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Friday 17th
February 2006 You will see if you toddle off over to the Gigs page that the early part of 2006 is starting to take shape. Our first show will be at the magnificent Green Note in Camden. It is a vegetarian restaurant that is putting on some great music along the way (the legendary David Olney is performing their on the 1st March). A very intimate setting, if anyone is coming along to our gig & wants to eat (which I also recommend), I would suggest calling the venue a week or so in advance & booking a table. Elsewhere we are about as excited as a couple of miserable buggers can get about opening for Todd Snider in May. Snider is a brilliant songwriter/ performer and his live record ‘Near Truths & Hotel Rooms’ is never too far away from Del, or I’s CD player… or should that be Playlist? In other news you can use, we start recording our first full-length album on the 27th of this month. We will be at Escapade Studios in Greenwich for a week to get the basic tracks down, with our new rhythm section of Pat McGarvey & Dana Myzer. We demoed & settled on 13 tracks, from which we hope to put the best 10, or 11 on the record. Most of the songs were written in the last six months & we have included two older tracks, ‘Paper the Cracks’ and ‘Angel’ that have never been given a legitimate recording. Record recommends - rediscovering Johnny Cash’s Folsom & San Quentin concerts is about the only positive thing that came from watching ‘Walk The Line’ and a Texan songwriter called Rocky Volotano has a great album out on Eat Sleep records called ‘Makers’. Cheers, Pete
Friday 25th November 2005 So we got back tres late last night from a show in Walthamstow at The Plough. Our friend Bob Collum has a residency their and puts on a great evening’s entertainment called The Prozac Yodel. Also on the bill was Canadian Cam Penner who is in the UK for a few months. I saw him play in Clerkenwell last Sunday & he is definitely worth catching before he returns home in January… kind of Ben Weaver meets John Prine, great songs. While we did not really put on our best performance, we very nearly did not put one on at all. When we arrived to sound check there was a power outage across Walthamstow & we had resigned ourselves to, & in fact began, just sitting around the crowd & performing a few acoustic songs for their troubles when the lights burst back on & the show was up & running. A hasty set up & no sound check meant we were not too happy with our contribution, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it, so I guess that is all that counts. You will see on the gigs page there are still a few shows to come before we take a break. I am going away for the rest of the year & we hope to press on with recording immediately on my return, so they may be a little thinner on the ground for a while. This coming Monday (28th), there is a last minute addition in Bedford. I will be doing a solo set to open up for the mighty Steve Wynn who is over here promoting his new album ‘Tick, Tick, Tick’. Following that we hit the 12 Bar supporting Suzie Higgie & then return to Bedford with Stacey Earle, which we are really looking forward to. On the record front there has also been some progress. We are booked to record the basic tracks at Escapade Studios in Greenwich during the last week in February. We are pleased to announce that in addition to Del & I, Case Hardin will extend to include Dana Myzer (Cotton Mather) on drums & some bass here & their from Pat McGarvey (Coal Porters & a million other bands). I sat for a night with our old keyboard player Cadge & demoed the whole album on guitar - in one sitting, so that will be farmed out to the guys to work on over the holidays. Elsewhere all is gold with us. I saw Bob Dylan, Jeff Tweedy & The Proclaimers (who rock!) this week and have been listening to the live Bright Eyes album, Motion Sickness. Hope everyone is well & I might catch you at a gig before I go in December. Pete
Friday 7th October, 2005 Well, sorry there has been a bit of a delay again, but I have been out of town for a bit and this is the first time I have found to tidy things up around the site. It seems like a lifetime ago, but thanks to everyone who turned out to the shows on the Chris Mills tour. We had a great time over the course of the week and send out extra best wishes to Sophia & Liam aka The Havenots for leaving their own house to give me a bed for the night, as well as the gang at The Chattery in Swansea - by far the best way to end any tour. Needless to say, thanks also to Chris, Matt Hill (Quiet Loner) and Mick Spencer for making the whole thing happen. Chris is on tour with his full band as well as The Havenots this month, so be sure to get out to one of those gigs if you can. In my absence Del has got the Press Section of the site up & running. There are a few older items still to add which we will get around to eventually, but all the most recent articles are available. There are also a couple of new pictures up courtesy of