Thomas Ruf in Bonn 2011
RUF Records currently feature an excellent interview with Founder and CEO Thomas Ruf on their website.
Ruf shares his memories of legends Luther Allison and Louisiana Red, suggests that the heart of Blues Music comes from Musicians playing for love rather than money, and reveals ‘ghostly goings on’ during a recording on Beale Street…
INTERVIEW ON RUF WE
When I rang Shane up to tell him that I was finally writing a book about us and that I would probably be on the unstinting side, he said: ‘I don’t give a f**k about that.
It would have been hard to believe at the time, but during their hard living, hard touring, hard drinking days someone within legendary Irish Band The Pogues was soberly making notes. The result is ‘Here Comes Everybody’ a book intriguingly described by it’s Author, the Bands Accordion Player James Fearnley, as ‘Creative Non-fiction’. Fearnley’s book begins on 30 June 1980 in London when he arrived, Telecaster in hand, to audition for MacGowan’s band ‘The Nips’ and abruptly ends in Yokohama (30 August 1991) when MacGowan is called to a Band meeting and sacked. As you can well imagine, there is an intriguing story to be told in between.
In an exclusive interview, 3SongsBonn asked Fearnley for his thoughts on the New Book, on the Old Band and on their upcoming Concert in Cologne this August. His answers are honest and with a touch of humour that must have been a life-saver during the tempestuous early years of Pogue Mahone and the roller-coaster ride to success in a mini-van existence that Fearnley likens to the atmosphere of Germany’s epic Naval drama ‘Das Boot’.
In 2010 Bonn’s local newspaper ‘Express’ asked its readers to vote for their favourite Bonn Musician. No surprise in first place – Beethoven. Robert Schumann also scored highly of course. In a very respectable 8th place though, ahead even of Schumann’s wife Clara, came local Pop coverband Sunny Skies.
Ahead of their 40th Anniversary Harmonie concert on 21 April, 3SONGSBONN asked founder member of the band Rope Schmitz how Sunny Skies came into existence, and how he explained their continued popularity.
‘blues powerhouse meets hillbilly boogie’. You certainly can’t forget the description of her music, or her name for that matter: Cherry Lee Mewis. Walter Trout, Robin Trower and former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden have all shared stages with the girl who’s base is in Bedford but heart is in Memphis. This month saw the release of Cherry’s excellent third CD, ‘Heard it here First’ which impressed 3Songs so much that we wanted to know more – so we asked, and Cherry kindly took the time to answer…
Jug-bands, trumpets and dinner with Billy Gibbons. Not things I expected to crop up when I assembled my notes for the continuation of my interview with Jimmy Bowskill. Whilst a lot has changed since Museumsplatz 2010 though, one thing hasn’t – Jimmy is still a thoroughly nice bloke with a huge musical future ahead of him.
A hot tip for concert goers this year is the Dr Feelgood/Jimmy Bowskill show at the Harmonie on 5 February. As a taster, here is an interview I did with Jimmy Bowskill after his show at the Museumsplatz in 2010 supporting Joe Bonamassa and Jeff Beck.
New girl Victoria Smith (centre)
Victoria Smith is from Leicestershire and she plays bass guitar. 3SongsBonn thought that wasn’t much information about the new girl on the upcoming Blues Caravan ‘More Girls With Guitars’ Tour though, so we asked her about herself.
Dani Wilde (with Nora) in Kenya - c. Dani Wilde
On 31 January at the Harmonie you can hear great music and also contribute to a good cause. The ‘Girls with Guitars’ are back with RUF’s Blues Caravan and Dani Wilde, is back after a new visit to Africa. Here she writes about her fundraising project for children in the slums of Kenya, her work towards giving them a better education, and how every cent can bring a smile to a young face.
