Long time no blog

Hi Fan,
Didn’t realise just how long ago it is since I posted a blog!
Main news is that Ali Lowe, demon bassist and all round Mad One has retired from public life and set himself up in Bristol, where he awaits the arrival of a new baby in the New Year. It was a great shame to lose him, but thats the life a Transponster has to lead. We wish him and Jenny all the very best with their new life.
That means we were looking for a replacement, abd oh boy, did we come up trumps! Not only a brilliant bassist by the name of Mr Dave Candling (ex Riff Raff), but we also welcomed Mr Paul Jones to the DSTM ranks on Keys, guitar, vocals, tambourine and beer. So now we are 5. And with a couple oftry-out gigs under our belts in the last week, we’re hopefully heading for a stunning New Year. Hoping to put some more footage up on YouTube soon and maybe finally get that recording done the way we want it.
As usual, all the latest news will be on the website, including dates, etc. And as soon as I can get my head around it, or find a man who can, the website will be updated with the new line up, new pictures and all the fun of the DSTM fair.
Get yourself to one of our gigs soon!!

Rock and Roll Juggernaut

Its all very well, this blogging lark, but trying to find the time to keep it up to date is the hardest part.

So, what have we been up to? A couple of really excellent gigs at The Sportsman. When you start to pull complete strangers in to see you, you know things must be going well. And when you find you’re in “the zone” as a band, its a warm feeling.

We’ve also been looking at the possibilities of getting into Clubland. We had an agent to see part of a gig, then we did a spot in a “showcase” for another club agency. The feedback was essentially the same from both – a tight, competent band……..but! Apparently clubs only want gimmicky bands -  those into Glam with all the gear or the comedy angles – at least thats what we’re told, but why is it that the bands we’ve seen in places like the Bellhouse club in Sheffield don’t have any more gimmicks than us and just play straight rock/pop? We’ll have to devise a cunning plan, get a foot in the door, then do what everybody else does and please ourselves.  Anyway, agents are on the back burner for the time being.

Played at the Moon Inn in Stoney Middleton -  a packed house, some morons, but generally a good night. Said Farewell to Suzanne and Rob who are leaving the pub for pastures new. Had a call form a guy who saw us there and wants our bodies in Eyam next month. What with gigs lined up at the Travellers Rest and The Old Hall, the Peak District is finally coming to its senses.

So the diary is healthy, the rehearsal room rent is paid, recording is still on the front burner and DSTM are rapidly attaining Best Band in the World status. Where do we go from here?

Bristol, probably.

A New Year, a new direction?

Last year brought a great deal of satisfaction in terms of doing something that I should have done years ago. Playing live is such a fantastic experience. Everyone should try it.

This year started off with 4 gigs booked for January and February but took a bad turn when one was cancelled after a long standing arrangement. It goes to show how tough it is for traditional music venues, ie the pub, to keep going in the face of big brewery and management companies forcing them to close or cut back on entertainment.

Bouncing back, we’ve decided to have a look at what the clubs might offer. Being based in the traditional heart of Clubland, there are plenty of places to go at, so we’ve asked an agent to have a look at us. Hopefully he’ll point out what we need to do to meet the challenge.

So, watch this space.

Recording!!

Its been a great year. Never thought getting a band together after so many years out of it all would be so satisfying. The rewards haven’t all been emotional though, we have made a small amount of money which has mostly gone into buying gear (and beer).

We need to get our new mixing desk up and running in the new year, so we can balance the sound through the PA, so lats week we had a practice in the rehhearsal room. We miked everything up and played around with the knobs. Its surprising how different the ambient sound in the room is different to what was picked up through the desk. After playing a few songs with what seemed like a horrendous balance, we laid down 7 tracks live!! Some of them turned out pretty good, others had glaring tuning or bum note errors, but they have been committed to CD for posterity as our first recording, notionally labeled, “A Shot In The Dark” (See what we’ve done there?)

It would have been in the shops for Xmas if my old mate Roger had agreed to the marketing deal I offered his company. Ageists.

Some of the tracks might appear on the website for downloads, or at least in playable form, and I’m sure there’ll be many more appearing over the coming months.

Hope to see as many of our fans at The Sportsman on Saturday for the Xmas gig.

Merry Christmas to you all!!

Gig News.

Amazing how a simple messgae to give someone a call turns out to be really interesting! Mr Rock Steady Alan “Woody” Wood, Skins Master, said he’d had a call from Jackie at one of our favourite pubs, The New Inn at Hemsworth. “Hooray!” I thought, “Another booking.”

No

FOUR new dates running through the whole of next year!!!

We must be doing something right. Could it be the sexy Dick Nee’s animal attraction? Is it that we are actually listenable and talented musicians? Thanks for your vote of confidence to Jackie and Andy at the New Inn. Flattering in itself as Andy is a highly skilled and experienced guitarist himself.

Anyway, the first date is Friday the 28th March and we’ll post the rest up on the website as soon as I can remember them.

The Messengers roll on to our second year together. What a great bunch of mates!!

Band Blog

 

Hi to all music lovers! It’s time we had a blog  for those dedicated  enough to actually find our website  and use it. (www.dontshootmusic.co.uk)   I should start by introducing us – Don’t Shoot The Messenger – a band based in Sheffield. Check out the profiles on the website if you really want to know who we are and what we do, because this blog is intended for more day to day logging of what’s going on in Messengerland.

 It’s been a whole year since our first foray into publand – A wet November Sunday afternoon at a jam session in the Woodseats Hotel, where we did three numbers. We got a very positive response, enough to make us want more. Meanwhile, Mad Ali Lowe was arranging his wedding and honeymoon, which meant our first full gig would have to wait until January, when we hit the Sportsman on Barnsley Road and blitzed the place!! What a buzz! You can see reports of the rest of the year’s gigs on the website.

Wednesday night is usually rehearsal night down on Carlisle Street. It gets me through the week. I’m going to make sure the rest of the guys know about this blog so we can keep it running. Don’t think we’ll post any of the naughty stuff that bands get up to though………