SUMMER SESSIONS! Part 1

Yo Yo!
Hows it going?

Apologies again for the lengthy gap since the last blog, but my lap top shat its pants and It was then left in the less than capable hands of a gentleman that claimed he could fix it.
He could not!
So i've got it back a month down the line and the buggar still wont charge, should any body know some one that can fix a "vintage" Mac book (as described to me by one of them genius dudes at Apple) please do not hesitate to put them in touch.

Thanks!

So a lots been going down.
Pickle got a new set of shiny bumpers so she doesn't look like such poom ting now.

 don't know why there's a dog pissing in shot.

The VW shows are in full swing, there have been a few spanners in the works but now all seems to be ticking over sweet.

Lets fill ya in.

The "Boy From Slough" EP launch at Islington O2 Academy was a write giggle, Thanks to Nick Pinchbeck, and George Golding for joining me on stage that night and The Sass of course (Josh Roberts) it was a pleasure to play alongside you clowns.

Here's a few shots of the jolly.

 Mr Nick Pinchbeck

 Intoducing The Sass

George grooving on the left

 George, Sass, Nick, Me

 You Lot

Thank you to all that made it along to support and to the bar for the party after, I had a good time. The EP is available to download from here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/boy-from-slough-ep/id849122145 or hard copy from here http://www.musicglue.com/tom-dibb/shop/ 

It was only a couple of weeks then till I was heading Shropshire way for the first of my VW shows Bus Types.

It was my first time at Bus Types but what a great start to season, it was just a shame I could only do friday eve and the saturday, but in true veedub fest style I met some awesome people and had a great hang. Dean, thanks for having me.

 Bus Types set up

The reason I could only do the saturday was I had a Charity do with my friends Dan and Jess at The Steamer in Old Welwyn, cracking pub! hospitable and wicked curry of an evening. http://thesteamerwelwyn.co.uk/ 

It turned out to be quite an eventful day as we were all due to be playing on an open truck stage in the pub garden, bbq, pimms and all that jazz but the weather wasn't having any of it. So after Roxy Searle https://www.facebook.com/RoxySearleMusician and Abi https://www.facebook.com/abimusicuk

had done a blinding set each I went and set up the PA inside as I still had all the gear in the van from Bustypes and it was raining so much now some one wouldve got fried had we carried on in the garden.

I had the pleasure again of having Nick join me again, Oscar took up the bass for it and Nicks mate Dave Pitman, a sax player from Canada was over and got involved and we all got very, very drunk. Ha! resulting in knee slides and a perforated ear drum. (sorry nick)

I do believe we have george on bass in this shot, cheers for jumping up man.

Pitman you are a scholar and a gent and I am delighted to have hung out with you, Pinchy your an animal!

Next stop T.O.M.I.E

T.O.M.I.E was a first for me and a first for them, and a first for Abi https://www.facebook.com/abimusicuk a real honour to be involved. Abi had come along to play some tunes as well, mixes it up for the festival a bit and gives Ab's a chance to play to a different crowd. It was held the first weekend in may on Orsett show ground in Essex, and hosted by Jason and Caroline and what hosts.

I don't think I've felt that so welcome at a vw show since Grill n Chill last year.

 Abi at the T.O.M.I.E set up

Friday the show was pretty quiet and and we'd not had much chance to do any playing as people were still arriving and in the eve Jason was due for a DJ set, but given the chill in the air the night stayed pretty thin too so Jason cut his DJ set short, brought his fire pit over and every one came to sit round the van and a have a listen to the tunes, such a cool vibe.

Afterwards Abi and I were invited for a hang over at Jason and Carolines camp of which we happily accepted and we continued to have a wicked night.

I think Ab's had fun getting me back to the van, bearing in mind i'd got lost trying to get to the porter loo round the corner a couple of hours before this and had now assumed the forward lean whilst trying to figure out the concept of walking. well done that girl.

Next day bright and earlier off we went expecting The Sass to come join us but in true Roberts fashion he rocked up just in time to play the last half hour. Knob!

Jason, Caroline Legends! hope to see you again next year x

Next stop Vanjamboree!

Vanjamboree at Lincolnshire show ground is one of the festivals I did last year. It was a bloody good laugh then and this year was no Less.

Although a solo mission this time, where as the previous I had a team of misfits with me, a grand and successful occasion. The Lincoln lot are awesome, Pete Senneck and the team put on a well organised show, the traders are diamond including Spence from http://sgpercussion.co.uk/
a mean cajon maker, and Eliza and Steve from https://www.facebook.com/Scrumdubbly

whom I met for the first time this year have a dub cafe serving coffee's and cakes and quiches made be Eliza herself, Security believe it or not are a dream and the festival goers are awesome.

This event being a solo voyage I have very few photos but some of the guys that were there manage to grab a shot or 2 of that they kindly shared. 

This is one of my favourites by Richard.

 What do we do with the drunken song writer?

On the other hand I did feel we were well over due a Camper van recipe so I whipped up a favourite of mine.

Now this may well go down like a pint of cold puke to most but my old dear used to make this for us when we were kids and I've given it my own twist. One for the Offal lovers...

Liver and Onions:

Your gonna need a pack of lambs liver, avoid pigs cos its just nasty.

1 fair sized onion

2 chilli's

3 cloves of garlic

rice

half a cup of flour

tsp all spice

2 tsp all purpose seasoning

pinch of thyme

salt and pepper

2 beef oxo cubes

a bottle of red

and a dash of Worcester sauce 

What ya gonna do:

This meals great cos its well cheap, really good for you, there's not a lot of prep and its easy.

Rinse the liver and pat it down in some kitchen roll, then cover it an put to the side.

Get a bowl and put all your dries in, flour, seasoning's, thyme ect

finely chop the garlic and chilli and just slice up the onion in to strips.

Now get the liver and coat each piece in the flour mix, place on a plate, wash your hands and pour a glass of wine.

Prep done.

Heat a pan with a drizzle of oil and start to fry the chilli and garlic.

Once they've softened a touch and starting to smell good put your liver strips in and fry for about 3 mins on each side.

All the seasoning is gonna be sticking to the pan by now if not before, so add a drop of wine, and some worcester sauce, drop the heat a bit and put the onions in, as the onions start to cook they'll release a bit of moisture to.

keep stirring and adding wine as you need to, you'll see gravy forming and dont panic about adding too much booze cause the alcohol will cook off and youll be left with a rich bang tidy sauce.

I think I used about a third of a bottle in this one but there's no harm in adding good old h2o as well.

Best way to judge on amounts I've always found is to taste through out.

When your happy with your gravy flavour and consistency take of the heat and leave to sit while you boil up some rice.

If you've seen any of my camper van recipes before you'll know they're all made on a single hob and I find giving your main event the time to sit while you cook your side really helps the flavours set in.

With rice I find leaving it alone gets best results. Rinse it, stick it in the pan, pour double and a bit water over it and let it cook, stirring ends in sticky tears.

Once the rice is cooked put the liver back on a low heat and stir through.

Ready to serve.

Liver and onions with a jerky kick.

I'm gonna leave it at that for now as there's a lot of catching up to do.

hope you've enjoyed the journey so far and I'll fill you in with next stretch in a couple of days.

Peace

Tom x