1. Your Profile
Male: Hat Fitz, six-foot-two, green eyes and beard, seen mostly playing a National Beeton guitar (Teisco electric 1966 model). Female: Cara Robinson, five-foot-two, blonde hair and blue eyes, mostly seen playing behind a 1920s animal skin vintage three-piece drum kit, whilst playing various wooden and tin fifes from the 1800s. Both love to let their hair down and jam together for hours composing new ideas that tend to have an old-timey feel flavoured by their influences of old-time hill country blues and soulful folk.
2. Keeping Busy
Well, apart from Mr. Hat Fitz chasing me around the paddock like PepО Le Pew on several occasions, we have been back from our European tour since mid-August (which was the Do Tell album launch), clearing the cobwebs in our shed and starting to throw a few more ideas of new tunes – so drums and amp set up in the living room, of course! We also had the pleasure of being chosen to enter the heats in Memphis for the International Blues Challenge, so we are really looking forward to going over and checking out Beale Street – but before we shake a little booty over there we are sharing our new album with the wonderful Australian east coast.
3. Best Gig Ever
Best gig ever is a tricky one but it has to be a recent one when we played before the great Taj Mahal this year in July at the Cognac Blues Passions in France. It was dusk and the crowd was homing in on us, as this was new stomping ground for us; they were curious as to who we were and what we did. There was an electricity in the air that evening of that gig as the stage faced an old 15th century mansion, and as the sun’s red rays drifted down the building’s face we built the show up and up with the crowd with us all the way, more or less ending in a French frenzy. Then to top it all off Taj Mahal came onstage and we were both lifted to a new level altogether.
4. Current Playlist
Fitzy has indeed had the Hobart Smith CD in his van playing on repeat for months now. Just last night I was listening to my all-time favourite Otis Redding songs, ‘Mr Pitiful’, ‘Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa’ and ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’.
5. Your Ultimate Rider
Well, Byron Bay Bluesfest is like the ultimate rider as there is a top-class masseuse there, sweeties, booze, hot meals on tap, honey and herb teas, great staff and a room with the most exquisite flower decorations all run so professionally. As for the usual rider requests … Fitzy likes honey in tea. I like honey in water.
Do Tell out now through MGM. Catch them at The Brass Monkey Friday November 14 and The Vanguard Sunday November 16 (tickets here).
