Ronnie Wood @ Castle Galleries, Exeter 22/10/11

I sunk a Mint Julep at the cocktail bar at the Royal Clarence and headed down the road past Exeter Cathedral into Castle Galleries who are the first to exhibit Ronnie Wood's debut collection for Washington Green Fine Art featuring four pieces entitled The Famous Flames Suite focusing on the members of The Rolling Stones and a fifth piece entitled Stones On Stage - Got Me Rockin'.

I am instantly grabbed by Ronnie's strong use of colour with orange wave like flames swirling around the Stones caught in the live arena and the energy of the piece captured by Ronnie working in acrylics, oils and oil pastels.

Cassandra Keeley , Art Consultant at Castle Galleries kindly allowed me to take some photographs of Ronnie's latest collection.

Cara Dillon, Exeter Phoenix October 6 2011

The Irish folk singer Cara Dillon returned to the Exeter Phoenix on Wednesday, still touting the excellent Hill of Thieves album around the concert halls of the UK.  A front row seat assured me of the best sight line in the sold out Phoenix and Cara in a beautiful red dress sung like an angel throughout ably supported by her excellent band. 

Cara performed a scattering of songs from her fine back catalogue; After The Morning brought in a slowed down version of I Wish You Well and a truly sublime Garden Valley caught Cara bathed in blue light, totally absorbed in the moment.  Black Is The Colour from Cara's debut eponymous album was another highlight and there is definitely a spiritual, tranquil vibe to Cara's music steeped in Celtic tradition. 

Cara aired Come Flying With Me which appears in the Disney cartoon Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue which she commented she sings as a lullaby to her two 4 year old sons !!  The whole gig was magnificent and concluded with the haunting The Parting Glass from Hill of Thieves

If you haven't seen Cara live you are in for a treat and she is touring the UK and Ireland over October and November.

                                                           with Cara 06/10/11

ROBERT PALMER + exclusive DONY WYNN INTERVIEW

September 26th 2011 saw the 8th anniversary of Robert Palmer's passing and as to be expected generally no mention of Robert in the media or music press and no attempt by Island or EMI to release a retrospective box set of Robert's illustrious back catalogue.

It appears EMI are only concerned with Pink Floyd reissues and Island is certainly no longer the Chris Blackwell managed label it once was.  Robert's solo career certainly kicked off in fine style after Vinegar Joe with "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" employing Little Feat as Robert's backing band and Steve Smith and Phill Brown on production duties and follow up albums "Pressure Drop" and "Some People Can Do What They Like" continued the party and Tom Moulton produced "Double Fun" added lush beautiful soulful numbers and "Clues" offered 1980 new wave stylings, cementing Robert as a leading player in the industry.

Robert's departure from Island to EMI in 1988 fan fared "Heavy Nova" which was abundant in hit singles through to swansong "Honey" which is possibly the most criminally ignored rock album of all time.  Robert left EMI and offered "Rhythm and Blues" in 1999 and his final album "Drive" a bourbon soaked blues masterpiece, once again largely ignored and only consumed by the die-hard fan base.

In my interview with Dony Wynn - Robert's drummer extraordinaire for 23 years, Dony kindly shares his thoughts on Robert and the music.

Did you think "Honey" was poorly promoted by EMI on it's release and what were the sessions like recording.  It seems an album of two parts, ballady type affairs and then almost thrashy metal numbers.
"Poorly promoted indicates there was promotion. There was none. EMI got bought two months before Robert's release, so the project was left on the shelf and forgotten; that happens in mergers, anything associated with old staff, outgoing regime, is dismissed. The nothing that followed what we considered one of our best works, was the dismal reality that the music business was rapidly changing, losing the plot, and Robert, pretty much, decided to call it a day, let his catalogue work for him. So he did. I went my separate way musically, but we remained close close friends until his passing.

Is there a favourite Robert Palmer album of yours Dony and why? Clues -we advanced the ball in a major way, recorded in the Bahamas, a very sweet sweet time, and I received some watershed gifts from the process that I continue to utilize today in just about every recording session I do. One of our apexes, for sure.


Did Robert ask you to play on Rhythm & Blues or Drive or had you gone in different directions by this point? He was exploring home recording, a natural evolution for him given the state of the business at that time. I went into a self exile, keeping in touch with him by means of fax, and the occasional email. he preferred fax and real handwriting.

Any thoughts on the "Riptide" sessions?  did you drum on "Addicted To Love" or was it Tony Thompson.  you definitely played on "Disp of Love" and "Get It Through your Heart". A ton of fun. Met Jason Corsaro, arguably the best engineer on the planet. Tony performed Addicted. I was accepted by some NYC heavies who made me up my game quite a bit. So, very thankful for that experience, and also made some lifetime friendships, specifically with Eddie Martinez.