If you have been wondering whats happening, Splink are going through a few changes, we have not disappeared, we are just having a spring clean ready for the future.
We will, over the coming months, have video's - live announcements - music and so on, so even though at this time the cupboard is looking bare we are going to stack the shelves and fill it back up again so watch this space.
Ian Cutler rehearsing with Splink
Yes we know it's been a while, there are only so many hours in the day...
Splink are pleased to announce that we are in collaboration with the amazing Violinist Ian Cutler.
Ian Cutler is one of the foremost fiddle players in the UK Starting his career at the age of 7 years , he has been playing for more years than he cares to mention.
First performing in the iconic cult film "The Wicker Man" and then going on to play with " Bully Wee". He now plays with numerous gatherings including "Feast of Fiddles", the now reformed "Bully Wee Band" , "Hot Rats" and with Dave Cousins of the Strawbs as a duo and also with the "Blue Angel Orchestra".
(Above information from http://www.iancutler.com/)
At this time we are just pleased to have Ian working with us with a view to play dates in the future if time permits, Ian has a heavy schedule playing over 200 gigs a year but he heard us and loved what we do and so we are working together to see if he can make it to 200 and 'some' gigs.
Splink has been on a bit of a hiatus lately, sometimes life has to take priority, but we’re back on the musical highway now and fired up. In fact the break seems to have kicked a renewed direction into the band. Last week’s rehearsal resulted in the refining of our core set and the addition of some new tracks for the set, a reworking of a Splink classic (Splinket – the reggae based song which gave the band its name), the new Mediterranean style song Meze was given a bit of a workout to knock into shape and the funk/blues mashup Game of Life was hashed out with both Matt and Steve taking care of business of the vocal side of thing … we discovered something that day, their voices blend rather well!
So all is looking good on the rehearsals and new songs side and we’re really looking forward to getting these new songs in the set and trying them out with a live audience … because as everyone knows, a song isn’t alive until it’s been gigged!
Things are also moving forwards on the gig side … we’re confirmed as one of the bands opening the Maidstone April music festival with a nice little gig at Earls in Maidstone on the 14th April, we’ve been invited back to headline at the Crash of the Moons club, held in the incredibly atmospheric venue of ‘Bramleys’ in Canterbury (and if you want to know how atmospheric Bramleys is … our website main homepage photo was taken there). On top of that we have other gigs lining up as well as some interesting new contacts and venues … so watch this space … more news will follow!
Thought I would check out the wonderful coastal town of Deal and have a trip round some of the great venues here.
First up was Smugglers Records in the town centre (great records, tasty coffee)
Met with Will Greenham who was very keen to get to know the band a bit more (he had missed us at the Deal Radio launch in the Astor Theatre a few weeks ago)
Well, he got a good grounding on all things Splink (I love talking about the band!) and we are looking forward to hearing from him regarding the famous Smugglers Festival on 1st-4th September
Next on the list was The Lighthouse; a lovely intimate venue right by the seafront, for a chat with David Hatton.
Splink have been interested in playing here since we heard about their reputation for supporting original music. David has been very supportive of the band online and despite me interrupting a theatre group rehearsal he took the time out to discuss Splink and invited us to come down later this Summer.
Leaving David to get ready for that evening's performance I headed off to The Hole in the Roof, another well known music venue with a 400 capacity and well organised facilities. Richard the owner has a lot of experience in the industry which shows in the sort of bands he is able to attract (Reef, Toploader, Hoosiers) so it would be a real compliment to play here. After our discussion we both agreed on a Sunday slot for our first visit here in a few months time.
All in all a great day out and if you're in Deal you've got to check out these great venues, cool record store and while you're at it check out The Astor theatre and listen in to the new Deal Radio station and especially Marc Carey's new show on a Thursday night.
Dates to be posted but Splink will be be in town very soon!
Splink are members of PRS for Music.