our friend Lynn. The Gigs page has also been updated. We will be returning to The Kings Head in Bedford where we played with Chris & look forward to support slots with Peter Bruntnell & Stacy Earle, before the end of the year. Keep an eye on this section as I have one or two other shows I am just waiting to finalise. We are pretty much ready to go with songs for the new record. As I think I have said before it will be Case Hardin’s first full length album and while we are no further forward with locations, money or manpower (being as we are currently ‘between’ rhythm sections) we do have the material… I think with one or two more we will have the twelve we need to record and then probably pick the best nine, or ten to release. Stay frosty though because those plans are as likely to change before I have even finished writing this! Well, just enough time before I go to mention Martin Scorsese blistering new film ‘No Direction Home’ which chronicles Bob Dylan’s career between 1961 and 1966. For someone who has been obsessively into Dylan since around ‘84 I am in shock at the amount of previously un s(cr)een(ed) footage that has been sourced as well as access to a few previously camera- shy key players… not to mention the interviews with the man himself. They look to be a couple of years old, but such a candid account from the only witness to those years that really matters (although not necessarily the one that is most to be trusted) sets No Direction Home up as the greatest rock movie ever – yes, even better than The Last Waltz. To see Dylan dewy- eyed at recalling his first meeting with Johnny Cash, then Joan Baez’s tales of her frustrations at his complete lack of enthusiasm for the protest movement, or indeed pretty much anything he did not fancy doing, humanises the myth in a remarkably sympathetic way. Elsewhere the new Ryan Adams album, a Louvin Brothers compilation and (bizarrely) Lou Reeds Metal Machine Music have been keeping the neighbours up at night & the house prices down. As I sign off our best wishes are with Bob Cunningham and his family at this most testing of times. Pete
Sunday 10th July 2005 Christ, a whole year, where do I begin? I guess the blast e- mail will have covered many of the salient points so I will, for once, try & avoid repeating myself endlessly – clarity & brevity. I had quick squint at the previous diary pages to see where exactly we had left off and it seems to have been around the time of ‘…Hard Feelings’. Well the biggest change since then is that, for the moment at least, I am no longer one fifth of Case Hardin, I am now half of it – a sharp increase in my power base that would have Malcolm Glazer coming to me for advice. But seriously, without dwelling on the what, whys and where fore’s I would like to use this forum to wish Paul, Andy & Cadge all the best for the future as well as thanking them for their contributions to Case Hardin, both on & off the field of play, particularly Andy who has been with me from the get- go and is solely responsible for, among other things, the core of this site…. I thought this was the best way of dealing with things, in case I need something from one of them again – oh yeah & still get to see my God- Daughter. As many of you will know, the material for the new record is almost complete. We have nine new songs that I wish to bring up to around eleven & pull the best nine, or ten from that. Plans as to where to lay the tracks change day to day but one thing is clear & that is that we will be taking a different route to that of ‘…Hard Feelings’. It will not necessarily be an acoustic album, we will be employing the flotsam & jetsam of musicians we know to lend a hand and just see what shakes down when the recordings are done. There will, however, be guitar/ vocal versions of each track available in the vault – for a bit of insurance. No titles, no dates as yet, just a bunch of material that we are really behind and an enthusiasm to get it done. We have managed three, or four gigs in the last few weeks to test the water a little bit with regard the new material, we are hoping to get some London shows for late July and have been approached about a short UK tour in August, supporting Chris Mills. That is still in its infancy, but you will be sure to hear no end of it if it comes off. Well, that will do for now. Thought I would break you in gently. Sad to say it may not be another year before my next posting, but hey, life can’t all be good. I know I usually sign off with a CD recommendation or two, but I just finished (as in an hour ago) a book called ‘Cold Spring Harbour’ by Richard Yates that I can not push highly enough. Yates was a somewhat troubled man who’s novels, written about East Coast America in the thirties, tend towards the thinly veiled autobiographical … booze, addiction and emotionally scarred individuals – can’t really see what attracted me to it, but I’m sure some of you wayward souls may find something between the pages that you like. Thanks for hanging around…. Pete 1930hrs – Tanqueray Time.
