CAMPER JAM 08/ A Pickle Down Under

Last Thursday I rolled up to Weston Park for the 2nd time this season but on this occasion for a totally new VW show to me, The Massive 'Camper Jam'.

As I cruised through the gates and passed by the sheep and goats dotted around grazing, I could see the Marquees and mass off trade stalls approaching and started to get a vibe for the size of this beast.

After a meet with the team I found my spot and started set up. The Thursday was was the prep day for all the traders and food stalls and it did make a nice change not to rush it plus the Hog roast provided was greatly welcomed (also a big contributing factor for me actually making it that afternoon).

It wasn't long before I started bumping in to the circuit gang, Spence Gilroy https://www.facebook.com/SGPercussion, and Sarah Herve https://www.facebook.com/bellabotssockmonkeys, to name a couple.

With a belly full of Pig and set up done, there was a mist coating the grass as the sun set so time for a stroll to see whats what and where.

With over a mile of stalls I only got a couple of hundred meters and bumped in to Spence again and chilled in his van for a tin.

On my return to Pickle, after calling it a night, I had the pleasure of meeting this Awesome human.

Meet Dave Manning!

https://www.facebook.com/davemanningz

Dave is a fellow travelling songwriter, on this occasion he rocked up in his wife's 66 beetle kitted out like a one man camper van with removable drivers seat and full length bench running along the other side and back, but Dave's usually touring in his 65 split screen 'Vincent' from AK to the deserts of Arizona and all in between playing a different town every few days.

He is an amazing musician, writer, pianist, and a wicked cool guy singing fascinating entertaining stories with a Blues, folk, Americana kinda vibe.

We had both been booked to play and host the Busk Stop, and I couldn't have asked for a better dude to team up with.

The next couple of hours were spent in Pickle sharing drinks, smoke, stories and better acquainting ourselves.

It was a pretty lazy start on the Friday, not rising till gone 10 and this set the bench for entire weekend really, but again a very leisurely final set up as we watched the festival goers arrive.

  

We got going early evening when there were more folks about and George had arrived to slap the bass.

It was an evening of pretty chilled sessions, we had a few folks jump up and play some tunes for us including Nia and Josh Mathews in between Dave and I, and then Drew and Ben rocked up and we all jammed on through till midnight.

It was after pack down when we all established quite how big the show was as we went in search of the Shropshire Dubbers camp for a hang and beer funnel training.

It seemed to go on for ever, past the trading, and on and on following a laser pen signal to the sky, and then the rain full on set in, big ass chunky rain luckily just as we were found and escorted to their camp.

We all sat round in their event shelter conversing and sipping sensibly on beer funnels listening to the rain. :D

Thanks for having us guys, love to see some shots/beer funnel vids if there are any kicking.

Saturday was when it all Kicked off, Josh and Beth arrived and we had the whole gang there.

The weather was banging, the arena was rammed, and the vibes were just right so we got playing.

Drew and Ben

These Guys were playing in the Brothers Tent on the Friday night I believe and they came, they played, and people loved it.

For the next lot of playing Thought we better have a shift around as it had cooled off a little and the sun was soon to set.

Sunset session from the rack? Hell yea!

 This Dude Aaron Samuel fancied a play on the roof and he was cracking, check him out at https://www.facebook.com/aaronsamuel.music 

 Remember my mate James Jackson I met at Bustypes earlier on in the season? He was out and about again busking around and came and graced us with some tunes as well.
First ever guest to play on the roof was our James, diamond kid.

 James Jackson

We then got shut down as always but not in a bad way we powered down, jumped down, and played some more unplugged with Spence, Drew, and Ben.

 It was a truly epic day and night I hope all of you that were there had as much fun as we all did.

Sunday was interesting. Dave got the ball rolling, the sun was out, all was grand so I went off for a potter about to see what was going down. About 45 minutes later the skies grew dark and I felt a few drops, then a few more, over the space of a minute it got progressively heavier and my pace grew progressively faster to help dave rescue the gear from what was about to be unleashed.
We got back just in time to get most covered but even the tarp wasn't saving this lot.
I think we had too much fun the day before cos this was horizontal giant fatty boebbatty rain, everything got saturated and it wasn't safe to plug in and play any more even when it had stopped.
Sunday was a wash out in all sense of the term but it didn't matter, It had been a bloody great show already with new and old friends, new music, and wicked cool vibes.

