It was good to meet up with a few folks that I've not seen for a while. Dave from The St Annes Castle in Great Leighs was there. Actually Stevie was chatting to me today about us playing one of their CASYS nights. This isthe night for original material only and is quite a success. We will set that up and I'll let you know as and when. We also bumped into Mick from Brightlingsea Music Festival. He was telling us that he has some pics from Barefoot's 2 visits to the Brightlingsea main stage and he is going to get them to us. Cool.

You may be wondering what the filmstrips are all about. These are some of the shots that Kat took the other week down at Walton for the Collaborator album cover. As ever, Stevie and I couldn't resist messing about and these are some of those daft moments. All very funny.

So, the new album. It is actually nearing completion. there are only another 3 or 4 tracks to mix and that may well be done within the next 2 weeks. Then some tweaks, horns and general agreement on things. After that Pete will work his magic and master it all and then finally we can look at making some and persuading you lot to buy them/steal them from us.

The overall sound is very eclectic but I think that Mr Jack is probably the most commercail of evrything I have heard mixed so far and that may well be the official first single even though we are using Moving On as our promotional track at the mo.

So, I guess that's it for now. errrm, just in case you was wondering how many people responded to my rant in the last update, well, I had a whole 2 emails. So thanks for those. As long as I'm not letting anyone down then I'll just carry on as usual and enjoy myself.

You all take care and I'll see you soon,
VegX

23rd June 2006 Update

KELVEDON MUSIC FESTIVAL JULY 8TH BE THERE!!

A small warning here, in this update I appear to have used a lot of expletives. I gonna leave them in cos it's how I feel but my apologies if they offend you.

Hiya all, well actually, that statement is going to be the formation of my text this update. But anyway hope you are well and the sunshine has spread a smile over your face as it has mine. I swear I suffer from that SAD shit. In the winter I can get proper moody, mind you I can get proper moody most of the time anyway. ha ha

So, did you know it's over 9 months since I quit Barefoot, have I ever mentioned that was what happened, anyway, I quit. The reason, well, there were a few none of them really about the people in the band and if I'm honest I have missed, albeit only a little, the camaraderie (is that how you spell that one Kat) that being in a really busy band brings.
However the main reason I got out was time. Or rather a lack of it. I felt that I was so involved with everything that went on within the band, as was everyone else I guess, that I lost sight of who I was and what I wanted. Worst of all I lost the person inside me that is not Veg The Muso, or Veg the frontman or Veg the songwriter or Veg the man that makes that shit happen or Veg with a phone glued to his ear 24/7 or Veg the wallpaperer of all cracks that keep appearing or any one of about 100 jobs that I seemed to have.
Now don't get me wrong. I don't think I was particularly doing anything much more than anyone else and I certainly didn't do anything I didn't want to do and was happy to give 100% to make the band what it was.

However, I am a believer in balance in the world, Karma I guess. So all that input equalled Barefoot being a shit hot band for a while and we achieved some great things and had an awful lot of fun doing it (mostly). And then I quit.
And now seemingly I do nothing much. I have enjoyed doing nothing much, but still I feel a responsibility to everyone that has supported me from before Six Months On and through to now and there are a few of you out there. God knows why you are still here, but I still really appreciate that support.

Now, my definition of nothing much does involve writing an awful lot of songs and thankfully not a lot of awful songs, recording most of them and mixing and all the stuff that goes with putting an album together, but I now find myself in a rather odd situation. I have so successfully stepped back from the live work and especially the local scene that I know very much feel isolated from it. I'm not sure I mind that too much though. Of the few local outings I have made since the demise of Barefoot I have felt from certain quarters that I was not entirely welcomed with open arms. If you are reading this and feeling guilty then I am talking about you, if you are reading this and wondering what the hell I'm wittering on about then clearly, it doesn't relate to you.

I'm self centred, selfish and egotistical enough to not be all that bothered. I've done the rounds long enough to be able to do my thing and then get my arse outta there quickly and still enjoy the moment.
But the question is this. If I know I'm going into the lions den in advance then surely, as the only point of playing on the local scene is to have fun, to enjoy the evening and enjoy meeting everyone that has come to see you, going into the lions den willingly is just bloody stupid so why do it.

And here is my quandary. There are not many local venues to play, certainly not for what I am doing at the moment anyway, if I arrange gigs, which I am sure I could do as the promoters and owners of the venues have only ever been supportive and enthusiastic, who would I be playing to. Would it be people just waiting and wanting to see me Fuck it right up (I have felt that emotion before) or would it be folks that are curious as to where I am musically and genuinely interested in listening to some new songs and stories and some favourites revisited and reworked. You don’t have to like what I do just give me a fair hearing is all I'm asking.
If that is what you want to do then I have a task for you. Tell me that you would like to see me play live locally again. This is not so much for my ego but because I am feeling like getting out there again and playing some gigs but I only have limited time and energies and I'm just not gonna waste it on folks that are not interested and that would be happier if I just stayed beneath the rock I have crawled under.
Your job is this, Click this and then send on your email software. You don't have to write anything in the email just the receipt of it will be enough for me. I'll hold on to your email addy, not for any big mailout or anything but just to let you know when I'm playing and we will see what happens. If I can get say 20 or 30 replies, if there are 2 of you that would come to the show, then send me 2 emails, then I will set something up. The way things are at the moment it will most likely be an acoustic show with Stevie, always with Stevie, but if there is enough interest then we will get Collaborator out and about.

