Canada here we come

The Men They Couldn't Hang are heading off to Calgary Folk Festival for the weekend. It's a long way to go for such a short amount of time but we're bound to plough plenty into the 3 days we're there.

We've got the Friday pretty clear so we'll take in the scenery and settle in – I'm sure we'll find plenty to keep us occupied. We usually do!

Then it all kicks off for us on the Saturday.

TMTCH are playing the Mainstage near the end of the night but during the daytime itself Paul, Cush and myself will be doing an acoustic session. Read the following write up by Chumbawamba  to get an idea of what these are like.

Our first session of the weekend is Sat. 3:20 – 4:30 pm Field stage 3 and is with

Lau
Sam Baker
Martyn Joseph is the host.

Then on the Sunday we do 2:15 – 3:20 pm ship stage 1 with

Martyn Joseph
Kobo Town
Mark Erelli is the host.

And a little while later at 4:15 – 5:30 pm mercury stage 4 with 

Joel Fafard
Tim O'Brien
Eliana Cuevas is the host.

We haven't been to Canada for a long, long while so we're very much looking forward to this jaunt, meeting up with old friends and getting a little sunshine.  Come and say hello if you're around.

There are some TMTCH 'Calgary Folk Festival 2008' T-shirts being printed up locally. They're really just to be sold on the day but we may be able to hold back a few if anyone wants us to try and reserve one especially – let us know and we'll see what we can do.

For full details of the Calgary Folk Festival visit the following link:  www.calgaryfolkfest.com

Cheers

Swill

Currently listening : Shakespeare My Butt By The Lowest of the Low Release date: 1997-04-30

3:44 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Demo’s & Rarities V2. Plus Free Pub Party. Plus Gigs!!
Category: Blogging

THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG – DEMO'S & RARITIES VOL.2

Demo's and Rarities Vol 2 is now all pressed up and ready to slip into your CD player or MP3 player of choice. If you want to order a copy nip over to the mail order section at www.TMTCH.net.

It's only taken 1/3^rd of a year longer than planned  - which, for a TMTCH project, isn't bad for us at all. We're still waiting to go in and record our new album and we'd planned to have that all done months ago!!

D&R V2 is our 2nd collection of TMTCH demo's from the 80's, includes some lost gems that we'd all but forgotten about. 'Broadway Melody', for example, is a recording that we made way back probably around 1985 or 1986. I wouldn't bet on the date for sure but was somewhen around then. The two things I do remember clearly from that session are:

1.  Eating the dodgiest kebab imaginable but being just too hungry not to.

2.  The overwhelming damp smell of the studio (unrelated to the kebab).

We recorded 'Broadway Melody' at Pathway Studios in Islington. This small, 8 Track studio, was run by Mike Finesilver who'd made some money as a co-writer of the 60's one hit wonder 'Fire' by 'The Crazy World of Arthur Brown'. With the royalties he bought the little shed like building that became Pathway Studios.  The walls of this place were not only full of mildew but were also seeped in British new wave music history. Much of the early Stiff Records stuff had been recorded there including Elvis Costello's album 'My Aim is True'. In fact it may well have been Elvis Costello or Nick Lowe that had recommended it to us as we had worked with both of them round about this time (Elvis Costello signing us up to his Imp label and Nick Lowe producing 'Greenback Dollar' and 'Night to Remember'). It could have been encouragement from Andrew Lauder (our champion at Demon Records) or Andrew Cheeseman who was our manager by then and had worked with Elvis Costello for many years and was also manager of The Damned - another band on the Stiff label that had done time at Patway. Other outfits of note who'd recorded there included Ian Dury, Squeeze, Madness, The Police, Dire Straits…

Pathway Studio is now long gone as are most of the establishments named in 'Broadway Melody'.

Listening back to this recording I'm amazed that the song never made it further than demo stage. Demo'd at the same time as 'Shirt Of Blue' and 'Going Back To Coventry' (which are also on D&R Vol 2) it must have been aimed as a track for our 2nd LP – 'How Green Is The Valley' – but perhaps it just got lost in the transition from our indie home with Demon/Imp to the becoming, briefly, a cog in MCA machine. Or maybe it was just thought to be too folky!

This recording is rough but it's got guts. Perhaps it's nostalgic look at a Hammersmith that is gone now but was vibrant then is actually better in hindsight. I don't think we've seen the last of this one yet.

