4.52am Issue: 025 16th March 2017 - The Kurt Cobain Nirvana Issue

theFretBoard is a forum for guitarists, and the occasional bassist.
It’s run by guitarists, for guitarists, and covers just about all the “stuff” that interests
guitarists, including guitars (!), amps, fx, learning, playing, buying, selling and anything
else that comes to the minds of thousands of guitarists every day.
It’s completely free to read and free to join – membership allows readers to see
additional areas of the forum which aren’t visible to non-members, to start their own
discussions and post their own comments.
Best of all, there are NO ADVERTS.
Join the UK’s busiest, most interesting and most diverse guitar related forum for free
(did we mention that it’s free?) at theFretBoard.co.uk.
Now.

Welcome
Welcome to Issue 025
This week we are taking a look at Kurt
Cobain of Nirvana fame, as well as tributes
to some of his guitars.
From there our Telemaster Jr build finally
begins through necessity, the wonderful
Susie Blue hit London and then there is the
other music, so much music.
Have a fine week..
All at 4.52am

Contents
Kurt Cobain
Edwards No. 8
Nevermind
Reading ‘92
Fender Cobain Jaguar
Fender Cobain Mustang
Fender Jagstang
Eastwood ‘UniVox High-Flier’
Telemaster JR
Susie Blue
Andy J Gallagher
Where Fires Are
McAlmont & Butler

KURT COBAIN
Nirvana Personified
It is hard to overstate just what a change
Kurt Cobain, Nirvana and Grunge
generally had on music, but if it was
never known for anything else, getting rid
of spandex in Rock Music for a few years
was particularly satisfying in my neck of
the woods.
Even Def Leppard ended-up wearing
black, the world would never be the same
again.
Looking back, Nirvana were of course the
focal point of the whole Grunge
movement, aided and abetted by MTV’s
heavy rotation of some punter-friendly
singles, but pop fame hadn’t been the
point up front when Kurt Cobain, Krist
Novoselic and a perplexing variety of
drummers worked their way through any
number of names for the band before
finally settling on Nirvana. Cobain
explained,
"I wanted a name that was kind of
beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a
mean, raunchy punk name like the Angry
Samoans."
At this point, the band were starting to
find their feet, with their first single, a
cover of ‘Love Buzz’ gaining reviews in
the UK as well as garnering radio play in
the U.S. Like so many Grunge bands,
Nirvana had signed for Seattle label
Sub-Pop on a one release deal,
although the surprising success of the
single saw the band sign to do an
album, although given the realities of
life the band had to fund the recording,
the princely sum of $606.17 which was
paid for by the then second guitarist
Jason Everman. Whether he only got to
join because of the funding, is unclear
even now, but despite appearing on
the album’s credits, he is believed not
to have played on the recording.
‘Bleach’ was recorded with many signs
of the bands influences at the time –
Mudhoney being an obvious one, but
the guitar sounds of Black Sabbath
were also a big factor. This is the raw
album that defined Nirvana and
Grunge, with the songs being a primal
scream of pain when compared to the
later melodies that would appear on In
Utero and the Unplugged album.
On its release ‘Bleach’ very much
spread the word and saw the band off
on both national, U.S, tours and then
visiting Europe, with a handful of dates
in the UK including a session at the
BBC’s Maida Vale Studio.

Edwards No. 8
Sunday 29 October 1989
Colonel Gimp
It was in 1989, if I remember correctly. I
don’t believe I had quite gotten past the
disappointment of a Saturday night at
Snobs where it seemed long greatcoats
had overtaken the shaven head, and the
music had gone particularly beige.
A sad time.
In truth music by this point was boring
me somewhat. It was too much about
wimpy vocals, reverberating and echoed
guitars and nice middle class boys called
Tim and Crispin, spending their gap years
in Goa before signing-up for the Civil
Service like generations before.
It was a rainy night, that much I
remember as I left my canal side des-res
and wandered toward the Alex, thinking I
may find myself a young actor to keep me
warm. Not a lot else to do in Birmingham
on a Sunday night then, it has to be said,
so I was a little surprised to see a queue
outside one of mine most favoured night
clubs, Edwards No. 8.
Now Edwards and Goldwyns around the
back (that may not have been its official
title, you will understand) was at this time
a great place to watch a band.
No, that isn’t strictly true. It was a great
venue because whoever was booking
the bands was quite brilliant at it I’ve
lost track how many times I saw bands
there that would later be world
renowned, or underground heroes –
and as it happened this evening would
be one of those too – but, no Edwards
wasn’t a great venue, a horrendous
venue unless you liked being covered
in snakebite and pressed up against by
lots of sweaty young men.
One suffers, it has to be said.
Of course I went in. It said there were
two bands on, although there may in
truth have been three as I have a
vague recollection of Tad and
somebody else playing, but then I may
have had a few Southern Comfort and
Lemonades myself.
In truth, I wasn’t expecting much, and
initially they personified the whole
slacker thing to a tee. The bass player
seemed to be constantly arguing with
the lights (he was a strapping chap of
Crouch-esque proportions) and the
singer seemed to be having anger