It is a simple thing to do but I know just how much effort it takes to actually press the buttons, I am the worlds worst at not doing stuff so if I get some replies then I know that your are genuinely interested. We will try something else too. This is gonna take the same amount of effort on your behalf but will just give me a clue as to whether I am sitting here typing this stuff for my own therapy or because someone is actually reading it. If it's just for me then the updates will be as and when either I have something I want to say/when I can be bothered but if there are some takers for these inane ramblings then I'll make more of an effort and at least put something together on a weekly basis.
So for more ramblings click here.

I have waffled and sworn enough for one day. I feel better that all of that is off my chest, it's over to you guys.

So, as you will have seen from the top of the page Stevie and I have a gig. Now to be fair when we agreed to play the event I was sort of under the impression that it was going to be a fairly low key thing. Bloody hell how wrong was I.
Deb was at work the other day and picked up a booklet with all the details of the festival in it. There is Stevie and my names on the front page with and amazing write up inside about us too, I'm gonna nick that for out press release cos it's so lovely. Anyway, get your arses along to Kelvedon Music Festival on July 8th. We are playing on the acoustic stage at around 2pm for 30 mins. Don't miss this one. The headline for the evening on the main stage is a band that Barefoot supported on a few occasions, Counterfeit Quo. Always had a lot of fun with those boys so am looking forward to catching up with them again.

And now, I am going to hand over the page to Brains. He was witness to a couple of events recently and has kindly sent me his thoughts about them for me to post here. Hope you enjoy it.

Its currently 7 minutes shy of midnight and, having endured a 2 ½ hour Monopoly game (congrats Dad, you lucky, lucky…), I have remembered Veg asking for my thoughts on the recent mixing session of 'the-song-that-is-the-letter-before-J' (It cannot be called by its real name) as well as the photo session down at Walton-on-the-Naze last week. So here goes.

Firstly, the photo shoot. An event that maintained a level of professionalism for approximately 2 minutes, as Veg and Stevie's childish urges were too great to control. Between wrestling on the edge of small cliffs to all sorts of activities on a very large pile of boulders, the trip was both productive and hilarious: a double whammy of successful outcomes! The shoots look brilliant, and will be unveiled so-to-speak soon. Rounded off by cakes and drinks from the local tea-and-coffee-making-facilities, the day proved to be a jolly bit of fun in the sun.

As for 'J', the mixing session resulted in a different kind of success of equal measure to the antics of Walton. After swiftly balancing all the instruments, demonstrating Stevie and Pete's shared enthusiasm for the track, the production side saw the song being taken to a whole new level. I'm not going to give too much away - that would just ruin the surprise when you all hear the track for the first time! However I will say that you can expect to hear things that will intrigue you, things that will confuse you and things that will simply amaze you. Such is my own faith in this song (Well, it has been a favourite of mine for quite sometime). Another highly productive night at Early Bird.

That's all for now. I may well appear again sometime soon.
Until then, keep checking here and the MySpace page too! (Which can now be accessed from the side menu)

Brains
a.k.a. The Happy Headbanger

20th May 2006 Update

Hiya all,I hope you are all safe and well. It's been a bit of a shit few weeks here what with one thing and another on the personal front but finally things are settling back down to normality once again.

I've managed to change jobs once again and so now, while still working for the same company, am now driving an even bigger truck, well, once I'm back off of my holiday which starts this coming Tuesday for a few days but more about that later.

Hopefully I will have some shift changes which will give me some more time to work on this here website as well as making some music. But, we shall see how things pan out once the change is made.

I've been busy today having a tidy up of my guitars etc, I've actually got them all in one place. Only trouble is that there isn't all that much room left in the bedroom to get to the bed. It's OK for me I don't see the bed too often, spend more nights away working, but poor Deb has got to put up with looking at 8 guitars and a mandolin as well as a pile of Marshall amps. Personally I prefer that to the wall paper anyway!!!

So, my holiday for next week. Actually it's only three days but I am so looking forward to it. Stevie and I are booked to spend them with Pete up at Early Bird Studio in Harwich.
There are 7 tracks that need guitar, vocal and magic ingredients and so we are hoping to finish all of those off. Should be an awful lot of fun and a huge amount of hard work. I'll try and get some pics for you, although will only be from my phone as the camera has decided to die and I've not replaced it yet.

Hmmm so what else,...... Oh Yeah. This is important too and should really be at the top but hey we are here now so here it shall be. Stevie and I have an acoustic gig booked. I know we don't domuch live stuff, there are many reasons for that but none of them are cos we don't want to, just a matter of oppurtunity really. So, this gig is at the Kelvedon Music Festival on July 8th. Shut up Fool studios, where we rehearse is organising an acoustic stage for the event and have invited us to play. We are on between 2 and 2.30 pm. It will either be billed as Veg The Muso or Collaborator. Am not sure yet, will probably be both depending on where you look.
That's it I reckon. Don't forget to look in on the Collaborator MySpace pages. These are run by Brains who you may have seen turn up from time to time and who is also appearing playing drums on the album on one track. He actually did an awful lot of pre production stuff before Dan became involved. As I recall it he was present when Stronger Now became the balls out punk track that it now is. Cooool
OK then, back to my heady rock and roll lifestyle, I need to go mash the spuds for tea, once Deb and Hayly get back from seeing The Da Vince Code. I'm really looking forward to seeing it having read the book in 2 days but I shall have to wait until next week.
Take care Y'all.
VegX

6th May 2006 Update

Hey hey hey, how are you doing. My apologies for the delay in getting some comments up recently but I've been working my arse off driving my truck trying to earn enough money to put towards finishing our album off. We are getting there but it feels like it's taking forever.

