Re: Sheffield
Stuart [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Caught this band called the Hillbilly Cats in a wonderful working class pub in Sheffield ... This place was great. Glad you had a good time here: Sheffield is a good, solid, no-bullshit city. May I recommend to the list another Sheffield band - The Slingshots - who, as it happens, just have a CD out. They are an excellent trio who play 50's style rockabilly - some covers (Carl Perkins, Johnny Burnette, Elvis, etc), and some of their own stuff. The lead singer rhythm guitarist Steve Russell, and the very talented lead guitarist J D England, have in fact been playing around town together since they came to Sheffield in the early '80's as undergraduates. On bass is Graeme McElearney. Some of their original numbers - say, 'Steamhammer Jones', and 'The Pain Has Gone' - are pretty damn good. The latter in particular features some nice guitar work by J D. The CD - 'Feels So Right' - is on the Raucous label, RAUCD 040. In the States it should be available through Hepcat. +-- ///\ Ian Durkacz --+ |C-oo Department of Automatic Control Systems Engineering | |\ The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England| +--- \_v e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] +
Sheffield
Caught this band called the Hillbilly Cats in a wonderful working class pub in Sheffield, and was regaled by Iain Noble on the underground country/roots scene as it has historically existed in England. This place was great. Reminded me of the Rose Bowl tap here in Urbana. The band was terrific, playing Elvis, Holley and such as well as some Buck Owens and country classics. (I was heartily disappointed when my ride dragged me out before they played Cryin Time Again. Iain stayed, giving hearty support to what he called just a bunch of Sheffield good ole boys. It was strange to hear these great American songs from the 50s and 60s (and later--they did a bang up job of an Eagles tune--much better than the the Eagles), and then hear these strong north country accents. So differnetnt but so familiar. It struck me just how many pockets of this stuff there are around the world. It was a reassuring after my first day there when I had a quick course in the rise of English civilization. First was Stonehenge, then a trip to the magnificent medieval cathederal in Salisbury, and then to Buffalo Bills Trading Shack (51 Winchester St., Salisbury, Wiltshire) where they have some of the tackiest western clothes this side of Garth. Whew! I did manage to pick up a copy of the double magazine: Line Dance UK/Country Music News and Routes. Strange country. Everyone wears black leather, and they all laughed heartily as they passed the shop. Ok. thats it for the travelogue. So Iain, arent you going to write up all that stuff about the Presley book?
