Well that's it until Tuesday, September 26th when we open again with the incomparable Ian Siegal Band at The Roffen....but more on that later.....I'll be sending out the new gig list in a month or so.

We had a wonderful evening last night to close off the first half of our year....Dave Sutherland, Paul Furness & Siobhan Parr all performed beautifully....Siobhan sold out of her CDs completely & rightly so....what a voice. It really is rare to get such accuracy, passion, power & purity from an artist & I think you'll be hearing a lot more from her in the future. I thought Dave played better than I've ever seen him before, great picking but also superb phrasing & what to say about Paul "Lefty" Furness? First time we've had someone play both left & right-handed.....Geoff Henne asked him why bother to learn to play like that & Paul said he'd played so much right-handed he was getting repetitive strain injury so taught himself to play left handed.....try it sometime.

September sees us back solidly into blues territory. Ian Siegal is without doubt one of our finest performers....not only a great singer but an exciting & dynamic guitarist with a fabulous band. I have quite a few bookings already for this gig which I expect to sell out.

Had a lot of enquiries about Watermelon Slim's latest album which I was playing last night....Watermelon Slim & The Workers. This is one of the best albums I've heard all year, it's had rave reviews & has been on the "album of the month" display at HMV for....er...a month. I just love this album, it's got so much energy & authenticity in a format not many of you have perhaps heard....his USA band are up there with the best...this CD comes with my personal endorsement....GET IT! And while you're about it Geoff Achison's latest "Little Big Men" is highly recommended too, this is his most "mature" album to date with echoes of Sting, Santana & of course Geoff! Both these albums can be got at The Compact Disc in Sevenoaks 01732 740889....Martin Salisbury (for it is he), the capo di tutti capo of this fine establishment has the best selection of "grown-ups" music in the south & if you catch him on a good day his knowledge of all things musical is equal to Marvin the paranoid android's.

OK, that'll do for now. I'll keep you posted on any good gigs I hear of over the summer. Y'all have a great time & enjoy your hols....don't forget Helen & Mikes lovely villas in Dalyan, Turkey if you've not booked anything yet www.villaindalyan.com I'll be trying to get a break out there again in early Sept. it's one of my favourite parts of the World. Boy....no other blues club offers so much...holiday advice, great music, gig info. CD reviews, natural history lessons & much more....I'll be starting a food & wine section soon....watch this space!!