We're taking a break...

Some people say that The Oddsods is an institution. (Others say that we should be placed in one!)

Well this band is taking a step out of the limelight for a while. Two band members (Pete Willow and Richard 'Doc' Rider) are leaving to pursue other musical directions and Simon has a stack of day job commitments that are making it difficult for him to fit in public appearances. Paul and Mick also play for other bands. So now seems a good time to put the 'Sods on ice for a while.

Don't worry - this isn't the end of an era. We'll keep our website, MySpace page and this blog going and we'll let you know when the 'Sods are back in circulation with a new line-up but the same 'music for a rare old time' that has kept us busy for the last 15 years.

Thanks for all the support from Oddsods fans and the bookings from discerning venues from Cumbria to Cornwall.

The regular Denbigh Arms sessions will continue each the month in Monks Kirby, near Rugby although these have been renamed as 'The Denbigh Arms Sessions', led by Pete Willow and usually featuring Richard 'Doc' Rider, Bob Brooker and Ewan Cameron from Dark Island and singer-guitarist Colin Squire plus other talented musicians from across Warwickshire and Leicestershire. It's always a good night of music, starting at 8.30pm (admission free) - the next session is this Sunday, 20th July.

Playing for the President!

The 'Sods have been invited to perform for the Presidents' Night - not in the White House but in a large Birmingham Club on the strength of our performance at the CAMRA Birmingham Beer Festival.

The gig is on June 28th but it's a private party so we can't plug details. Nevertheless it's good to get the prestige gigs as a result of recommendations from people who've actually seen us play (in contrast to rumours from people who haven't!)

Meanwhile some changes on the Denbigh Arms front. Same format - new name. The 'Denbigh Arms session' continues to meet on the last Sunday of the month in the famous upstairs room of the Denbigh Arms, Monks Kirby, featuring members of The Oddsods (usually Pete, Richard and Paul), members of Dark Island (usally Bob Brooker and Ewan Cameron), the excellent singer-guitarist Colin Squire, plus anyone else with talent on the vocal and instrumental departments.

The next session is Sunday June 29th. We'll be taking a break in July as many of us will be at the Warwick Folk Festival, then it's business as usual on Sunday August 31st. Come in your coachloads!

Getting back in the Godiva groove

The 'Sods are back on the folk marquee stage for this year's Godiva Festival in Coventry's War Memorial Park - the biggest free festival in the Midlands.

The folk concert takes place throughout the afternoon of Sunday 6th July with Jez Lowe and Kate Bramley topping the bill. Here's the flyer with the running order:



Good to see Joe O'Donnell's new line-up of Shkayla appearing. Some of you will know that Joe is an 'honorary Oddsod' having played with the band for a few weeks when we had a busy run of bookings and no fiddle-player a few years ago.

This will be our first appearance at Godiva with Mr Shaler at the fiddling helm. Get ready to rock!

Greyhound gig postponed - Simon's poorly!

Forget the last news item. The Greyhound gig in Coventry this Saturday will be postponed until nearer the summer.

The reason - lead singer and melodeon-man Simon was admitted to Warwick Hospital on Monday with abdominal pains. They're still being diagnosed but he's doped up at the moment and is likely to need an operation this week. So he'll be in no fit state to perform this Saturday.

The gig at the Bull Inn, Witherley on Saturday 26th April will go ahead with or without Simon - watch this space for updates on gigs and on Simon's condition.

Two old 'Sods to join beer festival line-up

Two former Oddsods members are to join the line-up on the afternoon of Saturday 19th April for the band's beer festival appearance at The Greyhound Inn, on the canalside at Sutton Stop, Coventry.

Fiddle-player Nigel Ward is to step in for Mick Shaler who won't be available for the gig, while founder Oddsods member Bob Brooker, now playing bouzouki and banjo for popular folk and ceilidh band Dark Island, will be the band's sixth man.

The free admission show begins at 4pm and runs until the early evening. The band will be entertaining connoisseurs of a wide selection of ales and they may even try the odd tipple themselves - just to keep the vocal cords lubricated.

Star Trekker Doc Aims For The Top

Oddsods euphonium wizard, Richard 'Doc' Rider is to trek to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in a bid to raise £6000.

In December, Richard and his son Stephen are heading to Tanzania to do the sponsored climb and take part in an International Conference, organised by the charity ‘Engineers Against Poverty'(EAP). The money will help EAP work with industry, government and civil society to fight poverty and promote sustainable development. (Check out their website for further details)

Over the next few months Doc will be inviting friends, colleagues and anyone else that happens by to sponsor the climb. From now ‘til December, he and his family are planning events and rattling a collecting tin to raise the cash.

Look out for news of a special Oddsods gig to help the cause. If anyone has any other fund-raising ideas, speak to Richard or Liz.

Meanwhile, here's wishing every success to our intrepid mountaineers, doing their bit to eradicate global poverty. Keep on trekking guys!

