Missing Friday nights at the Southgate Club listening to the great bands playing at St Harmonica's? Well, we can't do anything about the lockdown, but we can do our best to recreate St Harmonica's in the comfort of your own home. So pour yourself a glass of beer, move the furniture aside to make yourself a dance floor, click on the first of the music videos below and start a text conversation with some of the people you usually meet up with at the club.Dawn Sandells - Never Make A Move Too Soon ( feat: Jeff Savage)
Raunchy interpretation of a modern-day classic recorded by BB King, Bonnie Raitt, and many more. Spot the St. H regular players in Dawn’s band. www.dawnsandells.com.
Boom La Tete - Caldonia (Livestock Festival, Forty Hall Farm, Enfield, London - 29 July 2017)
Possibly the fastest ever version of this Louis Jordan number!
That Blue Patch - Selling My Pork Chops
Ppecially commissioned for this lockdown playlist. Ruth and Dave Buckwell perform (at home, of course) Memphis Minnie’s hefty helping of meaty mischief. www.thatbluepatch.com
Storm Warning - Double Trouble
Awesome band, with mesmerising guitar playing by Bob Moore. This is the Otis Rush song that provided the name for Stevie Ray Vaughan’s band.
Foxchasers at St Harmonica's
Steve Ingrey and Dave Barton cover a song ‘pulled together’ by Jimmy Rogers with big nods to earlier bluesmen.
The Laura Holland Band - Need Your Love So Bad
Laura’s tasteful version of a song often attributed to Fleetwood Mac, but actually recorded at least a decade earlier by Little Willie John, and written by his older brother, Mertis. Not a lot of people know that.
Connor Selby - This Old World (Live at Wembley Stadium)
Lucky Connor bagged his band a massive gig, supporting The Who at Wembley Stadium, but he still agreed to come and play at St Harmonica’s. What a star. Trouble is, we were all locked down in April, so it was cancelled. Hopefully, he’ll reschedule when we get going again. www.connorselby.com.
Kelvin Davies - Frankie (Live @ Hertford Corn Exchange)
Here’s a fine live version of a Mississippi John Hurt song that also appears on Kelvin’s excellent home-recorded album, available at kelvindavies.bandcamp.com/releases.
Frankie Connolly Band - Help Me Through The Day
Written by Leon Russell and originally recorded by Freddie King. Frankie clearly knows his stuff. www.facebook.com/Frankieconnollyband/
Fran McGillivray & Mike Burke – Some Luck
A live version of an original song from the album of the same name. Find them here: www.franmike.com.
Mark Harrison Band - Black Dog Moan
A quick dash of humour from a song-writing, guitar-playing, story-telling wit, and friend and supporter of St Harmonica’s. www.markharrisonrootsmusic.com
Connor Selby: Hallelujah I Love Her So
Bonus Track! Lovely solo acoustic version of Ray Charles’s 1956 song. Couldn't resist sticking this on here.