Another song that appears here and never made it any further than a demo is 'More Than Enough'. This would have been intended as a track for our 4th album  - 'The Domino Club' and was written and recorded around 1989. Inspired by characters very close to us in the spit and sawdust days of The Bush Ranger this is a very rough outline -  just a vocal and guitar as an idea of a song I'd hoped we might record as a full band. It wasn't to be.

All rest of the songs were re-recorded and produced to a greater or lesser degree along the way from MCA to arriving back with Andrew Lauder, this time with Silvertone Records, where we were to record our only two consecutive albums on the same label. All, that is, except 'Walking To Wigan Casino'…

The main thing that I remember about this song was trying to go through it as a band in Nomis Rehearsal Studio's in Shepherds Bush circa 1990. Cush really wanted it to have a Northern Soul feel to it but we just weren't getting it and after Jon downed sticks in exasperation we decided to give it a rest. It was temporarily revived in this recording but the only percussion you'll hear here is some handclaps towards the end. Once again this song was dropped. It's a shame cos I reckon this could have been a Cush classic.

The complete track list is as follows:

1. Down All The Days (Demo: Silvertown) 02:45

2. Going Back To Coventry (Demo: How Green Is The Valley) 03:37

3. Broadway Melody (Rarity – Unreleased Early Recording) 02:52

4. Great Expectations (Demo: Domino Club) 03:31

5. Grave Robbing In Gig Harbour (Demo: Domino Club) 04:08

6. More Than Enough (Rarity – Demo: Domino Club Era) 03:22

7. Rain, Steam & Speed (Demo: Silvertown) 03:42

8. Shirt Of Blue (Demo: How Green Is The Valley) 03:33

9. Walking To Wigan Casino (Rarity – Demo: Domino Club Era) 04:09

10. Handyman (Demo: Domino Club) 03:35

11. You're The One (Demo: Domino Club) 02:39

The collection sums up a great time in TMTCH's history. We've dedicated it to Pat the Lock & Andy Briscoe good old friends of ours from those Bush Ranger days who sadly, and coincidently, both passed away this week. But they live on in our hearts and minds and I'll always listen to 'Great Expectations' and think of them in that bar and our crowd of friends and our big dreams.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PARTY.PARTY

If you can make it along to Brighton on 30^th March I'd like to invite you to a little party at our good mate Roy's pub 'The Duke of Wellington'..– There'll be solo sets from my good self plus Robb Johnson, Paul Simmonds, Naomi Bedford and you never know who else might drop in …? This is a daytime do  - things should get started around 1PM and wind up at about 6PM. The Duke of Wellington is at 386 Brighton Road, West Sussex, BN43 6RE Tel: 01273 389818 (say that Swill invited you). More info at: http://www.small-axe.com/birthday 

Free admission ...of course you could always buy a CD or get one of us struggling artists pint if you insist!!

GIGS.GIGS.GIGS.GIGS.GIGS.GIGS.GIGS.CIGS.GIGS.GIGS.FIGS.GIGS

15^th March – TMTCH with Stiff Little Fingers at Manchester Academy. Details will be at www.manchesteracademy.net

20^th March – Solo with Chumbawumba 100 Club London

21^st March – TMTCH 100 Club London

22^nd March – TMTCH Gosport Folk Festival. Osborn Road, Fareham, Hampshire. Box Of?ce 01329 231942 (With The Oysterband). www.gosportfestival.co.uk

30^th March – The Duke of Wellington, 386 Brighton Road, West Sussex, BN43 6RE Tel: 01273 389818 (SEE 'PARTY' ABOVE).

OK, that's all for now. Let me know what you think of the Demo's and Rarities CDs. Always like to hear what you've got to say. Also, let me know if this blog is too long for ya!!

Cheers for now

Swill

5:14 PM - 6 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Heartbreak Park

Hi there

It's the 1st of February already! Next week Paul, Ricky and I are gonna get together for the first rehearsal of 2008 and run through acoustic versions of new songs for the TMTCH album that we'll be recording soon. Also, Paul will be picking up a lovely new Mandolin courtesy of Ozark instruments (thought I'd just drop a plug in there for 'em).

Cush won't be able to make that rehearsal so we should be able to get plenty done and the local off license won't have to worry about stocking up on extra bottles of white wine – only joking Cush!! In fact he'll be doing the decent thing and taking care of his new baby. That's right he's just become a Dad again (number 3 and this time it's a girl). Congratulations Cush and Rachael!!


