The Violet Hour
Just back from an interesting gig with Run Like Hell, at the school where our guitarist works. We shared the bill with a The Who tribute band, so I was using their kit with just a few bits of my own. Other drummers' kits tend to be a pain to play, but the setting up and breaking down is so much easier.
The gig was a fundraiser, and in the room outside the hall they were hosting a bring & buy sale, plus they had some special items which were being auctioned, including some signed Jools Holland CDs and a tour jacket from Pink Floyd's Pulse tour. I wondered where they'd got them from. I found out at the end of our set, when Sam Brown stepped onto the stage to tell the audience about them. So we'd just performed The Great Gig In The Sky in front of someone who has sung it with the actual Pink Floyd... Apparently the rest of the band knew her fairly well, which was news to me.
Which leads me, somewhat tangentially, to this...
Around fifteen years ago, Loose Tourniquet's bassist pimped an album at me; The Fire Sermon by The Violet Hour. It had a style that might be compared to All About Eve and a melodic sense that owed a lot to progressive rock, with touches of folk and psychedelia, and it was melancholy and hauntingly beautiful. And it featured the wonderfully husky voice of Doris Brendel.
Sadly the band only lasted for a year or so, and I only discovered them three years after they'd disbanded. And the album had had a similarly short life, and it took me another two years to find a second-hand copy for myself. I'd googled a few times to find out what became of them, but never found much.
But I did learn that Doris had worked with Sam Brown. So tonight I asked Sam if she could shed any light. And she told me that Doris is doing pretty well, and that now would be a good time to google again. So I did, and lo and behold, dorisbrendel.com. And she's even re-released The Fire Sermon.
Which all leaves me feeling somewhat contented. I think it's been a good night.
The gig was a fundraiser, and in the room outside the hall they were hosting a bring & buy sale, plus they had some special items which were being auctioned, including some signed Jools Holland CDs and a tour jacket from Pink Floyd's Pulse tour. I wondered where they'd got them from. I found out at the end of our set, when Sam Brown stepped onto the stage to tell the audience about them. So we'd just performed The Great Gig In The Sky in front of someone who has sung it with the actual Pink Floyd... Apparently the rest of the band knew her fairly well, which was news to me.
Which leads me, somewhat tangentially, to this...
Around fifteen years ago, Loose Tourniquet's bassist pimped an album at me; The Fire Sermon by The Violet Hour. It had a style that might be compared to All About Eve and a melodic sense that owed a lot to progressive rock, with touches of folk and psychedelia, and it was melancholy and hauntingly beautiful. And it featured the wonderfully husky voice of Doris Brendel.
Sadly the band only lasted for a year or so, and I only discovered them three years after they'd disbanded. And the album had had a similarly short life, and it took me another two years to find a second-hand copy for myself. I'd googled a few times to find out what became of them, but never found much.
But I did learn that Doris had worked with Sam Brown. So tonight I asked Sam if she could shed any light. And she told me that Doris is doing pretty well, and that now would be a good time to google again. So I did, and lo and behold, dorisbrendel.com. And she's even re-released The Fire Sermon.
Which all leaves me feeling somewhat contented. I think it's been a good night.