The four of us should be back together in the rehearsal room in a couple of weeks to start working on the final batch of songs for the album. Stevie and I were together today looking at a few new songs that hopefully will make it to the recording stage. As ever with these things sometimes what seems to work in the begining end up not being as exciting as first thought, so we shall see.

Stevie and I are back at Pete's later in the month to put the guitar and vocal parts down for the tracks that Dan recorded the drum tracks to a while back.

To be honest, right now the most important thing is to get all of these recordings finished and then to start to look at promoting the material. That's why there isn't much news at the moment.

So, I was gonna write a report on the Celtic Warriors Bash, however, Kath has written one for her suite and so instead I have just stolen that instead. I have added some different pics that Hayley took for us so it's worth visiting Kath's site too to see the pics she took with her new camera.

My thanks to her for letting me use her words.
Right then, that will do. Just before I go I would like to extend thanks to Taz, Womble, and all the lads and lasses at the Birthday Bash for once again looking after us so well. Also Big thanks to Les at Q Audio for his excellent sound and generally just being himself.
Take care and see you all soon. VegX

This is the 6th time that Veg and Stevie, in one guise or another, have appeared at Celtic Warriors, but I’ve been looking forward to it just as much as ever. This is their first outing as Collaborator and I’m especially looking forward to seeing Pete ‘the Bass’ Barrenger’s reaction to the venue. As we pull up in the car park outside the main reception area however, his ‘it’s not very big is it’ somewhat misses the mark, I feel. To be fair, the reception area is deceptive and by the time the cars are parked and the gear is being unloaded I believe he has started to revise his original opinion - if his tight-lipped, raised eyebrows expression is anything to go by. I know that Matt, Guitar Tech No.2, will treat everything in the same laid-back fashion and therefore his laconic ‘yeah, that’s pretty large’ is no more than expected. Jackie, Liz, Deb and I stand back with a beer to watch the previous band, Quill, while the boys set up backstage. This Weightwatchers thing has done nothing for my alcohol tolerance (cool though it is to be able to give the legs an airing) and half-way through my pint I’m hoping I’m still going to be able to find my way round my baby, a.k.a my new DSLR. I stagger backstage to pick her up and fall into casual conversation about the Dynax 5D’s relative merits with one of the CW crew (stick with it, this is relevant I promise).

I have to admit that I do not have a particularly clear recollection of the first part of their set, though having a crew member rush up and hand me into a high vis jacket did make me feel properly important and gave Veg and Stevie a smile. Checking the back of the camera about 4 songs in, I notice that the low battery light has come on, and though vaguely aware that this probably shouldn’t have happened, I mentally shrug my shoulders and knuckle down to shoot as many pics as possible before it dies. I finally manage about 40 or so – but checking them back on camera later I realise I’ve been shooting with AWB bracketing – Doh! I won’t bore you with what this means (partly because I’m not sure I’d be 100% correct) but suffice it to say I’m probably lucky to have got that many pics.

So, having waffled for about half a page (damn I’m good), the edited highlights of the latter part of the set follow (phew):

Veg has finally found a way of keeping the momentum going while he changes guitar: give Stevie free rein to play whatever the hell he likes as filler. He should have time also to use the loo, get served at the bar, make a quick phone call and snog Deb, all just while Stevie runs through a classic rock catalogue of riffs and solos. Nobody even batted an eye that he was playing through miniature 15 watt Marshall heads (aaw, they’re so cute!)

Taking a step back and watching Collaborator play with Pete on bass and Dan on drums, it strikes me how relaxed they all look together. Pete frequently breaks out into a big grin and Dan’s drumming is just so impressive. I catch him and Stevie sharing a joke and they both go on playing, all of Dan’s limbs engaged in keeping a different section of the beat, as though all these are secondary considerations to his conversation with Stevie. Now that’s what I call multi-tasking.

Stevie’s own big grin, head-falling-off-moment comes towards the end of the set when Paul (a.k.a. Guitar Tech No.1; The Happy Headbanger; Son of Rock God; etc) joins them for ‘Hole’. He is introduced by Stevie in the following fashion: ‘this is my guitar-playing, drum-banging, head-banging son; isn’t it **ing cool when they follow the path you show them’ and therefore greeted with a huge cheer.

Having played ‘Hole’ to the general delight of all who heard it – not to mention those that also played it – the black Les Paul (what else?) is handed back to Veg, ready for the next song. Who tries to start playing, only to find that it’s even more out of tune than when he originally picked it up. Which is quite some going frankly and greeted by a wink with Stevie ‘that’s my boy!’

Looking round at Adrian the stage manager just before ‘Hotel California’, Veg is told this has to be the last song. With only two left on the set list anyway, he gives the audience the choice. ‘Do you want a gentle cover or a loud original?’ The loud original gets the vote and so – they asked for it – Collaborator finish with a bang. The frenetic ‘I’ has Stevie rushing across the stage and back to play up to his inevitable new disciples, he and Veg stomp with crossed swords in the middle of the stage and Dan’s hair goes flying over the drums. Pete has a look of contented bemusement; maybe it's just that he's as laid back as Matt after all. All-in-all, given the news received post-gig about next year’s event, mission accomplished.

