Powerhouse Blues News

Blues Clubs Jams

2007-06-24T03:34:36Z

what a great response the band received from the Sleeply Hollow Blues Club (Geelong) on Sunday th 10th of June. It was the first we played for the club and they made us most welcomed. we hadn't played with Travo for a couple of months, but it was like slipping on some old favorite slippers. Today Ken,Ped and I will be at our own local jam playing many different players all great in their own ways. Lotsa different blues from hard edge british to low-down dirt. On the 3rd of July the Powerhouse Blues Band will be featured at the MBAS jam hope to see you all there.

Back playing the Blues

2007-04-09T00:59:08Z

After a busy month (March) where Powerhouse Blues Band were invited to play at a folk festival (Boolarra) and a Jazz festival ( Moe) we're back playing a blues gig. The Latrobe Rhythm and Blues Festival at Silks albert st Moe 21st and the 22nd April the Saturday night headliner is Jimi Hocking with many great supports. Sunday afternoon we're playing around 3ish with Screaming Stewie & the Blues Cruisers headlining. Throughout the festival there will be great local and Melbourne talent on show for more details go to www.grbc.org.au After a busy month (March) where Powerhouse Blues Band were invited to play at a folk festival (Boolarra) and a Jazz festival ( Moe) we're back playing a blues gig.

DVD review by Chris Spencer

2007-04-09T00:56:01Z

This DVD could have a lot of interest to the Maldon Blues Club and its members. Apparently the Powerhouse Blues Band have been together for 25 years and have been the mainstay of the Gippsland Blues club for the past 10. Can you imagine The Croakers still playing at the Maldon Hotel in 10 years' time? This double DVD documents the achievements of the PBB by recording a gig on the 4th March 2005. The PBB have previously released 2 cds of (mostly) original material over the past 25 years. Not a large legacy of recorded work but a commendable effort for a blues band based in rural Victoria, and I assume all working full time during that period. While I admit to a liking of hearing my favourite blues covers, the PBB do their own songs in the blues' genre. The band tread the r 'n' b vein, featuring the two pronged lead guitar work of Peter Gray and Travis Winters. There's some tasty solos from both guitarists, including slide guitar but only one track, Crosscut Saw, do they doing any dueling! The video/ film work is very good despite the obvious budget considerations as the band went to some trouble to get a good sound, extensive lighting and 3 cameras to film the night. My favourite tracks are See Me Cry, a slower number featuring Peter Gry on guitar and vocals, Let's Go Rolling Tonight,, Destination Hollywood which is boogie in the ZZ Top mould. All tracks are originals except three written by Albert King, Junior Wells and Wait on Time by Kim Wilson [of the Thunderbirds]. Most of the songs are written by Peter Gray, but the bass player, Ray Woolley writes one, unfortunately the drummer, Ken Mactaggart, missed out this time! I recommend this dvd for any of you who are collectors of Australian blues, and I encourage the committee to invite them up one Sunday this year. Apparently, they don't mind travelling! This DVD could have a lot of interest to the Maldon Blues Club and its members. Apparently the Powerhouse Blues Band have been together for 25 years and have been the mainstay of the Gippsland Blues club for the past 10. Can you imagine The Croakers still playing at the Maldon Hotel in 10 years' time?

Moe Jazz Festival

2007-04-01T10:01:02Z

The Powerhouse Blues Band Jazz Connection made a huge impact at this years Moe Jazz Festival playing a selection of swinging numbers by Louis Jordan and bringing to the band some keys, sax and trumpet - that's a whole horn section.

JAM : As always - a ball-tearer

2006-10-30T01:58:27Z

I managed to make a (now rare) appearance at the GRBC blues jam on Sunday and it was a blast. I even got to be the barrel girl. As usual, all the 'Valley jammers are in scintilating form and it's always a pleasure to get up and have a squeak with those guys. Not to mention Karl Radford who was in killer form, burning it up and making a wailing sound on his axe that is truly unique. Some genuine old school chops. Love it!! Thanks to all who purchased DVD's on Sunday too - your support is much appreciated. Apologies to those who have had some troubles getting their DVD's from the website, we've had some problems in our supply chain management system that have now been sussed out. We've got a gig this weekend in Morwell at a secret location (it's a private party / function as far as I know) and in a fortnight we'll be back at the Prince Albert Hotel for another fun Friday night. Stay tuned for more details.

