The November 2007 Bluegrass Newsletter

with: Jesse McReynolds "Bluegrass in the 1960s" Part 4 & Neotek Pro Studio Consoles part 2, 

BGNEWSLETTER: Being one of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, by Wayne Lewis
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  The Frank Wakefield Band

World Tour 2004

The Frank Wakefield Band in UK: MULL

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Outside of Jeannette & Alan Hodson's bed and breakfast. Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss	Jim Lewin sleeping, inside of the Hodson's bed and breakfast. Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss	Outside of Jeannette & Alan Hodson's bed and breakfast  Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss
Jim Moss after 3 weeks of 4 hours of sleep a night and 8 hrs of travel. Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss	Inside of the Hodson's bed and breakfast. Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss	Outside of Jeannette & Alan Hodson's bed and breakfast  Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss
Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss	Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss

Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss	Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland Photos by Jim Moss
Left to Right: Frank Wakefield, Jim Moss, Jim Lewin  The performance in Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland (4-2-2004) Photos by Jim Moss	Left to Right: Frank Wakefield, Jim Moss, Jim Lewin  The performance in Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland (4-2-2004) Photos by Jim Moss	Left to Right: Jim Moss, Frank Wakefield, Jim Lewin   The performance in Tobermory, Mull, Northern Scotland (4-2-2004) Photos by Jim Moss
Visible Left to Right: Jim Moss, Frank Wakefield Plymouth England (3-28-2004) Photos by Jim Moss	Visible Left to Right: Jim Moss, Frank Wakefield Plymouth England (3-28-2004) Photos by Jim Moss	Visible Left to Right: Jim Moss, Frank Wakefield, Jim Lewin Plymouth England (3-28-2004) Photos by Jim Moss

                                Beautiful Bluegrass on Beautiful Mull

As a lifelong fan of traditional bluegrass music, when I heard that the legendary mandolin picker and singer Frank Wakefield
and his Band were making a March/April tour of the U.K., I thought (in my dreams!!) wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could play
their beautiful bluegrass on our beautiful Hebridean island of Mull in the North West of Scotland. Suffice to say the dream
came true and they did. And it was a night to remember.

The venue was Aros Hall, Tobermory. The audience ranged from eight months to eighty plus years. These are people who
are more used to Scottish and Irish music, but the Celtic connections survive and when The Frank Wakefield Band started
playing, it was total connection.

The musicianship, singing and professional performance of Frank and the Band impressed the audience so much that the only
complaint we had was from the people operating the Bar as there were not many drinks sold because nobody wanted to miss
the music. The band really “leaned into it” and justified the description of bluegrass as “folk music with overdrive”. The
repertoire consisted of an eclectic mix of hard-driving instrumentals, classic bluegrass ballads, blues and up-tempo numbers
with wonderful lead vocals and trio harmonies.

Frank’s incredible and original mandolin breaks, Jim Lewin’s classic bluegrass back-up guitar and fantastic solos and,
especially Jim Moss’s great fiddling so amazed the audience that there was applause after each individual break. I remarked
to Jim how reminiscent his playing was of Kenny Baker, who Monroe always introduced as the greatest fiddler in bluegrass
music, and was not surprised when Jim told me he had spent many summers learning from Kenny.

The instrumental numbers included special features for Frank’s unique and virtuoso mandolin playing his original
compositions, as well as fantastic versions of the Monroe classics, ‘Bluegrass Breakdown’ and ‘Rawhide’ at breakneck speed.
Jim Moss’s great fiddle playing featured on traditional classics such as ‘Turkey in the Straw’ and ‘Katy Hill’.

Highlights were Frank singing lead on a wonderful version of the all-time classic Jimmie Rodgers’ Blue Yodel No. 1 – ‘T for
Texas’ and ‘Deep Elim Blues’, all of which featured eye-popping solos from the mandolin, fiddle and guitar, as well as
spine-tingling trio harmony singing.

Jim Lewin sang lead and picked superb guitar on ‘Ashes of Love’, ‘I’m Just Here to get My Baby out of Jail’, ‘Hit Parade of Love’

and ‘Mother's Not Dead’, again with terrific trio harmonies and instrumental breaks.

Our audience found not only the musicianship and singing incredible, but also the stagecraft. Most had not seen a bluegrass
band working around a single mike and Frank’s wicked sense of humour was the icing on the cake.

The good folk of Mull are still talking about the Frank Wakefield Band. The first set had lasted one and a half hours when we
had to enforce an interval for refreshments before a similarly scintillating second set, finishing shortly before midnight. What
a show!

HASTE YE BACK!!

Jeannette & Alan Hodson
http://www.cuidhe-leathain.co.uk/
 
 

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