In memory of Keith, who just wanted to play guitar, and we’re sure would have loved playing this event as much as Stevie would have loved to have given him the chance. RIP.

21st April 2006 Update

Hello all, so tell me, did you enjoy Saturdays little outing as much as I did, I do hope so. I found it to be an interesting night. I know some of you were there to show your genuine support for which I am always appreciative. I know some of you were there out of curiosity, I hope you liked what you saw and will come back again. But I actually felt as though there was a few, and only a few folks that wanted to see me trip up and fall flat on my arse. You know what, I hope you had a good night too because I understand where that sentiment is coming from. And while it made it a little awkward for me in places, to be honest I would not have wanted or expected it to be any other way. I must admit that I really enjoyed having the oppurtunity to play in front of an audience once again. I also really found it a huge release to sing some of those words at real gig level rather than just rehearsal. Sometimes you need to say some of that stuff in an angry and emotional state. Hell, that's why I write songs, to save me going GA GA!

My thanks to Dave at The St Annes Castle for letting us take over his pub for the night. There was a good turn out there so hopefully it was worth everyones effort.
On behalf of Stevie, Dan, Pete and myslef I would like to say a huge thanks to Mike and Rob for supplying the PA and the lights for the night and for all their efforts in making sure that the evening was an event as much as an excuse for us to rehearse. I only heard good things said about the sound quality from the night. That was thanks to those guys. Cheers.

So, looking forwards then, and now we focus on The Celtic Warriors Birthday Bash for this coming Saturday. For a change I have not been given the graveyard shift as the lads have called it in the past. For the last couple of years Barefoot was given the honour of closing the weekend. This year, Collaborator are the first of the evening bands. Following us will be Demon, Shy, Bob Catley and Resevoir Cats.

Barefoot supported Bob Cately many years ago at The Twist in Colchester before Sean Hudson took it over. Bob was a nice guy. I quite liked what he did but he struggled a bit with his stage gear. He came on to the stage wearing a long leather coat, about 3 songs in he decided to try and take it off but it had stuck to hime where he was so hot and so like a true proffesional he finished the gig still wearing the coat. He looked very uncomfortable at the end. Sounded good though so am looking forward to seeing him again. Also on the Saturday schedule is my buddy The Celturian. Our paths have not crossed since just before Christmas so it will be good to catch up with him again.

So, had you been listening really carefully early on last Saturday, you would have heard the new recording that we have been working on. Stronger Now, featuring Tom Robinson on bass and Moving On. I'm absolutely blown away by the two tracks. THey are everything I had hoped they would be. While I don't want to take away from anything else I have previously recorded, funnily enough I do still occasionally listen to the Barefoot albums, although I prefer SuperEgo out of the 2, a little more edgy and alive. So, I think these 2 new tracks are probably the best thing I have ever recorded. Very simply done. Almost has a live feel to it. Not many overdubs. The drum tracks are all in one take and have not been edited at all and so there is a natural flow to them. Likewise, the bass and guitar parts were mostly one continuous take.

I just feel so excited by the songs, both really new having been written within the last 6 months. So, if you would like a free copy of these tracks on a White Label CD, that means you get no pretty packaging etc. then send me an EMAIL including your snail mail addy and I'll get a copy in the post to you. If you would like to have a preview listen then you need to go and visit the Collaborator MySpace page. This has been put together by Brains, shown on the left here playing my Les Paul. Big thanks to hime for all his efforts and support. Has been and continues to be an all round good egg and fellow JD fanatic. Hmmmmm JD, sorry I digress. Right then, I guess I'll see you all sometime soon, Take care, VegX

8th April 2006 Update

Hiya folks, I hope you are all doing well. It's been an interesting couple of weeks since the last update but it probably wont take me too long to write it up, so apologies if there is too much waffle, or depending on your point of view, not enough.

Stevie, Dan, Pete and I had the pleasure of spending the day together a couple of Saturdays ago to work on the next batch of recordings.
We had gone into the studio with a potential 7 songs to get the drum tracks down for. I never actually expected us to get anywhere near that. But we did, somewhere through the early afternoon I thought I was soing to be the one to put my hands up and surrender, and none of what I was doing was going to be kept. Dan had the hardest job with every beat counting and having to be spot on.
Dan is a real perfectionist, we had a couple of takes on tracks that I thought were good but he said that he wasn't happy with one aspect or another and would rather we re did the take. So we would do the track again and the next take was always the one that ticked all the boxes.

By the end of the day we had 7 tracks in the can. An amazing feat. Dan then had to go and play with his band, The accidental, at The Bay Horse in Chelmsford. By all acounts a good gig. Stevie went but my brain hurt and I has a 6AM start for work the next day, not so good.

So this week the first mix of Stronger Now arrived in my hands. I believe there is still some work to be done on it but it is sounding bloody brilliant. It is the most intense 3 minutes of music I have ever recorded. I am hoping that we will have some copies ready for Saturday.

And so onto Saturday. Well, my first band gig for nearly a year and to be honest I am more than a little nervous about it. For lots of reasons really. Some of it is just because it's so long I last played live in that format but mostly it's because there will be a lot of brand new material showcased that night, I think it's 6 new tracks.

