Well, what a night was to be had on Friday for Buddy Whittington. It was superb in just about every way, a great house - just a few over 150 - but everyone who wanted a seat got one, and it made for a great sense of occasion, which was matched by a quite sensational performance from Buddy, who once again made himself readily available to chat to everyone and sign CDs. The Club is very grateful to Brett Todd for promoting the gig, and taking the risk with it, and many thanks to everyone who came to make it such a marvellous event - certainly one of the best we've had.
Buddy will be a hard act to follow, but next week's band, Debbie Giles & Midnight Train, will have a pretty fair shot at it when making their debut at the Club a week on Friday, the 19th April. They are a thoroughly professional funk, soul, R&B and blues outfit, who regularly play at the most highly-regarded venues around the country - any band that gets bookings back time and again to The Malt Shovel in Northampton, probably the top blues venue in the UK, definitely knows what they're doing.
All the members have impeccable musical CVs - Debbie herself was on the West End stage before returning to her first love of the blues, while drummer Sam Kelly has been voted "Drummer of the Year" for five years running by Blues Connection. Guitarist Pete Emery played in the celebrated John Dummer Blues Band alongside Dave Kelly (long-time member of The Blues Band), and keyboard player Steve Oakman, who has toured with many famous names, is the son of Pete Oakman, member of Joe Brown's Bruvvers and writer of "Picture Of You" . Bass player Chris Belshaw likewise has played with a host of top names.
There is a load of information, music samples and video clips on their excellent web site at www.midnighttrain.co.uk, so please check them out. The Club very much look forward to seeing you there.
