Billy & The Fingers - Goodbye Chesterfield Road

You may remember, a while back, we interviewed Eastbourne-based geniuses Billy & The Fingers. We're big fans of them here at BobbySix.com, so it is with excitement that we are able to share with you their latest long-player.

Whatever you were planning on doing for the next 23 minutes and 52 seconds, don't. Instead give your ears a treat by washing them in the charming sounds of Goodbye Chesterfield Road.

 

David Ford's Milk and Cookies at The Royal Hippodrome Theatre, Eastbourne

BobbySix.com braved the snow with camera in hand to attend David Ford's Milk and Cookies gig in Eastbourne last weekend. Check the video below:

Eastbourne resident David Ford has, for a decade, been finding time within his busy recording and touring schedule to orchestrate and perform a series of charity gigs, entitled Milk and Cookies. Having raised thousands upon thousands of pounds, Milk and Cookies turned ten-years-old on Saturday night. To celebrate, Ford played a show at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre in his home town.

While the event was sold-out, the fact that England's roads/trains seem to come to a complete standstill with the slightest peppering of snow means that a couple of hundred punters failed to make it. While this was a shame, the event was also live-streamed around the world, so those who were unable to attend could at least enjoy it from the warmth of their living room.

What they would have seen was the usual mix of Ford's solo songs and unexpected covers and rarer treats. Within three hours of terrific entertainment, highlights included a duet with former Easyworld band-mate Jo Taylor-Jones, a turn from Frances Law and a magnificent barber shop quartet featuring Max Arnold from The Late Greats, Neil Martin from Billy and the Fingers and Gary Page. As the gig drew to a close, certain representatives of BobbySix.com made up part of the choir that provided vocals on Bowie's Young Americans, Springsteen's Hungry Heart and John Farnham's You're The Voice.

Ford's music has yet to receive the recognition it deserves and so his life as a troubadour is hardly the most profitable. Therefore, for him to dedicate weeks and weeks of every year to work on this charity project illustrates what a fine chap he is. And the sheer entertainment that was on offer on this cold December evening in a dilapidated old theatre in Eastbourne cannot be argued with. A winning night all round.

This year's very good cause was the Tuesday O'Hara Fund.

Getting To Know... Billy & the Fingers

In the latest in the Getting To Know... series, Neil Martin from Billy & The Fingers talks to BobbySix.com about how he loves making music with mates, even if those pesky second verses do prove to be elusive:

I would describe Billy & The Fingers' sounds as borrowed chord progressions, stolen words and half remembered melodies. The sound of Friday night if your Friday night consists of sitting round my flat drinking and recording hastily written songs.

I take inspiration from Brian Eno’s first 3 solo albums, Robert Pollard’s approach to recording and releasing music, Phil Spector’s Wall Of Sound, Neil Young’s vocal on Mellow My Mind and the Louvin Brothers' vocal harmonies.

Music makes me selfish. It takes me out of the stresses of the week and places me entirely in the moment. Creating music with friends is the single greatest thing you can do. Music is not a career for Billy & The Fingers (some of you will not be surprised at this), it is a release. There is no gameplan and no mission statement. This is for us.

If I could only listen to three albums for the rest of my life, they would be:

Brian Eno – Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy
Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Gene Clark - No Other

There is not really much I can add about them that hasn’t been written elsewhere far more eloquently than I can manage other than all three albums continue to astound me on every listen.

I wish I had written lots of things but then if I had written them then they would probably lose that magic. The songs of John Darnielle make me absolutely sick with envy and are probably responsible for me not writing more. Karl writes most of the words for Billy & The Fingers songs and I tend to add bits and pieces to finish them off or make them fit with the vocal melody. Occasionally I will write a whole song but I am incredibly self critical of my own words and have a million killer first verses lying around that I couldn’t find good enough second verses for.

Aside from music there is: Badlands, A Room For Romeo Brass, Harold & Maude, The Straight Story, Buffalo 66, All The Real Girls. There is also: Geek Love by Katherine Dunne, And The Ass Saw The Angel by Nick Cave, James Ellroy, David Peace, Flannery O’Connor.

And on top of these wonderful things there are innumerable other things that need to be done and as a prolific procrastinator with attention issues most of them aren’t done as well (or perhaps as regularly) as they could be.

Be sure to check out Billy & The Fingers on their Myspace page.