bucks in the bank.

All in all 2005 looks like being quite an exciting year so with the help of our very own Carla Rhodes, ventriloquist, musician, artist and web designer, none of this would be possible.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!