NE Guitars

BALLAD OF TRIGGER 

Willie Nelson’s Famous Martin N-20 

+ 

D’ADDARIO STRINGS 

IN FOCUS: THE XS & XL NY RANGE 

NEGUITARS 

July 2024 

Issue No:2 

In Association With 

& Sponsored By 

FRANCIS ROSSI 

Status Quo Frontman Talks to NEG 

About ‘Tunes & Chat’ Plus New Quo Tour 

MICHAEL GALLAGHER 

In Focus: North East Rising Star and 

His Incredible Music Journey 

HILLBILLY VEGAS 

US Southern Rock Band Back in the 

UK and Touring the North East 

Cover Image 

James Eckersley 

www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk

Once in 

a while... 

Unit 6 , Front Street , Industrial Estate 

Shotton Colliery. DH6 2ND 

07546 656143 

E. sales@eastdurhamguitars.com 

W. www.eastdurhamguitars.com 

...Perfection 

Happens 

Hand crafted in the North East of England

NE GUITARS 

Editorial 

Paul George - Editor 

Jane Shields - Assistant Editor 

& Social Media Manager 

East Durham Guitars 

Martin Dixon - Director / 

Luthier 

Dave Olsen - Director / 

Luthier 

Mark Taylor - Marketing 

Manager 

Ricky Hutchinson - Luthier / 

Technician 

Unit 6 , Front Street 

Industrial Estate 

Shotton Colliery 

DH6 2ND 

07546 656143 



NE Guitars and East Durham 

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WELCOME... 

Hi String Pluckers and Axe 

Lovers, welcome to the second 

edition of the North East’s very own 

Guitar and Guitarist publication. 

Before I began writing this I thought 

to myself ‘Where the hell do I begin?’ 

After an incredible start, we have 

quickly realised we have invented 

a monster of a magazine. Our Pilot Issue exceeded all of our 

expectations across the board and very quickly turned an idea in to 

a business. So issue No:1 is behind us with flags waving high and we 

move forward to Issue: 2. 

Before I get into what you can expect in the following pages, I must 

update you all on the frequency of the publication. We went back and 

forwards over how we should go ahead after the pilot issue and after a 

while of more deliberation and arguments, we still got nowhere, and 

then a million articles landed on my desk (well, not quite a million, 

but an awful lot) and the decision was made for us. We will be going 

out monthly from July. So I’ve now buckled down for a very fast ride 

for the foreseeable future. 

Anyway, Wow, have we got a great front page story for you this 

month. The Legendary Status Quo Guitarist and Vocalist, Francis 

Rossi spoke to us during May ahead of the new Quo Tour which 

visited Scarborough in June and chatted about the Tour, ‘Chat 

and Tunes’ Show, his famous Green Telecaster and his album with 

Hannah Rickard, ‘We Talk Too Much’. This is so worth a read! 

Other great features this month include the amazing Hillbilly Vegas 

visiting our area from Oklahoma, rising North East star Michael 

Gallagher, local musician and TV comedian Kenny Layton, North 

East Metal band, Twister, local modern blues band Crescent plus 

equipment reviews from D’Addario, Lekato, and remember the gig 

pages for the North East plus so much more besides. 

This truly is a packed edition! Please enjoy. 

Paul & The NE Guitars Team 

Issue No:2 July 2024 

www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk 03

Contents 

July 2024 Issue No:2 

P12 

D’ADDARIO STRINGS 

We put the XS and XL NY Range to the 

test . Are these really the best strings that 

D’Addario have created. NE Guitars puts 

them through their paces. 

P32 

AXE IN FOCUS: 

The Ballad of Trigger 

A look at the famous Martin N20 owned 

by Country legend, Willie Nelson. 

P60 

LOCAL HEROES: 

MICHAEL GALLAGHER 

North East rising star talks about his 

amazing career from Hartlepool to the Big 

Time & his latest release. 

04 www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk

In Focus 

18 Francis Rossi 

Status Quo front man talks to NEG about his 

career, Tunes & Chat and lots more besides. 

32 Trigger 

Looking in to the famous guitar of Willie Nelson 

in this month’s ‘Axe in Focus’. 

38 Hillbilly Vegas 

US Southern Rock band’s upcoming tour plus 

interview with HBV guitarist, Stacy Thornburg. 

46 Twister 

Top North East band Twister in interview with 

NEG plus revelations for the future. 

60 Michael Gallagher 

North East rising star chat’s to NEG about his 

recent recordings and his incredible fast paced 

music career. 

Reviews 

12 D’Addario XS & NYXL Strings 

We give D’Addario’s finest string a road test and 

bring our readers the results. 

36 Lekato WS-50 Wireless System 

We look at an alternative to wired performances 

with Lekato’s incredible wireless system. 

Features 

06 NE Guitars News 

All the latest international, national and local 

guitar news. 

14 Local Heroes - Acoustic Buffoonery 

Hartlepool acoustic crazy band in focus at the 

Fishermans Arms performance. 

26 Local Heroes - Crescent 

Introducing brand new progressive band and their 

debut single, Green Vail. 

54 Local Heroes -Acoustic Weller 

Top Paul Weller tribute, Mark Simpson in focus on 

location at The Blackies, Hartlepool. 

56 Local Heroes - Kenny Layton 

TV Star and vintage comic genius reflects on his 

career in showbiz with Diamond & Leyton. 

64 North East Gigs Board 

The best of gigs around the North East 

ON THE COVER 

Francis Rossie 

Page 18 

Francis Rossi 

Image 

James Eckersley 

ADVERTISE WITH US 

With our uniquely huge coverage around the 

North East, it is very easy to see why advertising 

your business in our pages is so worthwhile. It 

also doesn’t have to cost the earth. Check out 

our low rates at our website here: 

www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk/advertise 

Or why not give us a call or email us and talk to 

us about our deals and your specific needs. 

Tel: 07546 656143 Email: editor@neguitarsmagazine.co.uk 


NE GUITARS NEWS 

STOP PRESS The Latest Guitar News From Around The North East STOP PRESS 

Status Quo announce current tour will be their 

final in exclusive announcement to NE Guitars 

Legendary Rock band Status 

Quo have announced that 

this will be their last tour, 

Francis Rossi has revealed to 

NE Guitars Magazine during 

a recent interview. Although 

the announcement was 

made to NEG last month, 

our magazine decided to 

respect the Rock Star’s 

wishes until he was ready 

to make the announcement 

official, hence it was omitted 

from the interview in this 

issue. The band formed 

62 years ago and became 

famous with hits such as 

‘Down Down’, ‘Rocking All 

Over The World, Whatever 

John Lennon guitar found in attic breaks 

‘world record’ at auction 

A guitar used by John Lennon 

has sold for 2.9 million dollars 

(£1.5 million), setting a “new 

world record” for the highestselling 

guitar at auction in 

Beatles history. The 12-string 

Hootenanny acoustic guitar, 

used in the recording of The 

Beatles’ 1965 Help! album and 

film, was found in an attic 

having not been seen or played 

for more than 50 years. 

The guitar was acquired 

through a telephone bid at 

You Want’, and ‘Caroline’. 

The band has continued 

performing despite the loss 

of Rossi’s co-guitarist and 

good friend Rick Parfitt 

in 2016 aged just 68 and 

the passing of co-founder 

Alan Lancaster who passed 

away aged 72. Fan’s of the 

supergroup need not worry 

though, as Francis Rossi is 

still planning to continue 

his ‘Tunes and Chat’ tour 

with dates later this year in 

the UK and Europe. You 

can read Francis Rossi’s full 

interview along with his 

album with Heather Rickard 

reviewed on pages 18 - 25. 

the Hard Rock Cafe in New 

York on Wednesday, as part 

of a two-day music icons sale 

by Julien’s Auctions. “We 

are absolutely thrilled and 

honoured to have set a new 

world record with the sale of 

John Lennon’s lost hootenanny 

guitar,” David Goodman, chief 

executive of Julien’s Auctions, 

said. “This guitar is not only 

a piece of music history but 

a symbol of John Lennon’s 

enduring legacy. 

Image: Lewis Cutts 


NEWS 

Country music legend, Willie Nelson, 91, sparks concern after 

cancelling concerts on ‘doctor’s orders’ 

Willie Nelson fans have 

expressed their concern after 

it was announced the country 

singer will not perform at a 

music festival due to ill health. 

The legendary singer, 91, 

and his team announced on 

Instagram that due to ‘doctors 

orders,’ he will not perform at 

the first weekend of Outlaw 

Music Festival and was replaced 

by his son, Lukas Nelson and 

the Nelson Band. While Nelson 

was absent from the first few 

shows of the festival – which 

hosted concerts in Alpharetta, 

Georgia, and Los Angeles 

– attendees were treated to 

performances by Bob Dylan, 

Robert Plant, and Allison 

Krauss, among others. Upon 

reading the announcement, fans 

quickly took to the comment 

section to share their concerns 

for the beloved icon, with many 

offering messages of support. 

Johnny Cash album released 

31 years after being recorded 

Almost 21 years after the death 

of Country music legend, Johnny 

Cash, a brand new album has 

been released with 11 songs that 

were recorded in 1993, previously 

unreleased. The album, named 

‘Songwriter’ has been produced 

and updated by his son, John 

Carter Cash and co-producer 

David Ferguson. The album 

is available on CD, Vinyl and 

download on all major platforms. 

A track from the album was 

released early as a prequel to the 

launch called ‘Well, Alright’. The 

album was released on 28 June. 

Charity Event For Guide Dogs UK set For 12 

July 2024 in Juniper Lounge, Hartlepool 

Local artists Mike Smith and 

Acoustic Buffoonery will head 

up the live music at the Juniper 

Lounge, Church Street, Hartlepool 

this month in an event to raise 

funds for Guide Dogs UK. Mike 

and Acoustic Buffoonery will also 

be featuring their recent release, 

‘The Winter Song’ . Tickets can be 

obtained from the Juniper Lounge 

for the evening at £5.00 each which 

also includes a charity raffle. ‘Winter 

Song’ can be downloaded here: 

acousticbuffoonery.bandcamp.com 

Mike & Acoustic Buffoonery 

The Winter Song 

Midge Ure back In the North East for 2024 tour 

Legendary Scottish artist, Midge 

Ure is set to tour the North East 

this year with dates in Leeds, 

Scarborough, Hull and Gateshead 

during his 2024 Tour. Ure, 70 

shot to fame playing in a number 

of iconic bands which included 

‘Slik’, Thin Lizzy, Visage and also 

frontman in the 80’s electro pop 

band Ultravox. He also went 

on to co-write and produce the 

1984 hit single ‘Do They Know It’s 

Christmas. For more information 

visit http://www.midgeure.co.uk 


Jools Holland to play North 

East venues on 2024 tour 

Music Legend Jules Holland 

is to tour the North East this 

winter with dates confirmed 

in York, Leeds, Stockton and 

Newcastle during December. 

An original member of the 

band Squeeze, Jools Holland 

is known for many things like 

being a pianist, author and 

broadcaster with his BBC 

Two show Later... With Jools 

Holland, his show on BBC 

Radio 2 and the New Year’s 

Eve special Hootenanny. He 

will be joined by vocalists Ruby 

Turner, Louise Marshall and 

Sumudu Jayatilaka, as well as 

guitarist Toby Lee throughout 

the tour. Multi-million selling 

Imelda May will also be 

performing as a special guest 

star having previously worked 

with Jools Holland when she 

performed on his BBC Two 

music show in 2008. Tickets 

are expected to sell out for 

all venues meaning all those 

wishing to attend should 

book tickets early. For more 

information, visit the Jools 

Holland Website. 

www.joolsholland.com 

Hartlepool top band, Machiner to play Blackpool 

Rebellion Punk Music Festival this August 

Atmospheric darkwave electro 

guitar band from Hartlepool, 

Machiner take to the stage this 

year at the Rebellion Punk 

Music Festival in Blackpool. 

Machiner have been confirmed 

on the Winter Gardens 

Stage on 3rd August 2024 at 

12:45pm. Weekend & day 

tickets can be purchased here: 

www.rebellionfestivals.com/ 

ticket-info. It is planned that 

NE Guitars magazine will be 

at the event to report on the 

performance and interview the 

band for the September issue. 

Other dates for the band include 

Zerox, Newcastle on 23rd July 

2024 and Whitby Brewery for 

the Whitby Goth Weekend on 

Saturday 2nd November 2024 

from 2:00pm. Find out more 

on Machiner here: https://www. 

facebook.com/machineruk 

Unit 6, Wheatley Hill Ind Est. 

Front Street,Wheatley Hill, 

Co. Durham DH6 3QZ 

Tel: 07531 536080 

Email: john@white-wolf.studio 


NEWS 

EAST DURHAM GUITARS 

OPEN / PRESENTATION DAY 

Saturday 20th July 2024 

11:00am - 4:00pm 

Mark Abrahams of Wishbone Ash is calling in 

to receive his new EDG Custom Single Cut 

model 

We recently completed the build here at the 

workshop and we are really excited for him 

to receive it in time for the Wishbone Ash UK 

tour starting later this year. 

