The Whiskey River Band - Cowboy Up Bluefield, WV

Saturday nights gig was at Whiskey River's spiritual home of Cowboy Up in West Virginia.

Now as many of you keen and 'eagle eyed' visitors will know this gig was the big New Year's Eve spectac-ular and eagerly awaited by fans and band members alike!

As previously accurately reported, it was a full WRB weekend! What with playing to a huge club crowd the night before, we were 'stoked' to be be performing on this very specialist night of the year.

Waking up in our exclusive Princeton motel, it was not long before were heading off the local omelet house to sample the local delicacies! I chose quite a spectac-ular egg based offering whilst other members of our party dined on traditional morning salad.

With beverages consumed and bellies full 'to the brim' I was soon 'whisked off' the West Virginian countryside in a 'whittle stop' tour! With Tilley 2 re-stocked with snacks and beverages, I was first taken to the once booming railway town of Thurmond. This literal 'ghost town' was preserved by the Federal Government a few years ago and serves as an accurate record of the decline of steam trains. With photos taken and Comrade Daninski monitoring official broadcasts, we were soon heading to The New River Bridge stroke Gorge, where modern marvels of engineering technology was observed. What was also observed was some energetic outbursts by The Comrade and Mr Tilley, which caused such distress that Petunia was called upon in some kind of taxi driver capacity! Sadly there was no red jackets to be worn, but needless to say we arrived at 'The Up' in the nick of time for a lengthy soundcheck.

With the most delicious BBQ consumed, it was 'on with the show'!

Quite simply this was the largest and best crowd I have ever played to in the USA, and 'The Up' was at full capacity for most of the festivities! Playing our reg-ular three sets, we wooed the assembled with Rock, Southern Rock and Country classics! It was critical mass almost from the outset certainly on a par with the best  Rough Justice O'Neil's Woking experience.

At the strike of 12 (ish) the band launched into an impromptu version of Auld Lang Syne much to the confusion of the 'fans'. We played many more songs to greet 2012 and finally really reached a brassy tart of an ending with Carl taking over guitar duties from Will - playing slide no less! And to add to the sonic mayhem Will played keys! This really will go down in rock history for years to come, I suspect.

As we closed the set with this music based tomfoolery, it was time for the lengthy packup where large objects of rock construction are 'hauled' around by tired people in the freezing cold. Lucky for us, there was not many vomit pools to dodge which is always a bonus in the dark.

Quite literally 'hopping' back into Tilley 2, it was back to the hotel for 25 minutes sleep before heading back home to stay out of trouble!

A good night for New Years, rock and Horny Goat Weed.

Knight Rider Season 1 Region 1.

The Whiskey River Band - Sky Rock-It Nightclub, Bluefield WV

Friday nights gig was with the titans of the Southern Rock scene, the Whiskey River Band at Sky Rock-It Night  Club in Bluefield West Virginia.

What with New Year 'and everything' it was a full Whiskey River weekend complete with hotels, deserted town visits and 'slap up' breakfasts!

After a hard day on the Borough, I was collected in Tilley 2 and literally whisked across the the State Line for the evenings tomfoolery! Joining us on this weekends festivities was Petunia and everyone's favorite Comrade Daninsky on photographic and wire tapping duties.

All was 'plain sailing' on the way to the 'Wild West' which is West Virginia until disaster struck! On Interstate something or another there was a huge crash causing our travels into a sheer standstill! It was a tense time, and many cell-ular calls were made to band members and the like! Luckily Tilley 2 had a delicious selection of snacks in its red cooler which allowed our stop to be delightful and nutritional minimizing loathing and associated anger.

With our bellies full of Petunia's snacks, we were soon arriving at Bluefield's latest and greatest night spot, The Sky Rock-It Nightclub! This recently re-opened dance hall is the cream of what Bluefield has to offer, and I am pleased to say we turned that cream in Southern flavored butter!

