Well, well, hello again. The mp3 player is now installed on the home page and you can now feast upon the aural delights on The Mutter Slater Band. There are 3 newish songs to sample which should cover the taste buds of most of you out there. We continue to practice and gig assiduously so that we can deliver the goods on time and in tune whenever called upon to do so. The songs were recorded in Somerset, England at the beginning of December 2010 and I think they sound rather splendid. We hope that you too will wallow in the delights of our profuse, yet homespun talents.

As we play in a very tiny corner of the globe there are so many of you out there who have not heard our music. It will be interesting to hear what you think. Are we venturing in a fruitful direction or are we regurgitating tired cliches? Is the 3rd string on the Strat flat or is Mutter? These are some of the important things to question. Why? maybe another, but I hope not. I hope you enjoy some of it at least. Bye Bye Mutter.

Zombies? What zombies?

Hello one and all, I thought a word or several were well overdue in case you were losing the will to log on. MSB and their minions have all been slaving away at the musical grindstone since we last met. I have been writing some rather good stuff, the band members and I have been assiduously rehearsing on a weekly basis and Audiomaster Steve Kitch has been shoehorning some mixing of recorded tracks into his already overladen schedule. Please be patient these things take time, especially when their done on a micro budget. As soon as a song is mastered we will put it out there in Etherland for all to listen and hopefully enjoy. I find this rather exciting because I know from the responses to these blogs that there are people all around the globe who tune in to this site. Our songs will be heard around the world without me leaving the dubious comforts of my fungal bedroom.

     For those of you who are able to travel to Bridport in Dorset (England) I must draw your attention to the MSB gig at Bridport Arts Centre on Sat April 30th. It will be the major launch of the new line-up featuring Clive on sax and with quite a lot of new material. There are Andy Grant and Abi Rich supporting for all their might too. Why not spend a Bank holiday weekend in SW Dorset and make a real adventure of it? In the mean time, Pip! Pip! Mutter

I’m sixty now and I’ve been trying to write songs for at least 45 of those years. The first effort that I recall was called ‘Embyonic Dream’ – the title is thankfully all that remains of that effort. Anyway I’ve prodded and poked, sweet-talked and cajoled, and been downright rude and ungentlemanly to the mule muse since then and have had marginal success on a rare good day. Every now and again along the way you see the flicker of something instructive on a busted finger sign, but otherwise the scenery stays the same; sometimes however you round a bend and a whole panorama of possibilities opens up before you. I’ve just come round such a curve. I’ve just heard the soundtrack to ‘Crazy Heart’ and have glimpsed a new world. A world of song where simplicity of melody and economy of words are more than capable of bearing the entire baggage-car of life. I know it’s been done before by many greats, but this was particularly cogent. The mule and I have been rested, fed and watered. Fresh ventures await.

Well hello again, For those of you in the southernmost reaches of the globe,autumn has arrived here in dear old Blighty. Wake up in the dark, come home in the murk – it tests one’s mettle I can tell you. And how should one such as I occupy their precious free daylight hours in such seasons? Why indulge in the lagerish delights of No10 cafe/bar, Bridport and shut oneself in the confines of a recording studio with 3 mates for hours on end, that’s how. MSB will repair to Loudbox Studios the first weekend in December and we will not emerge until we have captured some of the elusive MSB magic. I will post some of the results on some handy interweb location so that you too may share in warm delights of our music – nearly as efficacious as a roaring log fire and an extensive hot toddy. Now there’s an idea…

Well it’s about time I hear you say, and yes you are right. What news? You then ask. Well, I have agreed to accompany Stackridge on a exploration of the American continent. We are off (all being well) to record one song – yes, you read right, ONE song – for The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson at the end of this month. We hope that this may lead on to world domination and a season ticket to Bridport Football Club games. I have not relinquished my grip on the day job, however. The Mutter Slater Band are to enter the recording studio at the beginning of December to get some newer material down with the new line-up. This gets the old glands a-pumping ‘cos the studio is new to us and I’m hoping that it will sprinkle a handful of magic dust over the Mutter music career. We’ll have some fun anyway. And between these momentous events? I’m glad you aked me that. I am due to become a grandfather for the first time. Life just keeps getting better and better. Pip! Pip! Mutter

