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JULY 2009 Welshpool Country Music Festival - Well, the weather tried it's best to put a damper on things on the Sunday of the festival, but hard as it tried it couldn't spoil the mood of the event. People danced, sang and had a real ball. It was a great pleasure to share the stage with some fantastic artists, Michigan Duo, Travis Logan, Dirty Hat Band, and Paul Challinor with John's Rebel's Country Roadshow filling in with some great sounds. It was the 22nd year of this fantastic festival which raised over £30000 for the Heulwen Trust charity. Compere and promoter Steve Farrer did a great job and everything ran to time. This is a must of a festival to visit. Americana International Fesival, Newark - We were privallaged to perform at the 2009 festival, which is our 4th consecutive appearance, we're almost part of the staff!. Another fantastic event perfectly organised by Chris & Bev Jackson, this is a massive highlight for us and we were given the opportunity to close the festival on Sunday night. What an electric atmosphere, we had wonderful support and would like to thank everybody who came along to join in the party, it was wonderful. Fingers crossed we maybe included for the 30th anniversary of The Americana which will run over 5 days, don't miss it!!!!!!!!!!!! White Horse CWC, Kilwinning - We would sincerely like to thank everybody at The White Horse CWC in Kilwinning who voted for us as band of the year at the club. We were very honoured to receive the plaque after our performance at The Americana International festival, we're chuffed to bits. We're really looking forward to our next visit to your great club. Thanks to Brigitte and Danny for inviting us to the club and we wish you continued success. JUNE 2009 Skjak Country Festival, Norway - A great time was has by all at this fantastic festival. The weather was superb with temperatures at 30deg + and with daylight all night what an atmosphere. We performed in the Old Barn with the Hillbilly Stringpickers from Holland and the The Rockridge Brothers from Sweden and we had 3 fantastic nights of real old time music. Everybody was in the mood for a good time and with the booze flowing freely the atomosphere in the Barn was electric. Even Col couldn't dampen the high spirits when he broke the stage!! (you had to be there to witness it!) Health & Safety would've had a field day, lol. SEPTEMBER 2008 New CD - Work on our new CD "Making Hay" is coming to a close and we hope to have them available sometime in October 2008. We have added some of the popular songs from our shows including: "Lord It's Hard To Be Humble", "Your Cheating Heart", "Deep In The Heart Of Texas" and also several songs we have not yet performed live, including a self penned song "The Words Of Love". The CD will be available at any of our gigs or via our website. The Lariat, Sacriston - At the end of quite a gruelling 4 days on the road clocking up over 1000 miles, it was great to be "back home". What a welcome we received at this club, it's true what they say, Northern folk are really friendly. This club is ace, great venue and a great atmosphere and what more could you want than to have Davy Crockett as your host, dancing on his barrel. Great fun Whitecliffe Bay, Isle Of Wight - Following our trek to the finishing night of the week long festival at this holiday park, we were more than slightly dissapointed with the lack of atmosphere. Even the DJ seemed to have had enough as he couldn't wait to get away. Faraday CMC, Slough - Brilliant, brilliant night! This was our second visit to this club and we can't wait for the next one. Everyone was so friendly and our host Roy was great company. Even the new Toffee Tin Guitar made a debut appearance courtesy of Tom Hayes.
JUNE 2008 Chew Valley CMC, Saddleworth - First impressions of the room at this club were perfect, great size, great sound and nice stage. From the moment we were greeted by Lynne & Trevor, we knew we were in for a good night, they were so friendly. All the people we met were friendly too, some we had seen before and some were new faces to us. We had a great night in this lovely club and then the moment we had been waiting for............. THE BEEF BUTTIES!!!!!!!! they were out of this world!!!!!! Well done to Lynne and Trevor for running this great club, we hope you go on from strength to strength. Rawhide CMC, Tilbury - Another brilliant night in the Southern end of the UK, it's makes the 5 1/2 hour drive seem a little less daunting when you receive a friendly welcome like we did at this club. It was great to see people turn out in happy mood and it helped create a great atmosphere from the start. It's a pity some of the line dancing folk are put off from coming along by an act even without even seeing them, because as we proved, the dance floor was chokka most of the night. When the was no dancing, everyone was joining in with our show, just fantastic. Thanks again to everyone at Rawhide we hope to see you again soon. MAY 2008 Joe's finger - Following the removal of the bandage from Joe's finger on Thursday 29th May, things are starting to look better for him. Although still in a lot of pain, Joe is breaking in his finger gently and looking to return to gigging towards the end of June. Meanwhile we have 2 Steve's holding the fort throughout June in Joe's absence. We'll keep you posted as we get more information on Joe recovery. Hitchin Rail, South Shields - It was great to see a good turn out at The Hitchin Rail where plenty of people had turned out in their hillbilly gear. We had great fun with the folks who joined us on stage with tambourines and home made washtub bass. There were also quite a few birthdays so it was a busy old night. We like to thank Heather and all the gang for their hospitality and for making us feel so welcome yet again. We look forward to seeing you all again in November.