We will have refreshments and nibbles 

available on the day to enjoy while you browse 

our shop and the workshop / guitar school. 

You can view our new Pilgrim range, our 

custom models, individual necks, bodies and 

tonewood supplies and any accessories you 

may need from the shop. 

We will be taking orders on Pilgrims, custom 

builds and the Mark Abrahams signature 

model. 

There will also be a number of competitions 

running on the day, so stay tuned for details 

via our EDG social media. 

. 

The EDG Team look forward to welcoming you 

to what will be a great day. 

East Durham Guitars 

Unit 6 , Front Street 



DH6 2ND 

07546 656143 




TH 

ANNIVERSARY 

Friday 16th August 

MAIN STAGE 

Saturday 17th August Sunday 18th August 

JACK SAVORETTI 

SOUL II SOUL 

ADMT 

SCAM FENDER 

BALTIC 

Friday 16th August 

CRAZY P 

SOUNDSYSTEM 

JIMPSTER 

ABEL 

PETE WHARRIER 

Saturday 17th August 

THE CHARLATANS 

HEAVEN 17 

SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR 

THE SHERLOCKS 

CORELLA 

PARA ALTA 

CORTNEY DIXON 

TREEHOUSE ARENA 


CALLUM BEATTIE 

KEVIN & PERRY 

DJ SET 

GOOD COP BAD COP 

THE DOLLY SHOW 

HAUNT THE WOODS 

BEAR PARK 

BLOSSOMS 

JAMIE WEBSTER 

LIGHTNING SEEDS 

FLEETWOOD BAC 

NEW YORK BRASS BAND 

HAYLEY McKAY 

Sunday 18th August 

REVEREND & 

THE MAKERS 

TOM MEIGHAN 

SWIM DEEP 

SHELF LIVES 

BLACKOUT THE ARCADE 

ABBIE OZARD 

THE VOLUNTEARS 


RICHY AHMED 

THE 

ALISHA 

LA LA 

LINDEN C 

MYLES O’BRIEN 


KIMMI 

DAVE LYNAS 

SARAH JOHNSONE 

SOPHIE GORDON 

COMEDIANS 

DAN EVANS MC 

STEVE ROYAL 

EL BALDINIDO 

SILKY 

COURTYARD 

ACOUSTIC 

STAGE 

PLUS 

FISHBURN BRASS BAND 

& BUSKING JOE 

PERFORMING 

BOTH DAYS 

DJ’s performing over the weekend 

GRAEME PARK / BRANDON BLOCK / JEREMY HEALY / TONY HUTCHINSON / KEITH MARTIN 

MIKE JOHNSON / PETER WHARRIER / MARK HUTCHINSON / SISTA PAULA / SIMON GIBB 

HOLLY HUTCHINSON / KEV CANNON / STEVIE PATTINSON / KARL FRAMPTON + more to be added 

BOOGIE WONDERLAND STAGE 

with DJ Murray Mint & Guests 

6 Stages / Cocktail & Pimms Bar / Champagne Bar / Real Ale Tent / Rhum Emporium / Themed Bars / BBQ Fire Pit / World Street Food 

Fun Fair Rides / Children’s Arena / Variety Shows / Magic Shows / Drop In Workshops / Punch & Judy / Pop Up Spa / Walkabout Acts 

Morning Yoga / Fishburn Brass Band / Camping / Glamping 

Book Tickets @ www.hardwickfestival.co.uk 

Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, Co.Durham, TS21 2EH 

NEVER DULL 


FINN FORSTER 

MAIUS MOLLIS 

ED COSENS 

TALL SHAVES 

COMEDIANS 

LEE KYLE MC 

MARKUS BIRDMAN 

CHARMAINE HUGHES 

DUNCAN OAKLEY 

INTO THE WOODS 

DJ Arena

REVIEW 

XS Nickel 

strings have the 

longest life of 

any D’Addario 

electric string, 

plus a smooth, 

fast feel, thanks 

to the ultra-thin 

XS film coating. 

STRINGS STRINGS STRINGS 

NE Guitars String Review & 

Buyers Guide 

OK, each month I will be picking 

out a few sets of strings to try out, 

give a good bashing in the only 

way I know how and then bring 

you the results to help you make 

great string choices. 

Wait!! I hear you all shout. We’ve 

already got regular strings that 

we trust! Of course you have 

but I do believe in options. So 

this month we are testing out two 

sets of D’Addario strings, the XS 

and the NY XL. The XS’s will 

be tested on my Gretsch G5120 

and the NY XL’s will go on my 

trusty Strat. Both are 11’s, which 

is what I use for my style of 

playing. The Gretsch is used for 

Rockabilly gigs and the Strat is for 

my instrumental sets. Both get 

tortured with the tremolo systems. 

D’Addario XS 11-49 

So let’s look at the XS range first. 

To begin with the XS are coated 

to protect the strings from 

contaminates. D’Addario tell us 

the coating is 10th of a human 

hair. To be honest, I couldn’t tell 

but they did feel good. Me being 

me, I am a stickler for cleaning 

strings after a gig so maybe I’m 

being a little easy on the coating. 

So, I have used these for five gigs 

now and the tone is still clear and 

bright which is a good plus for 

me. As I write this, I have heard 

very little loss from that ‘out of 

the packet’ brightness, maybe just 

a little as they have bedded in. 

When I replace strings, I take a 

little time to stretch them to help 

with initial tuning problems and 

of course, preparing them for the 

bending and jiggling from the 

Tremolo. Speaking of which, I’ve 

had a few issues losing the tuning 

of strings due to my overuse of the 

Bigsby but the XS have performed 

beautifully with hardly any tuning 

loss. Big bonus for me. Also, 

usually by now, I have had to 

change the top E after it has gone 

ping (normally mid-song). But 

with the XS, so far so good. 

Unfortunately, these beauties do 

have a little down side and that 

is the price. They are not the 

cheapest strings on the market 

retailing from £17.50 for a set but 

hey, you get what you pay for I 

suppose. 

In summary, I love these strings. 


Strings, Strings, Strings 

D’ADDARIO XS & NYXL 

NYXLs will 

bend further, sing 

louder, and stay 

in tune better 

than any string 

you’ve played 

before. 

STRINGS STRINGS STRINGS 

They sound good, and despite the 

abuse I am giving them they are 

fighting back really well. As I said 

my only criticism is the price tag 

but to be honest, paying a little 

extra has given me the peace of 

mind of quality. Rating 9.5/10 

D’Addario NYXL 11-52 

The NYXL are said to be 

D’Addario’s premier uncoated 

strings and I have to say out of 

the packet they are very good for 

my particular guitar and taste. 

Bear in mind I am not a rock lead 

player so I’m not one who plays 

a billion string bends per solo 

but my wammy bar is used quite 

rigorously to give me my surf style 

sound. 

Again these string are great for 

maintaining tuning and that 

lovely crispness while the bottom 

end holds the clarity I have 

been looking for, thumbs up so 

far. After five gigs, they are well 

bedded in and there’s been slightly 

more loss of the newness than the 

XS but they do still sound great. 

My big ask of any string is the 

tuning while using the tremolo 

and again, the NYXL’s are superb. 

Up until this last gig I’ve had no 

issues in that regard but I did have 

a top E string break right at the 

end of my set. Yes, I was giving 

them plenty of abuse but was a 

little disappointed they didn’t last. 

But to be fair, they have lasted 

longer than my normal sets so I 

won’t be too hard on them. 

As with the XS range they are not 

cheap retailing at around £16.10 

but again, these are quality strings. 

As with the XS, you are getting 

your money’s worth. Would I 

use them again despite the break, 

definitely! 

In summary, great quality strings, 

great sound, they keep their 

tuning, great durability (Although 

they are not Paul-proof). Bit 

pricey but as I said, Quality!! 

Rating 8.5/10 

Thank you to D’Addario for 

allowing me to put their strings 

through the paces. Despite my 

one or two criticisms, these are the 

best strings I’ve ever used. Very 

high-end quality strings, and to be 

honest, I really don’t mind paying 

the extra pennies for them. 

Check out their full range here: 

https://www.daddario.com 


LOCAL HEROES 

ACOUSTIC BUFFOONERY 

Acoustic Buffoonery are a 

no-holds-barred, fun loving 

trio from Hartlepool. We 

caught up with them on 

22 June 2024 at the 

Fishermans Arms. 

Article by 

Paul George and 

Lee Etherington 

Images by 

Jane Shields & 

Courtesy of 

Acoustic Buffoonery 

So, another Saturday on 

location checking out the 

local talent at the local pub. 

But I didn’t bank on what I was 

about to witness. Three guys 

having a wail on stage, flying by 

the seat of their pants but pulling 

it off with so much style and 

charisma. Damn it, I wish there 

were more bands like this. Ladies 

and Gentlemen welcome to the 

madness of Acoustic Buffoonery! 

For me to explain the band would 

be a pointless exercise as I’m still 

trying to work out the night. All 

I will say is the lads were totally 

brilliant, but not in a way that I’ve 

ever seen before. So to explain, 

I chatted to Lee, the band’s 

frontman, just before the gig to 

learn more. 

NG: Where does acoustic 

buffoonery come from? 

AB: I was running, and still do, 

an open mic on a Thursday night 

and I bumped into Rob (the 

cajon player) on a few occasion. 

We played together in an open 

mic here in the ‘Fish’ and at the 

‘Causeway’ where he just started 

coming down and he’d sit in, 

because Rob’s one of those guys 

that could harmonise with a 

washing machine. And he starts 

sitting in and playing on the 

tracks that I was doing. And one 

night, some fellow come over, 

and said, “Could you play my 

girlfriend’s 40th?” And I said 

“We’re not a band mate.” He’s 

said, “I don’t care, I’ll still pay 

you?” So I said “Yeah, OK”. So 

I think he gives us 200 quid and 

free beers for the night. And 

we just turned up, no idea what 

to play, Rob just looks at what 

I’m doing and then goes right, 

and then just jumps in. So we 

turned up to play on the day, and 

Rob messaged me and said, “We 

should probably have a name.” 

And I said “That’s a good point 

actually.” I was like, “Well, so the 


Local Heroes - Acoustic Buffoonery 

acoustic guitar, and a Cajon and 

we’re just idiots, we just get drunk, 

we’re just morons. Ah, how about 

Acoustic Buffoonery, It does what 

it says on the tin.” And that was it. 

And then later down the line, 

Danny joined because I wanted 

the bass player to fill the sound 

out a bit. Rob wasn’t a big fan 

of the idea of the time. He liked 

just the cajon and guitar. But he 

eventually turned around, he 

went, well, if he was going to work 

with anyone, then it’s going to be 

Danny. Danny’s a guitarist, he’s a 

good guitarist. So I immediately 

rang him and said, “Danny, go and 

buy a bass, I’ve got a job for you.” 

“All right then.” He said. So he 

buggered off and got a bass. Next 

thing you know, that was it, the 

three of us. 

NEG: How long ago was this? 

AB: Danny had been with us 

maybe two years and we were 

going for about eight months 

before that. So it’s probably about 

the three year mark since we 

actually started. 

NEG: So what kind of music do 

you do? 

AB: Whatever I can remember. 

It’s literally, a song will pop into 

my head and I go, oh yeah, it’s 

probably something like that. 

So I’ll have a crack at it 

NEG: Any particular influence? 

AB: So there’s, I mean, we play 

the Beatles, we play Phil Collins, 

we play Don McLean. I just have 

random lists of songs that I might 

know, Garth Brooks, Ben E King, 

Elton John, I mean, there’s girl 

groups in there, there’s AC-DC in 

there with an acoustic guitar and 

just anything that springs to mind. 

We played in here before and 

someone said it was in the 

interval, “Do you know any Leo 

Sayer?” I said “Leave it with me. 

“And then in the second set, he 

was sat there and I said “You want 

Leo Sayer, don’t you?” So I started 

playing ‘Can’t stop loving you’. Just 

because it was in the back of my 

head somewhere from when I was 

a kid and I was like, well, it can 

only be three chords. So we just 

did a version and he came over 

in the next set and said “I Didn’t 

expect you to actually play it.” 

NEG: So, I’ve seen you’ve got 

a Facebook page, any plans for 

websites or recordings? 

AB: We’re not that organised. 

(laughs) Quite literally, it is three 

mates that get together, have a 

beer and make noise. And Rob 

has to work strange shifts because 

of his job and Danny is on call 

at night. So if he gets a phone 

call, he has to put the bass down 

and bugger off and leave me 

and Rob to it. But we literally 

just play when people ask us, we 

don’t really push it or anything. 

We enjoy doing it, It’s not our 

day jobs. We just like going out 

having a bit of fun with a group of 

people in a bar and having a few 

beers and making some noises. 

NEG: Most memorable night? 

AB: Oh, most memorable. 

Probably, we all got together in 

Rob’s once because we had to 

learn some country stuff. So we 

had to set out trying to figure out 

what country songs we might be 

able to busk, and Rob’s not quite 

the drinker me and Danny are. 

