Having launched the inaugural session in July last year, then performed in the Double Feature with Jimi Hocking in December to wrap 2022, how does it feel to be kicking off the 2023 series of Double Trouble Blues Sessions?
Great! It’s always nice to get a return invitation, although the pressure will be on now to ensure we have at least as much fun as we did with Jimi on board last month. It was a cracking gig and perfect way to wrap up the season, but now we begin a new one so I am honoured to be first cab off the rank for 2023
You’ve performed at Ziggy Pops with your own band the Souldiggers. How do you find the production and setting there with the Double Trouble Blues Sessions format, where you open solo to then lead the Jam with Kaliopi & the Blues Messengers?
I love Ziggy’s because it has that old school ‘music club’ vibe, where you feel that it is all about settling in with a bevvy and watching a first-class show. The Double-Trouble concept with host band and feature act has proven itself to be an excellent afternoon of blues music. For me, I get to play some of my own material with my acoustic guitar and tell a few stories which I think sets up the show really nicely. Then I can kick back and listen to Kaliopi’s set before finishing up jamming with the band. What a top way to spend an arvo in St Kilda!
You’ve led Kaliopi & the Blues Messengers on two previous sessions which involved a couple of specific lineup tweaks. Has your jam developed or changed in working with this band?
Oh, it’s always developing. Even if we play an identical setlist, the aim is to revisit what we did well and do it better. We had the pleasure of mixing up some of Jimi’s and my picks for the jam set last time. I would like us to rip into a couple of faves from me on this next go-round that we simply didn’t get time for. … but there is much more to it than picking what songs we’re going to play. Sometimes they are simply the sacrificial beast. I’m more interested in starting up a groove getting up to mischief… and the band are allowing me to do that!
Some say performances are always “a work in progress”. What can your followers expect from your upcoming gig for Double Trouble Blues Sessions or is it always a case of `expect the unexpected’?
Yes indeed, this whole music thing is in constant state of evolution and part of the joy of it is adding yet another layer. The ‘jam’ aspect is largely improvised, but I do spend a bit of time thinking up different approaches that I think we may be ready for as a team. Things that go beyond playing the chords right and taking some solos. the past couple of gigs I did with this group went very well and were enormous fun. So whilst we have hit on some material and a format that works, I kinda think ‘Hmmm, what could we add to that?’ So I guess we’ll see won’t we?
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