Last night I burned the midnight oil working on a tune to some lyrics that Paul sent me. By the early hours of the morning I'd recorded the following on a small Boss 4 track recorder. It's a rough recording but I'm very pleased with the result and, because it'll no doubt change and evolve further by the time it appears on the album, I wanted to put it up here now so that I can share it with you.

I was also keen for you to see Paul's lyrics. I found them very moving and they were perfect for me to write to. The day Cush's daughter was born I also got a call to say that my Step Mother had died. She had been part of my family for 33 years. Her death was an unexpected shock. The funeral service was last week and it still seems unreal.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heartbreak Park

Two boys went down to Heartbreak Park
Two boys went down to Heartbreak Park
Where the knives and the glass they flash like sparks
In Heartbreak Park

Two sons went down to Heartbreak Park
Two sons went down to Heartbreak Park
Where the shirts so white turn red in the dark
In Heartbreak Park

O son what have they done to you?
In the field where we used to run with the football as you grew
It makes your daddy cry, It makes your daddy blue
When you're lying in the stark of Heartbreak Park

Two men went down to Heartbreak Park
Two men went down to Heartbreak Park
To fetch their sons where the dogs do bark
In Heartbreak Park

Two boys went down to Potters Field
Two boys went down to Potters Field
Their families followed and the bells did peal
But the wounds don't heal, in Potters Field
In the silent dark of Heartbreak Park

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have a listen to the recording on the MySpace music player and let us know what you think. I plan to do a live version of this on Sunday (Feb 3rd) at The Hive. Pop along if you can.

Cheers

Swill

8:15 AM - 8 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

On Sunday 3rd February the Hive will be hosting BEARSTOCK 3 benefit gig
Category: Music

MC for the evening is the legendary author…
ROBERT RANKIN

Music from...
ROBB JOHNSON (singer/songwriter and Brentford legend)www.robbjohnson.co.uk
SWILL (lead singer with folk-rock band THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG)www.swillandtheswaggerband.co.uk
SACRED HEART (melodic hard rock)www.sacredheartband.com
RHODE ISLAND RED (classic rock) www.myspace.com/rhodeislandredband

THE VEENEX (West London based indie rock)www.myspace.com/veenex
+ More TBA

TICKETS £5 (pre-book via Paypal

– please note: your paypal receipt is your ticket!)

Doors open 6pm; music 6:30pm until 10.30pm

At The Hive Bar, Griffin Park, Brentford FCBraemar Road, Brentford (West London), TW8 0NT

More info can be found at:
www.myspace.com/stripesmusicwww.myspace.com/jamby

or contact Jason on 07952 378271 or send an email!(You can also pay by cheque by contacting Jason)

10:48 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Paul Fox - Ruts. RIP.

From todays Guardian...

As guitarist and co-songwriter with the Ruts, Paul "Foxy" Fox, who has died aged 56 of cancer, helped create some of the best loved and most enduring work of the punk era. The Ruts, who came together in 1977, were among the best of the second wave of British punk bands, inspired by the likes of the Sex Pistols and the Clash. Enthusiastically supported by John Peel (obituary, October 27 2004), Babylon's Burning, a typically forthright commentary on the discontent in Britain's cities, reached number seven in the 1979 charts, and the follow-up, Something That I Said, also charted high. Their first album, The Crack, was a classic.

Article continues
Like many in that second wave, the Ruts hailed not from the art school milieu of the first wave but from the London suburbs. Decent musicians, they had schooled themselves in jazz-funk and pub rock. Fox played a pivotal songwriting role, and quickly became a model punk guitarist at a time when the three-chord thrash was the height of many of his contemporaries' ambitions. The Crack showcased his menacing, often haunting, style to great effect, but also revealed his versatility; he was a lover of reggae and could switch styles with ease.

Fox was born in Bermondsey, south London, the son of publican parents. The family moved to Hayes, Middlesex, when he was a child. He laid the foundations of his musical career in a hippy commune in Anglesey during the early 1970s, where he formed a progressive rock band called Aslan with two Hayes schoolfriends, Owen and Paul Mattocks. When the commune disbanded in 1975, Fox returned to London and joined a funk band, Hit & Run, which played the pub circuit.

