I have to admit that in my former days I was a sucker for cowboy movies and in particular John Wayne movies, even his original black and white classics! So in a way this month’s blog is a kind of homage to the man himself who I can just picture at the front of a wagon train uttering those very words as a stirring cry to those brave settlers who had left their old lives behind and were eagerly anticipating a life full of wealth and adventure. In truth, not unlike our own merry band of hopefuls.
There were a few reasons why our Newport days were numbered, perhaps our lives had simply become too much of a routine and it was time for a change. Back in the old Paintbox days we had made a few trips down to the West Country and played a number of quite successful gigs and one of these venues was in Plymouth. We had performed there a few times over the years and the owner John Dryden had previously mentioned in passing that he would be quite happy for us to work for him both in Plymouth and in a couple of his other clubs so drummer Dave led the charge followed by myself and keyboard player Keith. We also had managed to persuade our old bass player Mick to join the party and so the stage was set for the next chapter.
All went pretty well for a while, we had gigs not only in Plymouth but Paignton and Torquay as well and we had some good crowds particularly in the summer months when the area was taken over by tourists. Sadly Mick was struggling a bit being away from his home in Walsall and although he was able to get back for a few days each week it eventually became just too much so we were forced to wave him a very sad goodbye. Drummer Dave took on the job of finding a replacement and in due course came across a guy called Dave Heap who was at that time working in a resident band based in Torquay. He seemed pretty keen so we all met up and got down to some serious rehearsals. It was a bit weird having two Dave's and two ‘Keith's in the same band but that was ok until Keith decided he was not happy with how things were and made a sudden and I have to say unexpected departure… hence overnight we had become a trio!
What the..! Anyway, time for some pretty frantic rearrangements of the song list and some very hasty versions of new tunes were forced in to fill the gaps left by a disappearing organ and piano! I have to say it was a struggle but by some miracle we managed to blag our way through and held on to the gigs. When I look back to those days, and if I was to pretend to be somewhat philosophical, then I suppose the three piece set up proved over time to be the making of the band and laid the foundations for the journey which we were destined to make. The wagons are all hitched up Mr Wayne and we’re headed into the sunset… Ye-Ha!
K.