Yeah I know, sorry guys... I don't update this website very often
its been nearly two years since my last post. Not that things have
been slowing down or anything. I'm still playing lots of live shows and working on
several musical projects at once. 2019 is shaping up to be a busy year with a
bunch of festivals coming in and opportunities to play further a field.
So far this year I have organised a short south west tour for one of
my musical influences the amazing blues guitarist Jo' Buddy from
Finland! It was a pleasure to introduce him to the local music scene and we had a
natural ball playing the blues together. hopefully he will return
later in the year.
I am mostly focusing on my solo act in 2019 which has me
moving away from electric guitar and with much less influence from 40's/50's
material. All those duo shows with Becca Langsford singing &
playing washboard have rekindled my interest in earlier acoustic blues
& ragtime from the 20s & 30s. I always had a fascination with the early pioneers of
blues music, I released an album of classic country blues way back
in my early 20s. That was around 1992. I've been refining my skills on bottleneck
guitar, baritone 12 string, banjo, double bass, mandolin & of
course fingerstyle guitar for many years now so at the age of
50 the time seems right to delve deeper into the early influences I've
grown to love so much. I am feeling the urge to release another record
to showcase my evolvement as a musician in this field. With nearly 40 years playing music I should be up for
the challenge!
Keep an eye on the gig list for new solo dates being
added regularly. Plenty of Big Combo shows also plus duo gigs with
Becca Langsford who is currently in the USA on a 6 week tour with
Martin Barre. Gonna be the trip of a lifetime with a special line-up
celebrating 50 years of Jethro Tull. Good Luck with the 29 shows Becca
Langsford & Alex Hart!!! x.
MOMENTUM STUDIOS LIVE VIDEO SHOWCASE
SESSION (2015)
FEATURING - VINCE LEE
2015 has been a busy year so
far. This is the first time I've had chance to post an update. I've
played a whole bunch of festivals this year with The Big Combo &
Becca Langsford's country blues trio (now featuring Tom Carr from The
Hot Rats on double bass). We had great shows at Ashburton Blues
Festival, Truro Blues Festival, Port Eliot & Labyrinth Blues &
Roots to name a few. Earlier this year I helped out with my good
friend Russell Sinclair's debut album recorded @ Momentum Studios with
engineer Josiah Manning. The album is called 'Bought & Sold'
featuring mostly original material written by Russell. I am playing
mandolin & slide guitar on a couple tunes. More information about
the new record on his website.
The studio has since been extended with a larger
live room and isolated drum booth. To promote the new improved
recording space we decided to shoot a series of three videos
showcasing some of the highly talented musicians we have performed
& recorded with on the south west blues scene. The three songs are
each fronted by a different singer. Here is the first installment with
Vince Lee singing Big Bess by Louis Jordan.
Band line-up
Vince Lee - vocal & guitar
Josiah Manning - grand piano
Sebastian Boleslawski - drums
Tom Carr - double bass
Andy Williamson - baritone sax
George Comer - tenor sax
Becca Langsford - backing vocals &
handclaps
Russell Sinclair - backing vocals &
handclaps
Jake Galvin was the cameraman & video
editor on these session.
Mixed & mastered by Josiah Manning -
Momentum Studios, Plymouth.
Lookout for the next two episodes coming soon with
Becca Langsford & Russell Sinclair fronting the band. Updated -
Sept 2015.
THOMAS FORD NEW ALBUM RELEASE
SHOULDER TO CRY ON (2015)
Thomas Ford's fourth studio album
came out earlier this year recorded @ PMC Studios. The album which is
mainly made up of solo performances features Vince Lee on a few songs.
There are two full band numbers included with Vince on double bass
guitar & mandolin. For more information visit Thomas
Ford's website. You can now hear/buy the whole record on Bandcamp
KIRK FLETCHER - FIRST UK TOUR
Becca Langsford & Vince Lee will be
supporting Kirk Fletcher on his first UK tour.
Kirk is on of the worlds finest blues
guitarists, he played alongside Nick Curran in The Fabulous Thunderbirds and
has recorded with some of the hottest names in the west coast such as James
Harman, Janiva Magness & The Mannish Boys.
