Diana Stones Blog

A very bad start to September  as I have managed to miss 2 gigs due to health problems. I have injured myself somehow and been stuck flat on my back, so I missed Elephant Shelfs gig at Plumpton Blues Festival which I was very much looking forward to. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that its nothing too serious in the longer term.

Its nearly September and the year has flown by. My Ancient chariot needs to get an MOT (15 years old but only done just over 100k) and I think so do I as I have had a lot of aches and pains post gig recently. A trip to the docs is indicated me thinks. So far so good as we had a really good gig at the Cambridge Rock festival recently that should have upped our cred a bit. We also have a local london festival appearence tommorow at Abbey Fest at the Colour House Theatre on Bank Holiday Monday. We were up in Nottingham at the Trent Navigation as our duo which went well to a mixed crowd of the local blues club folks and rugby supporters so we will be back there in the not too distant future we hope. We also had recent gigs in Lincoln and a few other places. We have one more festival gig in September which is the Plumpton Beer and Blues Festival near Lewes in Sussex which could be good for us apart from the normal ongoing stuff. We are still waiting on the the rough mixes of the new Elephant Shelf Album to come through,as we we will be down in the studio again to do a bit of over dubbing as soon. We have also started recording a Delta Ladies Album and have a couple of rough tracks down for that which sound promising. I have also still got a rather iritating cough which has now eased of enough for me to get my full voice back on gigs but which nearly left me mute for the Cambridge Rock festival but I got me mojo working sufficiently for that thank goodness.

About the Old Bell Enfield

I have been clearing out loads of old papers, you know the sort of thing. Electricity bills from 6 years ago, or credit card staments and that sort of stuff. I shred most of it and it goes in to our rather efficent recycling system that we have in Battersea for the last few years. On thing which I kept was a notice of the first domain name that I registered and that was way back in 1997. I first built a one page website in 1996 which came as a shock as I had not realised how long I have been using this internet thingy.
Almost makes you feel nostaligic for the days of 33k modems(unless your out in the countryside using dial-up as one or two poor souls still are). I also just hooved the inside of my number 1 PC as they are very efficient dust magnets and it makes the fans work very hard, this one has 3 pumping away and it must be about 6 years old now. I have still got my first decent spec pc which is about 10 years old and on a new power supply, runing linux dual boot with windows 98 me.
I have lots of notebooks with old song lyrics and bits of tunes, some of which got recorded and some which never actualy got to see the light of day as well, just so much stuff. No wonder the flat is feeling a little crowded. I used to write songs with people all over the place getting them to send me lyrics by snail mail and then eventually sending a cassette back. The pace of life seemd a lot slower then, so was it more fun or less? the fact that everything is instant or nearly so to me seems to have taken soem of the colour out of life, as we seem to need more and more stimulation.
On with the tidy-up operation now before its either the end of the world or time to watch Dr Who.

Delta Ladies with Linda Gale Lewis at the Jook House Photo by Roger Morton

Our first gig at the Jook House in Worthing backing Linda Gale Lewis.

Photo by Roger Morton

You can see more of his pictures here >> www.fantasticphotos.org

Diana on lead vocals with Elephant Shelf at the 100 Club

Makes me look almost like a professional  :-)

Interesting records on this web site showandtellmusic.com
http://www.showandtellmusic.com/music/a_few_of_my_favorite_records/

Check some of these links.

Its a whole new world.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. and here they are…

http://www.showandtellmusic.com/2006/04/six_boys_in_trouble.html

and how about this >>>

http://www.showandtellmusic.com/2006/04/mistress_mary.html

or

http://www.showandtellmusic.com/2006/04/moondog.html

Alfred Wolfsohn

Vox Humana
Folkways, 1956
Experiments on the far limits of the human voice. Here’s an MP3 of the opening piece “Lend Me Your Ears” to give you a taste. A top tier Folkways LP for me and a truly amazing 50′s avant garde artifact.

http://www.showandtellmusic.com/2006/04/alfred_wolfsohn.html

Philosophy of the World
Third World, 1969

Believe me you couldn’t make it up… Speaks for it self…

www.theshaggsonline.com

And its not what you think if your english BTW

philosophy of the world by the Shaggs when it was a dance!

morse tesla

http://www.showandtellmusic.com/2006/04/the_shaggs.html

I think its time for the Christmas Message now.  So OK here we go Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
If you can’t be good be careful and if you can’t be either then you are probably me.
So everybody lets sing along.