As well as that though we have re worked some of my 'classic' tracks. Read classic as old ones, there are new versions of Close to the Bone, Trigger, Free Rock and Bring it All. Oh Yeah, not forgetting a rather marvellous Stevie James penned track. Wont tell you which one, you will have to wait and see. We have also been working on some covers for you. You know the stuff we like to do, well it's all them and a couple of other bits too. We are due to start at around 9PM and due to play for about 90 minutes, however, we ran through the set on Friday in rehearsal and pretty much played straight through and the set was closer to 2 1/4 hours. Dunno why. Anyway, The St Annes Castle doesn't normally stop it's music til about 12 so we have plenty of time to play on a bit.

Mind you, I am not going to want to be too late away as I have a 6AM start for work the next day which is never pleasant let alone after a night out too.
And on the subject of work, some of you may remember that I was trying to pass my HGV C+E licence, which is the class 1 in old money. Well, I managed to pass the test last week at my 2nd attempt.
While it feels really good to have achieved that I find myself not really believing it. Scary thing is though that my chances of actually driving an artic in the forseeable future is slim but my chances of having to pick one up and tow it is really very high. Now that is a scary prospect.

So, I'm working on 2 new parts to my web space at the moment, one is for Collaborator and the other is gonna be all about my other passion, and that is those big trucks. I'll let you know once it's all up and running.

That will do for now I guess, I'm off to bed,
take care and see you all Saturday at The St Annes Castle in Great Leighs.
Cheers,
VegX

24th March 2006 Update

How cool is that, it's an invite. You don't actually need a copy but the information on it may be of interest. Yes, it's a live show.
Actually, what it is all about is a live rehearsal/showcase for some new material and a really good oppurtunity for me to try and remember how to play in a band format in front of an audience.
This is all in preparation of The Celtic Warriors Birthday Bash the following weekend and so it would be very cool to have a few of you there justy tolet me know what you think of the new sounds.

So, you are probably wondering what the 'Collaborator' thing is all about. If you like, it's the projects name. I wouldn't describe it as a band name because, as the invite suggests, two of the musicians involved at this time are borrowed from other places. Dan from The Accidental and Pete from Early Bird Studio. This rehearsal and the Birthday Bash will be the onl;y times you will get to see Pete perform with us as he is doing this as a real big favour to Stevie and I, which is so cool. However, he is doing most of the bass work on the album.

So a nice smooth link to recording. As I write this I am getting ready to go to Pete's where we will be spending this afternoon rehearsing and then tonorrow laying down up to 6 drum tracks for songs, kinda depends on how long it takes for Dan's head to fry. This will be the tracks that we need for the 'Revisited'EP that will be out later in the year. The single should now be finished except for mixing and mastering. I hope to have that ready by the April 15th event.

We are also currently setting up a concentrated recording effort in May sometime to try and break the back of the album. My head is so full of ideas at the moment that I really need to crack on with it. I'm writing probably acouple of tracks a month which is nearly double what I would normally expect to do and so the album is pretty much going to be all brand new tracks that wont have been heard anywhere else before. That is why I wanted to do the 'Revisited' EP to finally finish a few tracks that have been close but not quite for a while. Close to the Bone, Trigger, Free Rock and that old favourite of Bring it all. So, why the jug? Look out for a track called the king. It's a skiffle song and quite tongue in cheek.

And so finally, I turned 40 last week, it was a quiet little transition for me except for the major piss up in The Bay Horse in Chelmsford. I started drinking at 2 and didn't stop til 11 and it was only the lure of a huge pizza that got me out of the pub then. To everyone that was ther, ta for pressies and a great night. Was much better than the 30th was. God that was a bad one!!

Right, that's your lot, I'm off to make some noise.

Take care,
VegX

4th March 2006 Update

Hello all. OK, I've been a little slow on updates lately, however, it wasmy big 40th birthday last week and to be honest it took me 3 days to recover. Now that's a party. Anyway, I have a busy weekend coming up this week but I promise you an early update in Friday morning. Thanks for keeping looking in. I appreciatte that.

Well done to Brains who text me to let me know he was the 1000th person. Very cool. To be honest though, every single count means a lot to me and so as I keep saying, thank you for your support.

See you all soon, actually, you can all come and see me soon. Full details on Friday.

VegX

Bloody hell I hear you say, two updates in two days, bit of a miracle hey. Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm only updating the site when I actually have something constructive to say or something that has got the fire in my belly lit up.

So, I am a very fired up. After the disappointment of failing my driving test yesterday Stevie and I loaded up the car and headed off towards Early Bird Studio in Harwich. The plan was to meet Dan there and we would spend 3 hours rehearsing and getting a rough demo mix of some of the new stuff for a point of reference, and then spend the last three hours working on the new single.

Unfortunately Dan has been struck down with the flu and at the last minute phoned and said he just needed to go home and try and sleep it off. That's fine with me, I don't want it, no way. So Dan, I hope you are feeling a lot better soon.

However, It's strange how things work out, Stevie keeps telling me it's all fate. Whenever something that is seemingly bad happens then it seems recently that we are able to turn those things around into something positive.