By the end of 1977, with punk raging through the capital, an energised Fox had teamed up with Malcolm Owen (vocals), John Jennings (bass) and Dave Ruffy (drums) to form the Ruts. Fired by Fox's furious guitar-playing and the charismatic Owen's vocals, within a year the Ruts had made a significant impact. A loveable and lively character, Fox immersed himself in the horseplay and high jinks of nationwide Ruts tours, much of it with their kindred spirits, the Damned. With Owen, he was most often the focus of attention on stage.

But the heady days did not last. In 1980, Owen died of a heroin overdose, a drug that Fox would also struggle with in future years. After much agonising, Fox and the two other surviving band-members continued, as Ruts DC - with Fox sharing some of the vocals - until late 1982, after the release of the patchy Animal Now album, and the dub reggae Rhythm Collision that further enhanced Fox's credentials, but sold poorly.

Fox then joined a west London band called Dirty Strangers, which he freely described as "a budget-priced Rolling Stones"; they recorded two albums on which Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood guested. Richards was a fan - they toured together briefly in the US - and Fox was also openly admired by the likes of Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page.

After forming his own shortlived band, Choir Militia, in 1983, Fox played with rock group Screaming Lobsters in 1987 and with Fluffy Kittens, an Indie outfit, from 1991 to 1994. He then went into what he called semi-retirement in Ruislip, Middlesex. Carpentry became his main source of income, but he recorded a couple of low-profile singles with the ad hoc Chelsea Punk Rock Allstars (1997) and the ska artist Lauren Aitken (2000).

Last year, the Bad Manners frontman Buster Bloodvessel convinced Fox to form a new touring band, Foxy's Ruts, which, featuring his elder son Lawrence on drums, toured Europe and played at the Punk and Disorderly Festival in Berlin. Fox's final performance was at a London Ruts reunion with Ruffy, Jennings and US punk legend Henry Rollins on vocals. His last work was Lockdown, another dub reggae album, recorded earlier this year with the DubCats band.

In 2000 he separated from his wife Sharon, but they were latterly on good terms. She survives him, as do his sons, Lawrence and William.
 
Paul Fox, guitarist, born April 11 1951; died October 21 2007

Currently listening : The Crack By The Ruts Release date: 27 April, 2004

8:23 PM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Four Dogs
Category: Music

Hi all

Here's a relatively short blog before the next full one in which I plan to give a shockingly detailed account of TMTCH's trip last weekend to the East Midlands and Cumbria via South Yorkshire. That sounds interesting - doesn't it? Well, hopefully, it will be... so watch this space.

In the meantime I thought that you might be interested having a look at a rather excellent on-line music store. Four Dogs Music, celebrating it's first anniversary next month, is a website bringing you the best of traditional, contemporary and radical music. They also stock fair trade products, leather free footwear, DVDs, books and accessories.

It's ideal for window shopping, by this I mean you can easily spend some time clicking from one link to another and discovering plenty of interest, but I think you'll find it hard not to buy something on your visit. It's nicely laid out and each CD has a great 'recommended products' section that appears on the right hand side of the screen and, unlike mainstream sites such as Amazon etc, Four Dogs Music recomendations seem to have been picked by an actual human being rather than generated by software that just tracks what other customers have bought or looked at before. Try it and see.  For instance I found myself at the Phil Ochs albums page by way of Alistair Hulett's 'In Sleepy Scotland' from initially looking at' The Complete Works of Roaring Jack, 1987 – 1991' which I originally clicked on from self indulgently looking at TMTCH's 'Demos And Rarities Vol 1'. That's gotta be the human touch!!

It's a great to see sites like this doing well and I'm sure you'll find plenty of interest - and, not least of all, both of my own albums are available:

https://www.fourdogsmusic.co.uk/_P_706_elvis-lives-here-swill-the-swaggerband/

and

https://www.fourdogsmusic.co.uk/_P_690_the-day-after-swill-and-the-swaggerband/

Hey look what I just seen...'Elvis Lives Here' is the number 1 featured album!!!! Check it out!!

Cheers

Swill

5:05 AM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Harping on again

Hear Hear!! Liberty Cage & All That

My last blog went on and on about visiting the past and the combination of happy memories and yearning for a lost time and place that can be suddenly brought on by looking at old photos.  But it's not just visual input than brings on these feelings - listening to music can do it too. Hearing a record out of the blue can bring back all kinds of memories. But I didn't intend to even mention nostalgia this time…

Are you ever suprised by a blast from the past? Do you ever re-evaluate music that you did or didn't like before? There's been times I've put on a great record that I haven't heard for years only to find out it's not quite as great as I'd thought.  On the other hand I'm occasionally pleasantly taken aback by something that's far better than I remembered – or, I should say, better than I thought it was at the time.

