Left a good job in the city/Working for The Man every night and day

Friday 24 July - I had a little diversion on the way home from work when I stopped off at my publisher to drop off a sheaf of sticky labels with addresses on. This is for the distribution of those copies of my book that are to be posted out. David, in charge of YPS, kindly gave me a tour of the printing area where I was able to see the innards of my book all printed out and stacked on a couple of wooden pallets. Apparently, they are just waiting for the covers to be laminated and then they can start binding. He expects everything to be ready by the end of next week. I have to say that I'm extremely impressed with the service they've provided so far. It's really getting quite exciting!

Anyway, as per usual, I was out in the evening, meeting 'A' in The Roman Bath for some southern-fried covers courtesy of Travelin' Band. I get very confused about who is in this band, tonight there were six of them, probably: Steve (Crazy Horse) McLeod, Tony (Oscar) Smith, John (The Russian) Mitchell, Paul (Big foot) ???, Steve Kendra, and Mick "Broke-back" Weaver. The band's moniker is a reference to a track by Creedance Clearwater Revival from their 1970 album Cosmo's Factory.

Oscar's singing is a bit flat (like I can sing!) but they play recognisable songs and I think your ears tend to compensate for the odd duff vocal. The guitars were mixed properly this time so I could appreciate the twiddly bits as well as the bass, and the drummer (Big foot) was excellent. I think Oscar is a Stealer fan as he was wearing one of their t-shirts.

With three pints of John Smith's down my neck, I suspect my memory is a tad rusty, but I do remember them playing the following: Bad moon rising, Travelin' Band, Up Around The Bend (Creedance Clearwater Revival), Rocking All Over The World, Proud Mary (John Fogerty), Rocking in the Free World (Neil Young), Gimme three steps, Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry), Old Time Rock and Roll, Hollywood Nights (Bob Seger), Copperhead Road (Steve Earle), Crossroads (Robert Johnson), Battleship Chains (The Georgia Satellites), Call Me the Breeze (JJ Cale), and I Fought The Law (Sonny Curtis).

I rounded the evening off by shouting at four young thugs who were throwing stones at people's windows at 00:30 just around the corner from where I live. Luckily the beer I had consumed provided me with an invisible cloak of invulnerability so I was able to give them a jolly good ticking off and sent them back to the mothers, all without coming to any personal harm. Little blighters!

Well my name's John Lee Pettimore/Same as my daddy and his daddy before

Friday 29 August – Well we considered dropping into The Duchess to see Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band but the gig had sold out already so we settled for an evening of covers at The Roman Bath. According to my sources, The Mojos were playing tonight, however, I checked The Mojo's website and that had them playing on Saturday, so it was anyone's guess who might be playing. It turned out to be Travelin Band, a group we’ve seen before albeit only half their set previously.

The band apparently started life in 2004 as The Outlaws but there has been a few comings and goings and the current line-up is now billed as; Tony (Oscar) Smith - Vocal and Rhythm guitar, Steve (Crazy Horse) McLeod - Lead guitar and Backing vocal, John (The Russian) Mitchell - Bass guitar, and Paul (Big foot - Almost ) Drums. I have to say that the drummer looked different from when we saw them last, so this information may not be entirely accurate.

I think a couple of them play in, or have played in, a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band. Steve has the band’s name etched into the frets of his guitar so you can guess where their main influences come from! Tony is also a big fan of John Fogerty, he of Creedance Clearwater Revival and various solo efforts.

The range of covers they performed was similar to other covers bands we’ve seen but they also pulled out a few tracks that I only vaguely recognised, and some that left me baffled. I'm usually quite good at playing 'spot the tune'. The drumming did seem to be mixed a little too loud, and the lead guitar not loud enough, but hey, they’re playing in a pub, not the Albert Hall. I also found the vocals a bit flat on some of the songs. But I’m not really complaining, just trying to tell it like it was.

I can’t remember all of the covers they played (I had three lip-smacking points of John Smith’s and my brain cells were dying like lemmings) but here is a selection of the ones I did remember, in no particular order:

Bad moon rising, Travelin' Band, Up Around The Bend, Rocking All Over The World (John Fogerty), Rocking in the free world (Neil Young), Gimme three steps, Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Johnny B Goode, Roll over Beethoven (Chuck Berry), Old time rock and roll (Bob Seger), Copperhead Road (Steve Earle), Crossroads (Eric Clapton), Battleship chains (The Georgia Satellites).

We're so much older now/We need a new home town

Friday 6 June – and we are down at Fibbers to see Hope&Social (the band formerly known as Four Day Hombre). We arrived in time to catch the last ten minutes of Dan Torres and his merry men. Well, actually, his merry man as there was no sign of bass player, Ricardo Rodriguez, so it was just Dan and Ryan Vaughn (drums, percussion, basically anything you can hit or shake). Dan hails from New York and has a terrific voice. He played a lot of material from the 2006 album Where I Stand as well as some new stuff which presumably will be on his forthcoming new album. He was so good that one of our party, The Druid, actually paid real money for a copy of the album. We saw Dan during the interval and congratulated him on his performance and he signed The Druid’s album for him. What a good egg.