We arrive at Pete's and decide to start working on the final recordings of the new single. But when we start to look at the demos we put together on our last visit we discover that a lot of what we did was pretty much what we wanted anyway. The drums had been recorded with the fact that they would not be redone in mind but we had planned to re do all guitars and vocals. However, we just didn't need to. 'Stronger Now' needed a new guitar line as the sound we had set up initially sounded like a wasp in a bottle, all thin and buzzing. So with my newly discovered sound, which for the techno heads amongst you is a Marshall AVT50, using the green channel, wind the gain up to near maximum, add treble and bass to flavour and turn the amp up LOUD. Plug in a Gibson Les Paul and let it go. The beauty of that set up is that if you play gently then the sound is almost clean but just starting to break. But if you hit it then it feels like you are being kicked in the stomach by a mule while having your brains drilled out with a Black and Decker. I assume B&D still make power tools or am I really just an old git? Don't answer that. Thank You! And here is the end result of me beating up my lovely Les Paul, a broken pick. I've been using these Dunlop picks for years and I really can't remember ever breaking one, and that was just during the warm up.

And that was that. 'Stronger Now' is now pretty much finished. It was really cool as this track features Tom Robinson on bass, and the thought did cross my mind on more than one occasion while putting the guitar part in that I was playing along to one of my all time heroes.

We had a listen to 'Close to the Bone' and to be honest, it needed nothing doing to it. All the elements are there so that's in the can as they say. Actually who are they, and do they say these things cos I've never met them or heard them say anything!!!!

And so finally, the big one. 'Moving On'. This song is a real favourite of Stevie and mine. It has a very catchy opening line that becomes the refrain for the solo later in the song. It builds from literally silence to the most incredibly powerful ballsy rock ballad solo you have ever heard. Not that I'm trying to big it up or be big headed about one of my own songs but the work that the rest of the team have put into this track makes it the most incredible musical journey. I think Stevie counted about 6 seconds of silence at the beginning during the first line to where the guitar first comes in. It really is a bare your soul moment and I LOVE IT! (Just for the record Kat, I said that in my head in a West Country accent for some unknown reason my girrrrl).

So that's the front of the track, what about the end of it, well the solo is just something else. It truly is equal to the song. I thought I was used to listening to Stevie play but the hairs on the back of my neck went up and stayed up during that part of the recording session. Just listening to him find the voice of his new PRS guitar was a moment to be savoured. She can be nasty when pushed but she sings so sweetly when handled with care. The biggest difference I noticed was that on other guitars while you can see how fast Stevie is playing sometimes the passing notes are a bit lost in the wood, but with this new guitar, every single note, bend, slide, tap, pull off and even the odd strum can be heard clearly. I actually think Stevie is now playing faster because of that. Although looking at the pic you can see just how hard he was working.

So, I guess that's enough of the Stevie James fan club newsletter. The work he did last night really fired me up so I thought I would share that excitement with you while I was on my soapbox.

As it was still fairly early we thought we would have a go at getting the vocals for the track down as well, especially as with one thing and another I really did feel as if I was in the right frame of mind to sing this one. After a couple of attempts and from some good encouragement from Stevie and Pete I managed to get the balance right between the narration of the story and singing the song and putting some emotion into it too. That can be quite a juggling act sometimes to get the balance, too much of one element and it doesn't realise it's potential. I love singing this song. Ithink one of my finest moments as a songwriter. Better even than Boney, now that's saying something!

So, I guess that's just about it for now. The single now needs mixing and mastering so I think we are well on track for having it ready for the beginning of April. Well, certainly Celtic Warriors.

Enough waffle already, I hear you say, go away and leave us alone for another few weeks. OK, if you insist, but I'll be back once some more exciting stuff happens.

Take care and see you all real soon.
VegX
P.S.We are on the hunt for some gigs so hopefully by the summer you will be seeing a bit more of us, but don't let too many people know else I'll probably get into trouble. Shhhhhh.

3rd March 2006 Update

Hiya folks, this is a bit of a first for me as I'm using the new dictation software I bought for the computer.
I must say it's a little strange to dictate rather than to type these words. If I'm honest I think I'd rather be typing actually. It would certainly be a lot quicker and feel a lot more natural, but hey you must try these new things from time to time.

I guess I should apologise for the lack of recent updates but I have been quite busy this week trying to pass my HGV Class One license. It's not been as hard as I thought it would be but nonetheless it was still very challenging and is left me with a massive headache at the end of each day. Unfortunately I didn't manage to pass the test and so am going to have to go back to my company's training centre near Brighton in a few weeks' time to retake my test. I am obviously quite disappointed and my pride hurts are a bit, but hey, I guess that's just the way it goes.

As for the music, it's all quite exciting and certainly moving in the right direction. Stevie, Dan and I were back to rehearsals last Friday after a week off for some R and R. Dan went away for a few days, Stevie played a gig with Full Mental Racket, which is the covers band he plays in with John T and the captain. As for me I did my usual and drank copious amounts of Mr. Jack's finest while eating far too much at The Fleece in town with Deb. Was a lovely chilled out, filled up afternoon.

And so here I sit on Friday afternoon getting ready to load all my gear into the car to go and pick up Stevie and then we are off to see Pete at Early Bird Studio for the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening.

I must say I'm really looking forward to recording using the Les Paul. It's going to be a new experience for me. I used her last week for rehearsal and the sound is just awesome. I now understand why I loved it so much when Stevie used to play her. So much power, Love it !!!!
His new guitar and amp set up is something else too. I won't give away the surprise but I will say that he now runs through two Marshall stacks at the same time. The sound is incredible.

