News - September 2011

Welcome dear readers to the latest instalment in the life and times of Cold Flame with all current members back from their respective summer breaks in varied settings across the UK and beyond. The band returned to live duties over the Bank holiday weekend playing two festival dates [ see below] and hopefully will be appearing in a venue near you during the Autumn. Check out the band gig guide or email the band at info@cold-flame.co.uk for all the latest electric and acoustic shows. Several updates now posted on the website for your perusal and entertainment. Please check out the Shop to add to your Flame cd collection in time for Christmas.

Wardlestock - Saturday August 27
The band were pleased to support a fund raising open air event for Cancer Research alongside several other bands held on 2 stages in the village of Wardle near Rochdale in Lancashire. In a radical departure from normal set lists the band instead presented the crowd to a full on tribute to the music of Free and Bad Company. Thankfully the weather behaved itself and a good time was had by all in contributing much needed funds to a very worthy cause. Thanks to Tommy and the sound crew for their efforts throughout the day.

The Limetree Festival - Sunday August 28
Sunday August 28th saw the band travel to Ripon in Yorkshire to play at the prestigious 3 day Limetree Festival. Anyone not familiar with this annual event really should check out www.limetreefestival.co.uk as it really is a top notch family festival running true to the spirit in which festivals once existed many years ago. Cold Flame went down really well on the final day playing an acoustic set showcasing songs from the band's latest studio album The Acoustic Collection in front of a very large and enthusiastic crowd on the JB World Stage. Check out the Gallery for pictures from this event. More details on the new acoustic album in the July News section.

The Jolly Tar, Wardle, Nantwich, Cheshire - Friday September 9
Rehearsals are currently in progress for this gig with the band performing their first almost full scale Jethro Tull tribute show in almost two years. Mark Parkinson will be guesting on flute in the first of several shows planned across the north west with Mark during September and October highlighting the band's commitment to perform Tull music in concert. Following on from these concerts, Cold Flame are planning some full scale Tull tribute shows in early 2012. The Jolly Tar gig starts at 9pm prompt and will last for approx two hours. More details at jollytarpub.co.uk

Peter is back !!!
We are pleased to announce that our flamboyant flautist and Ian Anderson lookalike frontman Peter Cheetham has returned to the band complete with a brand new tenor sax as well as several newly polished flutes. Peter has been unavailable due to work and family commitments over the last two years but is now working closely with the rest of the chaps in presenting a brand new stage show highlighting many classic Jethro Tull tunes ready for the not too distant future.. more news posted as things progress.

The Tithe Barn Carlisle, Cumbria - Saturday October 15
After many years away from the area, Cold Flame will be returning to Carlisle in October for two acoustic concerts highlighting tracks from the band.s new studio album The Acoustic Collection. This trip will include a showcase concert when the five piece band take the stage in the medieval setting of The Tithe Barn in the centre of Carlisle on Saturday October 15th. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. We are very pleased to announce that singer/guitarist Catherine Lomax - one of Cumbria's rising folk stars will be special guest for this event. Tickets are now on sale from Carlisle Tourist Information Centre contact 01228 625600 or you can pre order tickets direct from the band using the normal band email address. Tickets are priced £7 advance and £8 on the door. Proceeds from this concert will be donated to the Eden Valley Hospice, Carlisle.

Cold Flame and Anna Phoebe - Classic Rock magazine 2010
Granted this is rather belated bit of Tull related news but last year, internationally famous violinist, rock chic and occasional Tull musician Anna Phoebe wrote the following kind words on Cold Flame as part of an interview column for Classic Rock magazine last summer. Needless to say Anna has now belatedly received our sincere thanks.. Check out Anna.s excellent website at www.annaphoebe.com

A couple of years ago, I saw The Allman Brothers play at the Beacon Theatre (New York) on consecutive nights - and each one was completely different - the solos were still all way past the 15-minute mark (well, almost), but their interpretation and the feel changed each night, something unique, captured in the moment of that one performance. I can't imagine them being confined to exactly the same notes every night. In perhaps a more constructed way, but creatively challenging nonetheless, bands like Jethro Tull have sustained 40-year careers continually changing their sound and style not only on record, but also the interpretation of the songs live on stage.

Actually, I had a pretty funny experience a couple of years ago, where in the space of a couple of weeks I played on stage with not only Jethro Tull, but also at a festival in Surrey with a lovely bunch of musicians in a Tull tribute band called Cold Flame. The hilarious thing was that the tribute band were more 'genuinely Tull' than Tull itself - the singer had long, unruly Ian Anderson hair circa 1975 and a velvet outfit with matching codpiece from the same era. He even had the gold-plated flute!

The songs I played with them were stricter arrangements of the original tunes and the flute solos were down to a tee! It was so odd to be suddenly teleported back to a world before I was born, and then 10 days later to be shuttled back to the present day with the real Tull. Please note: the real Ian Anderson nowadays dresses far more conservatively, and he assures me that the velvet/suede outfits, the boots and the codpieces have long since been thrown out. Which quite frankly is a shame because there were a couple of pairs of velvet spandex I had seen in magazines and was thinking I could perhaps borrow!

Be seeing you..Cold Flame September 2011.

News - July 2011

Mid summer already cue indifferent weather and yet here we are with the band's first news page of the year. Continuing to defy current trends, the recession and the little matter of a broken down band van, Cold Flame have in fact been far from idle, the van is fixed and Cold Flame are rocking the airwaves once more so do read on throw caution to the wind and enjoy all the latest news coming from HQ...the highlight of which must surely be that that long awaited acoustic cd is finally ready for release at last after lots of hard work, determination and perseverance by all concerned.

