Bob Dylan Gets the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Hi All,

I'm not an American, so I haven't got a clue what the Presidential Medal of Freedom actually is - other than its the highest civilian award you can get. I'm guessing it's because you don't have a Monarch or something so you guys can't have "real" awards. 

Haven't we all got freedom already? If you have the Medal of Freedom do you get to go on a plane with over 100ml of fluid? Can you bring as much Canadian porn across the border as you like?


Anyway, 71 year old Bob Dylan has now got one for his "considerable influence on the civil rights movement in the 1960s" and for his "significant impact on American culture over the past five decades".

Those dates don't really add up do they? Did he take a decade off or something?

I digress, as Bob got an award, I thought I'd make everyone's day by doing a cover of a cover, which is the best way of doing things, so here it is

Desolation Row:




Thanks for listening

Local All Girl Band Vendetta, June Gig List

Hi All,

Vendetta are an all girl rock/pop group based in Hampshire.  I've been following them for quite some time and been to quite a few of their gigs.

They play popular rock and punk covers, as well as putting a new twist on other popular tracks. They have been known to melt faces.

They have recently put up a huuuge number of dates on their website: http://www.vendettaband.co.uk
but I'll list this months here for you:

1st June - The Swan (Woolston)
4th June - The Golden Eagle, Southsea
9th June - The Halfway Inn (Chandlers Ford)
23rd June - Leukaemia Busters event (Purbeck Odyssey, Dorset)

The one for leukaemia is for a great charity who raise money for studying and trying to find a cure for childhood cancer. Why not sign up for the walk (even the 2 mile one) then go back to the bar and listen to some great music?

Here is one of their tracks:





thanks for reading,

U2, sound effects and listening to your own advice.

Hi All,

I thought I'd play a little U2 earlier this month. I don't really like them to be honest, but this has got to be one of the very few tunes of theirs I like.

To play it though requires a bit of thought. They have that weird bend in, so you apply an octave bend to your pedal, but then you realise you have a wah sound over the top of that. It's a bit awkward to play with only one pedal. To that end I went to soundcloud and played the verse differently every time.

Here it is:


Hold me thrill me kiss me kill me Cover by Hand by Calloused Hand


After about an hour of playing it back to myself, my wife and kids, etc... I decided a mix of 1 and 3 wouldn't sound too bad, so I went for that for the video and then completely failed to listen to myself.

Here's the video:



Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas on that sound effect.

Thanks for reading,

Rap Battles

Hi All,

I don't really like rap. Can't stand it in fact. So why, I can't hear you ask, are you posting a link to a rap battle?

Let me introduce you to someone. Mark Grist. Like a lot of people who started watching the Don't Flop rap battle league they were (probably) attracted by this English teacher turned lyrical linguist. I've never been interested in the usual Guns and Ho's and money style of rapping, or the rapping about rapping shite that normally comes with this kind of thing, but to hear this guys put downs is just a beautiful thing to behold.

Here he is with Mixy battling with Pedro (the angry midget) and Pamflit (the big guy with the hat).

The Cryptics

Hi all,

A shout out to The Cryptics, the soulful vocal indie pop rock group with a kicking b-b-b-bbbb-b-back-beat.

They had their first gig the other day, and from their facebook page it seemed to go really well.

If they come a bit nearer Southampton I'll definitely go and have a stomp.

"The Last Word" sounds like some form of 2 tone Ska funk deal, while She Saves the Day sounds like the Stereophonics on uppers.





You can find them online here:

http://www.thecryptics.co.uk/

or their soundcloud here:

http://soundcloud.com/cryptics3

JOS Debut Album and video

Hi All,

This is JOS.

They have recently released their debut album "Ad Nauseum"

I quite like this band, Johns accoustic pop/punk history comes through on songs like Get Up and Effigy, which sound very much like early Levellers in my mind.







Then we have their new video for "When Giants Walked the Earth". This is a really rocky bluesy riff based track. Again you can almost feel the folk/punk/rock trying to get out.






Well worth checking out their website.
http://www.johnoshea.com

Channel Launch

Hi All,

This is my new music channel. This is where I will be posting videos and music not just from me, but from other unsigned bands, or stuff that I'm interested in with a musical lift.

The idea is to just give some backing to my YouTube and SoundCloud channels, and my musical interests.

Here's my links:

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/hand-by-calloused-hand

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TriggsRiffs?feature=guide

thanks for listening,