issues when it came to his microphone,
until he ceremonially stomped it.
But the music, was something else. Oh
don’t get me wrong, I was old enough to
know about garage bands, I loved a
distorted 3 chord trick as much as the
next chap, but this American band, the
Nirvanas as the barman called them, had
something a little different. They wrote
songs.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m no paid-up
member, well not often, but even then
I’m no paid-up member of the ‘can I
whistle it’ brigade, but the truth of the
matter was that in among the noise,
drones, confusion and yes, grunginess,
there were really songs with choruses
and middle eights and lead breaks and
melodies. It was the last thing I was
expecting, I have to say.
And I know at this point I should probably
be claiming that I always knew that they
would go on to change the world, but of
course that wasn’t true. They came
across as so disorganised and slack I
thought it more likely that they would
never get their act together to an extent
that they may get home even, but it
shows what I know and history tells us
that this was only the start.
What I will claim, is that I kept a beady
one out for them turning-up in Brum
again, and even went to see them in
London if I remember correctly, but that
all came later with the addition of the
Grohl and a veneer of shiny corporate
whoredom that was both the making
and the ultimate breaking of them, I’m
sure.
And as I sit here in my smoking jacket
and listen to the recording of the
concert I’ve just happened upon on
YouTube, I can’t help but feel that I
was right at the time, the songs and the
performance, if rougher than what it
would later be in terms of technical
proficiency, showed all the elements of
greatness, all manner of brilliance.
Setlist:
Intro - 0:00
School - 1:42
Scoff - 4:30
Love Buzz - 8:53
Floyd the Barber - 13:42
Dive - 15:52
Polly - 21:05
Big Cheese - 23:53
Spank Thru - 27:39
About a Girl - 31:12
Token Eastern Song - 34:21
Mr. Moustache - 38:50
Jam - 42:18
Stain (aborted) - 43:22
Negative Creep - 49:18
Blew - 52:25

NEVERMIND
The Love of MTV
Following on from the unexpected
success of ‘Bleach’ Nirvana finally found a
settled drummer in the shape of a certain
Dave Grohl on the recommendation of
the Melvins’ Buzz Osbourne. This in itself
enriched the band’s sound as both in
terms of his drumming – which created a
larger, more dynamic sound than they
had enjoyed to date, but also his backing
vocals – Grohl just seemed to work better
with both Cobain and Novoselic.
Sometimes it happens and in this case it
did exactly that, it just clicked.
As Novoselic said about Grohl’s audition,
"We knew in two minutes that he was the
right drummer."
By this point the band were unhappy with
Sub Pop and looking for a way out. The
lack of promotion of ‘Bleach’ and the deal
itself were seen as weak, and realising
that no other indie label would have the
money to buy them out of the contract,
they decided that it would have to be a
major label they signed for.
After interest from a number of labels it
was eventually Geffen that got the
band’s signature, and it didn’t hurt that
the label had recently released – and
promoted ‘ Sonic Youth’s bestselling
album yet, ‘Goo’. Kim Gordon certainly
pushed the label’s case and Geffen at that
point was still seen as (almost) an
independent, at least in attitude if not any
other measure. Whilst Geffen had hopes
for Nirvana going into the recording of
what would become ‘Nevermind’,
nobody on any side could claim to have
guessed just how things would turn
out.
The recording, as ever, wasn’t without
it’s issues. The band had been offered
a selection of producers to work with,
but wanted to go with Butch Vig who
had produced ‘Bleach’ and eventually
got their own way, or so it seemed.
Once the album was finally delivered,
the label wasn’t impressed and the
discord this caused is legendary, with
Andy Wallace being called in to remix
the album with no input from the band.
The resulting album had a cleaner,
more polished and commercial sound
and no doubt this had an impact upon
the eventual sales figures which (with
Geffen hoping for a couple of hundred
thousand in sales) were phenomenal,
the album knocking Michael Jackson off
the top of the album charts and at one
point selling 400,000 copies a week.
The album went on to sell over 37
Million copies worldwide.
This of course had a lot to do with the
incredible reception the video for
‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ got when it was
aired on MTV, and then the radio play
that followed.