NEW ALBUM
It has been rather a long time coming but after a number of aborted attempts mainly due to studio equipment technical problems, time constraints and just bad luck, Cold Flame are finally set to release a brand new acoustic studio album on Monday July 4th. If you are partial to Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention we think that you will be suitably impressed with this new release. Entitled 'The Acoustic Collection' the album has taken over two years to complete with recording sessions at several locations in the local area including The Shed Studios in Romiley, The Basement Studios in Broadbottom and Shipwreck Studios in Glossop. During April and May 2011 the band reconvened to work on further remixing and mastering sessions which were undertaken at Shipwreck Studios with long time trusty engineer and good mate Paul Walster. The album features eighteen original instrumental and vocal tunes as well as a new rendition of John Martyn's tune 'One day without you'. There are brand new mixes of some previously released material as well as newly recorded tunes performed by the current Cold Flame acoustic line up. There are also contributions from past Flame members Peter Cheetham on flute and Simon Dowling on guitar. When the band first decided to record some acoustic pieces for an album back in 2009, David Simpson was very much a part of Cold Flame. David sadly passed away in April 2010 [see last summer's news page] but, as promised later in the year, we have now been able to include some of David's musical contributions with Cold Flame both as a songwriter and musician on this album. The Acoustic Collection album is now available direct from the band info@cold-flame.co.uk and at all Cold Flame gigs. For more details on the new album check out the Albums and Shop section of our website.

YouTube
Under the banner of Cold Flame UK, you can now hear several tracks from the new album The Acoustic Collection on YouTube. In addition there are a number of live vids of the band playing Tull tribute and rock and blues stuff already posted by fans and friends which have been available on the site for some time. Thanks to Neil Fisher for his support in ensuring that we now have a proper site for downloading music and images at the same time.

HIGH PEAK RADIO
To promote the new acoustic album, HPR will be interviewing Patrick on Monday July 4th about the new acoustic release and related acoustic plans for the rest of the year. This will be broadcast later in the week to coincide with the band's live performance at The Bulls Head in Tintwistle.

MERCHANDISE
The Cold Flame shop has been revamped with the release of the new acoustic album and additional details regarding other items has also been posted. Local merchandise company have been looking at new t-shirt designs for Cold Flame and these designs are being linked to the Shop page at the moment though they may still remain offline for a week or two.

MYSPACE
The changes to the way in which Myspace operates has had an inevitable and sadly negative effect on usage both by band members and our many friends across the world who linked up through this once excellent resource. Whilst accepting that myspace is a mere shadow of what it once was, owing to the fact that Cold Flame have two websites on myspace for both their acoustic and electric music with the facility to download original tracks, the band have decided to maintain these sites at least for the time being though priority for updates etc will remain with our main site here www.coldflame.com

GIGS
It goes without saying that live music, like many other areas of life, has been hit hard by the current economic climate. Many of the band's regular venues have closed down over the last two years and more and more punters are remaining indoors dominated by the whims of television and supermarket alcohol rather than choosing to venture out to musical soirees. Our annual trips to Europe have been put on hold as opportunities to travel across the pond and stay solvent are pretty limited at the moment though the band remain interested in all opportunities that come their way especially from promoters and festival organisers. Nevertheless 2011 has seen the band continuing to tour the north of England and beyond focusing mainly on rock and blues shows performing both original and covers material. As with last year good friend and musician Mark Parkinson has been on hand to add flute on certain gigs as Cold Flame continue to retain their links to the music and style of Jethro Tull. With this in mind, there are plans being discussed at the moment to team up with other prog rock tribute acts to perform some special concerts. More info will be posted once plans are fully in place.
To support the release of the new acoustic studio album The Acoustic Collection, the band have organised several showcase acoustic performances for the rest of the year including appearances at Derby University's The Dome in Buxton on July 30th www.facebook.com/pages/Bad-Vilbel/103775079660967?sk and at The Limetree Festival in Yorkshire on Sunday August 28th . check out www.limetreefestival.co.uk Other acoustic showcases include a home town Christmas special whilst in October the acoustic line up will be performing a very special concert at The Tithe Barn in Carlisle. This prestigious gig which is partly to raise money for Eden Valley Hospice in Carlisle will also feature special guest Catherine Lomax who is one of Cumbria's leading young folk singers tipped for national stardom. Tickets priced at £6 are now available direct from the band contact info@cold-flame.co.uk Tickets will be on sale to the general public at locations in the Carlisle area from late summer onwards including Carlisle Tourist Information.
For an update on where the band are playing check out the gigs section of this website which is regularly updated. There are speculative plans for all kinds of stuff through the next few months so do keep checking the gig guide for regular updates. If there is a venue near you where you would like Cold Flame to play then please email the band direct using the info@cold-flame.co.uk link.

GRAHAM CLARKE - violin
We are pleased to announce that the acoustic showcase gig on July 30th at The Dome in Buxton, Derbyshire will feature Buxton based jazz violinist Graham Clarke. Graham will be guesting at short notice with the rest of the acoustic line up as Paul is away on family holiday duties whilst Jo is performing in a two week classical festival in Cornwall. Graham has been playing jazz style violin professionally since 1982. His music career began first in Bristol with Andy Sheppard and Tim Richards, then from 1985 in London with Paz, Keith Tippett and Phil Lee. In 1988 Graham began working with Daevid Allen, leading to the reformation of '70's infamous psychedelic jazz rock funk world music group Gong a musical link that remains to this day. Graham has his own website which is regularly updated at www.grahamviolin.com where you can link to some of his excellent playing on Youtube.

Be seeing you..Cold Flame July 2011.

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