I actually had to go back to typing as I'm having a sneezing fit right now and this dictation machine was really throwing up some strange stuff.

So that's it I guess. I'll try and get some pics from this afternoon and post them over the weekend.

Take care and see you soon.

VegX

11th February 2006 Update

HIya all. First up, thank you to everyone that keeps looking in here, it's a strange thing really cos it's not like I'm actually out there promoting myself and yet the hit rate seems to keep increasing. So as the bit at the top says, thank you for your support. That of course doesn't mean that I'm likely to update this any more frequently. I could I suppose but it would all be a load of badly spelt rambling waffle. Ahh, so no change there then!

It's been an interesting week, full of ups and thankfully no downs. Was payday yesterday which as always a good time of the month I find. Means I can go out and buy some more stuff that I want and that I have persuaded myself that I need. Of course, I probably don't actually need it, but what the heck.

So yesterday I was chatting to Stevie who has just bought himself a new PRS guitar. It is absolutely beautiful and sounds awesome. Of course. he is head over heals in love with it. and I don't blame him one little bit. So the conversation continued and he dropped the bombshell that he was going to sell his black Les Paul Studio. I was really quite gutted by that as to me that is the ultimate electric guitar. So I asked how much he wanted for it, we had a deal and as of this afternoon some time I will be the very proud owner of a guitar that I have wanted to own since I was about 12. How's that for a weekend. Actually able to tick off a life ambition. You don't get to do that too often, do you?

However, this week I have managed to tick 2 boxes. Finally I can announce the name of the very special guest appearing on a couple of tracks on the album. As the headline above says, it is Tom Robinson.
I was listening to Tom's music from the age of about 12 or 13 and his words probably had more influence on my whole adult way of thinking than anyone else. He opened my eyes to a world of hatred and bigotry that I didn't know existed and enabled to me to form an opinion very early on that those narrow minded viewpoints were not where I was coming from. On top of that the raw anger and aggression in the music sparked something inside. Because of the Power in the Darkness LP, yeah, LP as in was a Long Playing vinyl album!! I wanted to start writing songs.

So, anyway, during one of my more lucid Jack Daniels moments I sent Tom an email and asked if he would be prepared to play bass guitar on a couple of tracks for me. Well, this he has done. Close to the Bone and Stronger Now have the distinction of featuring Tom's bass lines on them. Just how cool is that, your childhood hero playing on your song. Well, it's a big deal to me. Hopefully we will be in the studio in the next week or two to start putting the guitar and vocal tracks down over Dan's drums and Tom's bass lines. We are also working on Moving ON, which will have Pete Barrenger from Early Bird Studio playing bass on. That also feels like a very big deal to me.

Womble

My old friend Womble has safely arrived home after his 3-week sojourn at the pleasure of the NHS following his really horrible accident a few weeks back. I was chatting to him on Tuesday and is slowly on the mend, his spirits were high and he had a bag full of prescription drugs to help him feel better!

He will be at The Birthday Bash although due to access issues as he will still be on crutches at that time may not actually be on stage, but will still be close enough to get him with a radio mic. From everyone this end of the PC we wish him a speedy recovery.

I reckon that's enough news to keep you going through the week. I'm sure I'll have some guitar pics for you by next week. Gonna be strange as it goes as Stevie, Dan and I have been rehearsing on Friday afternoons for the last 6 or 7 weeks but we are all off doing other stuff next week so there is no rehearsal, that is going to feel strange.
Anyway, no doubt I'll see you all very soon. Take care,

VegX

28th January 2006 Update

So then, what an interesting day today has been. Stevie and I have had the pleasure of being esconsed in Early Bird Studio in Harwich today recordinghe first of the full band arrangements for the new album. In fact two of the tracks are actually for the first single. There is still no time scale on this. There is an element of needing a certain amount of time to make it happem, especially as one of these tracks will feature a very special guest. However, there is alos a financial consideration. There only so much in the pot and it'll take a while to make things happen.

The tracks that we have worked on today are Stronger Now, Close to the Bone, hence the picture of me playing the mandolin. That song just has to have the riff played on that instrument, it's the law, well nearly anyway. The third track is Moving On. They are all sounding really cool. All of the tracks feature Dan from The Accidental on drums. Stevie and I have known Dan for many years now and have always been great admirers of his abilities. It is a real honour to finally have the oppurtunity (Kat???!!!) to record with him. He has really helped to bring these tracks to life, the older ones with a new input of energy and new perspectives and the newer ones just with a different point of view.

Some really bad news reached my ears this week. My good friend and long time musical supporter, Womble, was involved in an accident when he was hit by a car while riding his motorbike. Although he has sustained some fairly serious injuries he is expected to make a full recovery within 3 to 4 months. As soon s I have managed to contact hime I'll let you know how he is doing. So, while on the subject of The Celtic Warriors, this years Birthday Bash is confirmed for the weekend of 20th April. Stevie and I have been invited to play once again, I think that's my 5th year on the trot!, and we have of course accepted the offer. As soon as I have more information I will ,of course, let you know.