The rest of the Sunday was spent drying out, chilling out, and hunting for lakes. We bought some chicken for dinner from the Caribbean food stall as they packed away and made a jerk chicken and rice dish later that night.
A beautiful ending to an amazing weekend.

I would like to thank all the guys that came to play at the busk stop, Dave for being such a legend and inspiration, Beth and Anneliese for being amazing help with merchandise and all round support, everyone that came over to hang and listen to the tunes, and Camper Jam for having us.
Blessings!

A Pickle Down Under!!

So thats it for a few weeks now Veedub show wise, now I have the window to get solidly stuck in to readying Pickle and me ready for the mission down under.

I have received my renewed passport and my Australian visa today which made everything feel very real all of a sudden.

Pickle is heading in to MV Engineering next week to get going on the body work and I'm meeting with my friend Mitra to get going on the forthcoming fundraising events. A couple of dates for the calendar so far are the 8th August there will be a very limited number of invitations to 'Pray for a pickle down under' gig at The Grand Chapel and I'll keep you posted on how to get involved soon, 20th August I'm heading to see my sponsors VW Heritage https://www.vwheritage.com to play at their August meet, 5th of September for #apickledownunder fest, my own mini VW show in Broom, Bedfordshire, the 16th September is an online stageit gig live streamed from the van https://www.stageit.com/stage/46082 4th October Farewell Pickle gig  at a venue in London that I'll confirm next week.

A month or so ago Nick Kent of http://www.nickkentphotography.com and I went out to put together a little vid to fill you guys in on what #apickledownunder is all about, and here it is.

Thanks to all for your support so far, it means the world.

Peace x

SUMMER SESSIONS Part 2

Hola! And welcome back to summer sessions part deux.

After a wicked cool time at Vanjamboree the next stop was another new show for me "Dubsmania" but before I could get over to that I had a little event at The Electric Ballroom on Portobello Road to attend.
The team and I had been invited to the Cast and Crew screening of an Independent film called "Passengers" that had a bunch of my songs on the sound track.

It was all very exciting and a real awesome thing seeing how the songs I've written could work with in a visual feature.
It's the story of a bunch of dudes, off their tits, seriously injuring a young nurse in a night time collision and worsening the situation by making some really shitty decisions in their intoxicated state. This they seriously regret as an unseen killer starts to take brutal vengeance.
Congratulations to Ratio film http://www.ratiofilm.co.uk and all the cast and crew for a well produced captivating film full of great performances.
It's a bloody horrible film very well done, definitely worth a watch so keep an eye out for it.

Right Dubsmania.
Dubsmania is held in Weston Park, Shropshire, there is also a Weston park in Sheffield City centre I established adding a healthy 140 miles to my trip and resulting in me accidentally settling down for the night on some ones rather large driveway as by the time I'd arrived the gates were locked to the show, it was really dark, and I didn't see the private property sign.
Luckily I was gone before upsetting any one and started to follow the rest of the early rising buses in to the show.
Unlike a lot of the vee dub fests the main day is the sunday so it's a fairly short one starting on the saturday and come late sunday your left with that bizarre post festival atmosphere, the stillness after so much energy.
Still what a cracking day.
Weston Park is a beautiful setting and it's not just VW's there either, theres a show and shine for a load of other classics to. An elmen imp got an award giving me a sense of nostalgia as I remembered dad having one and having to get out and wheel it in to parking spaces as there was no reverse gear.
Once escorted to my spot I set up and hung out the washing I'd done the day before and not had time to dry as the sun was giving it some.

I performed a couple of sets through out the day and had a good old natter with a new bunch of people including Kevin from http://www.campervangift.co.uk/ who I may well be doing some shows for in the not so distant future. If you're looking for vw gifts he's your man.