Joe comes a cropper! -
and requiring further reconstructive surgery to replace part of his finger Joe will be out of action until at least early June if all goes to plan, we wish him well in his recovery. We are happy to announce that Steve Falkus has offered to stand in for our gig at The Hitchin Rail in South Shields on Thursday 15th May and we have also managed to cover our other gigs throughout May. Steve has also offered to cover for our first gig in June at Coquet Creek Festival. APRIL 2008 Tamar Valley Westerners, Plymouth - As the time fast approached 7.30pm, we started to get a little worried about the distinct lack of people at this club. There were no flags, no music and apart from the few folk dressed up, you might have thought we'd turned up at the wrong place. But then .................. what's that noise??????????, sounds like a beer lorry says Mandy?????????? Off outside to take a look and there in all it's glory, a 52 seater coach with Tamar Valley Westerners written all over it! WOW!! This lot have their own personal coach to take them to and from the club, now that's class! Within minutes the place was buzzing, everybody mucked in to transform the place into the western club as it has done for the last 25 years, what a brill place. These Tamar Valley Westerners are a real friendly bunch and made us feel so welcome, even had there own Smoggy! Good owld Tony! How's your terkee Tony??? And your perpel werk shert??? We'll definitely see you lot again in August 2009 and maybe before. Watch this space. Golden Garters CMC, Treviscoe - This was a real special night, not only was it Hillbilly night but also a birthday bash for club secretary Marianne and what a party we all had. Everybody was in high spirits turned out brilliantly in all their finery (see photos) and joined in with the Hoedown and many other dances, it was great fun. We felt at ease from the start of the night as everyone was so friendly, the place was packed by 7pm. Thanks to Mike, Marianne, Gordon and all the friendly folk of Cornwall and surrounding areas for their fantastic support and for joining in with our show, we look forward to seeing you all again in August 2009. MARCH 2008 Spirit Of The South, Ashford - We would like to thank Justine and the gang at Spirit of The South in Ashford for making us feel so very welcome at their club and for their friendly interaction with our show. We were a little apprehensive before we arrived at the club, as we know it is a big line dance venue, but we had no need to worry. From the moment we opened the show, we could tell these folks had come with the right spirit and were out to really enjoy themselves. They even went to the trouble to learn dances for our songs, but they danced to every one of our songs with ease anyway. There was a bunch of fellas who were having a whale of a time on the dance floor, where do they get the energy from, it was a real pleasure to perform for them. This is one of the busiest clubs we have come across and the numbers were down because of the closure on the M20 so it must be really bouncing when everyone turns up! We hope to play there again real soon and hopefully when there's no strike action on the ferries! We will post photos from this gig very soon. Thanks again everybody. FEBRUARY 2008 Indian Traders, Irvine - Great night was had by all at the Volunteer Rooms in Irvine, Scotland. It was great to see Andy and all his crowd and plenty of Rockin' folk come along to support us and make it a crackin' night. Also great to see our friends from Bucks Place. We'd like to thank everyone who joined in with the fun and to those who come up onto stage. Thanks also to our host Gordon for inviting us to perform at this wonderful venue. See you again north of the border on March 15th at Ardeer Community Centre. JANUARY 2008 "Root'n Toot'n Twosome" perform 1st gig - Mandy & Col would like to thank everybody at Northern Renegades in Burton-on-Trent and our friends from Arizona Drifters for making our first duo gig a resounding success. Our 3 sets of 45mins were well received with plenty of folk joining in and many dancers on the floor. Mandy took the microphone for a great version of Ernest Tubb's "Have You Ever Been Lonely" which had everybody singing along. Richy from Arizona Drifters also guested on our wash tubb bass for one song, what a class act, he even managed to tape up the wrong fingers!! On a sadder note we were sorry to hear that Shiela was not feeling well enough to attend the club, we wish her a full and speedy recovery. Steve Falkus - The Lazy C CMC in Bowburn and Pat Garretts in Boldon were the first of many gigs for us with guitarist Steve Falkus. Not content with only playing guitar, Steve also makes sweet music with his Mandolin and Banjo. Adorning his dungarees and straw stetson and backing vocals, Steve makes a complimentary contribution to our Hillbilly style. Keep an eye for this guy, he's greeeeeeeeeat!!! Joe Guillan - Mandy & Col would like to thank Joe Guillan for wonderful performances in his first couple of Root'n Toot'n gigs. He adds that little bit extra with his backing vocals, his banter and his baritone guitar (ask him to play Doctor Who!!!!). We will be seeing a lot more of Joe. Johnny Vee Quits - Following recent complaints over guitar volume from promoters and members of the audience, whom without we would not even be performing, we had to have discussions with Johnny Vee. After the points were raised on a number of occasions, he decided that this scene was not for him and he would be pursuing his career elsewhere. Johnny abruptly left without notice and a full diary of gigs, which with Steve and Joe we have comfortably managed to fulfill. OCTOBER 2007 Tombstone CMC, Neston - Thanks to Geoff, Terry and all of the team at Tombstone CMC for a great warm welcome. We had a brilliant night at this great venue. Thanks also to the folks who helped make the shakers which added to the atmosphere and to everyone who joined in with the fun. We saw some great outfits, it was good to see everyone getting into the spirit of the fun night. We hope to see you all again soon. SEPTEMBER 2007 Simply The West Festival, Stillington - Cracking night at this well run festival. Everyone was in high spirits and the flasks were certainly flowing. The party atmosphere continued throughout the night and maybe into the morning! AUGUST 2007 Tombstone Festival, Wirral - After a batch of rain soaked festivals this year, it was a relief to take part in a sun baked one and what a festival it turned out to be! This was only the 2nd festival organised by Terry, Geoff and the rest of the gang from Tombstone CMC. Last year there was a total of 10 caravans booked into the festival, this year there was 170! What an increase. Everybody was so friendly and welcoming. This festival is sure to go from strength to strength, the organisation was superb. Oh and the flowers at the foot of the stage was a nice little touch too! Keep it up gang. JULY 2007 Americana Festival, Newark - WOW!!!! What a time we had at the 2007 Americana, not only were we grateful to be booked back for a 2nd year, but to play 3 times, it was just AWESOME! We met some really great people and many of our friends too. Despite fears about the weather, everything worked out just fine once the last of the rain left us on Thursday. Great music, Great people, Great atmosphere!! Make sure you're booked for 2008! JUNE 2007 Skjak Country Music Festival, Norway - Our first international gig and what a great start. Norway is such a brilliant setting and this festival which was created by Alf Hosaroeygard nestles in front of a backdrop of snow covered mountains, the countryside is amazing and the fact that it didn't get dark at night was an added bonus for the late drinkers. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that we might be included in Alf's future plans. MAY 2007 Pat Garretts Round Up, East Boldon - This place is gonna be a smash, it's a great barn venue with a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes to make this a success. All drinks a quid!! £30 for weekend, cracking line-up, heated indoor venue, friendly organisers and staff, what more could you want, you don't even need nice weather! Well, we were over the moon to be included in the latest event at Blue House Farm and what a night we had. Fun and games even before the sound checks! Thanks Kenny. We were amongst great company on stage with the fantastic vocal talents of Michael Kenny and a great Compere/DJ/Sound Engineer/Stage Manager/Backstage Security/Event Host he is too, a real all rounder. It was great to see some of our friends in the audience especially those who came laden with gifts, thanks Kirsty! We had great fun in our 2 sets for the evening with plenty of folk joining us on stage, even the livestock got a look in! Halfway through the 2nd set we were joined onstage by a trio of piglets and half a dozen hens, one of which enjoyed nibbling away at Mandy's leg whilst she was playing. A massive thank you from us to "The Geordie Outlaws" who made this a very memorable evening, they created a fantastic fun atmosphere joining in with their tamborines, rattles, beer trays and whatever else they were shaking. We really hope to play at this festival again in the future and would recommend this as a must addition to everyone's festival planner. Double A CMC, Melton Mowbray - Thanks to John, Margaret & Teresa for inviting us to play at this immaculately well run venue, we had a great time. It wqs good to see many of our friends from Greetham and Grantham whom we would like to thank for their support. Plenty of fun throughout the evening with birthday and anniversary celebrations and what about the beauty in the grass skirt! We sure do hope to be invited back again in the near future. ps: The grub was lovely x MARCH 2007 Ponderosa C&W Club, Edinburgh
There were lots of highlights throughout the night, but the most suprising being when Johnny Vee was bundled into the back of a car by a drunken ex-farmer (Chuck P'Ting!) and taken to a place 30 miles south of the club for an accordian lesson???? He arrived safely back the next morning just in time for Bacon & Sausage sarnies (where there's food, there's Johnny Vee!). A special thanks also to Lynn, Keith and the rest of the gang from The Spiders Web who turned up to show their support, further proof that Scottish folk are amongst the friendliest there is. See you all again soon.
© Root'n Toot'n 2009 |
No he wasn't kidding when he said he was in agony whilst playing guitar at Geordie Outlaws in Hebburn and The Double B in Darlington. 
What started off as a little metal splinter in Joe's left index finger has ended in him needing an operation to lance a sceptic swelling 
What an absolute cracker of a night!. From the minute we arrived at the Masonic Lodge in Mount Veron Road, Edinburgh, we knew were in for a good night. The poster on the door read "SOLD OUT" and we were greeted by Aileen & Alan who made us feel most welcome from the start. We were shown around the club and into the function room which was kitted out superbly in western fashion, a perfect set up for a band like us who like to encourage people to join in with the show. All the organizers deserve a pat on the back to have such a successful club after only 2 years. We would like to thank Brian for making the initial approach to us at last years Berwick festival and all the folk who made our show a night to remember.