All change for Paddy's weekend

The landlord of the Greyhound in Coventry booked in a wedding for Saturday 15th March - then realised he'd also booked the 'Sods to celebrate the patron saint of good times and no snakes! It would have been chaos!

The good news is - he has another pub. So reset your satnavs folks. We're celebrating St.Pat's at the Bull Inn, Witherley, Nth. Warwickshire (on the A5 between Nuneaton and Atherstone CV9 1RD). There'll be a big marquee, lashings of Guinness and a rare old time.

And if you're looking for something special to wear that evening, why not take your pick from one of our specially designed, stylish t-shirts and long sleeve shirts with a great selection of shamrocks, Oddsods logos and cool pictures of the band?

Go on - prove you're a true fan!

After another momentous year, it's time to look forward to new plans and resolutions.

Perhaps this will be the year of the new album. Or the year we add lots of new material to the repertoire (we have been adding some!) Or the year we eventually get paid for the gig we did last October at Molly O'Grady's!

We finished off 2007 in great style at the Denbigh Arms, Monks Kirby. The room was packed with Christmas refugees and the band (minus Paul who had his own gig in Phuket) was joined by some excellent 'And Friends': Colin Squire (guitar & vox), Martin Bushnell (fiddle), Minty (cello), JP (banjo), Banjo Dave (guess the instrument), Caroline Sampson (recorder and whistles), Jack Shuttleworth (harp and squeezebox) and former Oddsod Nigel Ward on the fiddle (don't tell the taxman!).

We've noticed that the pub now has a permanent notice on the wall by the lounge entrance which says we're there on the last Sunday of every month - so it looks like the regular gig carries on this year.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) sees us back at another regular gig - first Wednesday of the new year at the Ride-A-Cock-Horse Folk Club at the Arts Centre in Banbury and always a treat, for us anyway and hopefully for the audience as well!


Thanks to all who have supported us, followed our fortunes, joined in with our sessions at the Denbigh and at Warwick Folk Festival, bought our CDs (in some cases more than one copy after wearing out the first one!), booked us for their weddings, birthdays, retirements and other excuses for parties, yelled 'more!!' at the end of our gigs, and generally made it such fun to be an Oddsod! Here's to another fun-packed year or many 'alves!

Happy New Year!!!

Thanks for your support - we will wear it always!

Great to see so many friends on stage and in the audience at the And Friends session at the Denbigh last night. Even as Simon languished at home with back pain (actually that's no joke!) we all played gamely on and had a great time.

Thanks in particular to Minty, Colin, Banjo Dave, Bob and Ewan from Dark Island, Jackie and Jackie for performing with us - and thanks to all who turned up. Good to chat to so many people who read this blog and keep up with our news. Feel free to add comments on our news items by the way.

Just to announce that we will be back at the Denbigh on the last Sunday of the year - i.e. December 30th. Well some of us will. It may be more Friends and the Odd Sod but it will be a great night out to fill that blank period between Christmas and New Year.

And as a special treat - here's a very early photo of Mick Shaler. Didn't he look sweet!

Strictly come dancing...

Paul Kenny has been such an inspiration.

Fancy fretwork at The Tump

Pete Willow has been asked to host a night of lively guitar pickin' at The Tump Music Club in Brinklow on Thursday 6th December.

Guests for the evening are finger-pickin' wizards Pete Smith and Chris Williams. Click here for a taste of what's to come. Says Pete, 'I'll just strum a couple of numbers and then join the audience to watch the masters at work!'

The music kicks off at 8.30pm at the Royal British Legion, Heath Lane, Brinklow. For more details, call the organiser on 02476 714370.

The CAMRA never lies...

The band was given a great review for our performance at the Birmingham Beer Festival organised by CAMRA last month...

On Friday evening, we saw a fantastic performance by Coventry-based 'Oddsods', a mix of Irish, Scottish and some 'English' folk, interspersed with some jovial banter with the audience. We have never featured a folk band at the festival before, but it was nice to see that most of the audience knew the words and joined in with the likes of 'Dirty old Town' 'Fields of Athenry' and 'Whiskey in the Jar'. If you want to find out more about the band, visit their website www.oddsods.net or myspace entry www.myspace.com/oddsods.

The full Festival review is here. Cheers guys!

Get it in writing!

The original item in this part of the blog has been removed following an agreement as part of an out-of-court settlement with a venue that had been in breach of contract.

The contract was verbal. While we achieved a settlement, it took months of hassle to sort out. Our advice to any band offered a booking by any commercial venue is to get the agreement in writing. If the venue refuses a written contract, don't accept the booking.

Updated 28 July 2008

Online press kit - our shameless endorsement!

We've just added another string to the bow for our online promotion. The Oddsods have their own online press kit!


PCWillow has been set up by Pete and Chele as a service to help improve coverage for bands and musicians.


Says Pete:

The design of the press kits reflects years of frustration I have had - as a columnist and festival programme writer - trying to get some clear information (or good quality photographs) from some of this country's top bands.

