S2 Ep4: Michael Messer - The New Fiddle Edge Dobro

Born and bred in Bristol, unique, singer, clarinettist, piano player, dancer and actor Jack Calloway.  Hear Jack’s journey from growing up watching films from the silver screen, working as a cleaner in a vaudeville theatre, getting his first paid gig, starting and leading a band, to playing out in New York and hanging out with vintage jazz royalty!  The music world nearly lost Jack to a military career following his family tradition, but luckily he found an old clarinet in a skip and is now a tik-tok star!  ‘I didn’t want to live an existence as oppose to living a life’ You can find more info on Jack Calloway here: https://www.parlophonians.com/the-band https://www.facebook.com/Parlophonians Mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome    www.thewashboardresonators.com

The second part of our interview with National Guitar Guru Mark Makin. In this final part, Mark tells us about how he got his hands on a prototype square neck and what that entails; gives us some more info on the process of putting his book together and anomalies in the National Factory; and how he, together with Allan Timmins and Don Young helped develop the Tri-Cone model for National Resophonic,  Mark also talks us through a couple of his Holy Grail guitars and tells us the story of George Harrison spending an afternoon with him in his house in Nottingham! ‘I can’t possibly conceive I sat and drew 1150 guitars like that… I mean, it’s mental!’ Mark’s book is available to buy here: https://markmakin.co.uk/ Mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome   www.thewashboardresonators.com

The first part of our interview with Mark, world-renowned National Guitar expert and author of ‘Palm Trees, Senoritas… and Rocket Ships’ - The Bible on National Guitars.  Hear about Mark befriending and cleaning the lipstick off of The Hollies’ van, capturing the famous photos of Bob Dylan at that JUDAS gig in Manchester, meeting John Lennon and Paul McCartney separately; as well as being backstage at a blues concert and meeting legendary performers including Bukka White, Little Walter, Skip James, and Son House.  Mark also tells us the story of getting his first National and goes into detail about the process of putting his book together over many years.  Mark’s book is available to buy here: https://markmakin.co.uk/ Mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome   www.thewashboardresonators.com

‘You’re not talented enough for tuba, can you play drums?’ Mark Jeffs of Rusty Drums grew up and lives near Luton in the South of England. He starting out playing drums for a local brass band as ‘he wasn’t talented enough for tuba!’ In this podcast we learn about Mark’s start in music and his studies at Trinity College of Music and the Academy of Contemporary Music as well as getting into the history of the incredible vintage drum business he now runs. Rusty Drums’ first stock was bought in from America in a shipping container with a load of car parts and the shop grew from 40 kits and 200 snare drums crammed into his garden shed; to opening a brick and mortar shop a couple of years ago.  ‘It’s better to be lucky than good’ Check out Rusty Drums here:  http://www.rustydrums.co.uk/ Mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome   www.thewashboardresonators.com

Michael Messer has bought National Guitar history back to life as he has managed to reproduce the Fiddle Edge Dobro for the first time since the 1930s.  In this episode, learn the history of Michael’s guitar business he started back in 2008 and his dream of remanufacturing a Fiddle Edge Dobro.  After 6 years of hard work he has achieved that dream and then some. Michael describes in detail what went into making this limited number of guitars, the subtle improvements and personalisation’s to the original design and what makes these instruments unique and collectable.  You can find Michael Messer’s info here:  https://www.michaelmesser.co.uk/ Mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome   www.thewashboardresonators.com

Hear about Dick’s journey in music from a small town in the North of England starting out singing in a church choir, to buying his first Beatles record and plucking a guitar for the first time to Ray Charles.  We talk about Dick being 1 of 15 people watching a Rory Gallagher concert, folk club etiquette and how he discovered his love of teaching music from having to fill in as a guitar tutor one night. Dick is known for his many different stage acts, his use of over 19 different guitar tunings during one show and he was also recently commissioned to write music for a BBC radio documentary commemorating the Dambusters.  Music is this man’s sanctuary  You can find more information on Dick Appleton here: https://www.facebook.com/dick.appleton.5 Mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome www.thewashboardresonators.com

The second part of our conversation with Pete James where he continues telling us about his career after The Blackjacks. Hear about what it was like working the clubs in Wales, backing the best artists and performers of the day including Alan Randall, Freddie Starr, Bob Monkhouse, Ricky Valence, Alf Garnett and Max Wall.  Pete also talks about how he started collecting Ludwig drums, ending up with about 60s kits at one point, and talks us through some of his favourite ones.  There are some great tales in this episodes and Pete give us a unique Welsh prospective of what life was like for a professional musician in Wales from the 1970s.  You can see and hear Pete playing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-s-NJk4CHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeqzMr05Av0 Mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome www.thewashboardresonators.com

Legendary Welshman Peter James was born in Carmarthen in 1944 and started playing in the local dance band from the age of 9. He became a professional drummer at the age of 16 when he joined The Blackjacks and has cemented his role as part of the British Invasion of the 1960s. In this episode, Pete tells us some amazing stories and paints a picture of what life was like for a professional drummer in the 1960s from appearing on TV and radio shows, travelling to Hamburg and playing at The Top 10 Club, recording at Abbey Road Studios on the same day that The Beatles, being the top rated band at Butlins and nearly joining the roster of acts on the Larry Parnes circuit.  ‘to me, it was like being in Heaven, just to be down there having a go on the drums’ You can see and hear Pete playing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-s-NJk4CHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeqzMr05Av0 Mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome www.thewashboardresonators.com

Hello, welcome back! Series 2 starts next week with 8 new episodes. They'll be out every Wednesday and listen to this trailer to hear the guests we've got lined up..! Find our mailing list here: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome thewashboardresonators.com

Welcome back to the second part of our conversation with Paul Smith.   This time Paul talks about studying at Leeds College of Music, having lessons with legendary drummers JOE MORELLO, JOHN RILEY, BILLY DRUMMOND & JIM CHAPIN, writing a book on MEL LEWIS, flying a plane to a Freddie Starr gig, backing comedians such as RUSS ABBOT, BOB MONKHOUSE & LES DAWSON, playing on the MICHAEL PARKINSON SHOW and what is takes to be a professional musician. 'What makes a professional musician? Somebody who can't do anything else.' Find Paul on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Drummian Find our mailing list here: https://mailchi.mp/e5acf7f7d18a/wrmailinglistwelcome thewashboardresonators.com