Blue Rumour…more than just hearsay!

HOT’s Sean O’Shea talks with the well-known and popular local musicians Paul Way-Rider and Angie Phillip (formerly of The Red Geraniums) about their most recent musical re-incarnation as a duo called Blue Rumour. Their launch gig, which will be at The Black Cat in St Leonards on Friday 8 December 2017 (9pm), is worth entering in your Christmas treats diary.

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Paul and Angie: you have been involved in numerous musical projects both in Hastings and places you have lived previously. Would you like to say why you have decided to embark on yet another venture at this point?

Over the years we’ve developed a style of playing and a range of music we enjoy performing and this includes folk, blues and jazz. Until now we’ve never had the opportunity to explore our interests fully and develop sets that include, and sometimes combine, all three genres. We are enjoying the challenge of doing so.

Paul: while you lived in Oxford you played with the talented jazz, blues and soul guitarist Peter Galpin who used the nickname Mr Chill Out. What was it like playing with him, and how has he inspired your decision to form Blue Rumour?

Peter was what you would call a musicians’ musician. He had a seemingly endless repertoire of songs, and I had witnessed him on many occasions taking just a few minutes to work out the, often complex, guitar chords of tunes he had never heard before. I usually played bass with him and it was a treat to play behind someone who was so accomplished and confident in what they were doing.

One of Peter’s musical enterprises was called Blues Rumour and when Angie and I were looking for a name for our duo we thought Blue Rumour would not only be a great name but would be in memory of our friend.

Paul: You have said that you hope to concentrate on some lead arrangements that you didn’t include before, sometimes playing these on guitar and sometimes through a midi sax device. Could you expand on the new direction your music is taking?

One of the instruments I’ve always wanted to play is the saxophone, and a year ago I got a midi device which enabled me to play the sound of all sorts of instruments, including the sax, from my guitar. This means that we can now perform songs which are enhanced by the moody expressiveness provided by a sax and this gives us more variation to our sound.

Angie: your fine voice is an instrument you’ve kept well hidden until the last year. What prompted you to ‘come out’ vocally, and what has been your experience of singing in public?

I’ve sung all my life but never in public until about a year ago. I used to walk around the streets singing but never thought I could ever sing where people would hear me. This changed because Liz Porter, Jerome Franklin-Ryan and my fellow singers and musicians in The Stag, The Old King John, The Lodge Hotel and The Cove all encouraged me to sing.   Without their kind words and encouragement, I would not have dared to sing in public, so I shall be forever grateful because I love doing it. It’s like gaining an extra instrument. Thrilling.

You are a talented combo who have played quite a diverse range of music for many years. How would you describe your new sound, and what delights are likely to be included in a typical set?

Our new sound is a journey between folk and jazz with blues in there somewhere along the way. There have been so many musical inspirations, but in Hastings, we have to pay tribute to Garry and Edd Blakeley, Roger Carey and Liane Carroll. Their performances have moved us. We love folk music because the songs tell stories and touch a nerve that we all share, but so do the blues and the jazz. They let you weave patterns and we are beginning to experiment with our own compositions.

Can you talk a little about the advantages and possible drawbacks of being a duo?

One of the advantages is that we can move things along speedily, i.e. we can decide on songs, rehearsals, recordings, publicity etc., very quickly. If one of us isn’t happy with something, then it is easy either to solve it or to abandon whatever was causing the problem.

However, with just the two of us we need to keep things interesting during a performance, so we vary our instruments. Sometimes Angie plays guitar and I play my midi sax or bass, and we have started incorporating vocal harmonies as well as trying out different rhythms.

What are some of your future hopes for the development of this duo?

We hope to develop more of our own arrangements and compositions.

 

Might a recording be on the schedule?

We are already planning our first CD and hope to launch this in 2018.

Is there anything further you would like to add?

Yes, we would like to say thank you for all the support and encouragement we’ve received. We would like to thank the fans that we’ve gained through Reverbnation which is a marvellous musical community offering reviews and support.

Most of all, we would like to thank our fellow musicians, singers and listeners in and around Hastings. We learn from them all the time and without their support and encouragement, we wouldn’t have a band.

The Blue Rumour duo comprises Angie Phillip – lead vocals & accordion – and Paul Way-Rider – guitar, bass, sax device, and vocals.

You can listen to Blue Rumour on this link.

For more information please see their website.

For bookings contact Paul on info@bluerumour.co.uk.

Launch gig is at The Black Cat, 22 Grand Parade, St Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6DN. Friday 8 December, 9pm start.

Please come – Paul and Angie would love to see you there.

 

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