And I think we polished, me and 

Rob between us, polished off 

three bottles of red wine and half 

a bottle of Yeager, at which point, 

towards the end of the night, as we 

were leaving, Rob pretty much lost 

all muscle control, and decided 


Local Heroes - Acoustic Buffoonery 

that he couldn’t walk 

anymore. So after hitting the 

floor, we just said, try army 

crawling instead. And then 

we picked him up and then 

he was fine for like four feet 

and then did it again. But it 

was quite funny. 

Probably the most 

memorable night we played, 

we did a Phil Collins 

number that has gorillas 

on the drums. And I used 

to try and get the audience 

to, you know, like, you do 

this big drum Phil Collins 

thing, You know what it is. 

And I picked on this one 

particular person who must 

have had no sense of timing 

whatsoever. So he started 

clattering the table and he 

just sounded like someone 

had tripped on a lump of 

wood down a fire escape, 

that was funny. 

NEG: Thank you for you’re 

time Lee, we’ll let you get set 

up for tonight and good luck 

with the gig . 

So you now get an idea of 

what Acoustic Buffoonery 

are. I have to tell you the 

gig was brilliant. They are 

self confessed unprepared 

buskers that have fun, but 

in reality the result is pure 

magic. They are as tight as a 

drumskin, their harmonies 

are sublime, but most of 

all, their style is honest, fun 

and very entertaining while 

staying very professional. 

One of the best of the Local 

Heroes I have seen yet. 

Follow them on facebook 

here: 

https://www. 

facebook.com/profile. 

php?id=100076137780562 



ON THE 

COVER 

FRANCIS 

ROSSI 

Status Quo Legend speaks 

to 

about the latest 

Quo tour, the brand new 

album ‘We Talk Too Much’ 

and loads, loads more... 

Image: Lewis Cutts

Image: Ramon Remenyi 

IN FOCUS 

FRANCIS 

ROSSI 

We are very honoured 

to bring our readers 

an interview with the 

legendary Status Quo 

front man, Francis Rossi, 

recorded just before the 

latest Quo Tour which 

visited the North East at 

the start of June. 

Article By 

Paul George 

& Francis Rossi 

Images Courtesy of 

Lewis Cutts 

Ramon Remenyi 

Robert Sutton 

I 

couldn’t believe my luck 

when I heard back from 

the management of Francis 

Rossi by email simply saying 

“Give Francis a ring at 11 in the 

morning” followed by his number. 

After only two weeks since the 

launch of the pilot issue, I was 

going to interview one of the 

biggest names in Rock history. 

So, roll back 40 odd years my 

friend and I would listen to 

Quo’s ‘12 Gold Bars’ album over 

and over again. My fav’s being 

‘Whatever you want’ and ‘Living 

on an island’. While chatting 

to Francis, these memories just 

flooded back into my mind. 

Those feelings of a youngster 

experiencing, as it was then, a 

great new form of rock ‘n’ roll. 

If only we could wind back the 

clock... 

Anyway, at 11am the following 

day, I called the number and was 

greeted by a little of Francis’s 

humour. He threw me right off 

to start with, but then quickly 

backed up his greeting with 

an explanation. This was his 

greeting. 

(Phone rings and then is 

answered) 

FR: I spent 20 times longer with 

you people than any other people 

I have ever worked with in my life 

before, you’re such pests. Who 

was that quote from? 

NEG: I have no idea. 

FR: Orson Wells. He was doing 

a thing some years ago. He was 

working with these two guys on a 

Findus ad. The conversation goes 

on and on and in the end he goes, 

I spent 20 times longer with you 

people than any other people have 

ever worked. You’re such pests.” 


In Focus: Francis Rossi 

Initially, I thought he was just 

going to just blow me out but, I 

quickly realised he has a great, 

if not a little naughty sense of 

humour. Anyway, after the initial 

introductions and a few minutes 

of getting acquainted, I started the 

interview. 

NEG: You start the Quo tour next 

week, going right the way through 

to August. How are you feeling 

about the tour? 

“So I’ve been really aware 

of overly exercising, 

overly practicing.” 

FR: Well, I’ve been prepping since 

January. I was aware that when we 

went out in 2022, we thought, you 

know, it’d been two years since we 

played last. I’d never been off that 

long in my life. And especially 

coming back after the lockdown, 

which just still is definitely still 

affecting people. During that time 

I got really quite lazy. I enjoyed 

the fact that I couldn’t do anything 

about it. But then when it came to 

it, I thought, OK, we’ve got to get 

ready. I thought we were ready. 

So I even rehearsed on a gig that 

was from the latter part of 2022. 

And it still wasn’t quite.,,, you 

know, when you’ve been gigging 

incessantly for that many years 


and you take a two-year hiatus, 

you’ve never done that before. 

So I’ve been really aware of overly 

exercising, overly practicing. 

I got everybody to rehearse in 

front of a one off particular show 

from Hanover at the end of 2022, 

which wasn’t the best. It wasn’t the 

best of noise. It was a huge, cheap 

copy. 

Image: Robert Sutton 


And now we’re two weeks into 

rehearsals, and it still hurts. 

You know, I didn’t realise my 

guitar weights so much. So I’m 

looking forward to it to see if 

we’ve got it. But I’ve never liked 

this idea before. I wish we were 

doing warm-ups. We’re going 

straight into quite a big thing in 

Belfast. So the Stones sometimes 

will go to some fart-arsed little 

thing to try and warm up, to try 

and see what it’s like in front of 

an audience. And we just kind 

of jump straight in. I’m a little 

apprehensive about that. But 

also very much looking forward 

to playing it. There’s definitely 

an improvement in everyone’s 

playing. We’re trying to get a 

better balance on the stage itself. 

All these things, it’s kind of weird 

being the age where I’m at, John’s 

71 the other day. I’m 75 when we 

do the gigs. And you think when 

you’re younger, I think you tend to 

think, well, by then, it’ll be... Well, 

it’s even more important now 

because the body tries not to do 

it, and it’s just physically hard to 

do a choreography. I just hope it 

works. Because if it isn’t good for 

us, it’s not going to be good for the 

punters. There’s going to be that 

sort of lukewarm feeling which is 

a danger anywhere on any given 

show. So we are really overly, 

overly, overly working. We’ve got 

another rehearsal again tomorrow, 

a day off Saturday, one on Sunday. 

And we leave on Monday and we 

gig. So it’s got a rhythm to it. And 

there’s some break. But looking 

forward to it, it’s not a tour per se, 

because they’re summer shows. 

We don’t carry all the rig. We 

don’t carry PA lights and all that 

crew and all that stuff because 

that has become an issue. Which 

a lot of people are finding that 

carrying the production suddenly, 

if they’re talking about inflation, 

everything’s gone up 40%. 

Whatever, it’s gone up 40% for this 

business too. Except for the ticket 

prices, not going up 40%. So all 

these things become part and 

parcel of that one question you 

asked me. That’s all that’s going 

on. You’re just trying and trying 

and trying to make it bang off on 

the night. Because even when it 

gets to that, you know, it wasn’t 

quite there tonight. I don’t know 

why. I don’t know what it is. Or 

you get to one that’s really great. 


And the next five, six, seven, yeah. 

And then that becomes the norm 

until the bar goes up again. And 

then that becomes the norm and 

the bar goes up again. And in 

theory, all your life, hopefully, 

you’re pushing the bar up. And 

if we don’t try, the bar won’t lift. 

And it really needs to lift. 

“One of the joys of the 

‘Tunes and Chat’ is it’s a 

bit more relaxed.” 

NEG: I see, it does seem there’s 

lot’s of pressure on the Quo 

tour. That brings me to the more 

subdued ‘Tunes and Chat’ tour. I 

understand you’re back with that 

in November. 

FR: One of the joys of the ‘Tunes 

and Chat’ is it’s a bit more relaxed. 

I sit and talk with the audience. 

I don’t know what it is. The 

Quo thing, when we’re doing 

the electric quo, it’s so intense. 

Every morning we’ve been in, you 

think, here we go. And it’s this 

intense thing for the hour and a 

half, in terms of beats per minute, 

BPM and all these things make it 

important. And I’m sure when we 

walk on, suddenly, I’d forgotten 

what it’s like in front of people 

with Quo. But it came about from 

that ‘We talk too much’ book and 

they put me to go out and talk 

something like, I can do this. 

Then the promoter said, well, you 

take a guitar on and play, I said, 

no at first and then I did. I played 

one or two tunes on that tour. 

Most of the night, I just sat there 

chinwagging. And then when 

they talked about going out and 

I do another one, and then I sort 

of kind of focused more on more 

tunes than chat. But it kind of 

runs lots of tunes and lots of chat. 

And in 2025, I’m going to add 




more stuff to the set. And I found 

it’s, I don’t know if it’s the novelty 

of it, of being in between 300 and 

maybe 1200 people, depending on 

the venue and so on. But there’s 

something, as I said, relaxed in it. 

We take some of the keys down, 

the arrangements of some are 

slightly different, some are as they 

were in the records and it’s just a 

joy. I’m hoping to find the same 

joy when we go out this time. 

But it has the joy without the hurt. 

NEG: But it does seem a very 

intimate thing. 

FR: I didn’t think I’d ever feel 

that. There’s, when you’re band 

is growing, the idea is to grow it 

from, you know, I remember 30 

people and 100 people and 300 

and 500. And until you get up to 

thousands and thousands and it 

was only when I was doing these, 

this sort of, the relaxed thing that 

come over me, I can feel my face 

when I’m up there, you’ve got a 

cheeky big headed git, you know, 

and he’s just chatting away and if 

I talk to people in the audience 

and such and then do the tune, 

and you can hear your voice in the 

hall, wow, this is different, this is 

so, so different. And coming off, 

I don’t remember, I think there 

might have been one night, I felt 

that it didn’t work tonight. One 

night out of 100 shows last year, 

last year, last year, yeah. And that 

sounds like a myth, like it’s not 

true, but it is. I feel so lucky to 

have both tours at the moment. 

NEG: So I’ve been listening to the 

new album ‘We Talk Too Much. 

I love the collaboration with 

Hannah Rickard. How did this 

come about? 

FR: I met her in a studio and my 

engineer, who does tunes and chat 

with me, he sits next to me and 

plays and he’s got a studio just 

down the road. We were doing 

something in the studio and I said 

you know a decent fiddle player? 

Well, he brought her in and I’m 

watching her playing. I thought 

oh she’s good. I like the way she 

plays. She likes a bit of country. 

So I said, do you sing? She looked 

at me and I thought oh, she’s going 

to kill me. Yes, she said, I do. 

While I was at a gig in 

Hammersmith, she texted me and 

she said do you still write songs. 

Well yeah. I texted back and said 

did you mean would I like to 



I did the other one, desperately 

trying to make it sound like that 

guitar. But it can’t be done. And 

if that guitar would have stayed in 

tune I’d still have it now. 

“One of the things 

about Quo really is not 

my guitar playing soloey 

stuff, it’s more the two 

rhythm guitars which 

made it work.” 

write some songs with you? She 

said well yes I did. So I said yes I 

would. I’d love it. I thought I’d like 

to do that because I like her voice 

and I like singing with women. 

I just love singing with women. 

They make me sound better. 

I was always a fan of Connie 

Francis, she had a lowish male 

register underneath her lead 

which is what I like. And then 

she came down, we’re all getting 

ready to go on and she was 

dressed in that country way and I 

thought she just looked like some 

American country woman. You 

know, the way she did her hair and 

everything. So I thought yeah I’m 

looking forward to this. 

And then we sat here in the studio, 

I already had the track ‘We talk 

too much’. It took me ages to write 

because I just sort of did a bit at 

a time, there was no schedule for 

anything. And so we sat in here 

and wrote various songs. And it’s 

interesting you say that you can 

hear bits of Quo and stuff in it. 

The Quo fans would make you 

wash your mouth out. How dare 

you say that. But of course I’ve 

always said that Quo is a pop rock 

country blues band. It’s got all 

those things going on in it. 

And those that are fans of rock 

hate the rest of the other genres. 

Those that are blues hate the other 

genres. The country person is a 

person that says oh yeah terrific 

tunes. You see what I mean. So 

that’s it, maybe being able to sing 

with Hannah like that. Just sing 

tunes. Sing some songs. 

NEG: The last thing I want to 

talk about with you is, the famous 

Green Telecaster that has now 

disappeared from the stage. 

FR: I’m beginning to miss it but, 

Yeah, the more distance goes by 

since I sold it, the more I miss 

it. It was a very special guitar. I 

tried not to get a special guitar. 

But yeah, that one stuck with 

me. But I had to sell it as it just 

wore out but I hear the old Quo 

records, yeah they have quite a 

unique noise. And I’ve tried to 

emulate it with other guitars. We 

tried with Andy Brooke, found 

one somewhere in America. So 

we got one but it’s much heavier, 

this guitar. I’ve tried sanding stuff 

down. I’ve sanded it down like 

NEG: There were a lot of 

modifications to it, weren’t there? 

I mean the pickups. 