Next up were York/Leeds band, The Hair. Now, ‘A’ reckoned that we had seen these before, and certainly Disco/Retro sounded familiar, but it must have been pre-blog ‘cos I couldn’t find them on here. Anyway, they kicked off the set with said catchy electro disco number Disco/Retro (the video of which was shown on the Main Stage at last year's Leeds Festival). Now, I don’t like disco and I’m not a big fan of electronica generally, but these guys actually made it all sound great. The Hair's brand of electro indie rock is inventive, energetic and upbeat. Apparently they have a debut album, Indecisions, but I can’t find hide nor hair of it (groan). 1982 offered a touch of Kaisers-esque Oh Oh Oh's in the chorus, and Left Foot Right Foot is a song you only have to hear once for it to stick in your head, with its cowbell intro and the brothers Lee and Neil Clark swapping instrumental duties. It also liked Half Cut. They ended with new single Blood, due out very soon. The Hair are: Lee Clark (Bass/Guitars/Vocals), Neil Clark – (Keys/Samples/Vocals), Sam Robson (Vocals/Guitar/Inappropriate man dancing), and Vijay Mistry (Drums/Percussion). They will be playing at the Copmanthorpe Carnival on 5 July, so check them out.

Before Hope&Social started I was looking around Fibbers and noting how bare it is looking now. A number of pumps have been removed from the bar, notably the Timothy Taylors and Black Sheep. Bit of a shame that. The bar staff were acting like zombies as well. Anyway, back to the gig and Hope&Social came on to rapturous applause as they are always firm favourites among the non-talking section of the York music crowd. I’m not going to play “remember the play list” but they eschewed a lot of their older material for newer stuff. The most recent offerings find the band sounding increasing like Feeder. Obviously, that’s not a bad thing, but I do rather miss the high pitched 4DH vocals that were, for me, their trademark sound. Overall, fantastic quality and a really bargain to see three good acts for a fiver.

It was still early when we turned out of Fibs, so we ambled in the direction of The Terrace, however, the strains of Sylvia’s Mother (Dr Hook) seem to somehow deflect us away from the entrance and into The Roman Bath where Travellin’ Band were just starting the second half of their set. These are a fairly pedestrian rock band covering the likes of: Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd, Roll Over Beethoven Chuck Berry, Old Time Rock and Roll Bob Segar, you get the idea. We’ve definitely seen these before and the star of the band is Steve (Crazy Horse) McLeod on lead guitar. I have to say that the vocals seemed a bit flat this time, not how I remember them from previously.

The latest news on the The Duchess front is that the opening has been delayed until 3 July. This is a huge blow as Black Stone Cherry won’t now be playing. I understand that Barfly and York council are making things as difficult as they can for Tim. Well I’m sorry but that’s not the way to win friends and I suspect that this will only garner further support for Tim and The Duchess.

What’s On My p-Pod? – Well, this week I’ve mostly been listening to...

Four Day Hombre – debut album and still outstanding, Experiments In Living. That said, every track is way better for being performed live.

Four Day Hombre – One.Foot.Louder the acoustic session recorded in Harlem, even more tinkley and soulful.

Duels - The Barbarians Move In, their second album and one of my best buys of the year. This is quirky stuff, a bit like Elbow crossed with Athlete but a bit rockier. The Furies has a thumping drumbeat, scratchy, jangly guitars and cries of Ay! Ay! with a howling middle eight. Regeneration has child-like vocals in the chorus, then it fades to a whisper, before smashing you over the head. The Wild Hunt, is muffled vocals over an eerie soundscape. Is there such a genre as prog-lo-fi? I think Duels may have invented it with The First Time/The Last Time. Buy this album.

Ash – 1977. I forget just how great this album was. I remember them playing in the Radio 1 Session tent at Leeds’ Festival (2002 I think). The tent was jammed full and we had to sit outside but they were so loud, it was like being inside the tent anyway, Angel Interceptor, Girl From Mars, Kung Fu, Shining Light, Oh Yeah...

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Don't You Fake It, recommended by someone a lot more youthful than me, but what a cracking album. Really great lyrics sung by, obviously young Americans (RJA formed in 2003 in Jacksonville, Florida). Musically similar to Linkin Park, but without the rapping and wicha wicha scratching garnished with dollops of The Ataris and Jimmy Eat World. Quite how Ronnie Winter (lead vocalist) manages to scream that much without doing his throat a mischief is beyond me. Well recommended.

Take this letter to the one I love...

Friday 12 October, and there’s three musketeers abroad tonight. We are heading straight for the Roman Bath and a group called the Travelling’ Band (a reference to a track by Creedance Clearwater Revival from their 1970 album Cosmo's Factory .) The lead vocalist/rythmn guitarist is called Oscar and he looks a bit like Noddy Holder after a night on the tiles. His singing is a bit flat but they play recognisable songs and I think your ears tend to compensate for the odd duff vocal. The bass player is solid and the lead guitarist (Bernard Breslaws dad?) is very good, although some of his twiddly bits were a bit lost because he wasn’t mixed loud enough. The drummer was excellent, but for some strange reason they swapped him for the last tune (Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama) for some other guy who wasn’t really up to scratch. As you might have guessed, the repetoire was Lynyrd, Creedance, Quo mixed with some old Rock ‘n’ Roll, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Roll Over Beethoven, Johhny B. Goode etc. All very entertaining.

Afterwards “I” caught the last bus home and “A” and I poked our noses around the door of the Old White Swan where “G” was propping up the bar in the usual place. Simon Snaize and NZ Dave were fronting some hap-Hazzards; the violin girl, Marty Feldman on snare drum and a chap on double bass (tell me your names and I will use them.) We only caught the last three songs. As they packed away, we debated the merits of Saturday’s England v France Ruby World Cup match. “G” and I were convinced that the idea of beating the French on their home turf would be sufficient incentive to tip the balance our way. “A” was not convinced.