READING ‘92
Colonel Gimp
If seeing Nirvana for the first time among
the sweaty teens of Birmingham was
memorable for all of the right reasons,
standing just a few years later among the
same type of chaps after days living on
burgers, falafel and warm cider to watch
perhaps their greatest gig ever in a little
corner of Reading, could have been a
little surreal.
Of course it started off oddly with Mr
Cobain arriving in a wheelchair, a nod,
apparently, to all of the talk of his ongoing
drug-induced woes and visits to the
‘Friends of Betty’ or whichever rehab
clinic he was enjoying at that point.
It wasn’t just the crowd that was unsure
as to how things would go, Dave Grohl,
not a man one feels who lacks confidence
was convinced things were likely to turn
sour,
“Kurt had been in and out of rehab,
communication in the band was
beginning to be strained, Kurt was living
in LA, Kris and I were in Seattle. People
weren’t even sure if we were going to
show up.
We rehearsed [for Reading] once, the
night before, and it wasn’t good,” he said.
“I really thought, ‘This will be a disaster,
this will be the end of our career for
sure.’ And then it turned out to be a
wonderful show, and it healed us for a
little while.”
And in terms of a gig, ill-prepared or
not it is the very definition of a triumph.
The band had fallen out over money as
well as drug use, but that was clearly
forgotten as one of the great Festival
performances of any time was writ
large in the history books.
The moment that stayed with me
forever more was when the crowd
joined in on Territorial Pissings and you
could see that the band were taken
aback, not sure whether it was
(credibly?) the thing to be happy about,
but that it struck a nerve with the band,
and there was a moment, a beautiful
moment when you saw them look at
each other. It still worked.
I’ve often thought that without that
moment Nirvana would have died that
day, and yet I’m not sure that we
should be pleased that they didn’t or
not. Who knows the way the road
would have wound otherwise.

FENDER JAGUAR
Kurt Cobain Signature
Kurt Cobain could never be accused of
being precious about his guitars and we
thought it would be good to look at a few
of the models he was most associated
with. Fender, naturally, have released a
few tribute models, but the Signature
Jaguar, based on the very much modded
1965 Jaguar Kurt acquired and fell in love
with after the recording of ‘Nevermind’ is
perhaps the definitive.
For a start, this was never going to be a
standard Jaguar, and the immediately
obvious thing that hits you is that the
beautiful Jaguar pickups, claws and all
are long gone, and instead we have a
classic combination of a DiMarzio Super
Distortion Humbucker at the bridge, and
a DiMarzio PAF at the neck. These are the
perfect sound for Grunge and the classic
Rock upgrade from the ‘70s onwards and
for the type of music (and player) Kurt
was, a very pragmatic selection. This
pragmatism continues with the choice of
electronics – the switching is simplified
and again it will probably upset the
purists, but this is a guitar modified for a
specific job, and you can’t argue with the
scope of the changes. Similarly, all of the
usual complaints, fixes and tweaks to
overcome the issues with the traditional
Jaguar/Jazzmaster bridge is overcome
with the simple expedient of adding a
non-moving ABR style (Adjust-o-matic
in Fender terminology) bridge.
Other than that we are looking at
something quite standard – an Alder
body with a ‘burst finish in polyester,
the standard ‘C’ neck, rosewood on
maple with a comfy 9.5” radius and
again the Medium Jumbo frets that feel
so much the bigger.
Plugging in, this really growls and does
exactly what you would expect. In a lot
of ways it isn’t a million miles away
from the HH Classic Player, although
for a signature guitar with a nice case
and a few extras on top, the gap these
days is surprisingly small in terms of
money.
In a lot of ways this is the perfect guitar
for the Les Paul player who wants to
look cool, and there isn’t a better sales
pitch than that.
You can find out more HERE

