..."Groovin' and Swingin' better and harder than ever, imagine (if you can!) West Coast guitars ~ (Jnr Watson, Kid Ramos etc), Screamin' Rock n Roll ~ (Reverend Horton Heat, Setzer etc), thrown in a bag marked "British RnB energy" with material that Swings, Rocks, Rolls, Boogies and Mambos right down the rail track, visits the blues and comes back with a sound that's all their own!"

 

"Think of The Wildcards as a fusion of the best of American and British styles: a robust blend of West-Coast rhythms, Mississippi deep blues, cool jazz and that heady Gene Vincent rockabilly thing. It's not only artistically satisfying, it's pretty darned exciting to listen to!"
Blues In Britain Magazine

 

Hello everyone,

Hot News!

We're glad to be able to give you the latest info on our forthcoming CD release. The album is called Raising Hell and will hopefully be on full release before the end of the month. We have posted up two tracks onto our MySpace page for you to listen to, there'll be two more tracks added soon.
Here's a run down of the songs on Raising Hell.

 

HANG ME OUT TO DRY
A fine way to kick things off! A rumblin’ boogie with bass and drums, setting the scene for the craziness to come. This rockin’ tune written by Martin Vowles tackles the age old problems of goin’ out drinkin’ and watchin’ bands in seedy late night joints, and knowing (or not!) when it's time to stop. Twin Harmony Stratotone guitars through a 1965 Silvertone 15 watt tube amp give this track a satisfying nastiness not commonly heard in music today. Watch out for Martin's wild baritone guitar solo followed by Vince's crazy circus guitar licks in the middle section.

FOOLS ADVICE
A swampy blues tune written by Vince Lee that’s been kicking around a little while. Based on the endless bullshit endured after gigs from drunken geezers giving us career advice on how to get ahead in the music business. If you’ve ever been in a band you’ll know what we’re talkin’ bout! We’re talking tremelo guitar and rattlesnake shakers...nothin’ else matters!

HELL
Insane calypso song no 1. About the perils of fast living and the consequences faced when reaching the gates of Hell. We took the original version by The Squirrel Nut Zippers and injected it with some Wildcards venom. Kevin Crowe’s relentless drumming drives the band into a hell bound frenzy, complete with zombie backing vocals, razor sharp vocal delivery and eye piercing Gretsch guitar tones. You know the devil’s got all the best tunes!

ST JAMES INFIRMARY
Classic blues song that gave inspiration for the general feel of this album. A tune with a genuine sting in it’s tail. We tried to give it the full ‘New Orleans funeral march’ treatment with execution style drums and deep haunting vocals but just when you think the story is over the band launches into an up-tempo swinging guitar duel between Martin and Vince, trading increasingly manic licks as Al pumps those minor swing lines on his trusty resonator bass and Kev throws out Tom and Jerry drum fills all over the place. What a way to go!

LUCKY RICH AND HAPPY
A cheerful little number about the unlikely hood of achieving any of the above. Written by Martin and featuring our guest musician, Paul ‘Bomber’ Harris on Hammond organ.

RUN JOE
Insane calypso song No 2. About the perils of running an illegal fortune telling business in the back room of a sweetshop and trying to avoid getting caught by the cops. Only
Louis Jordan could come up with something this crazy – so we had to try it. Recorded with additional room mics to capture the acoustic qualities of the guitars and bass and featuring Vince’s particularly unconvincing Caribbean accent. This track cannot fail to put a smile on your face.

HELLSINKI CARAVAN
Amazingly, recorded backstage at the Storyville Jazz Club, Helsinki, Finland on a mobile phone! A creepy duet with Vince and Al playing an old xylophone with coat hangers!

DRUNK
Back to front drums, double vision vocals and a repetitive, hypnotic riff give this number the intoxicated swagger needed to express the dangers of moonshine liquor and a nocturnal life style. The band chant drunk backing vocals like a whiskey soaked stag party at 3am. Meanwhile, twin Stratotone guitars dominate the groove with Martin launching into some rather psychotic lead breaks in between verses. Whiskey Gin and Wine so Doggone Fine, I’m Gonna Try You Just one More Time!

HOODOO PREACHER
Tip of the hat to our good friend from Texas, Gary Primich, an outstanding harmonica player, singer and blues songwriter the man who wrote this song and toured with The Wildcards in 2006. Recorded totally live on Friday 13th with no trickery. Featuring extra fat and ignorant Espanada guitar from Vince. Take one of this track disappeared in a freak computer crash incident, so for your pleasure here's take two, t’was Friday the 13th after all!. That’s a Goodurn right there, Tell you whut!

RAISING HELL
Mad instrumental freak-out written by Vince Lee with backing vocals from the zombie choir and a certified game show ending.

THE FUTURE OF THE BLUES
Recorded using a 1955 Harmony Stratotone with slack strings flapping like rubber bands. After Vince played this we all said "what the hell was that?!"....Vince joked "the future of the blues!", and the name stuck! Could be the shape of things to come… Could also be mistaken for the sound of church bells in Hell!

HARD LUCK TALE
A fantastically epic number, again written by Vince. Iron bars, ukulele parts, fire extinguishers....nothing escaped us to make the coolest of percussion tracks. "Bomber" Harris supplies the horror movie organ soundtrack, it's the blues, Cuban style coming at ya via Transylvania! The track culminates with Vince laying down one of the wildest guitar sounds ever committed to tape! Check it out!
 

Get Your Hands On A Signed Advance Copy!...Still A Few Left...Act Quick!

We'd like to offer you fine people on our mailing list a very limited number (250 copies) of the album available at least a week or so before the official release date that will be signed by the band (if you'd like a personal message that's no problem). So, if you'd like one of these special CD's and want to be one of the first people anywhere to hear it, please email us as soon as possible to let us know and we will reserve your copy (or copies!) for you. The price will be just £10.00 including UK postage!!! or just £12.50 to mainland Europe!!! You don't need to pay for the CD until it's ready to ship so reserving your CD won't cost you a penny.
Payment will need to made via PayPal (with paypal or any major credit card) or with a personal cheque in British Pounds. We'll contact you when your CD is signed and ready to post.

Click here to reserve your copy NOW! - FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!

The tracks on the album are:

Hang Me Out To Dry

Fools Advice

Hell

St. James Infirmary Blues

Lucky, Rich & Happy

Run Joe

Hellsinki Caravan

Drunk

Hoodoo Preacher

Raising Hell

The Future Of The Blues

Hard Luck Tale

 

Website...

 

Our new MySpace page has all the up-to-date news and tour dates so please be sure to bookmark it when you visit, and while you're there why not set up your own free MySpace ID so that you can access all the features, send us messages and much more.
Finland tour pictures are on-line now!

 

Holland - Aug 07 pics on-line now!
 

 

Please check us out at:

 

www.myspace.com/wildcardsmusic

SEPTEMBER 2007 SHOWS

 

FRIDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2007 TELFORDS WAREHOUSE Tower Wharf Chester CH1 4EZ 01244 390090 Ticket and venue information from http://www.telfordswarehouse.com/   SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2007 THE BRITANNIA BOAT CLUB Trentside North, (next to Nottingham Forest FC's ground) Nottingham 07875924975   Tickets - £6.00   Ticket and venue information from http://www.barrysblues.co.uk/   SUNDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2007 THE MUSICIAN Clyde Street Leicester LE1 2DE   Tickets - £6.00   Ticket and venue information from http://www.themusicianpub.co.uk/

 

MORE 2007 DATES ON OUR MYSPACE PAGE!