And while on the subject of gigs, the show at The Queen Adelaide will not now be taking place. Various reasons but none I need to go into here. Also the two gigs booked with The Acoustic Stage, I have had to pull out of them due to work commitments. I've been put on some training courses, one of which is my Class 1 HGV (that's C+E in new money). Unfortunately these courses managed to clash with the gigs and regretably I have had to pull out. They will be rescheduled for later in the year I hope. So, that I gusess is that. My brain has just about turned to jelly now so I think I shall chill out in front of the TV for a few hours until the rest of the family get home and Chris and Hayley take over the remote controls once again! Take care all, VegX

7th January 2006 Update

Hiya all, I hope you all had a great festive season and saw the new year in with suitable reverance. Me, Oh yeah, I was crashed out on my sofa, sober as a judge watching Jools Hollands Hootenany. Kaiser Chiefs, KT Tunstall and Marc Almond singing Tainted Love, now that one really took me back but it was very cool to see him well again after his brush with death last year. Love him or loathe him, you cannot deny that he is certainly one hell of a character.

I hope Santa brought you some nice new stuff to play with, I was lucky enough to receive the gift of Marshall. A really cool looking AS-50 acoustic amp. It really is the tool for the job.
Had loads of other stuff too, CD's and so many pairs of socks you would not believe which was very cool as my sock drawer was looking rather bare.
OK, I can hear the questions now that I don't wear socks, well, somewhere out in the real world away from music I earn a living and financially support my dreams by driving an 18 tonne breakdown truck. What with the snow and ice and rain, believe me, you need 2 pairs of socks inside your boots to keep the toes toastie.

OOO, I've just realised that I 've given some personal stuff away there. I've admitted to the world that I have to work for a living, how many websites do you read of unsigned artists that try and make it sound like they are some huge corporation and have loads of financial backing etc yet actually are fully self financed. It's all Bullshit. If I only have New Year's resolution, and I don't normally bother, maybe other than following in my brothere's footsteps, every year he says he won't start smoking, since I quit a few years back I say I wont take it up again. But sometimes I could die for a fag. Anyway, I digress, and more than usual.

So, my point is this. If I write thios website very nonchalont (Kat is that the right spelling, probably not knowing me) as if anything that happens was destined or deserved then how can I really get overexcited and gushy when the really cool stuff happens.

I work really hard for my small victories, I'm lucky that I have a really supportive family and some very clever and resourceful friends to help make these little victories happn, but the key word for this year is going to be honesty. No more bullshit. No more writing this like I'm some big recording artist, I pretty much know everyone of you reading this anyway so why keep up the big pretense.

I was having a conversation with Dan from The Accidentals last night, more about that in a bit, and we were discussing why we make music. It's not for fame and fortune, although that would be useful and exciting, it's about having fun. That is my goal for this year. Last year I spent most of my time, certainly about 8 months of it, either ill, or recovering from being ill. This year, I'm only going to be playing the gigs that I want to play. Whether they are any good for my career or not. If I have a good feeling about them then I will play them, if I don't, and regardless of what I might achieve by playing them, then I wont play them.

So, I guess I have waffled on enough and so now for the news.

I was chatting with Dan because he has agreed to play drums for me on the forthcoming recordings. Last night was the first of the rehearsals leading up to the the first recording session at the end of the month. The three tracks are 'Close to the Bone', 'Stronger Now' and 'Moving On'.

Just from the first session last night, I can feel these tracks are going to sound awesome. Stevie and I have been playing them at the last few live shows we have done so at least we have some idea of arrangements for them but by adding in the drums they sound superb. Dan has such an amazing feel and finds little subtleties that bring the songs to life. Very cool.
These three tracks definately fall into the rock genre but later on in the year when we start work on the album proper the track listing will be very much more eclectic.

Pete from Early Bird Studios is coming along in a couple of weeks to work on some bass lines with us as he will be playing bass on the majority of the recordings. However, we do have a very special guest playing on 'Boney' and 'Stronger Now'. But I'm still keeping that one close to the chest for fear of jinxing the whole thing.

So, I guess that's enough for now, my apologies for it being a while from the last update but I kept getting a little too involved with a bottle of Jack Daniels and then could not get off of the sofa. I can be a bit rock and roll when I put my mind to it.

Take care and see you all soon.
VegX

21st December 2005 Update

Hiya all. First up my apologies for the delay in getting this update together. It's been a bit of a busy time just generally what with xmas and all that stuff and with trying to bring the music things up to date.

So, first things first. I had the pleasure of visiting The Chelmsford Camera Club last week. What a really lovely bunch of folks and I would like to extend my thanks to them for their hospitality for the evening.

It was an interesting evening in prospect. I really did not know what to expect, I had been billed as a male model, which is not a way I would normally describe myself.

As it goes, the reality was not quite as strange as the initial description of the night may have suggested. I pretty much did my thing, albeit without any amplification or mics etc. While doing this I had about 7 or 8 folks all taking pics in really close.

While it was a little surreal, it also was really cool and I have to admit to enjoying the exerience. Once again my thanks to one and all for the invite and to Kat for setting it all up.

So, now you are looking at this picture and wondering what the hell it is doing on this site. Well, this is a picture of Biggar Lake in Canada. The pic was taken by Terry McDonald of the Chelmsford Camera Club. And so now the significance of the picture. I wrote a song recently called 'Canada' This is a song about escape and wanting to run away from the everyday stuff that we all have to deal with and to find some space "Between the lakes and the Evergreens". THe very bizarre thing is though that while writing the song, this is almost exactly the picture I had in my head. Yet I did not see this picture until about 3 weeks after I wrote the song. Strange coincedence or what.