1st November - South Devon Arts Centre. See
poster for futher details
Plymouth Blues Society has been
busy planning another Summer event at Plymouth Social Club. Last years show
was a great success so we have organised another one. The date is Thursday
12th June!!! This year we have collaborated with The
Barbican International Jazz & Blues festival which starts the
following day. Our event will be the opening
party for the festival and will feature International and local performers
who've been booked to appear at the festival. Vince Lee will host the event
with The Big Combo as house band. Admission will be the same as last year
- £5
This year we celebrate our first birthday. Our headline act for the blues
party areRobin
Henkel- slide guitar maestro & Ric
Lee, drummer from The Bayou Brothers, both
from San Diego USA. We will also be
celebrating Ric's birthday with an awesome line up of musicians from around
the South West. Line up
includes...
Thomas Ford has
been nominated in the emerging artists section. His new album 'Breaking
Everything But Even' features Vince Lee on guitar/double bass/ukulele/vocals.
Checkout Thomas Ford's website
for further information. Voting is open now on the British
Blues Awards website.
2014 FESTIVALS
4th May - Becca
Langsford & Vince Lee @ Blues
@ The Barn - Rumleigh Farm, Nr Tavistock
The first Plymouth
Blues Society event will take place on 7th June 2013 @ Plymouth Social
Club on Tavistock Place (the street behind the library on North Hill) I
will be acting as host for the evening and performing along side some of
the finest blues talent in the area. There will be a jam session included
in the deal featuring some of the south west's best players. I already
have a few people in mind & will be adding them to the line up soon.
Admission will be £5 ticket info to follow.. Please come out to support
this event organised by local musicians. Tickets available from The
Last Shop Standing, Bretonside Business Station, Plymouth Thanks, Vince Lee
THOMAS FORD'S 3rd ALBUM DUE
FOR RELEASE IN JULY 2013
I've
been working in the studio with Thomas Ford since early 2012 recording
tracks for his 3rd album. I'm playing double bass on most tunes as
well as guitars, lap steel and backing vocals. We are recording at our
favourite studio PMC here in Plymouth with Doc Collins at the
controls. I was involved with the previous two albums but this one
shows a real development in songwriting and musicianship in my
opinion. Thomas Ford and myself will be taking the record on the
road for a Summer release tour in July/August 2013, dates to follow
soon!
As
promised below... New Airline demos added to my playlist on youtube
for the
Espanada, Map guitar & Limited Edition Catalina...
The Wildcards Win Best
Blues Act
South
West Music Awards 2012
Becca Langsford Band @
Pori Jazz Festival - Finland 2012
One of
the highlights of 2012 was performing with The Becca Langsford Band @
The 47th Pori Jazz Festival in Finland. Pori is the biggest music
festival in Finland. We had the pleasure of watching Jo Buddy and is
band after our show.
The Wildcards @
Scandinavian Blues Party 2012
LATEST NEWS 2012
EASTWOOD/AIRLINE
GUITAR DEMOS
I'll be filming some new
demos for Eastwood/Airline guitars in a few weeks time. Mike Robinson, the
companies founder has finally re-issued my favourite guitar, the Harmony H63
Espanada and he will be sending me one very soon. Mike is also sending me the
59' 2P guitar which is a copy of the old Supro resoglass guitar and a re-issue
of the National map guitar. Here is a link to my youtube channel where you can
see my existing demos and live clips
Becca Langsford releases her debut album
on 2nd May 2011 With two weeks of live shows around the South
West. The name of the album is ‘Big Surprise’, it features a host of great
musicians from Devon & Cornwall. Becca will be performing with an all new
line-up featuring Vince Lee on guitar/vocals, Martin Vowles on double bass
& Sebastian Boleslawski on drums. The band will be joined by guests Paul
Harris (Hammond organ) & Ian Langsford (harmonica). Reviews for this
stunning debut album are coming in thick & fast. Visit Becca's all new
website for more information. www.beccalangsford.com
Thomas Ford (b. Simon Thomas
Langsford, 4 July 1985) Is a talented young blues musician based in the
South West of England. Thomas has been busy playing shows around the UK
since early 2008 as a hard-hitting one-man blues band. He sings and plays
National steel guitar, blows rack harmonica and stomps on a tambourine
strapped to a suitcase! He was Influenced from a young age by his father,
Ian Langsford – founder member of legendary Plymouth blues band ‘The
Legal Eagles', Being raised in a musical family with strong links to the
blues has certainly rubbed off on him, as anyone who has witnessed his
energetic live shows will tell you!