FR: Yeah yeah I initially went to 

the lay census pickup. Somebody 

suggested I tried that. I kept 

losing the single coil one and 

the old single coils. And the 

telecaster really they are very 

hard to make them. Because 

they’re that solid, there’s no 

give. If you’ve got a Les Paul 

Jr. or an SG, you bend that 

top E, the rest of the guitar 

gives, so it’s kind of sweet. The 

telecaster doesn’t give. So it 

was in the wrong job really. 

It’s those country players who 

buy it who’ve got a fists like a 

giant. And they can play this 

stuff. Whereas I don’t find it 

was that giving. However it 

worked because I used to do 

a lot of rhythm guitar. One of 

the things about Quo really is 

not my guitar playing solo-y 

stuff, it’s more the two rhythm 

guitars which made it work. 

And then I discovered, while 

doing a remake of Caroline 

for TV, and then realizing 

again Rick used an SG and 

various Gibson’s quite a few 

years before he suddenly 

cottoned on, we would both 

have telecasters. You know, 


the image. Which is a nice image 

but it wasn’t real. Rick always 

played humbuckers and the single 

coil. So if you listen to Caroline 

when he plays the opening bars to 

Caroline and then I start the lead 

bit, there’s this harmonic thing 

going on. The sweetness of the 

humbucker and that harshness of 

the single coil. And I suddenly 

realised that we found it in the 

studio. I thought, that’s how it 

sounds, that’s how you do it. Rick, 

many many times played Gibson’s 

and such with humbuckers. So 

I would be playing a telecaster 

with the humbucker. So that 

made a fabulous noise. They 

complimented each other as 

opposed to two telecasters that 

didn’t work as well. So later as we 

were going on more and more 

we’re trying to get that noise. 

And you couldn’t. You couldn’t 

because you had two single coil 

pick ups. But if you’ve got one 

humbucker in one side. And there 

you go, there it is. This sweet 

sound between the two of them 

was marvellous. But it took me 

about two years to find that. 

NEG: Francis, thank you so much 

for taking the time to speak to us 

and we wish you all the best with 

your coming tours and the new 

album. God bless. 

FR: Your welcome. 

What a total honour that was, 

another great NE Guitars article. 

You can read more about Francis 

Rossi, Status Quo and the new 

album ‘We Talk Too Much’ on 

these sites. 

https://www.francisrossi.com 

https://www.statusquo.co.uk 



While speaking to Francis we 

discussed the collaboration with 

Hannah Rickard, a superbly talented 

Country artist and their album, ‘We 

Talk Too Much’. 

Rossi is, as ever, honest, straight 

forward, and dare I say, maybe 

a little vulnerable while talking 

about the album. Of course, that 

is understandable considering his 

legendary (excuse the pun) status of 

being an iconic rock star with a almost 

instantly recognisable sound and style. 

There will be plenty who will not like 

the changing of the guard, but they 

really not need worry. ‘We Talk Too 

Much’ is a wonderful album. Yes, you 

can hear a little of that Quo magic that 

only comes from Francis Rossi and 

that is great. You also have that great 

country vibe from Hannah with her 

Fiddle and Violin which is brilliant 

alongside the, forgive me for saying it 

again, the Quo style. But for me, it’s 

the vocals that did it. Hannah’s voice 

is beautiful and compliments Rossi’s, 

flawlessly. Vocally the entire album is 

flawless along with being melodic and 

emotive. 

So in summary, this is so worth a listen 

and spending money on a physical 

copy. I’m looking forward to getting 

the vinyl rather than listening to 

the digital version on Apple Tunes. 

Whether you’re a Quo fan, a Country 

fan, a Rock fan or simply looking 

for something a little different, this is 

definitely for you. As for the critics, 

shut up and listen to the whole album 

once or twice like I did before passing 

judgement. ‘We Talk Too Much’ is 

simply brilliant. 


LOCAL HEROES 

CRESCEN 

HARTLEPOOL’S NEWEST AND 

MOST EXCITING UP AND 

COMING PROGRESSIVE ROC 

AND BLUES BAND IN FOCUS 


Crescent 

T 

K 


LOCAL HEROES 

CRESCENT 

Hartlepool’s hottest 

new Progressive Band 

speaks on their brand 

new career. 

By Paul George 

& Crescent 

It’s a real pleasure to be able to 

promote young, up and coming 

bands in this magazine. It’s so 

hard for artists to get their names out 

there when they’re first starting out 

so NEG is great for doing just that. 

One of these bands, in particular, 

are our next guests. Four emerging 

artists, all in their own right who are 

branching out with their own brand 

of Progressive music. The band is 

called ‘Crescent’ from Hartlepool. 

I met up with them not so long ago 

in a pub and we chatted over a pint 

about their new career. So let’s meet 

Crescent. 

NEG: Tell me about Crescent. 

Cr: So Crescent was originally 

formed back here in October - 

November time. It started up as a 

three-piece band. It was just me on 

guitar, drums and bass. And then 

that band ended around February 

time. And that was when I came 

into contact with Jake on bass and 

Owen on drums because I knew 

them through playing in the past and 

Millie was already doing a little bit 

with us before. And then we decided 

that we try out and we did a few 

practices. Originally, we just started 

off with practicing in my bedroom 

and we were just running through 

the covers that we did before and we 

just fitted together a lot better than 

we thought we would. That’s when 

we started practicing 10 to 15 hours 

a week, just hammering out originals 

and covers as fast as we could. And 

I think we’d been playing about 

three weeks before we were booked 

to gig. Then it was probably about 

four weeks from our first practice 

to our first gig where we did two, 

forty five minutes sets, we really just 

hammered the songs and hammered 

the practice. 

NEG: Where did the name Crescent 

come from? 

Cr: So the name Crescent came 

from the name of the street that we 

practiced on. We practiced in our 

house It’s an easy name to remember, 

I think it fits the band pretty well 


with the stuff that we do. 

NEG: So there’s four of you in the 

band now. 

Cr: Yes. There’s, Jake on Bass, 

Owen on Drums, Millie on vocals 

and Keyboard and myself, Caleb 

on Guitar. 

NEG: So you’ve just released a 

single. Tell us about that? 

Cr: Well, that’s our first single. 

We recorded that completely for 

free on our own in college with 

the equipment that we had. And 

then we mixed it and mastered it 

ourselves. And it came out with 

the exact sound that we wanted 

really. And we really proud of 

the fact that we made a song. 

Jake mixed it and mastered it. 

And we’re really proud of the fact 

that this is the first song that we 

put together as a band came out 

sounding as good as it did. It’s 

called Green Vail 

NEG: Where can we stream it? 

Cr: It’s available on nearly every 

streaming platform you can think 

of. 

NEG: What gigs have you got 

lined up? 

Cr: So far, most of our gigs have 

been in Hartlepool, we ventured 

out towards the NE Volume 

bar in Stockton. We also played 

Stanhope Caravan Park. And at 

the minute, we just trying to go 

for anything we can. So we’ve got 

a gig coming up in Houghton-Le- 

Spring and we’ve been looking 

to play in Sunderland. And we’re 

constantly trying to get in places 

in Newcastle and stuff. We’re just 

trying to get ourselves out there. 

We’ve got about seven or eight 

gigs lined up between now and 

August 

NEG: I believe you’ve got some 

more recordings in the pipeline. 

Crescent 

Cr: Yeah. So we’ve got another 

single ready to be put out around 

the start of July and then following 

that. We’ve got an EP ready to 

come out at the end of July. So 

that’s five songs. That’s four of 

our originals and that’s the cover 

from the Groundhogs. The EP is 

looking to be about 35 minutes 

long. 

NEG: Any names for the EP yet? 

Cr: We’ve got a few in mind, 

we’re not set on anything yet, but 

we’ve definitely got a few names in 

mind. 

NEG: So how about Social media, 

where can we find you? 

Cr: So we’ve got a linktree 

account and we’ve got Instagram, 

Twitter, Facebook. We go on 

everything by Crescent.band. 

(Jake) When we were at Stanhope, 

we got some new promo images 

for the new single cover, which all 


LOCAL HEROES 

that’s done by my girlfriend, Olivia 

Fox. She does all the photography 

for us and everything. She did 

the cover for Green Vail and she’s 

done the cover for Undecided 

as well, which is our next single. 

So find her on Instagram at Fox 

photography. 

NEG: Where does your influences 

come from? 

Cr: I think the main influences 

that we can all sort of agree on 

that’s pushed me forward, It’d be 

progressive music. So we’re talking 

like Zeppelin stuff, Groundhog 

stuff, Pink Floyd. And then if 

you look more towards Owens as 

well, then he’s big into his grunge 

and things. So we definitely push 

some elements of grunge in there. 

Like with Green Vail, there’s a lot 

of elements of grunge. (Jake) My 

playing style came from David 

Gilmore and Pink Floyd, but 

I’m on bass now. So I’m kind of 

like playing it in like a different 

way that you would particularly 

play a bass and play it more with 

guitar with four strings other than 

anything. 

NEG: (To Owen)I have seen you 

playing Guitar in the past, I was 

just wondering why the change 

over to drums? 

Cr: Well, I was playing guitar for 

about 3 1/2 years, I changed over 

to drums because Caleb called me 

and needed a drummer. So yeah, 

it’s kind of fun. 

NEG: What’s been your most 

memorable gig so far? 

Cr: I think just probably the 

Fisherman’s Arms. It’s like it’s 

where I started off with where I 

first sang in front of people or you 

can really play in front of people 

like at the level that I might have 

at the minute. And that was just 

where I let my confidence and that 

was, I think where we put it in 

front of a crowd for the first time 

as the band that we are now and 

at the Bluesburn. And then when 

we had our gig there last month, it 

was just a really good atmosphere 

and we really enjoyed playing 

there. It was our first real gig. 

NEG: Thank you for talking to us 

and good luck with your future. 

Seriously, Crescent is a very 

serious, very professional and very 

focused band. I think it’s obvious 

that they have a very bright future 

ahead. What really impressed me 

about them is the fact that they 

are experimenting with their own 

music and own sounds instead of 

being a band that just sticks to the 

run of the mill covers. 

Check them out on facebook here: 

https://www.facebook.com/profile. 

php?id=61553759167046 


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www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk 


AXE IN FOCUS 

THE BALLAD OF 

TRIGGER 

Very few guitars in music 

today, let alone Country 

music are as famous and 

have quite the story to tell 

as the Martin N-20 owned 

by Country Legend Willie 

Nelson. It’s only right that 

celebrate one of the most 

famous guitars ever.Ladies 

and Gentlemen, I give you 

the one and only ‘Trigger’. 

Image By Robbiework - Wikipedia 

To look at Trigger, you 

would think that somebody 

had taken a shot at Willie 

Nelson with a Colt .45 or had 

swung a hammer at it for some 

cruel reason. The cold truth about 

the battered and bruised Martin 

N-20 is that it has gone through 

over 10,000 gigs and had picked up 

a myriad of battle scars along the 

way. Despite it’s road-worn look, 

Trigger is probably the most loved 

guitar around. Adoring fans will 

queue for hours to take a photo of 

Willie’s pride and joy prior to any 

concert. So let’s take a closer look 

at the star of this month’s ‘Axe in 

Focus’. 

The legend of Willie Nelson’s 

guitar began in 1969 after his 

Nylon string Baldwin got busted 

up by a drunken patron’s misstep 

while Nelson was gigging on the 

outskirts of San Antonio, Texas. 

When Nelson sent the Baldwin 

guitar back home to Nashville to 

be revived, the repairman told 

him it was beyond hope, and 

mentioned that he had a new 

Martin for sale for $750. Since 

Nelson had liked the Baldwin’s 

amplified tone, he asked the 

repairman to pull the pickup from 

his totalled guitar and install it in 

the Martin, and Trigger was born. 

In late 1970, Willie’s house outside 

Nashville burned to the ground, 

cause unknown. He and his 

family lost just about everything: 

clothes, furniture, master tapes. 

The tragedy had a purifying 

effect, though, wiping out Willie’s 

unhappy past in Music City and 

opening up the future. And it gave 

him a good excuse to get out of 

Nashville for a while. He jumped 


Axe in Focus - Willie Nelson’s Trigger 

at the chance, decamping for 

Texas. When he left, he took one 

of the few valuables that had been 

spared by the flames: his new 

Martin guitar. 

For the next few months, 

Willie settled into a house near 

Bandera while his Nashville 

home was rebuilt. He sat around 

contemplating his future and 

playing his guitar. He hadn’t 

named the instrument yet—that 

came much later—but for the 

first time, Willie had fallen in 

love with the sound of one of 

his instruments. “When I found 

that guitar and amp, I knew that 

was the sound I was trying to 

get, that Django sound,” he says. 

Django had actually played a 

steel-stringed Selmer guitar, but to 

Willie, its mellow, plucky tone (a 

product of the tortoiseshell button 

Django used as a pick) sounded 

like a gut-string. Like his Martin. 

During the early 70’s the Martin 

was already beginning to show 

signs of early wear. In 1974 Willie 

was the debut act on Austin City 

Limits. When you watch the 

episode now, he and his guitar 

look impossibly young. His beard 

is red, his guitar’s face is shiny and 

yellow, but it’s already got a small 

hole near the bridge, the result of 

his pinkie and ring finger digging 

into the wood as he played. 

