Blues - Smokestack

I ask blues band Smokestack’s lead guitarist Phil Mills what he thinks makes a good gig. “One in which we’re hugely paid,” he jokes, before getting more serious. “Actually it’s one where the pub or club which it’s in is known as a music venue. Where people go for the music, and it’s not incidental to the general atmosphere. We’ve played in a lot of places over the years and it makes a real difference when we realise the crowd is there to check out the band. When no-one’s there to listen to the music, it just defeats the object and depresses the band.”

The Lansdown Arms has, in recent years, established a growing reputation as just such a venue, punching above its size - it’s an intimate place - in the names it’s attracted. Smokestack are hardly an internationally renowned band, but they are regulars on the blues circuit, and have played their mixture of self-penned songs and blues and jazz classics from France to the Isle of Man. “We’ll cover the likes of John Lee Hooker, Carl Perkins and Muddy Waters,” says Phil. “Oh, and Lena Horn. We do a great version of Stormy Weather”. Worth a crack? Listen to a sample following this link, and judge for yourself. Just don’t turn up expecting a bluesy backdrop to a pint and a natter. DL