Debut Album - Separation Street
Thomas Ford’s outstanding debut album ‘Separation
Street’ is due for release in Spring 2009. The disc will feature
performances from Tom’s sister Becca Langsford on vocals and his brother
Tim Langsford on drums. Other members include Vince Lee (guitar, lapsteel,
ukulele, vocals) and Al Wallis (bass) from internationally acclaimed blues
& roots band - The Wildcards. Thomas wrote the majority of the tunes on
the album including the title track ‘Separation Street’.
I
first met Thomas Ford at a local gig in my hometown Plymouth, he was beating
out some footstompin’ blues on a Harmony Arch-tone guitar and blowing
serious harmonica. I remember being impressed by his performance and was
glad to see a young guy playing the blues and getting it right. We soon
became friends and ended up playing live together on a regular basis.
Thomas
had just started working on this album when i met him and invited me to play
on the record.
Separation
Street is a collection of original songs recorded in a makeshift studio by
his brother Timmy Langsford who also plays drums on the disc.
Thomas
shares vocal duties with his 19 year old sister Becca Langsford, an
outstanding blues singer with a mature and powerful voice.
The
Dirty Harmonys line up also includes my long-time bass player Al Wallis and
Patrick James Pearson who played anything he could get his hands on. He
added saxophone, organ, percussion, violin and backing vocals.
This
is an impressive debut from
a young blues musician who proves himself a thoughtful songwriter with dark
humour attached to every line he sings. His music has a timeless simplicity
that will leave these tunes swimming around in your head for days
- Vince Lee
DARTMOUTH FESTIVAL Saturday 17th
May - 4pm - The Big Combo
(featuring George Comer and Paul Harris)
ASHBURTON BLUES FESTIVAL
Saturday 31st May - 1pm (Vince Lee & Al Wallis Blues Duo) - The Red Lion
pub
POLPERRO FESTIVAL Monday
23rd June - 9pm (Vince Lee & Al Wallis Blues Duo) - The Blue Peter
MAKER FESTIVAL Saturday 2nd August - 9pm
- The Big Combo
(featuring George Comer and Paul Harris)
Wildcards
Tour with The Fabulous Thunderbirds
We are very excited to announce that The Wildcards will
be touring in Germany with the legendary Fabulous
Thunderbirds during April 2008! Full details of the dates are now
available on our shows
page. This will be a great opportunity for us to appear at some new and larger
venues and we're looking forward to winning some new German fans!
Buy Our Albums
at Rootscd.com
The Finest Independent Roots Acts On The Planet www.rootscd.com
Brand new UK based on-line cd mail
order company specialising in roots music launches in April 2008
The finest independent blues, jazz, rockabilly, folk
& world music artists on the planet!
Great artists like:
The Radio Ramblers, Big Boy Bloater & His Southside Stompers, Thomas Ford
& The Dirty Harmonys, The Electrophonics, Jo' Buddy, The Wildcards, Vince
Lee & The Big Combo, The Nightporters, Lynette Morgan & The Blackwater
Valley Boys, The Bonneville Barons, Two Timers, Folk Uke, JD Smith, Tony
Jameson & The Jamesons, Paul Garner, Cordwood Draggers, Mitch Woods, The
Lazy Jumpers, The Western Aces, Junior Marvel, Helge Tallqvist & Groovy
Eyes, Arson Roulette, The Tennessee Boys, The Hi-Q's, The Hometown Gamblers,
The Truly Lover Trio, Johnny Carlevale, Gerry Hundt, Sidestreet Reny, Wentus
Blues Band, Memo Gonzalez & The Bluescasters and many, many, many more!
The list grows by the day jazz, folk and world
music artists to worldwide customers.