FENDER MUSTANG
Kurt Cobain Signature
If the Fender Jaguar was Kurt Cobain’s
ultimate guitar, the Mustang was the one
that he played the most, whether it was
on the recording of ‘Nevermind’ or the
tour for ‘In Utero’, time and again it was
a Mustang you would see him grasping.
In a lot of ways it made sense, like Sonic
Youth found with their adoption of illloved
Jazzmasters the Mustang was
cheap to buy second-hand, easily
modified if you weren’t too precious
about neatness when it came to enlarging
pickup cavities, and it was nice and light
on stage when it came to throw it around
and as a student guitar by design, like the
Jaguar, it has a shorter scale length
which maybe was attractive to Kurt who
wasn’t the tallest of geezers. Who knows.
It was an easy win for Fender to create a
signature/tribute model though, and they
went for it in a big way in 2011 to
celebrate that it was 20 twenty years
since the launch of ‘Nevermind’. They
also selected the perfect colours, which is
never a bad thing.
As with his Jaguar, you quickly notice
that the Mustang was pragmatically
upgraded, this time he retained the
standard Mustang neck pickup (though
rarely used it) and at the bridge the
single coil pickup was replaced, this
time by another classic, the Seymour
Duncan JB..
No surprise that for a light guitar, this
one rocked.
Again and as with the Jaguar the nononsense
addition of an ABR/Adjust-omatic
bridge solves any historical
concerns and other than that it is pretty
standard fare with an alder body,
maple and rosewood neck with a
vintage 7.25” radius and vintage frets.
Even compared to the Jaguar this is a
no-bull guitar and in a lot of ways it is
perfect for the man and the music he
made with it.
You can find out more HERE although
it is no longer available, apart from in
shops where, err, it is.
One cool guitar that really needs to be
re-issued.

FENDER JAGSTANG
Better By Design
If Kurt Cobain loved his Mustang and he
had dreamed of owning his Jaguar, the
Fender Jagstang was perhaps a sign of a
tortured mind, combining the top half of
one and the bottom of the other.
The design was all his own work of
course, and – ignoring the fact that I
keep saying ‘pragmatic’ – came about as
simply as possible when Kurt quite
literally ripped two photos in half of the
two guitars and stuck the top of one onto
the bottom of the other. This he passed
to Fender, suggesting that they make it.
Now, I have no doubt that Fender went
through all due process, market research
and everything else and that the man’s
extreme levels of fame and marketability
at the time had nothing to do with their
decision to do just that. In fact I have just
posted them my own mash-up between a
Starcaster and a mandolin which I’m sure
will be equally well received and when the
royalty cheques turn-up the drinks are on
me.
However, the guitar that resulted
probably confounded everybody’s
expectations when it turned out to be a
rock solid classic. Having owned a couple
myself, it is a quite beautiful guitar to play
and really does retain the simplicity of the
Mustang as well as the class of the
Jaguar. Sadly, it is another that is out
of production at the moment, and
selling for crazy high prices on the
second-hand market (although not
quite as much at the equivalent
Courtney Love model, the Venus,
oddly.)
Specification-wise, it was definitely of
it’s time with no-name pickups
(although the Strat neck pickup was
surprisingly good), though a Seymour
Duncan JB would again provide a sonic
upgrade to match the original. Body
was Basswood (which I would defy
anybody to identify if they didn’t know
– some great guitar makers use
basswood which I always feel is
unfairly ignored) and as you’d expect
we have a maple/rosewood neck with
22 vintage frets and a 7.25” radius.
One thing I loved about the Jagstang
was the neck profile which apparently
was copied from Cobain’s Jaguar. True
or not they had a wonderful played-in
feel to them that felt more custom shop
than something cheaper.
A lovely guitar, whatever its heritage.

EASTWOOD GUITARS
Univox Hi-Flier
It would be easy to only think of Kurt
Cobain in terms of his Fender guitars, but
that would be to ignore the fact that he
not only possessed an eclectic and quite
large collection of guitars, but that he had
long been an owner and player of an
early ‘70s Univox guitar, which if you
have ever played one you will know is a
quite beautiful and unique instrument.
The other thing to know about them, of
course, is that a large number of them
were complete dogs and finding one
these days that either hasn’t been
butchered or simply fallen to pieces is
something close to an artform. Which is
why, like so many cool old guitar designs
that were probably never this good in the
first place, it was a total joy to see that
Eastwood Guitars had recently decided to
recreate – only even better than the real
thing – the Univox Hi Flier with their usual
painstaking attention to detail.
If you haven’t come across Eastwood,
their approach over the last few years has
been ground breaking, seeing the
potential of Crowdfunding they are
systematically reproducing some of the
greatest yet impossible-to-find guitar
designs from the past, but with a modern
approach to quality control and
playability, and if it means that some of
the designs are only available for a
short period of time, well, you need to
get your finger out and step up when
the option becomes available. The nice
thing for me about that is that they
aren’t (like other makers I could
mention) impressionistic lookalikes that
lost the quirks and character of the
originals, instead they spend the time
to reproduce the personality whilst
minimising the damage Ye Olde
working practises inflicted on us in our
younger days.
As for the Univox itself, this is a joy of
a guitar and one that Kurt would
instantly recognise. I love the fact that
Eastwood have recreated the original
Phase 4 Open Pickups, and their
version of the Hi Flier is every bit as
light and resonant as the best of the
originals. It always had a nod toward
the Mosrite, but was a much more
rounded rock guitar and again this is
something that they have captured
perfectly.
This is an awesome guitar and sold at
a quite stunningly cheap price – check
it out HERE