Saturday 23rd October, 2004 Well , two months without posting here….. I can’t remember the last time I went for so long with so little to say… hey, no sniggering in the back… don’t make me come over there. As you may have gathered, all things CH have been quiet since recording ‘Hard Feelings’ back in August. We all went our separate ways (some on holiday, some to put pen to paper, some to the maternity ward – Dylan John Skinner, welcome aboard) and aside from Del & I doing a couple of acoustic shows to tide us over, we have not even rehearsed since we finished recording. Things are about to change, & now we are all talking again, we will be getting together & hopefully doing some shows starting early next month. The site will also receive a bit of an overhaul, getting it ready to sell ‘Hard Feelings’ which we now have ready to go. In the mean time anyone who wants a copy (£5) just send a mail into the site, or speak to one of the guys & we will get one out to you. We are also anticipating the first reviews of the record to be filtering through in the next couple of weeks, so we will keep you posted. But anyway, enough about us…… On 21st October it will be a whole year since we lost Elliot Smith. I have been hammering his earlier work & anyone interested in hearing what he was recording around the time of his suicide can get hold of ‘From a Basement on A Hill’ (Domino Records) on Monday…. I can vividly recall getting the news about him taking his own life at home last year. It was, as is inevitably the case, such a shame that having battled so many of his dependencies – note: dependency, not addiction – getting himself cleaned up & recording again, he was just so fucking sad & emotionally ill- prepared to deal with it straight, that he even considered this as a solution to things. While those close to him clearly mourn the loss of a family member, as a musician I feel robbed of one of the most singular talents in independent music we have seen in a long time. The first matter Case Hardin will attend to when we rehearse will be to work on a song I wrote for Elliot last week called ‘Lost Angelese’. If you want to know more, Barney Hoskyns has written a great piece for this months Uncut magazine, as well as a review of From A Basement On A Hill. RIP. Well, it is good to be back. I will hold back on my rant about the first part of Bob Dylan’s autobiography, ‘Chronicles’, except to say that it is out there… you know the rest. Thanks for holding out for us, we will be back pestering you about gigs in the near future. I hope all is well & I look forward to seeing you the other side of a mic stand soon.