“When I saw the hole coming in 

there, I didn’t panic or anything,” 

he says. “Growing up, I played a 

guitar that had a big, round hole.” 

On “Whiskey River,” you can see 

Willie’s two lower fingers curling 

above the hole while he picks. 

The guitar, plugged into the 

Baldwin amp, sounds clear and 

earthy, and Willie plays standard 

country riffs while the band 

shuffles and swings. He switches 

between using the pick and 

thrumming his middle finger. On 

“Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” 

his fingers fly up and down the 

fretboard. 

The famous hole in Trigger has 

been repaired and reinforced over 

and over again and is constantly 

the subject of the conversation 

“How the hell is this guitar still 

playable?” The neck, despite the 

fret wires being worn down to 

the width of sewing thread, is 

still straight and level, the body is 

adorned with signatures, scratches, 

dents and splits but despite all, it 

still provides the signature sound 

of our beloved Willie Nelson. 

Finally, to his name. It is quite 

simply from the famous cowboy 

Roy Rodgers’s horse. Willie once 

said during an interview “Roy 

Rodgers named his horse Trigger. 

Well, Trigger is my guitar, my 

horse.” 

He also said in the same interview 

“We’ve been on the road together a 

long time and we’ll probably wear 

out the same time”. 

Image By Paul Familetti - Wikipedia 



Competition 

WIN THIS GUITAR 

Win this Stagg 

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courtesy of East 

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NE Guitars Magazine. 

SIMPLE TO ENTER! 

1. Subscribe to NE Guitars Magazine 

here: http://eepurl.com/iN3udo 

2. Answer the following question: 

What make and model is Willie 

Nelson’s Guitar ‘Trigger’? 

(hint: Go back a couple of pages). 

Body 

Neck 

Fingerboard 

Pickguard 

Pickups 

Controls 

Pickup 

selector 

Bridge 

Machine 

heads 

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Massive Paulownia 

Maple, bolt-on with 

easy access to the 

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Aged white, 3 folds 

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3. Email your answer to: 

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Competition closes midnight 

26th July 2024 

PLUS 

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REVIEW 

By Paul George 

LEKATO 

WS - 50 

WIRELESS GUITAR SYSTEM 

After many years of 

getting entangled in 

our guitar leads, many 

wireless systems have appeared 

on our shelves at some very 

reasonable prices. But are they 

gimmicks or are they proper, 

viable replacement for the plastic 

spaghetti around your feet? 

So, let me give you my experience 

quickly which, I imagine, many 

of you may have experienced. I’ll 

then introduce you to my solution. 

Firstly, I am one clumsy git, if 

I can trip on a lead or become 

embarrassingly tangled, much 

to the delight of the audience in 

front of me, I’ll do it. So a wireless 

system is a good alternative for 

me. Then comes the big question, 

how much do I want to spend 

on these babies? Well, being the 

skinflint I am, I wanted a cheap 

but working version good enough 

to give me the same performance 

as my trusty leads. I have tried 

loads of these things and have 

never been happy. Generally, 

everyone I have tried has had 

acceptable latency, good, or at 

least fair, construction and the 

hinge on the plug so they can lay 

flat on the guitar body and not 

look too unsightly. My other 

requirement is a good battery life 

and an acceptable charging time. 

Yes I know, I ask a lot for my 

money. To cut a long story short 

all of the ones I have tried so 

far have let me down on one 

particular issue. The sound 

quality. They have all sounded 

cheap, kind of a muffled bassy 

sound. Not good at all. But then 

I found these babies on line. The 

Lekato WS-50. 

I wrote to Lekato and challenged 

them, after watching a few review 

videos on Youtube, to let me test a 

set out and post the findings in the 

magazine so here goes. 

Just four days after our chat, a 

parcel arrived with the item. 

Unwrapped, I found a nice box 

with the receiver, transmitter, USB 

charging lead and instructions. 

Normally, I will discard the box 

and add the accessories to my 

equipment case but this time, 

I kinda like the protection the 

box gives, so I have kept it. So 

far, thumbs up to Lekato, first 

impressions are very positive. 


The units are pretty sturdy and 

certainly do not feel cheap. They 

come with a 220 degree hinge and 

run off the 5.8Ghz wireless system 

which is so much better than the 

old 2.4Ghz. My set are black but 

they also come in a fake wood 

grain design. I’m not overly keen 

on that look but that’s just my own 

personal taste. 

So, I plugged them in to my PC 

to get charged ready for my first 

session. They were ready in an 

hour and a half, bearing in mind 

they would already have a little 

bit of power in them but I always 

recommend any chargeable item 

needs a full charge before first use 

to maximise battery life. I got told 

that once, not sure how true it is 

but I’ve always done it and never 

had any battery issues. If it works, 

it works! 

Time to plug them into the guitar 

and test them. Here’s another 

great plus, they have an on/off 

switch that simply automatically 

pairs and connects them. Just 

switch on and you’re ready to go, 

no messing about pressing buttons 

to pair the bluetooth connections. 

Huge plus, again Lekato. But then 

came the big one for me. The 

sound was exactly the same as my 

leads, great quality. Wow, I wasn’t 

expecting that. This has been the 

big issue for me as I said earlier so 

to find a system that does what it 

says, is very refreshing. Lekato say 

the Latency is around 5 ms and 

the frequency response is 10 Hz to 

22 KHz, give or take 1 db. I could 

not hear any latency at all. 

The range is set to 100m although 

I haven’t got there yet. But I 

walked around the pub where I 

play and had absolutely no issues 

so let’s just tick that box. Lekato 

also say the battery lasts 5 hours. 

It doesn’t, I’ve reached 6 hours use 

without charge before the light 

started to flash, another tick in the 

box! 

So finally, once the battery was 

Lekato WS-50 

completely flat I put it back on 

charge and it took 3 hours to 

recharge fully. I’m happy with 

that, not bad at all. 

So what do these cost? Well I got 

mine for free from Lekato to test 

but they retail at around £43.00 

which I think is really good. If 

you’re looking on Ebay, you will 

find many cheaper but believe 

me, they are cheaper for a reason. 

The price tag on the WS-50 is well 

worth it and you will definately 

get what you pay for. 

In summary, The WS-50 is a great, 

realistic alternative to wires. They 

sound great, last a long time, are 

easy to connect, basically they tick 

all of the boxes. Of course, I’m 

sure there are better systems on 

the market but you will be paying 

big bucks for them and, let’s face 

it, in this day and age, quality at 

bargain prices is what we all want. 

Personally I love ‘em and am now 

converted. Check them out here: 

https://lekatodeal.com 


IN FOCUS

Article By: 

Paul George/ Stacy Thornburg 

Images: 

Rockrpix/ GI Joe Ward 

Hillbilly Vegas, the 

enigmatic, hardworking 

rock band from 

Oklahoma are back on the road 

again with their Long Way Back 

Tour. 

They make a welcome return to 

the UK this Summer, following 

their first ever bout of touring on 

these shores earlier this year. 

Jaw dropping performances 

gained Hillbilly Vegas rave reviews 

and a host of new followers, eager 

to see Oklahoma’s finest grace our 

stages again. 

“To be honest, we were shocked 

by the level of response on our 

first tour of the UK, from the 

fans of Luke Morley – who was 

a great and very friendly guy 

– and then at our own shows,” 

says frontman Steve Harris. “It 

was exciting that so many people 

bought tickets to see us. From the 

moment we arrived in the country 

we couldn’t have been made any 

more welcome. One of the greatest 

things was that we kept on seeing 

familiar faces every night, there 

were people that followed us 

around from town to town, city 

to city.” The tour also included a 

spot for Hillbilly Vegas at Planet 

Rock’s Winter’s End Festival in 

Wales, which many chose as their 

highlight of the weekend. 

Hillbilly Vegas are delighted to 

announce dynamic 4-piece hard 

rockers The Howling Tides as 

special guests on the July dates. 

They’ve built their reputation and 

momentum with some power 

house releases and with highprofile 

festival successes. Planet 

Rocks verdict: “The Howling 

Tides are a gimmick-free band 

who play muscular rock delivered 

with brute force.” This USA / UK 

pairing will prove an irresistible 

cocktail of great new rock bands. 

To celebrate the announcement 

of the UK ‘Long Way Back’ Tour, 

Hillbilly Vegas release their brandnew 

video of forthcoming single 

“Shake It Like a Hillbilly”. 


https://www.youtube.com/ 

watch?v=3oNfgnLFfvo 

Shake It Like a Hillbilly has been 

remixed by legendary producer 

Dave Eringa (Manic Street 

Preachers, The Who, Bernie 

Marsden) and is set to be the 

soundtrack to your Summer. This 

good time banger was released 

on digital platforms on 26th April 

2024. 

https://slinky.to/ 

ShakeItLikeaHillbilly 

Whether on stages big or small, 

Hillbilly Vegas have learned how 

to make every audience feel like 

an important part of the show. An 

accomplished frontman and 

keen raconteur, Steve Harris tells 

stories, reveals the inspiration 

about his songs, and where 

appropriate they throw in covers 

of material that played a part in 

developing the band’s sound. On 

the last tour it was Frankie Miller’s 

‘Down The Honkytonk’, which 

fitted them like a glove. 

Following their Long Way Back 

Tour this Summer, Hillbilly Vegas 

are already confirmed to return to 

the UK later this year. 

They will perform at Planet 

Rockstock and WinterStorm 

festivals as part of the touring for 

their forthcoming album. 

Tickets for Planet Rockstock here: 

https://planetrockstock.gigantic. 

com/planet-rockstock-tickets/ 

porthcawl-park-dean-holidaypark/2024-11-28-00-00 

In Focus - Hillbilly Vegas 

Get WinterStormtickets here: 

https://www.skiddle.com/reps/ 

repallevents.php?lid=1711665 

Put Hillbilly Vegas in front of an 

audience, any audience, and they 

will win them over – guaranteed. 

NEG Interview With Hillbilly 

Vegas Guitarist Stacy Thornburg 

I have been so looking forward 

to HBV’s gig at Trillions in July, 

so much so that I had to get in 

touch with them and have a nice 

techy chat before they arrived on 

England’s fair shores. Thankfully, 

their guitarist Stacy Thornburg 

was more than happy to sit down 

with me and have a chat. So 

one damp June morning, we got 

together and did just that. 

NEG: So tell me a little bit about 

Hillbilly Vegas. 

ST: Well, I have been a member 

of Hillbilly Vegas for the last 10 

years. The band started in 2009. 

They’ve been through some 

lineup changes just from families 

growing and things like that. 

We’ve all been friends or known of 

each other in some way, form or 

fashion for years. And the 


opportunity arose and the offer 

was extended and I decided that 

instead of being a metal guitar 

player that I would join Hillbilly 

Vegas and completely change and 

relearn how to play the guitar. I’ll 

tell you what, the last 10 years, it’s 

been quite a ride. 

NEG: I listened to ‘ Shake It Like 

A Hillbilly’. If I could project 

how I hear it, there’s a little bit of 

that Southern Rock, a little bit of 

Rockabilly and that little bit of 

country and it all works. It just 

sounds fabulous. Am I sort of 

running down the right line? 

ST: Yeah, there are a lot of 

influences in what we do. At the 

end of the day, we love all of the 

rock music, Rockabilly, the Stray 

Cats, Reverend Horton Heat, 

the Coffin Cats, all those guys, I 

dig them for years. I obviously 

don’t delve deep enough into that 

because there’s so much good 

Rockabilly. Yeah. But, you know, 

at the end of the day, we’re a rock 

band from Oklahoma and, you 

know, we are what we are. We’re 

just we’re fortunate that we’re 

getting to play what we feel and 

not have to fit a round peg in a 

square hole anymore. 

NEG: Am I right in saying that it 

is a re-release? 

ST: When I joined the band 10 

years ago, this was something 

they had in their archive. It was 

actually a Put Together song. And 

I asked them, I said, why aren’t 

you guys doing this song? And 

Steve said, because it’s crap. And 

we went in and we did a retool 

on it. And what you hear is what 

came together finally, you know, 

and this has been our song that 

just opens so many doors for us. 

We’ve been very fortunate to have 

one of those in our career. Yeah. 

So, you know, it’s a great tune to 

play every night. People get off on 

it. They dance around. They shake 

their butts. They sing it back to us. 

That’s one of the funnest parts is, 

you know, it’s not a cerebral song 

by any means. You know a couple 

of lines in it, and you know the 

words you can sing along. 

NEG: I’m looking forward to 

hearing it live when you guys are 

in Newcastle. Obviously, you’re 

the guitarist. So tell me about your 

guitar. 

ST: So let’s start off with the guitar 

itself. I’ve been a Gibson guy for 

years. I love the big, fat sound of 

a Les Paul played through a really 

nice tube amp. Yeah. Really, at the 

end of the day, how can you screw 

that up. 

NEG: What kind of strings do 

you use for your guitar? 