TELEMASTER JR
A Little DIY
In recent times my playing has taken a
bit of an unexpected, and heavier, turn
and I have found myself enjoying having
a nice set of 13s on my goto Jazzmaster,
tuning it A-A.
Great though this is, I miss having it in
standard tuning, and whilst I could
possibly put heavier strings on my Les
Paul I’d have to find a set of 14s or 15s
to get the same effect, and probably
change the tuners while I am at it. I
could, but I can’t be bothered to.
Instead then I’ve decided to resurrect a
planned project I first mentioned in these
pages in January, and look at building
myself a nice paisley smothered
Telemaster Jr and dedicate that to a
heavier cause.
As it happens, I had pretty much
collected all of the parts that I need. A
rather lovely Telemaster body which has
been sneakily routed with a recessed ABR
style bridge so that I can have a Bigsby
style tremolo to waddle without worrying
about neck angles.
The body will get a nod to my distant past
and be covered with a paisley fabric,
which I think is deserving of a nice little
photostory – Jackie-style, with speech
bubbles and all – hopefully in next
week’s magazine.
In terms of the pickup, I wanted this to
be a Junior, and so we have a single
pickup in the shape of a Mojo P90,
which should give us some suitable
tones, and I have a Mojo wiring loom
somewhere around too, so that is a
given.
The neck is rather cool, being a bound
and blocked, rosewood and maple
Telecaster style one. That is unfinished
and will be getting a Wax and Tru-Oil
finish which should make it beautiful to
play. I love the profile on this as it is
quite fat and almost like a Baja
Telecaster.
Tuners are standard split Klusons as
they are the easiest to deal with when
using mahoosive strings and I love a
quiet life, me.
What else? Oh, the bridge is a roller
one, nothing flash I think it is
Wilkinson, but they are brilliant quality
at any price, and the tremolo is a
generic Bigsby B5 copy. I may put a
real Bigsby on, but this was meant to
be a cheap project so it seems daft to
double the costs when these tremolos

work perfectly well with a spring
upgrade.
One thing I will be doing quick and smart
is replacing the comedy nut that came
with the neck. It always stuns me that
they even bother to put them on there.
Don’t get me wrong if it was a nice piece
of bone or graphite even it may be worth
the effort to shape it (I am inherently
lazy so I can’t even guarantee that) but
when the nut is made from soft plastic
with a consistency of marzipan, it just
seems like a waste of time.
Other things, I am going to try a set of
Fender 13s on this, I can’t think of a
reason not to, and of more interest I
think I will be visiting the Guique web
site to see about some of their delicious
Strap Pins and Knobs.
It would be rude not to.
In fact the only real dilemma I have is
about the pickguard. I like the idea of the
single ply Bakelite(ish) one that I have
with the body in the photos, but am really
tempted to do something different and
garish to go along with the paisley.
On one hand I’m thinking I should get
Scratch-It to make something that
clashes horrendously (my bad taste, not
their’s I should add), or on the other hand
maybe something made out of copper or
smoked glass could be good too.
I’ll have to give that some thought.
So the plan is to build this in front of an
invited audience of you, hope that is OK.

SUSIE BLUE
Be A Lady
I may have mentioned once or twice that
Susie Blue are one of the most exciting
bands out there at the moment, and
firmly at the top of my list in terms of
bands I want to get to see live.
Typically, I can’t make it to their first two
UK gigs in London this week, so I have
had to console myself by listening to their
brilliant new single, ‘Be A Lady’.
As with everything the band does, singer
Susan Donaghy has a reason and a
motive for the song – as with the previous
release ‘People Like Us’ – this is music
that makes you think as well as entertains
and in ‘Be A Lady’ they have created
something truly special and memorable.
As Susan explains,
“’Be A Lady’ is a song that I wanted to
write to tell myself and anyone who
wants to listen that it's okay to be
"different" and stereotypes about
gender aren't a thing anymore in
2017”.
And that is the key to the matter, the
music of Susie Blue and the voice and
lyrics of Donaghy are going way
beyond the normal early single of yetanother-indie-band,
and point to a
long and varied career ahead.
I really do need to check them out live.
To find out more , visit them HERE
LIVE SHOWS
MARCH
17th – Camden, The Dublin Castle
18th – Clapham, Bread And Roses
24th – Dublin, The Grand Central