Pete You Can mail us by clicking HERE
Friday 6th August, 2004 Good morning everyone. It is 8.00 on Friday morning and I am sat at the computer, oiling the wheels of the day, with my first coffee. Del & I are off to Devon tonight to play but I thought I would just drop you all a note to say that we finished recording the new CD yesterday. It will be called ‘Hard Feelings’ and the running order is as follows:- ‘Polaroid’, ‘Oil & Rain’, ‘Tilt –A –Whirl’, ‘Take it From Mojave’ and finally, ‘Turn Around’. It is, in the main, a much rockier record than our debut but offers a nice counterpoint with acoustic arrangements for ‘Tilt –A –Whirl’ and ‘Turn Around’. It is a record of extremes really, the heavier songs really rock & the quiet tracks are kind of laid bare before you. It works well, nice balance. We are all very happy with it. ‘Hard Feelings’ humble beginnings began at Connexion Studios in Hampshire on Monday morning where we had a beer, plugged in & played. We went for feel over technical perfection & in spite of the crippling heat, which played havoc on tunings & tempers, had four of the songs down by the end of that first day. Tuesday was given over to guitars with any overdubs & solos being added & then on Wednesday we laid down all the vocals & the final song, Turn Around. Thursday was a long day. After only about six hours four out of the five songs were mixed & sounding good. That said, we had encountered a few problems track laying for Tilt –A –Whirl and knew it needed more work than the rest. Long story short, that track alone took seven hours to nail, including relaying basic tracks & an aborted attempt at a new vocal which was brought to an abrupt end by a thunderstorm of biblical proportions that cut the power in the studio mid take! I thought someone was trying to tell me something & was ready to bin the song but after a bit of pushing from Andy and a Saints patience from the rest of the boys we dug in & got it done…… anyone notice I have just used two biblical references in one paragraph? So there you have it. On reflection, a great experience, as recording should be. Not without its tempers, tears & tantrums but we have a fine record to show for it. We have not yet discussed how best (erm, cheapest) to finish it & get it reproduced but we will not hang around, we want this in the public domain by the end of the summer. We have all gone our own way now for a well deserved break & to enjoy our weekends. Hope you do the same. The next gig proper is not until the end of the month, but you will hear from us before then. Speak soon & remember, God still reads the headlines. Pete
Tuesday 5th July, 2004 'I'm too tired to sleep, too sad to weep. I'd just like to close my eyes & make it go away'.... I've had these lines rattling around inside me for a few days now, kinda gives you some insight into my current frame of mind. For that reason I will try & keep this post within some musical boundaries to spare you the gory details, it ain’t nothing pretty. It has been & will continue to be a slow few weeks for us with regard to gigs. There are some, so keep an eye out for Andy’s e- mails & get along if you can. The next one is in Reading on 10th July at 3B’s where we are supported by a local band called 'Static Rain'. There is, however, good reason for this apparent sabbatical. Case Hardin have long felt that we need to record something a little more current than the two CD's we have available. The plan was to hold off until we could do a full length record, but with promoters, agents etc all wanting to hear the band ahead of bookings (oh yeah, and having no money!) we have decided to go in & do another EP. It will be a much looser affair than the first record. For a start it will be essentially live; Where possible all five of us in the same room playing like we do on stage, only more in tune. We will not be using ‘NSC’ this time around & are booked into Connexion Studios in Hook for the first week in August. I will try & post a diary page for each day just to give you a feel for what it is like in there. While nothing has been finalised we will be looking to document 'Oil & Rain', 'Tilt- A -Whirl' new track 'Polaroid' and perhaps one of the older concert favourites. Thinking of which songs to play & then looking at the subject matter of the tracks, there is a certain cognitive link. I have come up with a provisional title for the project: 'Hard Feelings'…. kinda sums up how I have got from there to here. Once we have all agreed a running order (after a particularly vicious game of ‘stone/ paper/ scissors’ I’ll wager) I will post the lyrics & a short piece about each song, so you know what to expect. So there you have it, all the news that’s fit to sing about. Anyone with a few quid burning a hole in their pockets could do a lot worse than the new Wilco CD, ‘A Ghost is Born’ (Nonesuch Records), a difficult listen but as with all such albums, time spent with it will be rewarded by this beautifully constructed and sonically intricate record. New Yorkers ‘Loomer’ have also released a storming debut called ‘Love is a Dull Instrument’ (Newtone Records). On the pulp front, Scottish literary genius James Kelman has a hilarious new book out called 'You Have to be Careful in the Land of the Free'. A particularly acerbic observation of the life of a Scotsman living in America. Hope everyone is well. If not well, then at least better than me. Pete