After setting about setting up, and one of the most seamless and enjoyable soundchecks in recent history it was on with 'the show'.

And what a gig! The enthusiastic (read small) crowd loved our specialist mix of music, and many complimented us on our fun packed stage persona! So happy was the crowd, they even kept 'Wolf Whistling' almost throughout the whole evening!

With lavatorial fun the talk of the evening it was just one of those great nights which will go down in rock history for all eternity!

As we closed the set with our last song, we were soon loading up our Sprinters where happy smiles and handshakes were abound - everyone safe in the knowledge of a job well done!

With non-ringing ears and a tired 'rocked out' felling in my bones, it was time to retreat to the very exclusive Turnpike Motel in Princeton. This 'home away from home' soon had me drifting into sleepy land, resting up for the next day of hard rocking!

A good day for shower curtains and snacks!

Capricorn One is a great film! 

Welcome To The Jungle

Dearest readers,

In an interest to keep you informed of my 'movements' in good 'ole Uncle, US of Stateside I am pleased to report that I have moved!

No longer am I living on a Hill, as I have moved into civilization to the quaint and prosperous town of Christainsburg! No longer does tasting the local delicacies take hours! Literally we can be 'filling up' with fine American fayre within minutes!  

And its so conveniently located! Where as Ferrum was 2247 miles to Las Vegas, Christiansburg is only 2220 miles away shaving a considerable 'chunk' from the journey!

Enjoy the festivities!

The Guitarist And The Sound Man

Please enjoy this anatomically correct account of 'Guitarist And The Sound Man'!

Everything is so true!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Once again, its that most festive time of year when presents are exchanged, trees are erected and snow covers the whole land.

With this in mind we made our annual trip to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, which we were making this year for the first time. It simply was an idyllic Christmas location, with out of season deals in abundance! We enjoyed all the 'fruits' that were on offer. We even managed to put the 'bold claim' that Ripley's aquarium is open 365 days a year to the test!

So please dear viewers, enjoy this 'snapshot' of our adventures and I would like to, in the PPSMCMMC style wish all my listeners a Happy Birthday and a Happy New Easter! 

The Whiskey River Band - Princeton Moose Lodge, WV

Friday nights gig was with The Whiskey River Band at The Princeton Moose Lodge in Princeton, WV.

As many 'eagle eyed' viewers may have noticed, West Virginia is the 'go to' location for the Whiskey River Band. Many would say this is due to their 'lax' smoking laws and 'loose' regulations at specialist establishments. Personally I believe its the sheer sonic spectacle of TWRB that draw West Virginian's in their droves!

Thanks to Hill living, the evening started somewhat early with a 'slap up' supper. This filled my 'belly' with the various nutrients required for a night of rocking ahead. Fuller than a freshly topped up battery, I was soon engaging in various logistics that would get me to Princeton.

Thanks to the power of Hyundai, I arrived in a timely fashion ready to set about setting up for the 3 sets.

This was my first ever Moose Lodge visit stroke experience, so as you would imagine I was quite excited at the prospect! After surveying the premises, I am able to exclusively reveal that they are very similar to The British Legion Club's of my former land. However, the Moose Lodges knock the 'Legion into a 'cocked hat' thanks to the addition of a stuffed moose head on the wall of each and every lodge! This filled me with glee and delight and additional happiness.

Whilst the contents of the highly secret Whiskey River set have been much discussed on the 'net, I am pleased to reveal that WRB started the first set with the first song and played a number of favorites to an eager and enthusiastic crowd. Thanks to the expiry of a nondisclosure agreement, I can exclusively reveal that confectionary classics such as 'Sweet Child' and 'Sweet Home' were performed to critical acclaim! Even a reading of the Adrian Barrow classic 'Purple Rain' was enjoyed by all and sundry!

As we moved into the final quadrant of our three sets, a peak was reached musically whipping the assembled into some kind of music based frenzy!