ST: We are endorsed. A good 


friend of ours, Jeff Lantroop, who 

owns Apex Strings. We’ve been 

with Apex now for about three 

or four years. Jeff has taken really 

good care of us, always made sure 

that we’ve got our care package 

right before we go out on tour. I 

play 10 through 42s on all of my 

guitars. I delved into the nines 

for a while. And as I played and 

my grip got stronger, I realized 

that I was wrenching it out of 

intonation just by sheer force from 

my hands. So I’ve gone to tens. 

That’s pretty much what I use. All 

the guys in the band use them. 

Todd, our bass player, has a deal 

with a different string company. 

And I can’t tell you who they 

are right now. There’s a bunch of 

them. But Apex Strings has always 

been great to us, taking good 

care of us. You know, I’m one of 

those guys that I love the brilliant 

sound of brand new strings. And 

I wish that I knew that I changed 

them before every gig. But I get 

lazy when we’re out and we’re, 

you know, night after night. So I 

usually will try to get two or three 

or four shows out of it before I 

start whining to somebody about 

needing to change strings. But I 

got away from tremolos a long 

time ago. We used to use Floyd 

Roses on everything. Now, I’ve 

got a couple of guitars that have 

got Bigsby’s on them. If a Bigsby is 

set up properly, they work great. 

But you’ve got to set them up 

and you’ve got to know how to 

wind the strings and the whole 

stretch and the whole nine yards. 

But I love the sound of a Bigsby. 

I probably prefer it over a Floyd 

Rose than anything, just because 

of the classic sound. 

NEG: Let’s go down the line and 

we get to your pedal system. I’m 

quite interested in what kind of 

effects might you use or was it an 

amp set up 

ST: Like I said, I’m a fan of tube 

amps. A year or so ago, we got 

endorsed by Orange Amps. And 

I’m a tube guy. I’m a tone snob. 

That doesn’t mean I have the best 

tone, but it means I’m always 

chasing tone. And I love what I’ve 

been able to get from the Oranges. 

I mean, I pretty much 12 o’clock 

them and get a great sound right 

out of the box. Yeah. As far as 

pedals are concerned, I don’t use 

a lot of pedals when we’re on tour 

because it’s a point of failure. I 

Just started using the Shure pedal 

wireless, which we brought out on 


tour with us when we were in the 

UK this last time and love those. 

It worked great. I like to have a 

sonic stomp in my pedal chain. 

I like how it allows me different 

voicings. I use a clean boost. I’ve 

got a divided by 13 treble boost 

that I got from a friend years ago. 

And it gives you that tele spank 

with a less Paul if you said it right. 

Yeah. And then, of course, I’ve got 

a Klon pedal on my board right 

now for a little extra grit, a little 

extra sustain or whatever. But 

usually it’s pretty much straight 

into the amp and just roll with 

that. 

NEG: Any other kit that you 

might use on the stage, you know, 

the kind of stuff? 

ST: Well, I’ll give you a funny 

little story. I was telling you about 

being a Les Paul guy. I went 

probably 12, 15 years ago into a 

pawn shop here in town. I found 

a Les Paul that just felt like it 

belonged to me. You know how 

that goes. You pick up a guitar and 

the neck just feels right. It feels like 

it’s made for your hand. Yeah. And 

I found one of those Les Pauls and 

I didn’t really pay any attention to 

the serial number on the back. It 


was inked in. And I just figured it 

being a pawn shop, they had done 

their due diligence and they kind 

of knew what they had. So long 

story short, I bought the thing. I 

think I gave about twelve hundred 

bucks for it. American. Brought 

it home. Played it. It’s basically 

become my number two guitar. 

But we followed Ted Nugent on 

tour all summer long last year 

and had an accident where my 

guitar fell out of its case and 

broke the headstock. And when 

we started doing some research 

on that guitar, found out that it 

probably shouldn’t have been on 

tour with me. It ended up being 

somebody had done a refit on 

a 1954 Les Paul and had done a 

great job. Just beautiful. But like 

I said, the headstock broke, not 

just cracked, but broke. And Uncle 

Ted’s luthier on staff, Todd Baker, 

put it back together for me and I 

was playing it back on the stages 

on tour in two nights. And it 

played as good as ever. Brought it 

home. My guy has been working 

on it and said that when it’s done, 

it’ll be stronger than it ever was. 

And unless you’re just looking 

for it, you will never know that 

there’s anything any different of it. 

But that guitar is probably going 

to be retired and it’s going to be a 

recording guitar and something 

that we play here in our rehearsal 

spaces. But yeah, boys and 

girls, always check your serial 

numbers. We’ve got a lot of great 

endorsements. Jeff Carano and 

Jeff Babich with Babich Bridges 

and Full Contact Hardware have 

been super to us for probably the 

last six, seven years. Amazing, 

amazing bridges. I can’t even tell 

you enough about those. And 

then, like I said, we take a very 

minimalistic approach to how we 

make our sounds. We all kind of 

feel like the 70s, the late 60s, all 

the way up through the late 70s 

were the best time for rock and 

roll. And we all grew up through 

that time and we’ve embraced it. 

And we see a lot of similarities. 

We have people tell us that there 

are a lot of similarities in our 

sound. Once we finally accepted 

the fact that we weren’t a country 

band and that we’re not a heavy 

metal band or anything like that, 

that we’re just a good rock and 

roll band that happens to be from 

the South. And like I said, now 

we’re writing the stuff that comes 

from the heart and we love vintage 

tones. And, man, I’d like to think 

it’s working for us. 

NEG: So you’re back over here 

soon (In the UK). 

ST: Yeah, the support has been 

amazing. It’s why we’re looking 

forward to getting back over. 

We’ll be there in July, of course. I 

think our first show is the 17th of 

July. And we’ve got seven or eight 

shows all the way up through, I 


elieve, the 27th is our final show. 

Really looking forward to it. And, 

you know, when we’re talking 

about genres of music, I like to tell 

people that it’s just honest music. 

It’s coming from the heart. And, 

like I said, we’re so fortunate to be 

able to write and perform and play 

what we are all passionate about. 

NEG: Yeah. So, with the writing 

in mind, have you got anything in 

the future that might be coming 

out? 

ST: We are in the process of 

writing our next album right now. 

Our record label, Conquest. Alan 

Bambrough and Cliff Evans, who 

have been just fantastic for us. 

One of the first record labels that 

we’ve ever worked with that the 

guys actually did what they said 

they were going to do. And these 

guys have gone beyond, so they’ve 

been great. But having said all 

of that, yeah, we’ve got the next 

album being written and recorded 

right now. We’re several songs in. 

I think you’re going to dig what 

we’re coming out with. I feel like 

it’s some of the best stuff that we’ve 

ever written. Trying not to be too 

crazy with it and keep our vibe. 

When you start to become a little 

bit noticed on the spectrum, you 

have a tendency to try to write 

towards that direction, thinking 

that is going to keep you in these 

people’s sights. And we decided 

that we’re just going to write what 

comes from the heart. And it’s 

going to be a very diverse album. 

Not so diverse that we’re going to 

be playing opera or anything, but 

it’s cool. There’s some really, really 

good stuff coming out. And I’m 

excited for everybody to get to 

hear it. 


NEG: So this is now the point 

where you can tell the listeners 

and the readers exactly where they 

can find you online. 

ST: The best way to find Hillbilly 

Vegas is Google us. Our big joke 

from the stage is that we love 

to be Googled. We’re on all of 

the platforms, Spotify, Amazon, 

Deezer, just everything. Man, just 

put in Hillbilly Vegas and it will 

come up. 

NEG: Stacy, thank you so 

much for chatting to us a we 

look forward to meeting up in 

Newcastle on 18th July. 

Get up to date with Hillbilly Vegas 

right here. 

www.hillbilly-vegas.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/ 

hillbillyvegasmusic 

Long Way Back Tour - July 2024 

Wednesday 17 

Hull, The Adelphi 

Thursday 18 Newcastle, Trillians 

Friday 19 Crumlin, The Patriot 

Sunday 21 Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill 

Wednesday 24 

London, 100 Club 

Thursday 25 Hastings, The Carlisle 

Saturday 27 Sittingbourne, The Appleyard 


IN FOCUS 


In Focus - Twister 


IN FOCUS 

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVIE 

Twister are a young, exciting 

rock band from the North 

East. With anthemic rock 

tunes full of killer riffs, they 

are are breaking down walls 

and are knocking at your 

door! We caught up with 

front man Stevie Stoker for 

an indepth look in to the 

band 

Article by 

Paul George & 

Stevie Stoker 

Images courtesy of 

Twister 

NEG: Hi Stevie, thank you for 

talking to us at NEG. If we can 

first start with you’re breaking 

news? 

Stevie: So basically, yeah, we’ve 

had a rebrand and we’ve got a 

whole load of stuff going on at the 

minute regarding a possible new 

record label. But there’s definitely a 

new band name and we’ll definitely 

have a new album ready to go. So, 

we’ve got the band name, We’ve 

told everybody about the band 

name in the close quarters and 

we’re going to be announcing that 

soon, so everything’s pretty much 

ready on that front. The band’s 

going to be called ‘Juliet’s Not 

Dead’. It’s big changes, we’ve been 

called Twister for 20 years. So it’s 

all about trying to make the right 

steps forward, so it’s for the best. 

NEG: So tell me about the new 

album? 

Stevie: So, basically 2023 was 

very difficult for us. We had some 

line up changes at the beginning of 

the year which we hadn’t seen 

coming. And then we had so 

many shows, including a full 

European tour with the choir boys. 

We did 11 countries last year, 

which is bonkers as considering we 

didn’t even have a stable band line 

up. So me and Jack just 

consolidated everything, got 

ourselves through a tricky period. 

And it was testing but it was 

actually really good for the soul 

that we just sort of believed in each 

other and stuck with it and put our 

best foot forward and tried to get 

on with it and make do as many 

shows as we could. But also while 

that was all happening, prep 

ourselves for what this next 

chapter was going to be which was 


obviously the end goal of releasing 

new music and, again, getting that 

second album out. So we did that 

and then September time, we’d 

sort of solidified the line up, we 

knew what we wanted to do going 

forwards. And then we basically 

booked the studio time with the 

producer that we worked with 

previously, Ramesh Dodd and 

Gorda, who is absolutely 

wonderful. He did the EP with us, 

and then we were like, we really 

want to do a full album with this 

guy because he’s just so cool to 

work with and he’s worked with 

everybody, so, you know, 

if anybody can make us sound 

good, he’s the man. So we signed 

up at the end of January, but at the 

time we only had one song 

written. So we basically threw 

ourselves in the studio at the back 

end of last year and wrote as many 

songs as we could. We think we 

wrote 17 in the end, knocked it 

down to 10, and then went into his 

place at the end of January and 

blasted the album out. 

NEG: Does the album have a 

name yet? 

Stevie: Possibly. We’ve got a 

working title for it at the moment, 

which is ‘This World is ours’, 

which is a lyric from a song called 

‘Thrill Seekers’, which is probably 

going to be our opening single 

from the album. 

NEG: Any dates when the album 

will be out? 

Stevie: Not yet. We’re still in talks 

with labels at the moment. It’s just 

a bit of an nightmare, because we 

see other people releasing music 

around us and we really want to 

get ours out? But the main thing is 

trying to get it released the right 

way. 

NEG: So the new band line up, 


the new chapter, once the album’s 

out, what’s your plan? So have you 

got anything lined up for the new 

look? 

Stevie: Yeah. So firstly, we’ve got 

a lot of festivals over this summer. 

We’re doing the Maid of Stone 

Festival in July, We’ve got NOS 

Fest in Southampton, that’s in 

August. South Fest as well in 

August. So there’s a few really nice 

festival dates that we’ve got and 

then we are planning a UK tour 

which will be back end of 

November this year. And that’ll 

sort of hopefully coincide with 

single releases. The album will 

probably be the beginning part of 

next year. But as I say, we’ve got 

our own idea on timescales, but 

that could easily change if a label 

gets involved. So, yeah, our main 

thing is, we want to try and take it 

as far as far a field as we can. 

People who know us, know that 

we’re not shy. We’re just hitting the 


oad in the van and seeing where 

it takes us. So that’s kind of going 

to be our approach again, I would 

think. 

NEG: How did the original 

‘Twister’ get started? 

Stevie: So I started the band 

when I was 13, when I was at 

school and we were just a school 

band. And just like them things, 

when you’re kids, you set yourself 

little goals. That’s all we wanted, to 

play a song, we want to do a gig, 

we want to write our own songs, 

we want to go out there and earn 

by playing music. I suppose, with 

the band, although we were still 

doing original music, we were just 

out there as a working band. We 

did our first pub gig in 2005, when 

we were all 14 year old and we just 

wanted to play. As Lemmy said, 

the pleasure is to play. It’s just 

about getting out there and 

throwing your guitar about and 

hoping for the best. So we did a lot 

of that. And then 2015 was 

mainly the turning point. Prior to 

that, we had people in the band 

who were really forcing us to go 

out there and earn. So it was going 

out there and they wanted to get 

their money at the end of every 

gig and it wasn’t really about that 

for me. It was about trying to write 

music and trying to release music 

and trying to do what isn’t the 

norm. Anybody can go out there 

and start a band and go and do 

gigs in pubs. It’s a piece of piss to 

do. So writing your own stuff, 

establishing yourself as an artist 

and getting respect for that and 

then people wanting to sing your 

songs, people wanting to listen to 

your songs, that’s always been the 

goal for me and then from 2015 

onwards, I think I surrounded 

myself with the right people in the 

band and we all kind shared the 

same vision. And that sort of 

accelerated the process. When you 

work with people that do want the 

same things as you, that makes 

you work harder, it makes you 

work like just harder together. 