Thanks for a great launch

2006-09-25T02:41:12Z

To all those people that turned out on Saturday night to help us launch our new DVD - thank you so much for making it a great and successful evening. Thanks especially to Bill Kay for his great production (as usual) and to Seibii's for their hospitality. For those people who missed the launch, you can request a DVD online and we'll arrange to get it to you (in exchange for some of your hard-earned of course) as soon as we can!

Launch this Saturday!

2006-09-20T03:37:10Z

It's all happening! - get ready, get excited and get your high-heeled sneakers polished. This Saturday, 8.00pm at Seibii's in Newborough we'll launch our DVD. We'll kick off with a bit of smoozing and socialising, at about 9.00pm we'll have our 'official' launch; Gary 'Rainbow' Roberts from Gippsland FM wants to say a few things. We get our right of reply and God, there's heaps of people we want to thank! We'll show a couple of select clips from the DVD and then we'll give you the real deal. The Powerhouse Blues Band - LIVE! We'll be in full party mode by that time and we're looking forward to having a beer with everyone. Thanks for your support and we'll see you on Saturday.

DVD : Pressed and ready for launch!

2006-09-10T09:40:50Z

We are very excited, our DVD's have been pressed and are ready for our launch on the 23rd of September at Seibii's Bar and Cafe in Newborough. Make sure that you put that in your diary. For all you out there wondering where Newborough is; it's 140 kilometers east of Melbourne. It's about an hour and a half by car. It's the home of the blues... in the Latrobe Valley at least. For a taster though, you will notice in the footer that we've provided some video's for you to download for your video iPod™. These are Wait On Time, Witchoo, Destination Hollywood and Goin' Down Easy. Download and enjoy them, please don't upload them to YouTube or any other kinda media sharing website. We appreciate your support, but we'd prefer to manage all our content on our own. You'll be able to find them on YouTube soon enough... For now, stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for more news, and hey - if you're lovin' our stuff, don't be afraid to drop us a line. Update : I've uploaded the 'Wait on Time' track to YouTube, so you can get a little taste of the powerhouse goodness there - email people this goodness! Let them know where to find us! The direct link to this video is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhA0jF0ixSs. You can also keep your eyes peeled on our YouTube musician channel : http://www.youtube.com/user/powerhouseblues.

GIG : Friday 9th at the Prince Albert Hotel, Williamstown

2006-09-08T00:29:59Z

Just lettin' folks know that we're playing tonight at the Prince Albert Hotel in Williamstown on the corner of Douglas Parade and Albert Street if you're thinkin' of coming on by. We'll be playing from 8pm - 11pm which means y'all can have an early night or kick on and see some more shows if that takes your fancy. Hope to see you there.

Music : Clapton

2006-09-03T10:59:54Z

Well, got my tickets to see Clapton. He was last here about 17 years ago; I remember - I was in high school and it was for the Journeyman album release. Damn, heaps of water has passed under the bridge - for both him and me. We're not the same people we were then...

DVD : Reservations

2006-08-27T05:24:55Z

You can make a reservation for a DVD on our website! This is not a pre-order as such and there is no commitment to buy - but we are hoping to find out how many we should press, so if you are committed to getting a copy of your own, drop us a line and let us know you're interested.

DVD : Finishing touches...

2006-08-25T12:15:21Z

We're applying the finishing touches to our DVD - believe it or not! There should be a launch very soon, keep an eye on the local papers and an ear on the wireless. It's been a long time coming - 25 years and 18 months in fact - and we're not going to let this achievement just pass on by. It's time for a real celebration.

Hey - new website.

2006-08-25T12:02:01Z

Woah! We got our selves a brand spankin' new look here at our website - let us know what you think by dropping us a line!