The Long Version – Late Bloomer,

Once in a while, I’ve posted on here about some music or other I’ve been involved in – either my previous band Neil Gowans and the Winos, my (mainly design) involvement with ace blues trio Jimmy Regal and the Royals, or my clear-the-decks solo album Strum Und Twang. After that, I went a bit quiet. And then…

A couple of years ago, I was at the birthday party of Tricia Davies Nearn, a wonderful American singer and musician who I’d long thought should front a band of her own. My drummer friend David nudged me at said party: “You know Tricia’s forming a band with me?” When I immediately blurted “Do you need a bass player?” he replied, “Nah, she’s singing and playing the bass herself”. My face fell. I’m a pretty decent bass player, but although guitar isn’t really what I’m known for, I found myself saying “Do you need a guitarist?…”

Some time later, we have a core trio, with other players on the periphery propping up the Long Version sound at gigs. Tricia is the main songwriter, bringing songs saved up from her time in other bands. I’m the ‘George’ of the band in terms of writing, a couple of new songs seemed to lend themselves to our vibe – Americana with a 70s FM radio sheen.

One big benefit of being in this band is that Tricia is pretty well-connected. One old acquaintance from way back is UK Americana legend Peter Bruntnell who, amazingly, agreed to produce us. It was my first time with a dedicated producer and a much longer process than I’m used to, but I embraced someone else calling all the shots, despite how long it took. Having use of Peter’s wonderful instruments and gear – I won’t bore you with the details – was a rare joy for a fledgling lead guitarist. Much of the time taken was in extensive overdubbing – the band, keyboards of all sorts by the talented Carl Pittman and Pete making some inspired additions: anyone who has heard his albums knows how rich and lovely they sound. When he announced one morning that he’d been inspired in the night to add harmonium and banjo to the already busy middle section of my song Early Days, I prepared to push back. When I heard it, I got a bit teary. It was perfect.

Like a painting, it took an effort to pronounce the album finished. It’s a compact ten songs, designed to echo the LPs we grew up with – two ‘sides’, a running time that would fit on one side of a C90 and a warm, familiar sound. After the final mix came the slog: the mastering and the setting up of release dates, launch gig, pressing CDs and alerting the gentlefolk of the press. It remains to see who, if any will nibble, but we have our hopes. Our one holdout is we don’t do Spotify. Signing up apparently means that they have license to plunder your work for AI and farm it out to any old idiot. We’re not having it.

At last, we’re ready to face the world alongside a billion others. It won’t make us rich or famous, but it’s made me proud no matter what. If you have a minute, do have a listen, watch a video and let me know if you like it. If anyone would like to review it, I can send an EPK and copy of the album.

https://thelongversion.bandcamp.com/album/late-bloomer

https://linktr.ee/thelongversion?utm_s

Video from the title track is in the comments below.

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