I was surprised recently when I listened to Liberty Cage. I haven't heard any of that stuff for ages and it was only when I was visiting the Woven Wheat Whispers website that I decided to click on the link and have a listen.  I am really amazed at how well those songs have aged. I must admit that originally, at the time that album was recorded, I wasn't convinced about several of the tracks. That was 13 years ago and that can be a real test of the staying power of a recording and, though I don't want to blow my own trumpet too much (but, hey, this is My Space!!), that album  has more than survived the test of time – there's a kind of classic quality to it that I just didn't see back then.

Dave Kent's voice sounds really good as does his harmonica playing and he blows his trumpet rather well too. I'll have to force him out to do something on my next album.  Neil Simmonds' bass and sax sound great and his songs have lasted well (I had to be cajoled into doing some of that stuff!).  It's weird but, to me, listening now, the overall performance and sound quality seems to have improved. I know that sounds daft but that's what it seems like.

If you want to check it out here's a couple of links:

Website

MySpace

Album

EP:

Curly Wurly Song

Talking about nostalgia and music, a perfect example of the bright side of nostalgia is Cush's song Dennis Law and Ali McGraw. Although most of the references might well be lost on anyone not from the UK or under 40 this song really hits the nostalgic nail on the head. It's inspirational nostalgia!! Indeed, I have seen some speculation on the Internet that this song was an influencing factor for the BBC TV series 'Life On Mars' but this theory was squashed by the series writer Matthew Graham  - has he never heard of subliminal inspiration? Hasn't he seen that episode of 'The Partridge Family'  - you know, the one where Danny Partridge thinks he's coming up with new ideas but, in reality, these have entered his subconscious whilst sleeping and it turns out that all along he was copying someone else. It can happen to the best of us!!

Looking Forward: Traditional or Modern?

I've been thinking about recording an interim album. Something to fill the gap between the next Men They Couldn't Hang album and another Swill and the Swaggerband CD. So, I thought I'd plum for a download only solo album. I still need to fix this in my head but the rough plan is to do simple acoustic versions of 10 or so tracks. These might possibly be my own take on traditional songs or I might add some new material. Or both. So, I put the word out to a couple of people on MySpace to see if they might have any ideas on traditional songs… 

So far I've heard back from Chris Infidel from 'The Infidels' who suggested some "English Folk music like, St Swithins Day or Safe European Home" which isn't a bad idea at all - although Robb Johnson already does some brilliant 'folk' versions of Clash songs such as his interpretation of 'Stay Free' so I don't want to seem like I'm doing a Danny Partridge on him.

Another MySpace friend, Susanne La Reimann from Germany suggested 'Dirty old Town' …I do like the idea of doing a Ewan MacColl song  – and Cush is probably going to be doing Shoals of Herring on the next TMTCH album so there's a certain symmetry to it.

Francis Doherty sent in a CD of songs and suggested an accapella version of 'The Parting Glass'. There's a version of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J9518zSqWk

I'd be interested to check out suggestions for songs that you'd like to hear in a simple acoustic format so let me know if you have any ideas.  Traditional or otherwise. Maybe I'll do a poll on here at some time?

Cheers,

Swill

Currently watching : Grave of the Fireflies Release date: 07 December, 2004

3:41 AM - 9 Comments - 11 Kudos - Add Comment

Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used To Be - The Winchester Punk Reunion

Those Were The Days My Friend

This blog is way later than I had hoped and also way off the intended topic. I'd originally planned to write up a summary of our adventures at some of the festivals we (The Men They Couldn't Hang in the main part) played this year. However, time has been against me and much has got in the way (not least of all the festivals themselves) so I'll have to sit back and reflect a bit before I blogarise that lot. In the meantime I'm going to ramble on about something else entirely.

The Men They Couldn't Hang recently played at The Wickham Folk Festival where Rebecca Cliff (née Thompson) came along to see us and say hello. Bec was our Tour Manager way back when and, more importantly, is a very old friend. When I say 'old' what I mean of course is 'good'. Very good friend.

So, whilst catching up on this and that Bec mentioned that there was going to be a Winchester Punk reunion and maybe I'd like to go along. Why would I want to go along to that you might ask yourself. And that, my lovely (as I believe they say in Bristol), is a very good question.

