Boxstock 2011

Posted by ChickenboneJohn on September 10, 2011 at 2:06am

Hi everybody..I've been keeping my head down for a while...busy with work, guitar shows etc...but I'm back in the saddle for the run-up to Boxstock.

 

As you may know, we are back at The Public in West Bromwich this year. I had a tech meet with them this week, and will be finalising the running order shortly. Basically, on Saturday we will be kicking off at 10.00am, and running the morning sessons until 1.00pm The break for lunch will include a couple of 'showcase performances' in the ground floor lobby/cafe area, se we'll be keeping activities rolling all thru' the day. The afternoon will run 2 -5.00 pm, concluding with our first HGMC annual General Meeting don't worry, we'll keep is short and to the point!

 

The evening gig is underway at 8.00pm. This year we are in the theatre rather than the "Pink Tank" space, so it's a more intimate space for the evening gig, and they have a great PA system too.  The bar will be open until midnight, and the building itself closes at 1.00 am.  We are aiming to leave ourselves with a bit of time after the main performances to chill-out and jam to wind the evening down.

 

If you haven't bought a ticket yet, it helps retain what's left of my sanity to know how many people are likely to be arriving on the day.  I particular, because we are aiming to repeat some of the players workshops for smaller groups so that you don't need to make a choice of one activity or another, it will really help me programme this. Of course I don't want to get too formal about it, but I do need to do some planning to make sure these activities work as well as we can make them.

 

OK..bye for now..and hopefully I'll be seeing quite a few of you in a few weeks time.

 

 

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Replies

  • Soulcatcher & His DooFa Diddley October 4, 2011 at 4:18am

    Im with you HB !!

     what a crackin Fest ...love`d it  you all made it special........ Thank you

    HOLLOWBELLY said:

    Much gratitude to Godfather and his evil sidekick Roosterman..Superb job this year-number of stalls up/number of attendees up/number of event/workshops/open mics up/superior gig venue/mindblowing headline act.Congratulations for pulling it off bigger n better than ever.

     

  • ChickenboneJohn October 3, 2011 at 11:52am
    Err...not much to live up to then for next year's event! I'm trying not to beat myself up too much about the downsides "if only I'd done such-and-such..." but while everything is still fresh in my mind, I'm already trying to pull together my thoughts as to what direction next year's event will take. As well as that, there's a whole load of things that I'd like to move forward with for next year...ideas that had just started to happen over the past year from which things may hopefully grow. I may open another discussion to sound out these ideas.

    HOLLOWBELLY said:

    Much gratitude to Godfather and his evil sidekick Roosterman..Superb job this year-number of stalls up/number of attendees up/number of event/workshops/open mics up/superior gig venue/mindblowing headline act.Congratulations for pulling it off bigger n better than ever.

     

  • HOLLOWBELLY October 3, 2011 at 10:33am

    Much gratitude to Godfather and his evil sidekick Roosterman..Superb job this year-number of stalls up/number of attendees up/number of event/workshops/open mics up/superior gig venue/mindblowing headline act.Congratulations for pulling it off bigger n better than ever.

     

  • ChickenboneJohn October 3, 2011 at 6:49am
    It's cool that we're beginning to spread the load out a little..having Malc doing the graphics this year for HGMC and Boxstock has been fantastic..as it was something I have neither the time nor ability to do it justice, and also having him on board to help with publicity is great.
  • smojo October 3, 2011 at 6:07am
    Just to say thanks to Andy Leonard for taking over the role of HGMC secretary from me. I have not been able to contribute much in the role owing to other time consuming commitments and don't have the drive to either. John and Ben have been the driving force behind this and I am grateful for all the efforts they made to bring this together and they do need some help. Hopefully in the future I will be able to support it in some other way.
  • Strolling Tone October 3, 2011 at 5:40am

    Hey Olivier - Great to see you again - Your performance on Saturday was outstanding. 

    Glad to hear that you've arrived home safely without the travel problems that you had to endure last year.

     

    I'm looking forward to the next time we meet mon ami.