As the day came to an end pickle hosted the show and shine, then time to pack down and hit the road again.
Thanks again to Dean and the team at Dubsmania for having me, hope to see you next year.
Peace

Next stop Suffolk!
The weekend commencing the 6th June "Alive & VDubbin" http://www.aliveandvdubbin.co.uk/ was going down at "Jimmy's Farm" http://jimmysfarm.com/. 
Hosted by the suffolk bugrs, "Alive & VDubbin" is a wicked show for all. Loads of traders of all sorts and plenty of stuff to do for adults and kids including mini ramp, climbing wall, and zorb football to list a few. If you've not done this show before, veedub owner or not I'd recommend getting involved next year.
Abi came to join me on this one and it was a massive pleasure to have George Golding come along to, the dude from the photo's of the O2 academy and Steamer gigs in the last post, Abi showed no hesitation in sharing her delight at George's presence by stating how nice it was to have additional company as opposed to simply mine. The feeling was mutual.

Here's some shots.

The set up! This is the sign I was making at T.O.M.I.E that I tweeted out earlier on in the season, old long board deck, some black board paint, and a couple of chalk board pens. Jobs a gooden ;)

George and I having a climb. I believe this was about the time the gent running it said"Great, now just jump backwards" and I'm thinking that little plastic wheel is not gonna hold me and that sounds like an invitation for a serious winding after my 40ft free fall.

On the Saturday afternoon George and I played a set in the main marquee.

Some of the guys that came for the hang at the Loonge.

Cooking up some Lamb curry

This one was a little fire pot but was well tasty. I went for a kinda Caribbean stylie job, using some lamb leg steaks and a lick of dark rum.

Here's what you need:

Amounts used are now vague to me as this meal took place a short while before quite the lounge party, but I will do my best and you know how I roll any way, keep tasting through out and you cant go wrong.

4 Lamb leg steaks

half a green and half an orange pepper (or just a whole pepper of any colour)

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

scotch bonnet chilli's (I think we used 2 with seeds, but it was well rowdy)

hand full of mushrooms

tin of tomatoes

knob of ginger root

lime

coriander

turmeric

cumin

allspice

all purpose seasoning

dark/gold rum

oil

salt and pepper

rice

I also thought an aubergine would have been good in this but I've learnt that they make Abi heave so I left it out, but it's definitely an option.

How to go about it:

Start by prepping up. This is the order I did things, but if you're cooking commercially or for a party with a veggie in use you common sense cos food hygiene or your veggie mate will have a fanny flip.

Dice up the lamb and lay in some foil or a dish, now put a tsp of all your dry spices over the meat and rub it in. when its all evenly coated wrap it up and put to the side.

Finely chop the garlic, chilli, ginger and chuck in the pan with a dash of oil on a real low heat.

Peppers and mushrooms (aubergine) can be chopped diced sliced as you please and once you've done them the jazz in the pan should have softened and be ready to have the lamb come join in.

Crank the heat a touch and add the spiced lamb, as soon as the spices start to stick add a splash of rum.

Once the meat is browned put the vegetables in and stir in to the gravy. Keep an eye on your pot stirring and adding more liquid as required (water/rum), you want to keep the sauce thick, don't forget there are still tomatoes to add, so just little splashes at a time and by the way we are dealing with a lot more booze than past recipes so don't go nuts. I reckon max 100 ml of rum should go in to this dish otherwise you'll never cook it out and It'll taste like pirate beard.

When the veggies are starting to soften up a touch add the tin of tomatoes stir and heat through.

This is essential tasting time, you have everything in there and you may need to add a touch more of something, go with your taste buds. If your happy put it to one side and let the magic happen.

Rinse some rice and get the kettle boiling. While thats going down chop some coriander and slice a lime in 2.

Sprinkle the coriander on to the curry and cover with a lid, slice one half of the lime in to wedges squeeze in to glasses of ice and top up with rum and ginger ale.

Once the kettle is boiled you know the drill.

Rice done? Sweet squeeze the other half of the lime in to it and maybe even stir in some kidney beans if ya like.

You are good to go, put the curry back on the heat wile you serve up the rice, then ladle it on.

This should feed 3-4 people

Have fun and enjoy

Naomi and all the Alive & VDubbin team, Legends! A great festival, thank you so much for having us.

A few days later I was in London attending a couple of personal occasions onle to return to the van to find this.