After the packup procedure and the fending off of male groupies, it was time for a short 'jaunt' down 'the way' to The Turnpike Hotel, which is quite literally your home away from home in leafy Princeton. Offering good value and comfortable surroundings, my smoke ridden torso slipped eagerly into Turnpikes freshly made bed. This ladies and gentlemen, allowed me to rest and quite literally stay out of trouble!

The next morning after a delightful shower, it was time for a 'slap up' Golden Arches breakfast with 'all the trimmings' before making that logistics based trip up to home hill.

A good night for moose heads, Hyundai and West Virginia in general!

fREAKJAM - The Rising Sun Slough

Happy Birthday everyone!

Its that most festive time of year, and a time when little boys and girls all over the land dream of what gig report they would like in their Christmas stocking!

So, as you have all been good, 'Santa Caesar' is proud to present field reporter Tina's Lee's 'wrap up' of last weeks fREAK-1-jAM festive fun & frolics!

Enjoy the festivities! 

December 8th

Hello there once again WoC listeners, to my weekly summary of the most exciting jam night to take place on a Thursday night, starring the most spectac-ular jam night band, The FREAKjAm Band!

Upon arrival to the pub of all pubs, The Rising Sun, Slough; it was clear that it was going to take a minor miracle to get anyone out of their armchairs on such a cold and wintery evening, but as the proceedings ‘kicked off’ arrive they did, and what better reason to battle the storm, than to see our jam night friend and regular, Dave Bryce, be reunited with none other than the lead singer of his world famous 80’s boogie-rock band, Spider!  It was great to see half of the band reunited and it meant that Dave could bounce away to his heart’s content whilst doing his thing on geetar, without having to worry about legging it back to the mic to start singing!

Also in attendance tonight was, amongst others:  Matey from the bygone era of the West Drayton jam night, Steve and his huge keyboard, Steve and Ann, Dale (of Dave and Dale fame) Ric and matey of Britain’s got Talent fame, little drummer boy Lee Arron, Daft man Greyhem making his appearance on drums, and of course the favourite jam night guest, the plate of sandwiches.  However, due to the fact that they were gone in no more than about 30 seconds, I have no idea what fillings were on offer I’m afraid!

As always, bringing up the ‘rear’ in the most professional of manners, was none other than Sir Adrian Purple, accompanied by his sidekick, Lefty Jon. 

With tired weary eyes, and burst ear drums, it was again that time of night to bid a fond farewell to everyone, and bid a hasty retreat back home to bed, to stay out of trouble.

Could it be that I don't always know best...........

The Whiskey River Band - Cowboy Up Bluefield, WV

Something days gig was with The Whiskey River Band at Cowboy Up in Bluefield West Virginia.

Once again, after a complicated journey which incorporated trips to Floyd, band member and photographer pickup and Wendy's consumption, we were soon once again in Bluefield. Thanks to some forward based planning, we actually arrived in the 'nick' of time with just enough time to purchase beverages and 'the like'!

This was our second appearance at 'The Up' in so many days, so the the WRB were a well oiled gigging machine! Despite various band members suffering from colds and other seasonal viri, we were ready to rock!

Opening with the traditional first number, we played three 'power' sets to critical acclaim! The audience was much bigger than our previous visit to this partic-ular venue and I was able to lap up the electricity and energy like a rock Cheshire Cat with a fresh bowl of milk!

Thanks to West Virginia's 'lax' clean air laws, I was once again treated to the finest cigarette smoke that America has to offer! That pungent aroma reminded me of the old days, and when you could go to the cinema for 5d or something like that.

Closing the set with the final number, there was a sense of a job well done, and the extensive packup began. Luckily for us, the procedure was documented for an upcoming documentary which will air probably nowhere.

The trip home equally had as many 'steps' as the journey out, though this time I was treated to the fine hospitality of the Tilley household where I stayed the night. After a delicious breakfast, it was home to the hill where disaster struck - the power was out!