RAISING HELL
VOTED 7th BEST BLUES ALBUM 2007
Blues Matters! Magazine voted The
Wildcards latest album 'RAISING HELL' as the 7th best albums of 2007.
We've been picking up a lot of
interest from the cream of blues World's press, with present and forthcoming
reviews and interviews in Blues Matters (UK), Blues In Britain (UK), Back To
The Roots (Belgium), Block (Holland), Blues News (Germany), Blues Revue
(USA)....the list goes on! Blues
Matters are running a major interview with us that's ear-marked for issue
42 (February 2008).
BLUES MATTERS! REVIEW
The Wildcards – Raising Hell (2007)
Listen to the entertaining lyrics or
just let yourself go to their urgently-swinging, amazingly-accomplished and
undeniably-cool blend of jazz, jump jive, blues and rockabilly, given a
wickedly ‘voodoo’ edge with Louisiana and Caribbean influences bubbling
up all over, and you can’t fail to be bowled over by its startling
originality. This well-recorded CD (a worthy successor to fine 2004 debut
“On Fire”) captures their thrilling many-layered live sound so well that
new delights emerge with every playing and you get the feeling it’s never
going to be far from your record player.
Their impeccably empathetic playing
is enhanced by great arrangements and a unifying concept feel symbolised by
the eerie cover drawing of four leering skeletons playing instruments atop
an old-style hearse providing fair warning of the dark delights within. At
the album’s greasy heart lies a magnificently woozy version of the blues
standard ‘St James Infirmary’ with an electrifying half-way lurch into a
musical mayhem worthy of Screaming Jay Hawkins or Louis Jordan. Yes, it’s
that good.
With a striking air of brooding
menace, lots of dark humour and an entertaining musical and lyrical wit way
beyond most bands, the Wildcards are surely poised on the edge of real
acclaim. Listen to the sophisticated calypso and Latin touches on the
Squirrel Nut Zippers’ ‘Hell’, the deliriously carnivalesque version of
Louis Jordan’s ‘Run Joe’, the scarifying ‘Hoodoo Preacher’
(composed by harmonica-player Gary Primich, with whom they toured last
year), and the suitably staggery rhythms of the band original ‘Drunk’.
There isn’t a weak track on the album, their own material easily matching
their well-chosen covers, though they may have saved the best till last with
the epic Vince Lee original ‘Hard Luck Tale’, featuring eerie keyboards
from guest Paul Harris. A class act. Dave Kingsbury - Writer for Blues Matters, Blues In Britain.
2007 - END OF
ANOTHER YEAR PLAYING THE BLUES
This has been a pretty tough year... The last 12 months have
seen some serious bad juju goin' on although music has somehow kept things
together.
We have gained another extended member of The Big Combo -
George Comer on tenor and baritone saxes.
George is an old friend of the band and joins Paul Harris on
Hammond organ for regular shows with The Big Combo
We have had some knockout gigs with this line-up so expect
more of the same for 2008.
We spent a lot of time in the studio throughout 2007, The
Wildcards second album 'Raising Hell' was released in October 2007 and is
gaining great
reviews all over the world. 2008 should see the band
reaching a much larger audience with festival dates booked in Holland,
Finland, Sweden, Belgium and all around the UK.
I was also involved with our good friends Benny 'Guitar'
Carr and The Hot Rats debut album recorded at our favorite studio at The
Plymouth Music Collective.
The album which I helped produce 'Red Hot Mama' was released
in March 2007 and the band have seen their gig-list expanding as a result.
Lookout for
The Hot Rats second album in 2008. Al Wallis and myself have
been doing some shows recently with legendary New Orleans style piano
player
Diz Watson and one of my oldest musician friends Julian Rout on
drums. Julian can play a New Orleans rumba better than anyone else I know and
we
always have a blast playing together. We will surely be
performing together on a regular basis from now on!
First priority this year is to finish The Big Combo's second
album. The album will include George Comer on saxes and Paul Harris on Hammond
organ
GARY PRIMICH
RIP 1958 - 2007
Rest In Peace Gary...
This year we lost one of our biggest influences in today's
blues scene.
