8th April - The 2014 European Blues Challenge in Riga Lativa (plus some folk!)

Hi all

This weekend is the 2014 European Blues Challenge set, this year in beautiful capital of Latvia, Riga.  So all my blues tunes for the show come from some of the 2014 nominees for this title (see below). This is the 4th event and is run by the EBBA - European Blues Broadcasters Association. Previous events were held in Spain, Italy and Norway. If you can't make it (myself included)! but are around Bristol UK this weekend then the fabulous Dubl Handi 'Appalachian old-time string band style ' http://www.brookfield-knights.com/Dubl-Handi.html are playing at Hamilton House, Stokes Croft in the Canteen on 13th April in the afternoon; so a track from them as well.

No 'What's in the Post' this week as Somer Valley FM has the builders in and thus the post is not being collected on a daily basis - and Tuesday is not one of those daily pick ups. So in very unusual manner for the show I'm cramming in a couple of artists from last week's 'What's in the Post' whom are a couple more American old time and bluegrass style bands courtesy of http://www.brookfield-knights.com/ The Railsplitters and The California Feetwarmers.

So to get some British folk tunes in for this week I had to delve about abit, but I got an email in from Bill, the guitarist from Saturday Sun http://saturdaysun.get-ctrl.com/#/ thanking me for sending them a copy of my interview I did with them when they played Dorchester Media Centre in February. We talked about guitar tunings, as you do, at the gig and modular tunings came up.  Obviously if we're talking modular tunings it has to be Nic Jones whom Bill had yet to hear of! but said he would look him up.  Canadee I-O is the tune to go for - isn't it Mr Dylan J  as most people recognise it as one of Nic's more well known tunes.   In Bill’s reply he was wondering how he had never heard of Nic as the guitar playing was amazing and the song, Canadee I-O was just as amazing!  Bill tuned his guitar to said modular tuning and now has a more 'folky' edge to his playing which he said he may be exploring in future Saturday Sun tracks as well as listening to more of Nic’s songs.  Bill would love to hear the song played out on the radio so an easy excuse to play it out J

No ‘Time for Tom’ this week either but here is the track listing:

TRACK ........................... ARTIST
Texas Shuffle ................... Fenzl Experience (Austria)
Desert Inside ................... Dave Migden and the Dirty Words (now the Twisted Roots) (UK)
Canadee I-O ..................... Nic Jones
Doyle the Hunter ........... Fred and the Healers (Belgium)
Spray .................................. The Railsplitters
Feels So Godd ................. The Bacon Fats (Switzerland)
You May Leave ............... California Feetwarmers
Sugar Mama .................... The Hightones (Sweden)
Beeswing .......................... Richard Thompson
Tear me Down Again ... Big Creek Slim (Denmark)

And here are the piccies ………….