Thursday, 26 March 2009

Checking In

Howdy guys

Well the tour has been shortened by two nights ho hum.

Whats new? Well my my let me see now...err we've got new bits of kit, new songs, new recording sessions, new posters/artwork...it's a regular bonanza I tell thee!

I'll start with what I know - guitars. A new relic strat is wingining its way to me courtesy of my friends at Fender but I have a little mod planned for this sunburst beauty which I shall reveal once it's finished...I will hopfully use it next week on tour. Elsewhere I have discovered the joys of tweaking...yes thats right, the Dunlop Fuzz Face re-issue...what else!? The trim pots have allowed me to fine tune the little red circular blighter to my taste and I'm pretty satisfied so far, hang on, kettle's boiling....Thats better! A nice cuppa:)

Okay where were we, yes, FUZZ! You might notice this is not the first time I have mentioned Fuzz in a blog, don't worry its just me delving into these murky, 'fuzzy' waters. Hmmm what else..well the 'Jackhammer' seems to be acting as a good Tubescreamer type pedal so along with the Fuzz, Pickup Booster and Jackhammer I'm starting to nurture ''Distortion Corner'' just over to the right in my pedal board. How Quaint.

In other gear related news we've got some drum kit based fun and games happening so I'll hand you over to Tim ''Mark King'' Deal, Tim....

So there I was reading a rather wordy post by our resident cocktail maker and guitar tweaker Stevie K, when I was asked to continue.

Continue I must; continue I will.

So we spent the best part of two hours trying out hi-hats in Wembley Drum Centre last week. Joy of joys. Eventually we came up with some Sabian (controversial I know) X-Celerator hi-hats which sound like A-Customs but aren't quite as bright.

So I've expanded my drum set up, using my main kit with 10" tom and 16" floor tom but now with the ride cymbal where the crash was...here's a picture.






P.S. What a discrace I have made at not getting the size of the crash right. It is an 18" for which I shall be eternally regretful. Apologies to all who correctly thought that 16" for this sort of music would be woefully inadequate: you are right.

So two rides, an extra crash AND auxilliary snare, which I've tuned higher for some interesting moments. May also add a 10" splash in there, although I find they don't cut through that well. Good to have the options though.

Bit hungover from an awesome jam night last night (@The Goat, St Albans, every Wed's)
Laughed myself to sleep (very rare) because I was coming up with so many collective nouns. For instance:

A Vasquez of knife crime
A North Korea of flange
A brush with the law of golf apparell
A Tina Turner of fair trade produce
A Bill Gates of sleep deprevation
A nicotene of drunk shrimp explorers

See you on tour!
We will update the dates on our myspace asap.

x

Sunday, 15 February 2009

Well hello Folks!

Okay so 2009 starts with a 10 date tour out west in glorious Somerset. We will be supporting Chris Jagger and playing some of our own headline slots!

Meanwhile you can catch the band letting their hair and riffs down most Mondays in St Albans @ their ever popular Jam Night.

The venue depends on the bands tour schedule etc but at the moment is @ The Duke Of Marlborough, Holywell Hill, St Albans.

To keep up to date join the Stevie K Band on Facebook: http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Stevie-K-Band/37772547897

From here you can also join the Stevie K Blues Jam Nights group which tracks all the Jam session movements and can notify you when and where they are happening.

Thanks everybody!
Looking forward to meeting/playing with some of you soon!

Regards
Stevie K

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year!

Hello one and all!

It's been a while I know but suffice to say there are many great things planned for The Stevie K Band in 2009! Not to mention of course our gig @The Half Moon in Putney on 11Th Jan 2009.

In the meantime have a very happy new year and I look formard to 2009.

Peace
Stevie K

Monday, 17 November 2008

Badger!

Thats all I wish to say.

Badger

Tuesday, 4 November 2008

News - recording, guitars, Hobnobs

We're hitting the studio this week to record some demos...new songs!! With new drummer Tim ''and another thing'' Deal.

In other news my longest serving guitar - a prototype '86 Fender Custom shop Hank Marvin signature model - has just been re united with it's original Lace Sensor equipped pick guard/electronics. I recorded most of the album with it using (IIRC) custom shop Fat 50's pickups with a Quarter Pound in the bridge (listen to ''Same Old lies'') but the time had come to try once more it's original active circuitry. The results are superb....!

'til next time I change my mind y'all!

Bye Bye
Stevie K

Monday, 27 October 2008

Clips

More and more clips are being added to our myspace profile...keep up to date @ www.myspace.com/steviekband

Thursday, 16 October 2008

Gretsch Power Jet

Hmmmm, the plight of the continental furniture enthusiast....a constant worry? TBH I feel the same way in any big guitar store!

Now, showing up to gigs in fishing vessels....thats a HOT topic!!

Enough nonsense from me!

Well with The Gibson gone, the suitable replacement has been found. I am now to be found weilding a bright red Gretsch Power Jet loaded with TV Jones Powertron pickups and I must say, it freakin' rocks dude!

I had my guy at Fender take a look over it and he decided to make small adjustments to the nut but thats about it - it is pretty much there.

I couldnt resist some of my personal modifications so firstly I did what most people do with Gretsch guitars by adding a 680pf cap on the master volume control, next was a Gretsch Space Control bridge allowing precise string spacing and finally I decided I like it without the scratchplate (not exactly a ''mod''). We'll see how this bridge goes but initial impressions are of much much more volume acoustically.