GARY PRIMICH - From Austin Texas was
one of the worlds finest blues musicians. Gary was a genius harmonica player
and songwriter who inspired usto cover many of his tunes and turned us on to
some very cool music over the years. There are two of his songs included on
The Big Combo's debut album. He heard about us covering his songs and approached me
about doing some shows together in the UK. This resulted in a two week tour starting at The Blues bar
and Grill in Plymouth and taking us from London to France, Belgium, Holland
and Luxembourg. We learned a lot from touring with Gary, he was an amazing
talent and a real blues road warrior. As a tribute we recorded Gary's song Hoodoo Preacher for The
Wildcards latest album 'Raising Hell' When he heard our version he told us he preferred it to his
own which was the highest compliment we could have wished for!
The
Wildcards New Album -
RAISING HELL
RELEASE DATE 18th October 2007
The Wildcards new album 'Raising Hell'
due for release on 18th October 2007. We have now got four official launch
dates for the new album Thursday 18th October - The Royal Oak, Malborough, Nr
Kingsbridge, Friday 19th October - Mojo's Bar, Torquay, 20th October - Annabel's
Cabaret and Discotheque on The Barbican in Plymouth, 27th October - The
Rod and Line - Tideford, Cornwall
FESTIVALS 2007
Dartmouth Festival - Mainstage with Paul Harris on
Hammond Organ - Sunday 20th May - 6.30pm
Benny Carr and The Hot Rats at Dartmouth Festival with
guest VINCE LEE @ The Yacht Club - Friday 18th May 9.00pm
Salcombe Music Festival, Mainstage with Paul Harris
on Hammond Organ - Saturday 9th June - Evening Session
3rd Annual Finnyfest at The Finnygook, Crafthole - Sunday 26th
August Evening Session
Fender Junior - Fender Blues
Deville - Gibson GA30RVT Invader - Fender Reverb unit - Victoria 4X10
Bassman...
Photo from Wildcards recording session PMC Studios,
Plymouth
LATEST NEWS FOR 2006
We will be kicking off the Gary
Primich tour with an appearance at The Blues Bar and Grill in Plymouth with a
special show featuring Gary Primich, Vince Lee and Al Wallis. Admission is
£5.00... tickets available from The Blues Bar and Grill. This show will sell
out so get your tickets early!!!
I
have recently become the proud owner of two extremely rare Harmony guitars, on
the left - 1957 Harmony H42 Stratotone Newport and a 1955 Harmony H62
Artist archtop.These
are primo blues guitars made in Chicago in th 50's, photo taken at Gary
Primich recording session for Triple R Blues Radio, Holland.
Ben
Carr and the Hot Rats
Debut album "Red Hot" out
soon...
Well
2006 has been a very busy years so far. I have been in PMC Studios with Benny
Carr and the Hot Rats, Ben asked me to produce and appear as guest musician on
their debut album "Red Hot" so I had to say
"Yeah!" You can read more about this on Ben Carr's website here www.bennyguitarcarr.co.uk
Benny
"Guitar" Carr and the Hot Rats - At PMC Studios
Left
to Right - Aidan Sinclair, Vince Lee, James Carr, Tom Carr, Doc Collins, Tim
Carr, Ben Carr
Gary
Primich & The Wildcards
We
have already done several shows in Europe with The Wildcards this year. We've
toured Belgium, Holland and Finland (With The Wentus Blues Band) but the best
is yet to come. We will be touring throughout Europe for two weeks in October
with harmonica ace Gary Primich, Gary contacted me after hearing The Big
Combo's album. We covered two of his tunes on the disc "Dallas
Texas" and "Cold Hand in Mine" and he liked 'em so much we
started talking about the possibility of touring together. We will be playing
three shows in the UK. You can read more about this on Gary Primich's website
and The Wildcards site
Monday
30 October - Belgium - Ertvelde - The
Maple
END OF ANOTHER
YEAR... PLAYIN' THE BLUES
LATEST NEWS FOR 2005... updated -
12/12/05
Well it's been another busy year,
we've toured Finland & Lapland, Belgium & Holland. We got to see a
whole bunch of our blues heroes perform from James Harman & Kid Ramos
to Kim Wilson and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. We have jammed with Bob
Brozman (He said we gotta a good sense of swing! Which is unusual for
the English "apparently") We played a New Orleans style gig with Diz
Watson at Mike and Karen Jones wedding at The Rod & Line which was a
blast! We have recorded a session for Paul Jones Blues Show at Maida
Vale Studios and played several UK Blues Festivals including The
Great British R&B Festival and The Upton on Severn Blues Festival.
