Morning Glory

I would just like to thank everyone who came to our gig last night. Huck and the Handsome Fee had their best show yet and deserve a cold shower after all the sweat dripping from The Cellar's walls. Bright Spark Destroyer were thunderous and Above Us the Waves warmed up the stage beautifully. Huck and the Handsome Fee are looking forward to playing Cornbury Festival on Sunday 4th July at 3.30pm. We are then bombing back to Oxford to play The Rabbit Foot Street Party with The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band. This will be at The Bear pub from about 7pm.

I'm off to Munich to swagger about in a dirndl for a few days. In the meantime get your peepers around this bit of genius.

Yours ever,
T-Bone

Short but Sweet

The boys at OxfordBands.co.uk have reviewed charlbury festival.
Read more (or less) here

Secret Gig at the Chester Arms, Oxford 7th June 2010

Here is some footage taken from last night's secret show at George's Jamboree Open Mic in the Chester Arms, Oxford.

Huck and the Handsome Fee from Henry Stead on Vimeo.

Vimeo: Huck and the Handsome Fee

Negative Huckability

One of the things I love about singing with Huck is that I never know quite what he's going to do next.

For example, he might decide just to scream down the mic, instead of going for that nice harmony we worked on the week before. He could curl his lip at any moment, and with a wink of an eye, beckon me over to slur together into one mic. Or he might even just stop singing altogether and let me take the reigns.

But this 'improv' style can also irk me a little. It is nice to know where you're going, what notes you are aiming for, and it feels good when you meet in the middle and create the sound you wanted. But it's safe. Not boring, as such.. but who wants to see the same thing over and over again? Isn't that what CDs and films are for? I think one of the points of live performance is to give the audience and yourselves something new, something different to the recording, something more. Not so different that when people listen to the CD they think it is something else, but the realms of performance need to keep on being pushed. Otherwise we lose something - something we might not find again. So when I see that little glimmer in Huck's eye, I know that whatever happens next, I just have to suck it up and not be afraid of not knowing.

Come see it all happen tomorrow night at the Wheatsheaf. We're supporting the Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band.

What is the Cheese Like in America?

So, it is about time I properly updated the Huckiad and informed you of The Fee's, and my solo, plans for the next coming months. We had our first 'band meeting' last week after a 4 hour rehearsal. We managed to pound out "Christine" for the duration. We discussed our tour/trip to America. A big thanks to the wine and Wooky hole cheese that facilitated this meeting, without which I'm sure we wouldn't have made it this far. America is shaping up to be quite the trip of the year, with the boys planning to get a nice little van and drive from Seattle, down the West Coast via San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas, through Death Valley onto Phoenix, Arizona and Denver. I'll be joining them in Texas if they've managed to survive that long without me, where the second leg of our journey begins. I shall keep you updated from here on in.

In other news, The Fee will be making a music video with Big Face Art, based in London, and I'll be mixing my solo stuff next month. I still haven't decided on a cover design, but I have a few artists in mind. Perhaps I'll create a shortlist and ask you to vote for your favorite.

See more at BigFaceArt and BigFaceJam.

Check out this video of Henry Stead performing Attis. This was taken from the LPS night we performed at in the Jam Factory, Oxford.


HENRY STEAD - Attis from Big Face Art on Vimeo.

Love and Affection

I saw Joan Armatrading live at the beginning of the month and she performed this song. Truly one of the most outstanding female guitarists I've seen. Enjoy.


To read more click here

The Fly review Red Stripe Music Award @ The Cellar, Oxford

'With his studded jacket removed to expose what looks like a filthy string vest, the drummer from Sextodecimo, a face that screws through slightly terrifying expressions even during the calm opening to his set, and two more old-school glamorous members, Huck is nothing if not visually arresting. And the music soon catches up with the image; ‘Passion Man’ rolling along like Os Mutantes swapped their Rolling Stones records for the Pixies. But his set never really recovers from the hitch of breaking all the strings on his guitar. It feels like there's unfinished business here.' (Chris Bennett)
For more go here.