On Friday 4th November, myself and my buddy Andrew Keen, delivered another 'Blutone & The Druid' performance at The Lodge, Duxford, Cambridgeshire.
In this article I simply want to share some thoughts about what happened as well as give a mini review (from a live music perspective ) of Drew's guitar, the PRS SE Hollowbody ii.
The Venue.
We were booked to provide music whilst the guests ate in the hotel's courtyard that was covered by a gigantic tipi. With gas burners and the stone pizza oven keeping everyone warm and toasty we played two sets with a break whilst the hotel set off their fireworks.
The area that we played in was visually stunning and the vibe for eating pizza and enjoying listening to music was really nice.
The evening itself went well apart from a minor moment when I was playing Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix on my Art and Lutherie Roadhouse electro-acoustic guitar and one of the waiters walked past and knocked a microphone stand onto me. I managed to catch it as well as keep the song going and whilst no harm was done, I had a bit of a laugh with the audience about it.
It all got caught on camera and you can see this in the video below. Watch it to the end to see it all kick off!!
The gig itself was a lot of fun. I absolutely love playing with The Druid who also delivered an awesome version of Living On A Prayer by Bon Jovi.
The Druid's Guitar
Myself and Drew have recently purchased guitars by a company called PRS (Paul Reed Smith Guitars) and they have a reputation for outstanding build quality.
Drew was playing the PRS SE Hollowbody ii in Faded Blue Smokeburst. A beautiful looking guitar with a bound fretboard.
This guitar is PRS' take on the classic Gibson hollowbody guitars that have been in popular music since the 60's. The SE element of the name is the range from PRS that is built in Indonesia on contract to PRS. Whilst the guitar snobs will prefer to go for US made PRS guitars, the reality is that the 'Student Edition' PRS guitars are built to high standards that are much more cost effective than that of their US made counterparts.
My PRS SE Starla is a beautiful guitar at only £500 at time of purchase giving me a fantastic range of tones.
What is lovely about Drew's guitar is that the controls are simple to use (more like the Fender Telecaster type of set up) with just one tone and volume knob and a three way blade switch with change between the pickups.
This style of guitar is a brilliant all-rounder giving the player the option to strum chords as well as being able to play great lead lines.
It is not a 'shredder' guitar, but for blues, rock and jazz enthusiast it is perfect.
The neck has what PRS call a 'wide fat' neck profile which means that it is a comfortable neck for most genre's of music as opposed to other profiles from the PRS range that maybe better for enhancing lead guitar work.
The pickups are the vintage sounding 58/15 'S' style pickups so have a lower output in terms of signal that makes slightly overdriven tones sound buttery smooth and creamy.
Click the picture below to find out about the PRS SE Hollowbody ii guitar.
Drew was able to play a number of different songs spanning different genres when we played together. He is an accomplished guitarist and plays in other bands, so the general purpose strength of this guitar is perfect for him. He used a number of foot pedals to augment his sound including chorus and overdrive and he was playing with a sweet little amplifier by Hughes & Kettner which absolutely punches above it's weight.
Final Words
Overall we had a fantastic night and people clapping away and giving us lovely feedback. We love an interactive audience and that is what we got. This absolutely makes the process of gigging a lot of fun.
If you would like us to play at your event then drop me a line by clicking here.
Disclaimer
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