ANDY J GALLAGHER
Boy Racer
It has always struck me that proper
artists follow their own paths, not
worrying that perhaps they are laying
more on the line than they should – it is
easy to be forgotten, let’s face it – instead
focussing on moving forward and
following the muse, instead of being
guided by the bleeding obvious and a
safety-first approach to nothing
worthwhile at all.
Sometimes they drop off the planet, and
other times they have to fight to be
remembered, but always, if they have
what matters they end-up with
something worthwhile, and in the odd
case that something is a something that
is truly something special.
Andy J Gallagher definitely is his own
man, disappearing for years, seemingly
without a trace and if you were left
concerned that he had given up or found
a day job, you really shouldn’t have as he
was Walkabout in the truest sense,
following a path that has taken him
around the world, playing and writing
music that only now on his return to
wherever we find ourselves now, he is
willing and able to share.
And what music. With an album, Ego,
due in the near future, Andy’s release
of a Double-A single produced by
Roman Jugg of the Damned and cofounder
of Creation Records, Joe
Foster, ‘Racer’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Be
like You’ is an old school slice of slightly
sleazy, totally musical joy, with a seedy
undercurrent that instantly makes you
think of Squeeze hanging around the
Reeperbahn in Hamburg, or perhaps
Berlin in the ‘70s. Dressed in Leather
but smoking Benson & Hedges.
There is a very British awareness to
Andy’s music that you so rarely hear
these days that somehow still manages
to come across as entirely fresh and
self-aware. You get the feeling that if
Danny Dyer was a real person, this is
the type of thing he would love to be
thought of as liking, but maybe couldn’t
carry off.
A brilliant return, and I seriously need
to listen to the album.
Listen to ‘Racer’ HERE and
Wanna Be like You’ THERE.
‘I Don’t

WHERE FIRES ARE
I’ve Got The Time
I seem to spend half my time in this wee
magazine of ours, complaining about the
bands I should have seen but never quite
managed to. It is getting pathetic.
Anyway, ridicule welcomed, but I missed
Where Fires Are a week or three back in
London, and so I am currently spending
far too much time listening to their new
video instead, which is all kinds of cool as
is the latest single from their rather
brilliant ‘One Four Six One EP’.
If you haven’t heard the chaps before,
you should really check them out as they
are destined for big things (imho) and
hopefully will be getting an album
together in the near future.
They have a short tour lined-up – details
below – and if you are in the
neighbourhood, like some heavy riffs, a
fantastic display of body painting (can’t
quite believe I wrote that) and a brilliant
band to watch, you really should check
them out.
Find out more HERE
LIVE DATES
7th April –
The Exchange, Keighley
15th April –
When In Manchester Festival
18th - 23rd April –
Canadian Music Week
1st - 5th June –
YouBloom Music Showcase and
Festival, Dublin
1st July –
Testifest, Lancashire
22nd July –
Blackthorn Festival, Stockport

MCALMONT & BUTLER
Yes
Having just made the greatest album of
the Nineties in the shape of Suede’s ‘Dog
Man Star’, Bernard Butler left the building
and took the still beating heart of a
fantastic band away with him in the case
of his Cherry Red Gibson.
Like Johnny Marr a while earlier, we
waited to find out what he would do next.
Would he join another indie band?
It seemed unlikely, you couldn’t imagine
him as anybody’s trophy, and anyway it
would only be a step down.
Rumours were flying, Suede would
soldier on without him and while it didn’t
seem like it at the time, in reality it didn’t
take long for us to find out, and as left
turns go, it was dramatic.
Teaming up with ridiculously talented
and vocally epic David McAlmont,
Bernard cut his hair and forgot to show
his roots, instead helping to create a
quite stunning, poignant and horizon
expanding album that took a Motown
blueprint, added a tincher of gospel
and then blew it all apart with some
epic guitar and orchestration.
That was 21 years ago, and this week,
my better half chooses our final song in
the shape of what can only be the
happiest, most joy inspiring song the
world has ever known. The debut song
from McAlmont and Butler, ‘Yes’, which
even after all these years still manages
to sound fresh and send a tingle down
my spine whenever I hear it.