Billy Walton Band Blog #3: The Tour Continues
The Derby show was a blast, quite a rowdy crowd! It’s a beautiful town and I recommend a visit. As a band we really hit some high spots playing quite a few songs from Crank It Up. Alan has been running the Flower Pot for years and anyone who’s followed the UK blues rock scene would know many of the acts he’s brought in and supported. Let’s face it, it’s not easy touring around right now and the promoters have to be selective with their shows so we really appreciate his support.
That brings us to our next gig, the Yardbirds Club in Grimsby. Grimsby is an old fishing town. Desolate is the appropriate term to describe the vibe walking around. This was the perfect spot to get some Chinese food! Steve from Solid Entertainment has put us on at the Yardbirds Club three times. He’s also put us in the 100 Club in London. It’s important to develop relationships and Steve has been willing to work with us. We’ll have another gig at the 100 Club in London in Jan (with Henrik Freischlader!). Again, the focus of the show was the new release, Crank It Up. We also sound checked a Southside Johnny song, “Woke Up this Morning.” As usual, WT Feaster and band rocked the house!
After the show we started working our way up to Newcastle for a couple days off. After the flight and three straight shows we needed a break. This was also the time that we started hearing about people getting their power back on back in Jersey. We’re really concerned for our friends Scott and Amy in Sea Bright. It’s odd being over here and being asked by so many people about what’s going on. We know all our immediate family and friends are safe but we don’t know if it’s going to stay that way.
After the Grimsby gig Billy noticed something wasn’t quite right with his amp. We have our own drums, bass amp and guitar amp that we keep in the UK. I could bring up Rupert Peters at this point but I’ll wait till later….. We bought the amp about 3 years ago and have used it on 12 tours. It’s certainly taken some shots, but we are always careful with Billy’s Fender. We took the amp to MAC Electronics in the Newcastle area. This repair company is part of Maughan Amps Company, www.maughanamps.com. These guys dropped everything to help a band on tour. The amp was fixed within 48 hours, ready for our next show. Taz found a new sax company out of the UK that he wants to look into, I bought another interesting shirt, and Johnny and Billy checked out some of the sites in town. After Newcastle we headed up to Edinburgh. We played a cool club called the Caves. It’s a venue built into an old bridge. Billy’s amp sounded great! Thanks, MAC!!!!
– Billy Walton Band