A great night for rock, roll and power outages!

fREAKJAM - The Rising Sun Slough

Hello jAM fans!

It is with great pleasure that I can offer you this report from none other than field reporter Tina Lee!

Quite literally Christmas has come early with this literary masterpiece!

Happy Holidays!


Hello there WoC fans, welcome along once again to my weekly instalment of all the goings on’s that take place on a weekly basis at the official Jam HQ, The Rising Sun.


Upon arrival to Sloughs premier drinking establishment, guitar cases aplenty had already been positioned for the off, despite the absence of Sir Ian Jam, who had very important charity commitments to attend to (of which he does not like to talk about) Standing in and taking over the job of ‘organising’ the chaos was man of the moment, Mr Purple Rain himself, Adrian!


In attendance this week, amongst others, was: Pawell, Cindi Holland, Carl of previous Avatar Original fame doing some great acoustic material, band of the moment Ask Me Why, enthusiastic as ever Lee Aaron, Mark Chudley (and I am proud to announce I was part of what is famously known as the ‘Chudley Chat’!!!!!)  Holly (Zombie) Cook and many more whose names and whose performances I have no pictorial evidence of! 


However I do, of course have evidence of the ‘plate of sandwiches’ whose fillings such as egg mayonnaise, cheese and onion and ham salad on brown bread seemed to ‘hit the spots’ of the hoards of hungry revellers!


Rounding off the evening’s entertainment, in the reg-ulatory manner, was Adrian surrounded by his left hand man, Lefty Jon.


With farewells completed, it was time to head off home again, to go to bed and stay out of trouble.


The shopping list is growing.............

The Whiskey River Band - Cowboy Up Bluefield, WV

Friday nights gig was with The Whiskey River Band at Cowboy Up in Bluefield, West Virginia.

After passing the strict initiation ceremony, I am now a fully-fledged member of The Whiskey River Band! So with this in mind, I was literally 'chomping at the bit' to be performing on this very special evening.

As most of you readers know, Bluefield WV is approximately 2 billion miles from The Hill, so it was necessary to leave at a Guilty Party compliant time of approximately 3 complete weeks before the gig to ensure prompt arrival.

After loading CAESAR1, I made my way along the highways of this great nation to meet with Matt so we could make our way to Bluefield in a 'car pool' capacity. A 'car pool' is a swimming baths for automobiles which facilitates vehic-ular water based activities, and I was delighted CAESAR1 could attend.

After heading down mostly dark roads and stopping for some health based supper fayre, it was time for everyone’s favorite part of the evening - setting about setting up!

Cowboy Up is a large bar affair, which is not actually that dissimilar to Smokey Joe's Roadhouse in Maidenhead but much bigger. For those of you in the audience who don't know, Smokey Joes Roadhouse is a venue that certain factions in Mo'Rockan Soul were obsessed with circa 2002, to the distress of most everyone else.

After unloading the now famous WRB trailer, connecting the PA, desk, monitors, lights complete with '240' feed we were ready to rock!

Traditionally, Friday night is the quieter night at 'CU' though I am pleased to report that a good crowd was in attendance throughout the three sets. Despite my stink cold, and with various other band members affected, we played a fabulous readings of pop-ular classics! I am also pleased to report that 'Sweet Home Alabama' was equally well received despite being 3000 miles from its native West London pub band environment. It was as if Holly was there, dancing on the table!

As the evening came to an end, I packed up my wares, and headed back to the Hyundai to make that long journey to The Hill. After some 'dropping off' and re-collecting CAESAR1 from its pool party, I eventually got home at 6am! Getting home at this time is either 'Rock and Roll' or the catalyst for saying 'I am getting too old for all this' depending on your point of view! Luckily I was able to stay out of trouble during this journey, and
upon arrival literally went straight to bed!

A great night for rocking, travelling and the Wendy's #2 combo, with just cheese and ketchup.

It's just like the Borough!