Monday 31st May, 2004 Well, that was the week that was. I know it has not been that long since I posted the diary but we have had a busy few days. Thanks, as ever, to everyone who religiously turns up to all our shows, your support is suspiciously unswerving but never taken for granted. We are very alive to the fact that these venues are out to make money, putting on shows is not a gesture of altruism towards the bands & without you turning up at the door and digging deep each time, we would never get invited back. Welcome aboard also all the new friends we have made & to all the folks that took a second to spare us a kind word or buy us a drink, especially the ones that bought us a drink, Slainte. It all started off on Wednesday 26th. Del & I opened for Peter Bruntnell & James Walbourne in South Street Reading. A fine show which we took the opportunity to re- work some tracks with fine results. I have a mini- disc of the gig & will get someone to put it onto CD, so if anyone wants a copy, just write in. On Friday we were with Pete & James again at the Borderline. God bless the Cross Keys in Covent Garden.. if anyone wondered who we were; the four scruffy looking geezers almost coming to blows about whether Richard Manuel or Rick Danko were the coolest members of The Band. The show was a much looser affair with many of the South Street nerves blown away by another appreciative, attentive crowd & just a touch more self- confidence. I am happy to talk about the show because it is just from that point on that it all becomes a blur. I take this opportunity to apologise, publicly, to anyone we disgraced ourselves in front of, and to those who we simply disappointed, there is no need to name names. Last night we reconvened the whole crew for a show at the 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street. Things did not start to well when I got my fucking car clamped, but once I put that behind me with the help of my Switch card we settled into a fine evening. Opening the bill was Justin Rutledge who’s new album, ‘No Never Alone’ has just been released on Shady Lane Records. It is a beautiful piece & he put on a great show. We hope to perhaps to do some more gigs with him when he returns from Canada at the end of the summer. Then it was us. Another fantastic crowd, thanks to Justin Gosling for the intrusive photography (and no you can not have my sisters number), Lizzie & Ali for the dancing & the band for reminding me why acoustic guitars are ok, but there is no replacement for amps turned up to eleven!! Aside from Del snapping a string on the first verse of the first song & then me forgetting the chords to Uncle Tupelo’s Still Be Around (…. Not strictly true, I remembered the chords, it was just the order they should be played in that escaped me) it was a well received show. New song ‘Polaroid’ seemed to go to plan even if Del's constant stamping on the stage rendered me chasing a dancing mic stand around a very limited space! Well I best get back to my Bank Holiday Monday…. Nothing to do with a whole day in which to get it done… marvellous. Keep a sharp lookout Pete
Sunday 23rd May, 2004Another busy month for us in spite of the fact we have not been playing any gigs. We got the tapes back from the live session we did for Reading 107fm last week, so once Stuart has cleaned its face up a little we shall put 'Tilt -A -Whirl' up on the home page of this site. I got back into the writing vein again & we have, so far, one new song called 'Polaroid' to show for it. Additionally there are lots of lyric ideas floating about on scraps of paper just waiting for the time to pull them into something coherent; Sadly time is not something I have a great deal of at the minute. I will be doing an Interview in the next couple of weeks for the website Americana-UK, which you can find on our links page. It is just a chance at some exposure ahead of our busy summer schedule starting in May. I will up- date this page when I have a date for it to be posted. As our gig page reflects... we are picking up a bit of work over the summer & in October we go out in support of Texan singer/ songwriter Chris Wall (Grammy Nominated for his song 'Trashy Woman'.... no don't worry, I haven't heard of it either!!). The first few dates are up now but there will be plenty more to come including, hopefully, a trip to Scotland. Those who want to check out what we will be up against, Chris' details are also on the links page. Still on gigs, we hope to have even