That Shallot

Green Head Man’s last ever gig was in August 21st as part of the Worcester Music Festival and was in aid of the Maggs Day Care Centre charity.

We had known since July of Little Dave’s wish to step down from the band and have attempted to make it work as a four piece from then on but unfortunately, after Canadian Dave’s decision last week to also step down, it was not to be.

I have really enjoyed playing live with Green Head Man over the last three years and can think of no other combination of musicians that I would have rather spent my time with during this period.

It is with regret that we have been forced to cancel our remaining schedule for this and the New Year but I can promise you that this has only been done as a last resort and we are all sorry to have to tell landlords, promoters and venue owners the news.

It’s been a rollercoaster for me; I knew Little Dave from the 90’s and spend many a good hour drinking and chatting with him about nothing in particular and it was an amazing coincidence that a mutual friend via my brother put me back onto him some 19 years later. GHM had only played a few gigs in their new, less folk, form and already had a firm reputation as an exciting live act in emergence and I was asked to come to one of their rehearsals and chat with them.

To my surprise when I turned up their old Hammond Organist was there playing with them. I said at the time it’s like the wife meeting the mistress and something felt wrong about the whole thing. It was explained that Scotty was also in another band and he was finding it difficult to commit to two working bands simultaneously so I guess that made me feel better.

Having not played in bands for over 8 years I was seriously worried they were going to ask me to play something. Unbeknown to them as I was chatting I was frantically warming up my right hand in my coat pocket should the question arise. Not only did I have to be good but my ego was such that I had to impress the Organist too!

They did ask me to play and I didn’t know a single song in their set (strictly 70’s that was me – at the time) and eventually we settled on Roadhouse Blues by The Doors as it is a relatively simple song to play. I had never heard it but bluffing in E comes easily to me so we had a bash. IT sounded good and it sounded right.

From that day on if you chop me down the middle with an axe I have had Green Head Man written all through me and every waking minute whilst not at work or looking after the kids I have been working on ideas to progress the band to what I saw was the next level.

If I’m honest I probably pressurised this happy go lucky bunch of talents without realising it, definitely being the less relaxed member of the band, but hopefully we moved in generally the right direction with a general consensus that I was doing the right thing.

So 3 years on, it was November 2008 when we first met and February 14th 2009 when we played our Valentine’s Day Massacre of the Hop Pole Inn in Bromsgrove, it came to an end on the 6th October 2011.

I can’t think of a bad gig and I Loved the freedom that we were all allowed musically and on stage to explore ourselves, I’ve lost count of how many setlists Ron has ripped up on stage, how many beers have been brought to the stage for the two Dave’s, how many monitors Timmy has needed to hear himself properly and of how many ridiculously flowery shirts I’ve bought over the last three years.

We were booked to have completed 51 gigs with this line up but in the end managed 45.

We remain friends, I'll reserve any animosity for when the Doctor tells me I've only got 4,000 years to live, and no doubt we will all pop up individually, in pairs and each others recorded work in the future. It’s only Green Head Man that’s gone not the individuals within.

Dave and Dave are recording and working together, Ron and I have a soul interest, Ron is also playing in a second band and I have an interesting sniff of something that I’ll tell you about some day so see you soon

Nick

The Better photos (c) Marco Foley