Like I suppose you bounce off 

each other and everything 

snowballs. So suddenly you cover 

more ground quicker, and that 

happened fairly quickly. So we 

even did some shows with Status 

Quo in 2015 and this was not long 

after the decision to just do our 

own stuff happened. So I think it’s 

like anything. You’ve got to just be 

true to yourself and do exactly 

what you want and get what you 

want out of it. 

NEG: So I’m interested in your 

influences. 

Stevie: Well, weird really. So I 

suppose every band says this, but I 

genuinely think we don’t sound 

like anybody else and the reason 

for that is I started out when I was 

like sort of 11 and 12 year old 



playing with me grandads band. 

He was in a skiffle band and like a 

rock and roll band and so I used to 

sit in with them and just, I get told 

that it’s in B flat. It was not B flat 

major, but B flat minor. It was just 

in B flat to me and I didn’t have a 

clue what I was doing. But I just 

sat at the back hitting me guitar 

and hoping it was going to sound 

okay. And then you started to sort 

of build on that. And I always used 

to chant a little bit and carry notes 

when I was really young. So when 

we eventually got around to 

starting the band at school, we 

started just doing instrumental 

stuff. So we did a song called 

Espionage by Green Day, which is 

the theme tune for Austin Powers. 

We started playing that and then I 

think we did a version of Apache 

by the Shadows and then it was 

like, well, we really wanted to do 

some songs we can sing and then 

we tried some singers out and 

none of them really worked. So I 

said, well, I’ll just do it. I sang 

some stuff, but I couldn’t sing and 

play at the time. And you get 

yourself involved with that and it 

was just one thing after another. 

And so I started to go from 

playing the rock and roll and 

skiffle stuff into listening to the 

likes of Green Day and who else 

was around that time. My mom 

was always a big ‘Bad Company’ 

fan. So there was always ‘Bad 

Company’ on in the house. And 

then again, that punk element as 

well. And I think you take sort of 

little tiny parts of all of the styles 

of music you listen to when you’re 

growing up and just take sort of 

influence from them. 

NEG: So how about your Guitars 

and Kit? 

Stevie: So, yeah, gear wise, when I 

started, when I first started 

playing, it was always about Strats. 

And my first proper guitar was a 

Mexican strat but it was in satin 

purple, beautiful looking thing. 

And I really wanted a red one like 

Hank Marvin, that’s what I really 

wanted. I went to the shop and 

they didn’t have a red one but they 

did have this purple one and I just 

loved it straight away. I still have 

that guitar. Well, actually I still 

have a guitar which is the same as 

that guitar because the first one 

got stolen at a show, which is sad. 

And then I went to a guitar shop 

literally to buy a backup for this 

strat. So, there was a black and 

white Mexican strat in there, It 

was £250 second hand. It was 

beaten to bits, but that’s what I 

wanted. I needed some sort of 

back up because I was using an 

Epiphone or something at the time 

as back up and it wasn’t very good. 

And then my dad said, “Oh, well 

try some others out as well.” And I 

picked up a Les Paul custom and 

absolutely fell in love with it. So, 

from that moment on I knew what 


I wanted to play. And then that’s 

kind of been the track that I’ve 

been on since. But now when I go 

on the road, I take three of them 

with us. 

And then in 2014, I actually had a 

special order, one made from 

Gibson, which is my main guitar. 

It’s an off white, I have recoloured 

the OS 3 pick up Les Paul custom 

with a Bigsby and it’s absolutely 

phenomenal. But it’s got a few 

little quirky things with it. So it 

obviously started off life as a wired 

like a normal three pick ups wired. 

But then I didn’t really like that 

middle position sound because it’s, 

on the middle position, it’s middle 

pickup and bridge, I believe or it 

was at the time. And I had that 

taken out and put a normal twotwo 

pick up, selector switch in it. 

So that I can do, the bridge, neck 

and bridge and neck. And then 

I’ve got a push pull, which I can 

put the middle pick up in on 

whatever position I want. And 

then I took both of the tone knobs 

out of the circuit so that it’s just 

straight to the volume pots and 

out. So, yeah, it’s a bit bastardized 

now, but for me, it’s perfect in 

everyway. 

One of the things we do in the 

new album is changing tuning a 

lot which is done via the modellers 

But with the guitars, we basically 

going from a standard tuning into 

a drop tuning. And then we use 

the modellers to pitch that tuning, 

whether it be drop D, like I said, A 

standard and then drop the D. Or 

do we then drop it again? So we 

use the modeller to drop it like 

three semitones. So that you end 

up in B standard. So it turns out 

it’s really low pitched, but you’re 

not detuning the guitar that far. 

The modeller’s doing it, because 

ultimately live, it’s about the show, 

it’s about continuing, making sure 

that you don’t lose momentum 

and that the crowd are with you 

every step of the way. 

NEG: How about Amplifiers. 

Stevie: I’ve been a Marshall man 

forever. My first was a Marshall 

and my last amp will be a 

Marshall. They’ve just got the tone 

for me. So how I actually run it is, 

I run it alongside the Line 6 Helix, 

you can run four different signal 

paths at the same time. So the way 

that I run my head is I run the top 

line of signal path through the 

front of me amp, I run the second 

line of signal path through the 

back of the amp, and then the 

third and fourth lines duplicate 

the original guitar signal going in. 

And then I use the model 

amplifiers within the Helix, 

alongside a complimentary effect 

to the main tone. And then I go 


out of the helix to a power stage 

power amp and then into the 

other side of my cabinet. So my 

cabinet’s basically, instead of it 

being one 12, it’s two, two 12s. 

And then basically you get, you’ve 

got like a stereo tone, but in one 

cab. 

NEG: OK, Is there anything else 

that sets you apart from other 

bands, you know, effects etc? 

Stevie: One thing might be 

worth mentioning is our video 

screens and how we use that, 

we use our guitars to basically 

affect the video screens. So with 

that, basically the way that we 

run it is, it all runs with MIDI. 

We basically have designed a 

setup so that our other guitarist 

actually mans it, but he’s not 

doing any more than he would 

do just changing his guitar tones. 

And we basically run it a patch 

per song. So every song in the 

set list has its own patch. And 

then in that patch, you might 

have five or six buttons. And 

you might have intro, verse, 

pre-chorus, chorus, middle 

eight, end for instance. So then 

he’ll just go through the song. 

One, two, three, four, five, six, 

whatever and then that sends 

the signal to his Helix and 

the amplifier at the change of 

channels, it also sends a signal 

to our DMX lightning controller, 

which changes the lights and 

it sends a signal to our laptop, 

which changes all the video files. 

So what you’ve basically got, 

you’re pressing one button and 

it’s not just doing the million 


things it’s doing in his guitar 

rig, but it’s also changing all the 

aesthetic of the entire stage show. 

NEG: Stevie thank you so much 

for taking the time to speak to us 

and good luck in the future. 

Make no mistake, Twister are a 

seriously good rock band that 

perform up there with the best 

of them. We look forward to 

following their career as they 

continue to grow. 

You can find out more about 

Twister through their website 

and through their social links. 

https://www.officialtwister.com 

facebook.com/TwisterUK 

instagram.com/officialtwister 

tiktok.com/@twister_uk 


LOCAL HEROES 

ACOUSTIC 

WELLER 

AKA 

MARK 

SIMPSON 

Written on location at 

The Blacksmiths Arms, 

Hartlepool 

18 May 2024 

By Paul George & 

Mark Simpson 

See more on Mark : 

www.facebook.com/ 

AcousticWellerByThe- 

NewAgeJamUnplugged 

www.youtube.com/ 

@weller01 

soundcloud.com/ 

mark-simpson-13 

One Saturday night in May, we 

popped along to the Blacksmiths 

Arms (Blackie’s) in Hartlepool to 

enjoy an evening in the presence of 

Mark Simpson, aka Acoustic Weller. 

Mark fronted a Jam tribute band for 

quite some time before going solo 

performing hits from Paul Weller’s 

solo recordings, The Style Council 

and of course the Jam but with just his 

voice and an acoustic guitar. 

OK, hands up, I was a little sceptical 

at first but being an editor of a Guitar 

mag, I kept my mind wide open and 

was so glad I did. 

Mark rolled in around 7.30pm with 

his... Well, I’m not going to call him 

a roadie, let’s go for... Support road 

manager, Tom McColgan. In no time, 

they were set up, tuning guitars and 

sounding up ready for the off. And 

that’s when it happened... 

Prior to all of this I caught up with 

Mark outside for a little chat, just to 

get a bit of info for this very article. 

He came across as a very humble, 

ordinary guy but with a very warm 

and friendly way about him. Very 

easy to talk to. So I dug into his 

background a little and asked him 

about his root’s. 

“I’m a Middlesborough man and have 

been playing as Acoustic Weller since 

2013 (I hope I remembered that right). 

Before that I was with New Age Jam, 

a Jam tribute band but I enjoy doing 

the solo stuff now. Basically, I’m just 

a pub singer gigging around the local 

area.” 

I found this to be very humble and 

maybe a little underrating to himself. 

But it was refreshing to speak to 

someone that just enjoyed his music 

with no thoughts of grandeur. But I 

was wondering how the evening was 

going to go. 

...So back to the sound up. He sat 

simply on a stool and started to jam 

out Weller’s version of ‘Early Morning 

Rain’. In an instant, he changed from 

the humble guy I had been chatting 

to outside to ‘Paul Weller’. His voice 

WAS Paul Weller and I have to say 

it, he suddenly looked like the Jam 


Local Heroes - Mark Simpson 

legend as well. Damn, this was 

going to be good. The pub filled 

up with punters, most wearing 

‘Fred Perry’ polo shirts or the 

famous Mod roundall insignia 

t-shirts, Lambretta shirts which 

made me smile a little as I was 

sat amongst them in my usual 

Rockabilly look. Thankfully, the 

Mod v Rockers thing wasn’t an 

issue that night. 

Mark kicked off the first set with 

one of my favourites, ‘That’s 

Entertainment’, obviously a crowd 

pleaser as practically everyone in 

‘Blackies’ sang along to. The first 

of a string of hits from Weller. 

The simplicity of the sound was 

pure magic. Man, microphone, 

acoustic guitar. Nothing else 

needed. But I also have to take 

my hat off to Tom who was 

controlling the mixing desk, 

skilfully balancing the sound 

throughout the gig. It was very 

apparent he had spent a lot of time 

working with Mark. He knew 

every song, every sound, every 

volume needed. Great job done. 

Talking of his acoustic sound, 

I enjoyed the guitars Mark 

used. They appeared to be 

J200’s although I didn’t get close 

enough to find out if they were 

Gibsons or Epiphones. Whatever, 

they sounded fabulous and 

complimented his simplistic but 

beautiful guitar playing style. I 

did prod him during the interval 

to get a little more info on the 

guitars but to be honest, there 

were far too many people trying 

to grab his attention for a chat and 

a selfie. Not that it mattered too 

much, as I said the guitars looked 

and sounded top class and that’s 

all that mattered. Good enough 

for me. 

Throughout the gig, Mark 

performed just about every Weller 

song I knew, whether it was from 

the Jam, the Style Council or 

just his solo songs. More to the 

point, he was flawless on all of 

them, the result of an awful lot 

of experience but two songs were 

missing as he worked his way 

through the second set. Then one 

of those rang out, the solo acoustic 

version of ‘You do something 

to me’. Simply brilliant. But he 

made me wait to the encore for my 

favourite ‘Down in the tubestation 

at midnight’. Again first class! 

So gig done, he had done a great 

job and was well deserved of the 

applause and shouts as the tunes 

finally died. You guys have got to 

go see him. That’s all I will say. 


LOCAL HEROES 

KENNY 

LAYTON 

Being 

Those golden days of comedy 

throughout the 70’s to the 90’s 

are adorned with great stars 

that made us laugh on our 

screens. Morcombe and Wise, 

The Two Ronnies, Cannon 

and Ball to name a few but 

one comic duo proved very 

reminiscent of Laurel and 

Hardy, that was Diamond and 

Leyton. Opportunity Knocks 

winner and star on The Les 

Dawson Show, Kenny Layton 

from Hartlepool speaks to 

us about those early day and 

what he has been up to since. 

Article by 

Paul George & 

Kenny Layton 

brought up in the 70’s 

and 80’s, I enjoyed the British 

comedy scene. Probably a 

throwback from watching Laurel 

and Hardy shorts when I was a 

youngster but those zany, clean, 

comic sketches had me rolled up on 

a Saturday night. I also remember 

the TV series Opportunity Knocks 

and I do remember the double act 

that appeared on it several times 

with their slapstick, but brilliantly 

timed routines. They were 

Diamond and Leyton. 

