FESTIVAL FORUM
Debate, discussion and argument - gear, bands and gigs - it's your call
2004 FESTIVAL ARTISTES
The who's who of Festival 2004; pictures, links, the lot
2004 GIG REVIEWS
Photo's and Gig Reviews of ALL the stages/venues of Festival 2004
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POSTER 2004
The 2004 Poster is available free to download right now
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PROGRAMME 2004
What was on in 2004
All the bands, venues and times
ACOUSTIC STAGE
The "Acoustic Stage" (in reality an eclectic mix of music from Delta Blues to
flat out rock) at The Shore Hotel has it's own website which is now updated
with new pictures and info..
ISLE OF MAN BLUES CLUB
The Manx Blues Club; where the Festival sprang from
venue, dates, history etc..
TICKETS
Which stage requires tickets?
Click here for all the info
ARTISTS
Bio's, pic's and loads of info.
VENUES
Info & Location
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CONTACT US
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MAP
Where is it? Here!
Includes Photo's of Laxey
TRAVEL
How to get to the Isle of Man
Stage: MAIN STAGE GIG REPORT 2003
Photo's and Report on the
Charterhouse International Blues Pavilion
Main Stage
Stage: ACOUSTIC STAGE
The Acoustic Stage has it's own web
site. You can check out: Previous
fest.s, pictures and details.
NEWSLETTER: SUBSCRIBE NOW - FREE
Be in the know...first
CONTACT US
Keep
us
in the know
MAP
Where is it? Here!
Includes Photo's of Laxey
TRAVEL
How to get to the Isle of Man
SPONSORS
Without our sonsors
there would be no
Fest - Who are these
generous people?
Domicilium: Internet Providers to the Festival
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Bushy's Big Wheel Blues Festival 2003 is
a fund raising event for the British Red
Cross. Please give generously.
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Guy Tortora
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Guy Tortora - 2003
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Guy Tortora - Sunday at The Mines Tavern 2003
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"Guy is a top rate guitarist, playing acoustic and electric and with a mean
line in bottleneck. He has been compared to Albert Collins and Ry Cooder but
comparisons are often invidious. Above all he is Guy Tortora".
Ashwyn Smyth
in his April 2002 "Digital Bluesletter".
GuyTortora was born in Pasadena, California, but these days lives in London,
England.
Pasadena, according to some, is probably better known for its little old ladies
rather than for giving rise to blues musicians (well, there's Lightnin' Willie,
but he comes from the other Pasadena -- the one in Texas). But situated as it
is on what was once the legendary Route 66 and near the western end of the
Union Pacific Railway line running straight from Chicago to Union Station in L.
A. the blues were always passing through. "When I was growing up, Pasadena was
a very mixed community. I was raised in a family with an Italian background.
Although my dad liked country music, mama wouldn't let that stuff in the house
unless it wiped its shoes. Even more so with the blues. I guess it wasn't
exactly what my folks wanted me listening to, but I just couldn't help it. It
crept in over the airways. Especially late at night & with certain atmospheric
conditions you could pick up radio stations from really far away, stations that
played stuff you didn't hear on mainstream radio in L. A. until a lot later.
And there were a couple of bars in town where you could hear the real stuff, if
you knew where to look."
Restless feet and an urge to travel took him all across the USA & Canada & then
brought him to Europe, where he worked at ". . .just about anything" including;
delivery boy, cook, artist's model, carpenter -- & wandering troubador, of
course, while drifting around, eventually settling in London. The drifting
continued, but now it was in and out of various bands playing many different
musical flavors until eventually he came back to the blues, but in his own
personal style. "I'm not trying to play Chicago- or Delta-style right now,
that's just not me. For me the song comes first, so maybe I don't always
appeal to the blues purists who want to put you in one particular pigeon hole
and keep you there. I need to spread my wings a little bit."
G T plays both acoustic and electric guitars, with a fine line in bottleneck
playing. His fret action has been compared at one time or another -- "By
others, not by me!" -- to players from the well-known likes of Albert Collins
or Ry Cooder, to the more obscure such as Mason Ruffner (what, never heard of
Mason? Try www.masonruffner.com). Oh — he plays a little bit of harp, too.
Right now there is an 11 track CD just finished & due for release this year.
Called "Footnote to the Blues", it's a mixture of impressive original tunes and
some standards, all given G T's passionate & personal touch. "Otherwise it
wouldn't be worth doing." Like other American contemporaries, he refuses to
be cooped up in any box, blue or otherwise.
In the meantime there are live but too-infrequent outings with his regular band
in the London area, but plans are afoot for a series of gigs in the UK and
further afield. We were very pleased to see him here on the Isle of Man in 2003
at Bushy's Big Wheel Blues Festival where GT appeared at several venues.
GT's excellent Web Site with music samples etce:
www.guytortora.com
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