LATEST NEWS 2009...
THOMAS FORD & THE DIRTY HARMONYS ALBUM
LAUNCH MAY 2009
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
THOMAS
FORD & THE DIRTY HARMONYS ON MYSPACE
BIG COMBO FESTIVAL DATES 2009
BIG COMBO FESTIVAL DATES 2008
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!
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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
Check back soon for
more...
GARY PRIMICH
RIP 1958 - 2007
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 us
to 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 18/10/07
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
27th October - The Rod and Line - Tideford,
Cornwall
Take a look at Vince playing the new Eastwood Stratotone H44,
Twin Tone and Airline Tuxedo guitars on Youtube. There is some live footage of The Wildcards at The Running Horse
in Nottingham and a clip of The Big Combo performing Dallas Texas at The Barley Sheaf, Liskeard...
Checkout the favorites section
The band will appear at several music festivals this Summer
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
The Wildcards are also recording their second
album in 2007. Tunes are sounding great already, expect the unpredictable!
Harmony Stratotones in PMC Studios
The Whole Family Photo
Guitars
Fender 51 P-Bass 1996 - Harmony Mercury Stratotone 1959 -
Danelectro Baritone - Epiphone ES-5 - Gretsch Country Classic - Harmony
Newport 1957 - Harmony H44 Stratotone 1955 - Silvertone Espanada 1955 - Harmony
H62 1955 - Ozark Resonator bass - Fender 51 P-Bass
Amps
Fender Junior - Fender Blues Deville - Gibson GA30RVT
Invader - Fender Reverb unit - Victoria 4X10 Bassman
LATEST NEWS FOR 2006... updated -
02/10/06
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!!!
---------------------------------------------------
Harmony
Guitars
Stratotone Newport and H62 Archtop
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
www.wildcardsweb.com
Gary
Primich & The Wildcards European Tour
www.garyprimich.com
Tuesday 17th October - UK - The
Blues Bar and Grill (with Vince Lee and Al Wallis)
Wednesday
18 October - UK - Malborough (South Devon) The Royal Oak
Thursday
19 October - UK - Basildon - New
Crawdaddy Blues Club
Friday
20 October - UK - London (Sutton) - The
Boom Boom Club
Saturday
21 October - France - Tremblay-en-France - Espace Caussimon
Sunday
22 October - Details Coming Soon
Monday
23 October - Details Coming Soon
Tuesday
24 October - Details Coming Soon
Wednesday
25 October - Belgium - Brussels - CC
Nekkersdal
Thursday
26 October - Belgium - Details Coming Soon
Friday
27 October - Luxembourg - Luxembourg City - Sang-A-Klang
Saturday
28 October - Details Coming Soon
Sunday
29 October - Holland - Dongen - De
Gouden Leeuw
Monday
30 October - Belgium - Ertvelde - The
Maple
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LATEST NEWS FOR 2005... updated -
12/12/05
END OF ANOTHER YEAR...
PLAYIN' THE BLUES
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
GUEST APPEARANCE ON CHRISTIAN SLEEP'S
ALBUM
Vince has been in the studio to
record with local singer songwriter Christian
Sleep. Vince plays resonator slide guitar on "Leave It All
Behind"... Lookout for early release next year
PAUL JONES BLUES SHOW - LIVE
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.
WORLD CLASS BLUES AND ROOTS CLUB
Great news for
all... A new Blues and Roots Club created by Wildcards guitarist,
Martin Vowles...
Checkout the brand new
site for this exiting new venture. www.bluesandroots.com
- Before forming The Wildcards along with Kevin Crowe, Al Wallis and
Vince Lee, Martin
played and toured the world with legendary British blues act The
Nightporters and has worked as a booking agent, arranging tours for
many acts from around the world. Martins philosophy is
clear...."we'll be presenting acts that you would normally see
headlining major festivals around the world; it'll be a great chance
to see such exciting, top quality acts in the best surroundings
possible...fantastic intimate, relaxed venues with quality sound
systems and great beer!"
Providing real
music lovers in the Southwest with a rare opportunity to see some of
the Worlds best roots performers at two great venues in South Devon;
LATEST NEWS FOR 2005... updated -
20/05/05
The Blues Disease
on KUCI
Pacific Blues Recording
Co.
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
Vince has just become the
proud owner of a 1955 Silvertone Espanada arch top guitar and a
handmade Victoria
Bassman 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!
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