Here's a link to the PCWillow home page - this explains how the press kit works and other media support services available. And here's a link to the press kit for our good friends, Joe O'Donnell's Shkayla.

If you're a musician, promoter or venue organiser looking for better media coverage, why not get in touch?

Cheers!

We were well looked after at the Birmingham Beer Festival last week. Not only free drinks but also free commemorative glasses do drink them from. This comment arrived from the organiser a few days later...

Once again, many thanks for the band’s performance at the beer festival on Friday night. We have had nothing but compliments from customers and staff and the music volume was perfect.

Thanks Mr CAMRA - any time!

Let's get this show back on the road!

Typical! You wait for ages while nothing happens, then they all turn up at once!

After a 3-week break from the gig circuit, The Oddsods are making two appearances this weekend!

Friday night sees us back at the Albany Club in Earlsdon, Coventry - by popular demand it seems. We start playing at 9.30pm.

Sunday night is 'Oddsods and Friends' at the Denbigh Arms, Monks Kirby - a week earlier than normal for this monthly event. Musicians are most welcome to contribute to the orchestral ambience of this unique hybrid of session and concert. Admission is free and the key is (usually) G!

Come in your coach loads for a double-decker helping of musical mayhem.

Three 'alves at Warwick!

See what we have to put up with? Past and present members of the band are playing our hearts out while Simon takes a beer break!

The Roebuck Inn was rockin' to the sounds of the 'Sods at Warwick Folk Festival. If you've ever wondered why we always announce that we're playing an "evening of three 'alves", it's because we cram in more into the night than yer average mad Irish folk band - not because we're lousy at maths.

Our Saturday night session featured the band and friends, including Colin Squire on guitar, Caroline Sampson on whistle/recorder, former Oddsod Louisa Davies-Foley on the fiddle and founder Oddsod Michael Mahon on banjo (Pete Willow did try to sabotage this by breaking a string while tuning the banjo, but Banjo Mike grabbed Paul Kenny's instrument and kept on plucking away).

We also appeared in concert on the Friday night but without the dulcet sounds of Doc Rider's euphonium and bass harmony as he was attending his stepson's wedding that day. We know - such a feeble excuse.

Anyway it was a wild Warwick. Chele Willow took some great pics - see for yourself - including some interesting poses of the Sods in musical action.

Brace yourselves Warwick - The 'Sods are back in town!

Hey hey we're off to Warwick this weekend! (And we'll make sure our banjo player is given the right directions!)

The 28th Warwick Folk Festival kicks off this Friday (27 July) and it has loads of great guests - Seth Lakeman, Osibisa, Altan... 'Yeah yeah yeah,' I hear you say, 'but what we really want to know is when are The Oddsods playing?'

Well, you can find us on Friday night at the Living Tradition Centre - that's one of the venues in the grounds of Warwick School on Myton Road. We're the final act of the evening concert, following Mick Holditch, Ceridwen Davies, Ninepenny Mark and Chris Aronsten. Estimated start time for our set is 10.30pm.

And on Saturday night, we're hosting an 'Oddsods and Friends'-type event at The Roebuck on Smith Street, Warwick, 8-11pm. Billed as 'A Rare Old Time with The Oddsods', it'll be a little like our regular Denbigh Arms sessions. Admission is free and the key is G!

A rare old Napton finale

Follow the arrow to find us at the Bridge III Beer Festival at Napton on Sunday night. (Click on the image to enlarge)

We'll be the 'headline act' for the folk concert in the Napton Bridge Hotel. The whole weekend will raise cash for the Air Ambulance with rock and blues bands on the Friday and Saturday and folk all day Sunday.

The 'Sods step on stage around 9.30pm to round up a day of entertainment that includes sets by Maggie and Jez, Pam Ashford and Andy Thomas, Danansooz, Rack & Ruin (featuring our old buddy, Nigel Ward on the fiddle), Three Men In A Boat and Ron and Mabel of Meet On The Ledge.

Admission is only a quid. Further details are on this website although a lot of the artist information is now out of date.

It's gonna be a super night - not to be missed!

Folk show to rock at Godiva

Old friends and new names line up to play the free folk concert at this weekend's Godiva Festival.

Hosted by Oddsods singer-guitarist Pete Willow, the Sunday afternoon concert takes place in the Rhythm Tent in Coventry's War Memorial Park. Guests include Dubliners singer Sean Cannon, popular Coventry trio Isambarde, superb blues guitarist Jim Crawford and many more. Click here for full details of the line-up and timings.

Admission is free - just turn up and enjoy. Be warned however - it's in a big marquee and there are no seats provided so you might want to bring a groundsheet or folding chairs.

Although regular guests at Godiva, The Oddsods won't be taking part this weekend, especially as we're playing a private party the night before. We thought we'd give the local residents a break from having their windows rattling to the chorus of 'I'll Tell Me Ma' - for this year at least!

(Photo of Sean Cannon courtesy of Chele Willow)