more exciting news in the next week, or so, but will keep it under our hats until we can confirm the details. It will be for dates in late May & early June. I have recently been approached by a friend of mine who is active in the 'Justice for Kirsty' Campaign. The Kirsty in question is singer/ songwriter Kirsty MacColl ('Walking in Madison', The Pogues 'Fairytale of New York', daughter of Ewan MacColl) who was killed in a boating incident off the coast of Mexico in 1999. She was hit by a speeding boat in a diving area, in front of her two children. The whole thing was covered up to make it look like an accident when it appears a rich businessman's son, who was drunk, was responsible for her death. It is a dreadful cover- up & I will be doing what I can to help Kirstys mother, Jean, who is running JFK. If you want to find out more for yourself, head over to www.justiceforkirsty.org & read up on it. Well, that is it for now. Listening to a couple of albums by a band called Richmond Fontaine; 'Post to Wire' and 'Winnemucca'.... great stuff, Willy Vlautin is one of the best songwriters I have heard in a long time. Can it really be ten years since Kurt died? Speak soon, Pete Thursday 19th March, 2004 On Monday, Columbia records release an acoustic performance by Bob Dylan given in 1964. I firmly defend the principle that rock music is about the here & now, the moment, but every so often something comes out that, once contextualised, rises above the tears of weeping traditionalists & stakes its claim in the modern cannon. This is such a record. In 1964 we were a long way from journos and obsessive fans hanging on Dylan’s every word, teaching his works as a subject in Colleges throughout middle America and even rooting through his garbage for evidence of his genius. At the time of this show at New York’s Philharmonic Hall, Bob Dylan was a singer/ songwriter that had captured the imagination of the beatniks & folkies with anthems such as ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘Masters of War’. He was witty, self effacing & endearing in an almost Chaplinesque kind of way, but he was no star. Who had any idea what was to come? This record has Dylan previewing songs like ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ and ‘Its Alright Ma (I’m only Bleeding)’ before an audience, everyone blissfully unaware that these tracks, released six months later as part of ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ would irreversibly alter the landscape of popular music… forever. With this back drop, these could be the most significant bootleg works that Columbia have chosen to grant a legitimate release to. Wow. So there you go. Hands up who thinks I am very excited about Monday & getting hold of a copy. I have to say, listening to records & reading have taken up time, recently, I should have been devoting to writing. The truth is, I have to confess to a baron patch of a ‘Michael Owen penalty success’ scale… still, it will come , fingers crossed. Things have been riding a steady course with the good ship Case Hardin, a couple of shaky gigs before we had a storming time at The 3Bs on Saturday (13th), best show of the year. Thanks to those who came, and more importantly, hung around. A couple of nights ago (17th) Del & I played at The Tweseldown in Church Crookham as part of a ‘One Night Stand Acoustic’ gig. Went really well, the highlight being a version of ‘The Irish Rover’ we had hitherto not rehearsed; really got the tables rocking, and the hands clapping. On the amazing news front. We have been asked to support Peter Bruntnell who is touring the UK in support of his acoustic album released on Loose Records, ‘Played Out’. We will be opening for Peter at South Street in Reading on Wednesday 26th May. It is not the whole band as it is an acoustic show, but we are very privileged to be asked to play with such a high profile & successful artist. As if that was not news enough. The band will be reconvening on Sunday 30th May to support ‘Bob Collum & the Welfare Mothers’ at the 12 Bar Club in Soho, so it is going to be quite a week. Plenty more happening I’m sure, just not much that springs to mind whilst dining out on a diet of sleep depravation. As usual the web doctor will administer all prescribed info in good time for you to make a full recovery before the shows. I’m not a political man but I have to commend Chancellor Gordon Brown on the budget he submitted before the HOC Wednesday… prices up on pensioners, families, cigarettes, wine & beer… nothing on spirits….. Rejoice Gin Lovers, there is a God after all. Last thing… pop along to our Links section, a few new additions. Take care, Pete. Thursday 19th February, 2004 Hey folks. Been hard at it writing at the computer, so I thought I would take a bit of a break to say hello. I can’t get to grips with how this year is running away with itself already. Early March is historically a bit of a difficult time for me (personal shit) so