It’s been an interesting week for both the Shelf & the Deltas.

Elephant Shelf was supporting Chris Farlowe & the Norman Beaker Band, on Sunday the 5th. the evening also featured a short set by Jack Shay & Midnight 36 at the Music Palace 159a Tottenham Lane Crouch End London N8 9BT.

On the Friday we did a Delta Ladies guest appearance at Brooks Blues Bar with the Spike Drivers plus a cast of 1000′s of acoustic roots & blues people. Its the last night of the Brooks Blues at its present venue as its moving house to a new in Fulham for 2012.

Diana being Very-cold-in-Reim

Just been for a few days away in Reim in France  with Vicky Martin & Terry McInerny from Elephant Shelf and Clive Rawlings from Blues Matters and his wife Barbara (who also worked tirelessly to translate for us and smooth our passage)  to meet and also to do a guest spot with top French Blues Band Awek at a blues festival. We are  bringing them to the UK in 2011 for a tour in late spring or early summer. Very enjoyable, though our journey home was rather difficult as we got hung up in the snow in the UK, but we made it in the end. We also called in at one of our favorite hostelry’s the Cats Back in Putney where you will be able to see the Delta Ladies this New Years Eve.

The Moon Rises in Battersea. I am hoping to start video blogging occasionally from now just to give it   more variety.
Theres a brilliant full moon tonight. I shot it from my lounge….

 

 Online Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ok its another picture of me with a piano….

Diana Stone and a Baby Grand

 

A fun night at Round Midnight Islington.

A Pink Hippo says: I had quite a fun weekend;

Saturday May 8th was a great night at the Blues Room in St Albans backing the rather good >> Earl Jackson which was basically a Rock & Roll night. We did an opening Elephant Shelf set and get Earl up to keep the folks rocking till about 12:30 so another 3 hour set fueled only by 2 pints  of draft Guinness. A great bunch of people there and I think they really enjoyed it, and they were up and dancing right till the end. We also had a guest appearance from Rollo Marquee a very good blues harp player who will be playing at the Blues Room soon too.

Sunday May 9th of to ST FM in Burnham Essex to do a live to air set with Elephant Shelf .

We did four songs, with an interview with the band sandwiched in-between.  We were on the Sunday night show with Veteran Essex musician, journalist and broadcaster Tim Aves ‘Blues is back’ show.

Elephant Shelf viewed from the Piano at the ST-FM studio

We met Tim previously when he played with the shelf at the Blues Room. Tim  is a very well-known, award-winning figure on the national UK blues scene, as a performer, writer and event organiser.He sings and plays harmonica and guitar and spent 17 years on the road, clocking up more than 3,000 gigs across the UK and continental Europe in the 1980s and 1990s with legendary Essex rhythm’n'blues band AUTOMATIC SLIM, who shared stages with a huge range of major artistes, including Status Quo and Dr Feelgood. He later spent a further 13 years fronting the highly-regarded (but sadly, now disbanded) Texas blues outfit, THE ROCKIN’ ARMADILLOS (The band also featured Saint FM Rock Show co-host Paul Lester on drums and Gasbags co-presenter Jane English on vocals.)
We enjoyed the experience and we hope to be back down in Burnham on Crouch in the not too distant future . The live sound was mixed by Pete Crisp who engineers at the St Peters Studio and who also gave us a copy of the tracks that went to air.  Then another Real Ale and a Veggie burger, and off home to London.

Yesterday wearing my Delta ladies hat I went with Vicky Martin  to play a gig at the Travellers Rest in Draycott, Derbyshire. Its a really smashing small pub venue that has a really good selection of live music most nights a week. Its was a Small but select gathering but a fun night. Very good beer too. I met Carol Borington  who writes for Blues Matters  and who had wandered over the boarder from Nottingham to see the Delta’s. I think she enjoyed it as she will be doing a review.   I recomend  visiting the Travellers as it has a brilliant selection of music on each week and they are a really friendly bunch.

Its fantastic to know that there is so much pointless rubish on the web. Share & enjoy.

Its not my bass I am just keeping it warm for a friend.

Diana & Betty Boop have discourse

Delta ladies are out tonight and tommorow too.

We are at the Pear and Partridge at London Colney tonight starting at 09:00 with special guest Terry McInearney on Drums.
Tomorrow Friday 26th We are at Olivers Jazz Bar Nevada St Greenwich Starting at about  10:00
Terry Mc Inearney on drums and Robbie Charles on Double Bass. O’yesss….