In Winchester back in the late 70's/early 80's there was a blooming punk scene that included friends and family such as Bec, Spence (later to be a long suffering/suffered TMTCH roadie) and, from time to time, my brother and original TMTCH drummer, Jon. I knew many of the 'Winchester Crew', 'Harestock Chaps' and the semi legendary 'Sparsholt Mob' very well and for a while it was an eagerly anticipated stop off on the way home from London for Christmas. A trip that was never uneventful.

Catch 22

One day when there's more time, and if you're interested, I can go into even greater detail around the relationship with the Winchester Crew but, for the time being, suffice to say that Paul Simmonds and myself (and Jon from time to time) were members of Southampton punk band Catch 22 (did I mention that we supported the Clash?), (Twice!) and it was a wild time.

On the road to my horizon

A few years later I found myself and Rich Maidment (who was also from Catch 22 and very nearly a founder member of TMTCH) on the run from Southampton and on the coach to London. For good. Like Joe Buck and Ratso Rizo. We were sorted though 'cos a friend from Winchester said she had a friend somewhere in London who had a flat that they'd put us up in till we got ourselves sorted out. So, a friend of a friend, who had never met us and didn't expect us was going to put up two complete strangers with bleached hair. Those were the days.

Off the coach and straight into a phone box "Hello, you don't know me but a friend of yours said that if we were ever in London you'd be able to put us up for a while – we've got our own sleeping bags…". Of course that didn't go any further… though, very kindly, and God knows why, she did put us in touch with someone they knew who lived in Hammersmith. So we ended up staying in a friend, of a friend, of a friend's flat – until it got raided and we got thrown out. Which was was better than it sounds as it led to us renting our own flat in Shepherds Bush which came to be a crash pad for all and sundry from Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth, Germany, France, Greenham Common and just about anyone we happened to bump into. Those were the days…

There's no place like home

This 2 bedroom 4 bed flat became home to a transient mix of between 8 to 16 people. Apart from those that just floated in for a night or two it became a semi-permanent residence for, amongst others, some of the Winchester Crew. Privacy was at a premium. It wasn't a pretty sight, most of the furniture was falling apart and the fridge door had come off and we used to just lean it up against the front of the fridge. One summer I found maggots in the liver. But we had great parties there – pretty much each night really – but every now and then we'd have a proper party and it wouldn't be unusual to see the likes of Mick Jones, Sigue Sigue Sputnik (Chris Kavanagh, and Ray Mayhew were also from Southampton), Boy George, Kirk Brandon or Barry Norman. Well, Barry Norman wasn't actually at the parties but he did have to walk past the flat every day and whenever we saw him we'd lean out the window and sing the theme tune to 'Film 84'.

It was about this time that I met Cush and soon after we formed The Men They Couldn't Hang, toured the world (and elsewhere) and, eventually, played The Wickham Folk Festival where I met up with Bec and got invited to the first annual Winchester Punk reunion.

That was a month ago and the reunion is in less than a week. I've been regularly visiting the Yahoo Group dedicated to this event. People have been writing in talking about the old days, the music, the vibe, haircuts and neckerchiefs but to me the best thing has been the photo's - it gives you a strange feeling though …a mixture of nostalgia and a little melancholy. I don't know why exactly but it makes me a quite sad when I look at some of the old photos and see the faces of people I knew looking back through the years. It's brought back a rush of memories and I've spent quite a bit of time thinking back to those days.

Actually, I'm surprised how many of the people in the photos I've managed to keep in touch with although there are many others that I haven't seen for years and, looking at these photos it makes me wonder what they look like now. If I was going to the reunion I'd be able to find out but I can't make it so I'll have to look at the 'after' pic's that'll be up on Yahoo instead. I thought the other day that the party would make the perfect theme for a new song but then I realised that Paul may have already covered this ground with 'On The Razzle' from The Domino Club album.

I got an email today that said "I think we were really lucky to have such a large group of great people to hang out with. Quite unique probably. It felt like family......."

I've never thought of it before, but now I look back that's exactly what it felt like.

Cheers,

Swill

Currently listening : Do Anything You Wanna Do By Eddie & the Hot Rods Release date: 02 October, 2000

12:01 AM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

CD & T-Shirt Winners
Current mood: Generous

Hi there,

Here's a very short Blog just to announce the names of the people that have won a freebie.