I start a bit of a countdown come mid February. I can’t believe how quick it has come around. So what have we been up to? Well, some of you may recall a track called ‘Tilt –A – Whirl’. We did it a lot toward the end of last year, usually just me accompanied by Del on lap- steel. I have long since felt that there was a full band arrangement in there somewhere & the boys worked it really hard over January & we have come up with something I am really happy with. It met with a fairly muted response initially (…as is often the way when we have a perfectly good arrangement already) but we persevered & now everyone has a really good feeling about it…. At least that is what they tell me. We also started gigging again last week. First stop was a cobweb blower at Bar 38 in Reading. None of us will ever claim it to be our favourite venue owing to a sound system with no fold back at all!! That said, it served its purpose and a gave us a taste for some of the others we have coming up. Del & I also played our old haunt The Ship last Sunday (15th) and we had another good night. I have to confess to being a little drunk (at the gig, not now!) but what are you going to do… shoot me, it is only rock ‘n’ roll after all & I, for one, like it. On 4th March, a couple of us are going into Reading 107fm’s station to be interviewed by DJ Warren Lee. It is pre- recorded so I do not know when it will be broadcast, but we will let you know. Hopefully there will be a chance to do a couple of tunes. It is not exactly Xfm but at least it is in the UK (.. factophiles will remember CH getting some airplay in Belgium a few years ago). The following day (5th) we haul Case’s ass down to that London Village for a gig at The Catapult Club (www.catapultclub.co.uk). Should be innaressting. It is done in a ‘Later With Jools Holland’ stylee with three bands on different stages, playing short sets & being interviewed by the Compere. The whole thing is filmed & broadcast on screens throughout the venue. It would be great if a few of you could get down, it promises to be different if nothing else. Andy will get details, flyers, directions etc out to in the next couple of days. So there you go. Busy, busy, busy. Plenty more going on but we will up- date you in due course. I have to tell you this before I go. I picked up Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’ a couple of days ago. It has been seven years since I read it & even second time round it is really impactive. I polished it off in two sittings. I thought my views on capital punishment were pretty clearly defined but, well, it gets you thinking. Anyone read it? If not take this as a strong recommendation. Anyway, enough. I had better get back to it. Take care everyone & hope to see you at a show soon… Pete Friday 9th January, 2004 A somewhat belated Happy New Year everyone. I trust that you all had a good festive period? I just realised I have not posted this page since our gig in support of ‘Horse Stories’ last month. Thanks again for all those that came out & saw us. I think all in the band are in agreement that you witnessed the best performance Case Hardin has given to date…. Little slut that she is! That said, we could not have foreseen such a good night when we first arrived to sound check. Long story short, in sound bites..………. Andy: 'What sort of a fucking drum kit is that?' Del: 'Is it me or has that drum kit got no cymbals' Paul:' Does anyone know why 1. Pete can't stop laughing & 2. Andy can't stop crying?' Cadge: 'Does anyone know why Andy has just asked me for directions to the nearest music shop?' Pete: ‘If you are going to a music shop can you get me some strings’ Sound Guy: 'Where is your drummer?' Del: ‘No seriously, that drum kit has not got any cymbals’ Anyway, enough of that. Great stage, great sound/ lights & a fantastic performance by all. There is a mini- disc of the show floating about somewhere which we are going to try & tidy up a little and perhaps make available. So, to the matter in hand. No firm plans for 2004 yet. We are still trying to negotiate recording a few tracks at NSC when Stuart has it back up & running again. We are doing a storyboard for a promo video of the track 'Oil & Rain' in the planning stages with an editor friend of ours at MTV. Aside from that we are setting our mind to playing a few shows. We may be playing in Liverpool early in the year & we have been invited onto local radio station, Reading 107fm to do a few tunes. A return to The Borderline is also on the cards as well as some other local haunts. As usual Andy will keep you up- dated with all the news that is fit to electronically disseminate. We are all looking forward to the this year as a band. 2003 had mixed fortunes for some of us personally but as CH we had a good time & are looking to keep up the good work. Hope to see you all soon. Send lawyers, guns & money……… the shit has hit the fan. Pete
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