THE BLACK DOG BLUES BAND
The band so far…consisting of myself Ian, guitar, slide guitar, vocals, and some harmonica, Peter Claxton on bass guitar, Jez Taylor on guitar, and Alan Boon on drums.
Hi there, this is Ian typing from a computer chair somewhere. Howdy folks!
Well, ive been working on a blues band, gettng one together, and getting one actually to this stage is a real rush! Lovin it! Although the actual band has been through some rough times, and some undecided times. Luckily i kept slogging away with my strat, amp, and got a great blues band going now. Which i would like to think has a true ‘raw’ blues sound. Some people may think differently, and not like it, but hey. Thats for the listener to decide.
Anyways, i fist picked a strung instrument up, at the ripe young age of 3! A ukelele of all things! Couldnt play the damn thing, or understand it. So i put it in its box and left it alone until one day, when i heard “Chris Rea’s Road To Hell’at the age of 10 and that slide guitar sound has haunted me ever since! If only i could reproduce it to his standard! Surfice to say, yeh, Chris is one of my main influences for actually picking up my first guitar. A nylon strung classical thing! What an awful contraption, well for slide guitar anyways! 
And after many years of nagging my parents at 12 years old, i finally got my first electric guitar(gibson copy) Im sure the neighbours were not happy with the strange wailing noises coming from the house next door. But thats what you need to do, say bollocks to the neighbours and learn.
During many stages of owning various guitars, from a gibson copy, to encores and squires, ive been in many different bands..considering i sarted up a blues band! Ive played rock, heavy rock, indie, punk, classical. However, that sound of the slide guitar and those blues songs have always been fixed heavily in the forefront of my mind. Now the proud owner of a strat, an epiphone, still got the old squier too and my electric acoustic tanglewood guitar. Im constantly trying to write new music, which would possibly adapt with in the sets of our music. Although im not aiming towards playing full sets of original music, its always good to write. You never know when you may need it!
Thats a bit of my past anyways, and how i came to actually pick up a guitar. Totally self taught, but i create the sound i want. And to me, thats all that matters. Now i own a USA standard stratocaster in lake placid blue. Shes about 12 year old now, but doesnt look a day past, well shes looking good lets just say that! Also to my collection, i have an epiphone SG double cut away gibson, and a squire strat,which i may add is amazing for slide guitar due to the high gauge on the strings. Plus an electro acoustic Tanglewood odessey. Just for those hillbilly moments and for working out music and chords for originals. I also use a Fender Champ 110 at home for practising, has a great sound! A marshall valvestate amp for louder things. Along with a few pedals to give me that extra boost, equalizer, blues driver, distortion, and wah.
Finally, id like to thank you for taking the time to read my insert. And bid you a fine fairwell, and hope to see some of you soon on the road somewhere?
There is also music on the myspace link on this site, so please have a listen and pass comment. Please be easy on us.
Thanks once again,
Regards,
Ian.
Taken a couple of years to get to the stage were at right now. Been through various lines ups, and band arrangements. We are now a 4 piece blues band. Covering alsorts of music across the blues spectrum, however trying to stay away from the usual stuff you hear every other blues band play on the circuit.
And now for some info on the rest of the band….
I tried growing up once, I didn’t like it.
Cheers Big Pete,
And finally, some info on Jez Taylor-
I’m Jez and I’m a guitarist from Middlesbrough in the UK. I am certainly a blues player at heart but also enjoy listening to and playing a wide variety of musical styles as I think any musician should just to keep yourself fresh. I initially started playing keyboards as early as 7 years old, moving on to drums aged 12, and finally discovered the guitar at 13. I taught myself to play from listening to and watching on video the likes of Eric Clapton, B.B. King and Buddy Guy. Within the year, still aged only 13, I began playing on the local north-east club circuit alongside my uncle who was an established guitar-vocalist. This was certainly valuable experience and I continued this up until around the age of 18. I had a brief spell at Newcastle Music College until I was politely asked to leave due to non-attendance. After this I played in several local blues-rock bands until aged 22 when I joined a function style band and played a summer season onboard North Sea Ferries. On returning home I set up an original band with my younger brother Ben Taylor, who is a talented singer-songwriter, and we recorded and gigged extensively. I moved to London in 2003 and played in several original bands until returning home in 2005 where I have begun playing on the local blues circuit, going to as many places as I can, as often as I can. I am now back, and feel most happy, playing the blues, which is where I originally started. Now aged 32 I am still learning everyday just as I was at 13, still getting excited by playing, still discovering new bands, guitarists and musicians, and still improving all the time. Once you get on this train there ain’t no stoppin!
Thanks for reading once again, and hope you hear these dogs howling on a road near you soon!