From time to time I do a random draw of names that are subscribed to my Blog and give out a free CD or T-shirt.  The way I draw the names is give everyone that is subscribed a number (if you can see my subscribers the 1^st one is 1 the 2^nd 2 etc…) and then go to http://www.mdani.demon.co.uk/para/random.htm and generate the numbers from there. The winners this time are 46, 26, 82 – in other words David Paskell, Anna, and Giselle **Babyknuckles**.

I'll be in touch to find out whether a CD or T-shirt is required and will do another draw out of the blue sometime soon.

In the meantime you can get a free download EP by clicking below (& if you're feeling generous please paste the link onto your site):

Copy this code to your website to display this banner!
<a href="http://www.wovenwheatwhispers.co.uk/folk_community/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=468" target="_blank"><img src="http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/9877/acb38b92101bea740159b93fi0.jpg" alt='Create your own banner at mybannermaker.com!' border=0 /></a><br>

Swill

3:12 AM - 6 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Somerset, Cardiff & Oxfordshire – weekender (of interest to UK readers mostly – or people with

This is not the usual blog and is really only of benefit to those of you living in the UK ...but to keep your interest I can say that the next blog will announce the winners of the free CD and T-shirts (I said in an earlier post that I would do a random draw of people that are subscribed - but you can still sign up now and be in with a chance). Also, even if you are too far away to make it to the gigs - be sure to check out the link at the bottom of this blog.

 OK, on with the plug...

Bridgewater Palace - Mandolin Wind

Fresh from our appearance at Glastonbury Festival last weekend, The Men They Couldn't Hang will be playing an acoustic show at The Palace in Bridgewater, Somerset on Thursday 5th July.

Anyone who's been along to one of these very rare acoustic gigs will know that this will be an night where anything can happen. Expect the unexpected! It will be a full band acoustic set (minus Drums) with the odd solo and duo spot thrown in here and there for good measure ...on other nights like this we've played a mix of set list combined with impromptu numbers (usually popping out of the blue via Cush's head and catching us all by surprise) plus a few requests from the audience – Rawhide anyone? In fact why not reply to this and let us know in advance if there is anything you'd particularly like to hear and we can brush up on it!

In addition to our acoustic set we'll be ably supported by the excellent 3 Daft Monkeys with their unique blend of Celtic, Balkan, Gypsy, Latino, Cornish styled rhythms. Add to this the band's varied backgrounds from Dance, Dub, Punk, Reggae and Traditional Folk, and you have a stunning combination. 3 Daft Monkeys supported the Levellers on their 2006 Autumn UK tour and are also appearing on the same bill as us on several festivals this year.

And, as if that wasn't enough, locals heroes Jankie fardal have also been invited to play on the bill. They 're a 5 piece Bridgwater band who play acoustic country/blues music with a heavy dose of traditional Irish folk at the root. Expect heady vocals and acoustic guitar with a folky mix of atmospheric Irish tin whistle, accordion, bodhran and fiddle.

So, as you can see, this is something out of the ordinary and you'be advised to get there early and make a night of it. Doors open at 7:30PM

Cardiff & Oxfordshire - Full On Baby

To throw everything into contrast we'll also be playing a full-on electric gig the next night at The Point in Cardiff and then, on the Saturday, and in a blatant excuse to sample some of the many fine ales from the Hook Norton Brewery, TMTCH will be headlining the wonderful Music At The Crossroads festival in Hook Norton itself where we're scheduled to play 9:30 – 11pm.

There you have it. Sounds like a good reason to make serious weekend of it and come along to all 3!!

Cheers

Swill

Thurs 5th July – The Palace, 25-27 Penel Orlieu, Bridgwater, Somerset Tel: 01278 434507 Ticketline: 0871 2200260

Online: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/17891 Online: www.seetickets.com,

There's also a chance to win a pair of free tickets: CLICK HERE

Fri 6th July – Cardiff, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, CF106EB  -
Box Office: 02920460873  www.thepointcardiffbay.com Tickets

Sat 7th July - Music At The Crossroads festival, behind the Gate Hangs High Pub, Hook Norton, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX15 5DFwww.hookymusic.co.uk - 8:30PM

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MEN THEY COULDN'T ALBUMS AVAILABLE FROM £3 TO £6 INCLUDING SOME RARE STUFF NOT AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE AND EVEN SOME FREE (YES FREE!!!!) EP'S GO TO www.wovenwheatwhispers.co.uk OR CLICK HERE

Currently listening : The Convincer By Nick Lowe Release date: 11 September, 2001

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