    Merci pour vos aimables paroles -

     Jusqu'à la prochaine fois que nous rencontrons -

    Tone 

    TINQUI8 said:

    hi UK friends o),   just to let you know that i'm back at home safe :),,  and earlyer that i was thinking, , i could have catch a plane sooner  so,, everything was so cool this year,, one of the best week end of this year  for me :),, it was like holiday !!, sun, good travel etc...    it's like i have family in UK now o),, really happy to see again the old friends,,  and meet lot's of new one !!,  

    thank's a lot to everyone for recieve me like that  guys,, thank's to Chikenbone for all his work !!,   i'm really happy to be here on friday it was a such great night o),,  so many good players !!,  "losttone" ( i'm still singing in my head 'my baby she love meat o),  love this song o),,  "stumblecol" was so good !!, and the best was to be there for the first Roosterman performance :) !!!,     so many thing to remember etc..... 

    saturday was great great !!!,   i really enjoyed playing  for you guys,,, HB was great !!( thank's again for your stuff bro ..) ,, and awesome Ben Prestage !!, wow, how can we play drum with feet like that ?,, awesome,  !! ,, 

     

    so,, you understand that i'm really pround to be a little part of the Homeground "!!  ,,  cheers friends,, 

     

    Merci à tous,,,  o)

     

    i've made vidéo, photos etc..., will share some later,,  ( the sound is not so good on the vidéo -(, so i will try to choose the best i can)),

     

    keep in touch brothers....  and see you soon,,                    Olivier,,,

  • Alan Hodges October 3, 2011 at 4:54am
    Hi all. Have just uploaded all my footage from the open mic sessions on friday.(almost 1 hour) I managed to capture at least something of most performances until my battery ran out!! For some strange reason, my computer decided to split the file in two. So my apologies to roosterman, his performance gets split! Check out the following links. Part 1:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-0RmMxo1Zg

    Part 2:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr_-TGzKf2w.

    Once again, many thanks to all for a great weekend

    Will post evening gig footage as soon as poss.
  • ChickenboneJohn October 2, 2011 at 4:37pm

    Blimey..."fellowship"...you mean people were actually taking notice of what I said? Thanks for those kind words Graham..means a lot to me.

     


    Graham Alibone said:

    Thanks for a brill day and night on Saturday, next time we meet John and crew,I owe you a pint [2]. Take care all and remember what Chickenbone John said were are like 'a fellowship'. Thanks to those who gave me guidance and help with my playing. We are the Cigar Box Nation.  G.
  • Graham Alibone October 2, 2011 at 1:51pm
    Thanks for a brill day and night on Saturday, next time we meet John and crew,I owe you a pint [2]. Take care all and remember what Chickenbone John said were are like 'a fellowship'. Thanks to those who gave me guidance and help with my playing. We are the Cigar Box Nation.  G.
  • ChickenboneJohn October 2, 2011 at 1:31pm

    Thankyou....my work here is done....well, I'll take a couple of days off.  I reckon Dawn is part of the HomeGrown family, and her Khalgani dancers are great example of just fusing together some different influences and mashing it all up...Andy Bole and I go back a long way with the Sutton Blues Collective...just goes to show the power of networking and connections. And as for Ben Prestage, I really don't think I truly understood what I'd booked when I managed to get him...a towering talent.  

     


    Klaatu said:

    Just adding my two penn'orth.

     

    A great day - thanks to Chickenbone John and the good people at the Homegrown Music Collective for organising a brilliant event.

     

    I bought a new guitar from Roosterman; Dr. Croc was really pleased with his "£12 Special"; Chickenbone's slide guitar workshop was extremely helpful (the song Thumb Hang by Canadian metal legends Anvil will always remind me of correct slide technique from now on!); the lunchtime gig by Lost Tone and Stumblecol was great, and Dr. Croc and I got the chance to play a bit of open mic (only the 2nd time I've played in public).

     

    The evening concert started and finished with two eye-openers. The Bhangra dancers and looped Arabian/Indian/Blues music by the one-man orchestra was very inventive and quite hypnotic - I imagine the young lads at the front table were definitely hypnotised! CBG stalwarts Hollowbelly and Tinqui8 can be relied upon to deliver solid entertainment and did not disappoint.

     

    But nothing could have prepared me for Ben Prestage. Forget Seasick Steve - the old hobo's a raw amateur compared to the force of nature that is Prestage. Great voice; utterly stunning, jaw-dropping skills on CBG, lowebow and cigar-box fiddle, and an amazing foot percussionist (was the ghost of John Bonham hiding in Ben's boots?) This guy is absolutely world-class - get him on Jools Holland's show fast! Ben's set was easily worth the ticket price (and more) alone!

     

    All in all, a hugely entertaining day. Kudos once again to the phenomenally hard-working Mr. Chickenbone John and his trusty helpers.

     

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