Hello there, As one of my heroes Danny Blanchflower used to say. I’m now sixty and if you’re around the same weather spattered landmark, and you’re a bloke, you’ll probably recognise dear old Danny’s name – younger/female/non-soccerphiles yawn and move on. No one, least of all me, can say that reaching this venerable old age can be ascribed to vigilant self-denial, but reach it I have and whoopidee-doo to that!

Some of the more attentive among you will know that I have left the orbit of Stackridge. I thoroughly enjoyed the one and a half hours on stage, but the rest proved to be too much of a burden on my car, my stamina and my pocket. I will miss our post gig tetes-a-tetes with your ‘I last saw you in 1972, don’t you recognise me?’ and such, so if you find yourselves around a Mutter or MSB gig venue please come in, make yourselves at home, and say ‘Hello’ to an old man. Mutter.

Mean, moody and hungover

Hello fan, The news is that Clive Ashley (tenor and soprano sax god) is to join (or if you’re picky, rejoin) The Mutter Slater Band. Clive was a regular member of our previous beat combo Little Dixie but he left due to other commitments – yes he’s that popular – while we reconfigured into MSB. The band has hardened its edges over the intervening years (I have eschewed the acoustic guitar and have taken up and dusted off the Fender Strat) so now we have a vacancy for some rootsy Stax-like sax and Clive is definitely the man for the job. He only lives a mile or so down the road in West Bay so practise is a doddle (yes reader we practise). All being well the new manifestation will coagulate at the Lulworth Castle gig on May 31st. I’m getting excited already, Mutter

You may have read somewhere about the potential injuries that violent exercise may precipitate (muscle strain, joint inflammation, broken bones, death etc). As far as I’m concerned anyone stupid enough to put their bodies through the wrack and mill of strenuous calisthenics deserves all they get, but there are those amongst us (ie doctors) who would have the whole country sweating buckets on a treadmill if they had their vile ways. I am here to offer a plea on behalf of the majority who eschew the way of prescribed health.
We too suffer in the pursuit of our chosen regimen. I haven’t had a gig for over a week (a gig is my equivalent of a 10 mile dash) and now I find myself seriously out of condition – partly because of the lack of exercise but mainly due to the compensatory consumption of Staropramens, Gin and Tonics and sundry accompaniments that a gigless weekend demands. A minor sprain or tear will be healed in a matter of days or weeks and the athlete will be able to resume their chosen mode of torture thereonwards. My return to form is nowhere as certain.

Hello Peeples, The old gigging itinerary is beginning to fill up at its usual lagubrious pace. A few promises of something of the more exotic calibre otherwise I’m afraid that some of you will be seeing me again at the same locations. I hope you don’t mind that too much. Stackers played at Birkenhead Arts Centre recently where we had the privilege of sharing a dressing room with a tram and a double-decker bus, this was a first for all of us well-seasoned troupers. It just goes to show that a new experience is always potentially around the corner no matter how much of life you have seen. Some of my Facebook friends have popped along to one or two gigs but they haven’t made themselves known. Don’t hesitate to introduce yourselves should you want to, it’s always nice to put a live face to the profile.
Mutter

Well, at the moment it’s about the new Stackridge single ‘North St Grande (Dancing Together By Christmas Time) and it’s downloading thereof. It’s available at Amazon, iTunes etc and if you’re not careful you may even catch a video of us performing it. There is also a 4 track video that can be had from the same sort of places. Of course the problem with downloads is that they cannot be wrapped in seasonal paper and inserted in a sock that has been nailed to the mantlepiece, so such a purchase is a purely selfish affair. Go on spoil yourself and marvel at the unashamed audacity that comes with one’s dotage. Come and see me when you can and say ‘Hello’, but in the meantime have a majestic Yule and a spiffing New Year. Mutter