Some little rat weasel had decided to break in to Pickle and steal my lively hood. I implore you not to leave any thing on display in your vehicle even if you think it looks like nothing of value some cock rocket will have it. I'll touch on criminal offences and crime a bit later on, but lets carry on with the shows for now.

Our next way point takes us to Camden's Jazz Cafe where I was opening up for Miss Janet Devlin http://www.janetdevlin.com/ 

I supported Janet at the end of last year and was honoured to be invited to do so again at the launch party of her album "Running With Scissors" https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/running-with-scissors/id858603762 well worth a purchase.
It was a cracking night, I was joined on stage by the Sass and Luke (the balcony tv set up, if you've not seen it check it out.) 

and we all had a good old jolly.

It was at this show I decided not too wear a wooly hat whilst playing in the summer to catch sweat, it is a bad idea, I thought I was going to die. In future I shall just take a towel on stage.
Cheers very much for having me and the boys Janet and congratulations with the album x

Hi Ho Hi Ho off to Mighty Dubfest we go!
Little did Pickle, her cling filmed passenger side window and myself know quite the little adventure we were about to have.

Druridge Bay country park is the venue, Bruce Emmett and family the hosts, and MIghty Dubfest the show.
I met Bruce at Vanjamboree last year and was stoked to be invited to come play his festival this year.
Without doubt one of the best organised VW festivals I've been to beautiful location, loads of entertainment, great bands, and a really cool team. There was even a crew catering tent making sure we were all fed and watered.
I didn't arrive until late friday night as it took longer than expected to get the van ready and Druridge Bay is bloody miles away if you're leaving from south.
Although the weather was great the area had had down pours early in week resulting in saturation of the fields. The ground had started to dry out but was still super muddy in places, so as I arrived Pickle got stuck just short of where I needed to be but thought we'd call it a day as it was late and she'd done well after doing 300 miles and only stopping once cos of crap in the carb. So settled down with a plate of chilli and a couple beers.
Saturday morn with some pushing power from the team we rolled pickle in to our designated marquee and I got on with setting up.
It turned out to me a really different but cool little lounge as Bruce had supplied a couple more speakers and lights and Pickle was covered up so should the Heavens open no leaks from the sun roof.
I ended up playing a couple of sets through out the day and pottering about in between to hang with folks met at shows earlier this year or last.
Come the eve the world cup was on so I had to wait until that was done before the late show, but they'd set the projector up right next to my pitch so by end, although spirits weren't immensely high due to England's loss a good load of people stuck about for the show.

 My friend Spence Gilroy of http://sgpercussion.co.uk/, playing Cajon to my left.

The following day Bruce had arranged for a bunch of local young singer songwriters to come and do a bit from my pitch.

we had:

Hannah Lamb https://www.facebook.com/hannahlambmusic?fref=ts

Lindsay Manion https://www.youtube.com/user/DaysInLand/feed

Kieran Renner https://soundcloud.com/kieranrenner

Sam Gibson https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sam-GibsonMusic/181437418542661?fref=ts

Anna Leigh Stainton https://www.facebook.com/AnnaLeighStaintonMusic?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser

A real talented bunch so have a look at their pages and if you dig get involved.

This is a shot of Anna Leigh Stainton doing a set while the AA guy was fitting new glass in the passenger window.

After all the guys had done a bit I jumped up to round up the day and say my good byes. As at all of these shows it wasn't long before I was left in an empty field.

After chatting to Bruce and establishing they were staying another night I figured I'd do the same as I wasn't really feeling a lengthy drive and was in no real hurry to get any where.

I packed down to save time in the morning and as I was so near the sea and felt pretty rank after not washing properly for a day or so I took my self off for a dip.

North sea... coldest bloody sea I've ever had the pleasure of being submerged in. I was in for about a minute, never known anything like it, that is some serious wet suit water.

I spent the remainder of that evening jamming and having a chill with Bruce's family and the rest of the operations team round the fire. Over this weekend I had been contemplating continuing up north as I had never been this far already and really wanted to go and see some of Scotland. By the end of the evening I had made my mind up and that was what I would do.

Thanks to Bruce and every one for putting up with me and extra night and I will see you later this year.

Dudes I do apologise but this is gonna have to be a 3 parter, so I will fill you in at the end of next week at which point we may be all caught up.

Peace

Tom