The Big Combo and The Wildcards struck a deal with Pacific Blues in California
to distribute our CDs worldwide. Our music is being played on blues stations
all over the world. Vince has been writing songs between touring and playing
local dates with plans for recording sessions starting early in 2006. Both The
Big Combo and The Wildcards are due to start recording for their second albums
very soon. Checkout our tour dates for 2005
Vince
Paul Jones
Blues Show - Wildcards Session
Vince Lee and Al Wallis recorded a live session with The
Wildcards on Wednesday 12th October 2005. The Session took place at the famous
Maida Vale Studios in London.
The Blues
Disease on KUCI
Pacific Blues Recording
Co
LATEST NEWS FOR 2005... updated -
20/05/05
We have been getting some airplay
recently on Jeff Scott Fleenors radio show in California, The
Blues Disease on KUCI. If you like West coast Blues, tune in on the
internet to listen to the show live (at approx 6.00pm on Mondays). Jeff
works in partnership with the legendary Jerry Hall at Pacific
Blues Recording Co who has also shown interest in the band. Jerry has
produced James Harman's albums
for many years, he has worked with Lynwood Slim, Kid Ramos, Hollywood
Fats, Junior Watson and Janiva
Magness
- All Big Combo favorites!!!. You can now buy The Big Combo's album
"Call It What ya Wanna" and The Wildcards - "On Fire"
cds on The Pacific Blues
website. This is great news for us to be involved with such
inspirational people who can offer us worldwide distribution and promotion
of our music.
“The
Blues Disease”
with
Jeff Scott Mondays 10am – 1pm (Pacific)
KUCI
88.9fm, Irvine/CA/USA - Listen on the internet @ www.kuci.org
Moulin
Blues - Ospel, Holland
We traveled to Holland on May the
6th to attend The 20th Moulin Blues Festival. After The Wildcards headline
appearance at last years festival the promoters invited us back this year
as guests to see JAMES HARMAN
perform with KID RAMOS. We also got to see The Fabulous Thunderbirds
with front man Kim Wilson, Jimi Bott on drums, Gene Taylor on
piano, Nick Curran and Kirk Fletcher on guitars. What a
lineup!! Photos here...
Silvertone
Espanada and Victoria Bassman
I just became the proud owner
of a 1955 Silvertone Espanada arch top guitar and a handmade VictoriaBassman amplifier. The guitar is having some restoration work
done. The pickups have been wax potted by Bare Knuckle
Pickups, the frets have been replaced and set up by Pete Gosden at Griffin
Guitar Centre, Plymouth. More soon!
Wildcards
new album released
Hot News updated on 09/10/04
The
Wildcards new album "ON
FIRE"
was released on Monday 8th November 2004. The 11 track CD features two
original songs and a whole bunch of classic tunes from the likes of Louis
Jordan, Ray Charles, Pee-Wee Crayton and Billie Holiday. The album can be
purchased on line
CLICK HERE TO BUY
2004 NEWS
Vince Lee and Al Wallis have had a busy year so
far playing regular gigs with The Big Combo between tour dates with The
Wildcards. They have spent the rest of their time working on new
material for The Big Combo's live set and recording tracks for The
Wildcards debut album at PMC Studios. The new band have made
several trips to Europe throughout the Summer festival season and played Moulin Blues Festival
in Holland, Night of
the Blues Festival
and The Spirit of
66 in Belgium among others. More dates to come! Just take a look
at our
2004 touring schedule
We are
working very hard at
establishing The
Wildcards on the
national and European
blues and roots
circuit. So far the
results have been very
good, with appearances
at some of the biggest
blues festivals in the
UK and Europe.
Taking our music on the road has also helped to
spread the word about The Big Combo.... Although we have read several
mis-informed articles / previews on The Wildcards shows which state that
The Big Combo has split up...DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT!