Roll forward four decades and 

I find myself jamming every 

Tuesday night with Kenny Layton, 

half of that wonderful act, at the 

Fishermans Arms Open Mic night. 

Kenny is an accomplished guitarist 

and enjoys singing some of the 

old classics with his friend Andy, 

but he is always on the lookout 

for opportunities to crack a gag, 

pounce on the unsuspecting 

audience or just generally make 

the audience laugh. But one of the 

things that got me to get him into 

this magazine was his guitar antics 

while doing his shows all of those 

years ago. So I grabbed him at a gig 

in Hartlepool and had a chat about 

the good old days. 

NEG: So Kenny, when did it all 

start? 

KL: The sisters boyfriend at the 

time gave me a guitar when I was 

14. And I just looked in the mirror 

with it for about a year. I thought I’d 

better start practicing or something. 

I then got the book Play in a day 

by Burt Weedon and I learned how 

to play. And eventually we did all 

the clubs and all the good stuff. 

And then I got sick of the clubs and 

I thought I should do something 

better, I was 42 at the time. And I 

came up with an idea and got into 

the TV with it and never looked 

back. 


NEG: Why the comedy? 

Local Heroes - Kenny Layton 

KL: I’ve always done comedy in 

every band I played in. Just little 

bits in between. So I sat down 

and wrote a script ‘Wine meets 

Country’. And everybody learned 

the script. They worked like hell 

with it. And then the band started 

to go a bit iffy. And I left. 

And then I thought I wanted to 

do television before I finished. 

And I came up with the idea of 

a piano that moved and did an 

audition and got on Opportunity 

Knocks with my friend. We called 

ourselves Diamond and Leyton. 

Bob Monkhouse was doing it at 

the time. And we won three times. 

And then in the final we came 

second to an Opera Singer. She 

was good, very good. 

And then we got a phone call from 

this guy in Germany who wanted 

to book us and he got in touch 

with a guy called Tommy Scott. 

And Tommy Scott got in touch 

with me. And I said “Germany? 

You want us to go to Germany? 

We’ve been told Germans don’t 

laugh.” And the money kept 

going up and we said, nah, not 

going there.. And then it went 

up to 16,000 Deitch marks for 3 

1/2 minutes. So I said, Nobody’s 

gonna see us if we die in Germany, 

Let’s just go and get the money. So 

we did and we had a stormer. 

So we did that, then we came 

home and then got another 

phone call. Do want to do a 

week in Germany in Dusseldorf? 

We said yeah, we’ll go. So we 

did Dusseldorf and while we 

were there they said, would you 

represent Britain in the Comedy 

Awards of Europe. I’d never even 

heard of it. 

So we did that. But they messed 

our show up because there was a 

routine, you know, guitar routine, 

all the things. But the guy who’s 

doing the sound didn’t stop the 

music. It just played it straight 

through. So it screwed everything 

up. So we came second, We 

should have won it easily. 

And then we came back home 

and we got another phone call. 

“Can we do a week?” So we went 

out, did a week, and then ended 

up staying eleven months. We 

couldn’t get home. And then 

they said to us, when I talked to 

Tommy Scott, he said it usually 

takes me seven months to get an 

act in, but if you’re a good act 

and they’re booked solid, they’ll 

drop somebody out and that’s 

what happened with us. We just 

couldn’t get home. 

And then the last show we we’re 

doing, we we’re going to have a 

couple of weeks off, We had to 

do Switzerland. And I said, can 

you do me a favour? Can you get 

the wife out here, I’ll pay for it. 

He said, we’ll pay for your wife to 

come. So we came to Switzerland 

and we stayed longer than we 

should have done. 

We were having a break anyway. 


And we were in this fabulous 

hotel. The organisation paid for 

the hotel, but we stopped longer 

than we should have done and I 

thought, how much is this going 

to cost us? But, Nothing. It was all 

free. We got up for nothing. 

NEG: I’ve seen on YouTube, you 

were also with Les Dawson as well. 

KL: Oh Les, He was a gem. We 

played in Paignton in Devon, and 

we went on and we did 28 minutes 

and we tore the place apart, 

absolutely tore the place apart. 

And the stage manager came in 

and said, we have to cut the show. 

I said something like, there’s a 

start, a middle and an end. It’s not 

gags. And he said, you have to 

cut something. So we were down 

there with Dana and her dad died. 

And she left the show and they put 

us in, in place of Dana. And so 

there was a Les Dawson, The Roly 

Poly’s and us and I said to Les, 

they want us to take five minutes 

off our show, we have no ending. 

He said, five minutes of the show? 

No, he said, you’re tearing the 

place apart. He said, I’m just 

going to walk on as usual and he 

said, you do what you want to do 

and I’ll take the time off at the end 

of my show. 

The next year we were supposed 

to go to Michael Barrymore in 

Bournemouth. 

And he came and seen the show 

and he cancelled us, he didn’t want 

us on so we worked with Les. 

And he said, never... This was 

Gospel truth, never in my life, 

have I seen a more professional act 

in all my life. You’re always there 

on time, always there if anything 

goes wrong. 

Yeah he was brilliant. But we were 

just about to play one night when 

I got a phone call from my wife 

to say that Les had died of a heart 

attack. It was terrible, We were 

about to go on stage and I had to 

be funny knowing we had just lost 

Les. 

NEG: So after Diamond and 

Leyton you had a solo career. 

KL: Yes, well we got an offer to 

do the Moulin Rouge in Paris and 

he said to me I don’t want to do 

it. I asked him why and he said he 

just didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t 

understand why then some time 

later he called me and asked for 

help. So I went over and he was in 

some distress so I took him to the 

hospital and the doctor said that 

he had a stroke. It turns out that 

this was his third stroke and it was 

why he didn’t want to go to Paris. 


Local Heroes - Kenny Layton 

And then I had to do the show by 

myself and that’s when I started 

my solo routine. Unfortunately, 

he never worked again. 

NEG: So bringing things up to 

date, you have Talent in your 

family with Charlotte Grayson, 

your grand-daughter. 

KL: Yes, well she came to me one 

day and said ‘Grandad, teach me 

how to play a guitar’. She was 

about 13 at the time and I gave 

her my guitar. She said to me, I 

can’t reach the end so I gave her 

a Ukulele that I had. And I’m not 

joking, within 20 minutes, she had 

learnt and was singing two songs. 

But her dad is also a guitarist with 

The White Negro’s. So yes, there’s 

lots of family talent. 

NEG: So any plans for the future? 

KL. It depends what comes 

around, I’m 78 in August and I 

think I’ve done everything I’ve 

wanted to do but I would like to 

have a real nice country band 

again. But something that we 

don’t have to worry about. You 

know, the older you get, the longer 

it takes to learn new songs. 

NEG: Kenny thank you much for 

your time. 

I cannot tell you what a pleasure 

it was to talk to Kenny. He 

really did take me on a journey 

through showbiz history and I felt 

honoured. The great thing is, I 

continue to enjoy the music and 

antics of Kenny every Tuesday 

night. How lucky am I? 

I’d like to finish this article by 

directing you to Kenny’s Youtube 

page so you can all enjoy his 

comic genius. 

https://www.youtube.com/@ 

Peak1942 


LOCAL HEROES 

MICHAEL 

GALLAGHER 

One of the North East’s 

most prominent rising 

stars speaks to us about 

his career, his music 

and a very promising 

future. NEG looks into 

the Hartlepool born Indie 

Rock star 

By Paul George & 

Michael Gallagher 

One of the great things 

about running this 

magazine from 

Hartlepool, is the plethera of talent 

on tap to fill the pages and our 

featured ‘Local Hero’ is right on 

the top of the list. 

Although Michael, 27, now lives 

in Manchester, he is born and bred 

in Hartlepool and, as confirmed 

by his recent visit, is still a 

Hartlepudlian at heart. However, 

his new surrounding is giving him 

new opportunities and a broader 

perspective on his chosen career. 

Introduced into the music scene 

via his Nan’s CD collection, 

Michael has become on of the 

North East’s most exciting 

musicians around. His 

songwriting is powerful, yet 

honest and vulnerable enabling 

him to not just play to his 

audiences but to communicate 

with them through his lyrics and 

music. 

Michael Gallagher’s blend of 

anthemic indie rock and sharplyobserved 

lyrics deliver social 

commentary of intimate detail. 

His love affair with his hometown 

often comes to the forefront 

of his songwriting, which tells 

stories of love, loss, togetherness. 

Drawing influence from a wide 

variety of music, it is the guitar 

music boom of the 00’s that takes 

centre stage in Gallaghers music. 

With comparisons to the likes of 

56 60 www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk

The Strokes, The Vaccines and 

Bob Dylan, Michael’s releases 

have already received support 

and acclaim from Radio X, BBC 

Introducing & CLASH. Michael’s 

live show has grown over recent 

years, performing at festivals 

including Isle of Wight, Truck 

Festival and YNot ?, along with 

sold out dates in Newcastle, 

Manchester, Sunderland and 

Hartlepool Town Hall. 

Recently, I chatted to Michael 

about his career, his latest singles, 

his future projects and of course, 

his guitars. 

NEG: So why the move to 

Manchester? 

MG: I needed to branch out a 

little more to move my career 

along. Manchester is offering a 

lot of opportunites for me. But I 

wanted to try out new things and 

see where it took me. It’s been 

great so far, I’m not sure if it’s 

permanant but we’re here for the 

foreseeable future. 

NEG: Tell us about your 

new recordings this year. We 

understand you’ve had two 

releases. 

MG: Yes, this year has been 

pretty busy. We released Rum 

and Raisin earlier this year and 

then in May we released Out of 

Time which was written basically 

about a breakup. My friend was 

in a relationship at the time that 

ended, so I took some inspiration 

from that. We recorded it at 

Kempston Street studios in 

Liverpool. It was great to return 

to Hartlepool during May to 

launch the single at Idol’s. It was 

a great night, totally packed out. 

The support was brilliant. It was 

also good to play at Idol’s where 

Local Heroes Album - Tygers Michael of Gallagher Pan Tang 

I used to play when I lived in the 

town. 

NEG: So going forward, what 

have you got in the pipeline for us? 

MG: We’ve got a pretty busy 

year with the gigs and festivals 

including the Soundwave Festival 

back in Hartlepool 27th July. I’m 

also writing a lot. When I moved 

to Manchester, I began writing 

a song a day, so far I’ve got 24 

written which we’ll be pushing out 

later this year. We have another 

single coming out at the back of 

the summer hopefully and an EP 

towards the end of the year, so 

yeah, we’re pretty busy this year. 

NEG: So we’ve been taking a look 

at the guitars you use, can you tell 

us about them? 

MG: Yes, well I have a Strat 

that I use an awful lot, I have a 

www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk 61 57

LOCAL HEROES 

Telecaster, a Martin acoustic and an 

Epiphone Casino. I love that one, it 

has a great vintage sound which is ideal 

for a lot of that 00’s indie music. Kind 

of really suits my style. A lot of those 

bands from 90’s and 00’s used that semiacoustic 

style. 

NEG: Michael, thank you for your time 

in speaking to us here at NE Guitars 

and good luck with the future. 

We are proud to have spoken to Michael 

especially hailing from our hometown. 

It’s funny but when you speak to some 

people, you get the feeling that they 

are destined for great things, I get that 

feeling with him. One thing is for sure, 

NE Guitars will be following his career 

and supporting him whenever we can. 

All I can say is, watch this space. The 

right people need to hear how good he 

really is, so if any Labels are reading 

this, you could do a lot worse than 

taking a chance with Michael Gallagher. 

If you would like to learn more about 

Michael or listen to his music check 

him out on the sites below. 

www.michaelgallaghermusic.co.uk 

www.facebook.com/mickyygall 

www.youtube.com/@mickyygall 

https://open.spotify.com/ 

56 62 www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk

Local Heroes Album - Tygers Michael of Gallagher Pan Tang 

www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk 63 57

NORTH EAST GIGS BOARD 

SEND YOUR GIGS INTO US @

September 2024 

Sponsored By 

GUITAR NIGHT 

Tour 

19th Sep 

20th Sep 

21st Sep 

The Black Room @ O'Reillys 

Hull, NU3 1XR 

The Green Room 

Stockton, TS18 1jZ 

The Ship Isis 

Sunderland, SR1 3QJ 

22nd Sep 

Foxtails 

Chorley, PR7 2LA 

Discover the delights of fingerstyle guitar with England's and 

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your socks off with beautiful tones and blistering licks. 

dAVID BROWN mURRAY 

cONNOR tHOMAS 

tickets available at guitarnight.co.uk

SEND YOUR GIGS INTO US @ 

01 OCT 2024 

02 OCT 2024

AMPLIFIERS 

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Find us at 

Unit 6 Front Street 



County Durham 

DH6 2ND 

Tel 07546 656143 

A GREAT RANGE 

OF GUITAR 

STRINGS 

IN STOCK NOW 

www.eastdurhamguitars.com 

sales@eastdurhamguitars.com

NE Guitars - July Edition

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NE Guitars - July Edition

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