3 months sounds like a long time to be working on a 5 minute video, but that’s nothing compared to the amount of time and effort Tom Gee Band have put into their debut album, ‘Swapping Stories’. I’d first heard of blues artists Tom Gee Band a while before their EP ‘Better Things To Do’ was released last year and I was excited to be asked to come along to film some behind the scenes of the new recording.  I caught up with them in the studio at the start of February when they already had a large portion of the hard work done, and even without vocals, brass or a finished guitar track it already sounded like the best work they’d written yet.  I really enjoyed the couple of days I spent there, trying to stay out of the way and be as invisible as possible with my camera so I’d catch the real atmosphere and creativity of the process.  David Sudall the drummer, who was first to lay down his parts for the album, didn’t let that stop him from coming back into the studio regularly to help make decisions and did a great job at capturing even more footage of those memorable moments. After the long days in the studio came the organisation of the album launch party.  The HiFi Club in Leeds is a great venue and suited the occasion perfectly.  Tom Gee Band’s set that night was probably one of the best I’ve ever had the chance to record.  The crowd was loving it, the band were clearly enjoying themselves, and it was so great to hear the songs I’d heard be changed and played a million times over in the studio finally be revealed to the public.

Since the album launch the band have been busy travelling the country, playing their new material for hundreds of people.  Having been to Cheltenham Jazz Festival before I knew I had to bring my camera along to capture the completing footage for my trailer.  The afternoon acoustic set they played in the Woods drew quite the crowd, but their set that evening was really what they had been looking forward to.  The audience loved the new material, even providing the band with a standing ovation at the end.  Seeing this really made me understand why they put so many months of long days and late nights into recording the album.  The hard work certainly paid off and I’m glad the album is getting the recognition it deserves. After all those weeks of getting in the way with my camera, sitting down to create the Swapping Stories video trailer proved tricky as I had so much to work with it was hard to know where to start. I wanted to showcase the talent and variation the album contains to make people want to hear more, but also show the personalities of the band and make it enjoyable to watch. Between trying to choose mere clips from 11 tracks of catchy riffs and runs (Matt’s saxophone solo was a tricky one to cut short but I just had to use as much of it as I could) and sifting through the hours of footage I’d managed to gather up over the months, keeping this video short was not easy! One thing I did notice in this edit (apart from the abundance of hidden dancing talent the band should really bring to the stage) was just how tight they are as a band, especially considering there are eight of them.  As I was syncing live footage to tracks from the album recordings I really wasn’t expecting it to fit as well as it did, but there were some clips that just landed perfectly in time – couldn’t have planned it if I’d tried! I’m really happy with how it turned out and I think it shows the relaxed nature of the band and their blues artists talent as well as giving you a taster of what the album has in store!

Now onto the next big project… which single needs a music video?

Buy ‘Swapping Stories’ from our online shop.

More Tom Gee Band videos can be found on our official YouTube channel here.

See more of Clarissa’s work on her YouTube channel here.

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On a barmy, summery, Saturday night the Keighley Cougars venue was lit up with some of Yorkshire’s best unsigned talent. The band headlined on a night which saw support acts ‘The Capo Amnesty’ and ‘Cotton Club’ impress the audience.

It was perhaps the perfect end to a perfectly beautiful day. Scorching temperatures gave way to soulful tunes as all three acts hit-the-spot for the discerning Keighley crowd. At the end of the night it was clear the crowd was ready for the headliners as they lapped up the band’s distinct and original tracks.

The night was sold out however those who couldn’t make it didn’t miss out. The set was streamed live to faithful fans via Ustream.

The increasingly popular ‘Superman Song’ [fast racking-up Youtube plays] brought the evening to a close and the crowd to their feet.

Next the band journey to the south of the county and bring soul back to Sheffield.

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You see, although originally being called just ‘Tom Gee’ was never a contentious issue for any of us in the band, it seemed more of a problem for venues and new listeners to get a grasp of. We were being billed on acoustic sets – thinking Tom Gee was just one person…which although may make perfect sense to the untrained viewer, you don’t see the likes of John Mayer or Bon Jovi needing to add a suffix to their name. However, others do use them – such as Dave Matthews Band or the John Butler Trio. And so, we decided to change to it too.

But more than this, moving to the new band name also represents a progression in the way we work as a unit. Tom, naturally comes up with all of the new songs. They are his lyrics and his ideas. But when he brings them to the table, they get somewhat morphed when put in front of the rest of the band. Take the ‘Superman Song’ for example (which if you haven’t checked it out yet – you should, here! ) This song Tom first showed me on his acoustic guitar. No sooner was he into the first chorus and this piece just screamed gospel to me! We knocked it out in the next full rehearsal, where the horns came up with a stonking line for the chorus, and the girls made their stunning impact known in the middle breakdown section. Not to be over-looked – I should also point out Gav’s subtle but funky keys riffs over Jim Jamm’s swaggering bass line which just locks the whole thing down…Can you tell we like this tune?!

So there you have it – we’re now the Tom Gee BAND, and things are shaping up nicely! We’ve got a string of gig bookings – including one in London on 5th May where anyone who fancies a free trip down to the big smoke should let their voices be known on the facebook page! It would mean a great deal to us if you could lend us a day of your weekend…its quite simply an important gig, as we’re being scouted by an agency down there…

Finally, check out the second track of the Peak Sessions tracks, ‘On My Way’ – its being pre-released TONIGHT to anyone who’s already signed up for the free downloads – and it will be with the rest of you very soon!!

Anyway, m’off – stay sharp, stay cool – and keep listening to the Tom Gee Band

Thad

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What I love about the Tom Gee Band is that we’re not interested in making a quick pound or two, being minor celebrities for a week and never heard of again. We want to create good quality music that makes you feel glorious. There’s a sense of longevity in that sentiment that no amount of fortune or celebrity can get you.

Last Friday saw the revamped Tom Gee Band in action at the Library, Leeds as part of the 360 Club night.  The feedback that we have received from it, from both the audience and other bands, has made all our hard work over the last few months completely worth it.  This was and still is a huge relief as the whole show was filmed as part of the BBC Introducing programme (which will be broadcast in a few weeks- we’ll let you know). From a personal standpoint, the one thing that has been evident right from the beginning of this new band is the incredible sense of energy that we all convey when we get together and play. Listening back to the recordings of last Friday’s gig that same energy, excitement and enthusiasm is still there. It feels great to be part of such a wonderful project with such a varied bunch of brilliant and creative young musicians.

The next gig we have is at the infamous Adelphi club in the sunny climates of Hull on the 16^th of February. If you’re about and want to listen to some good music, or want to try and prove me wrong (you won’t), then definitely come down for listen. Sounds good to me.

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Well, it’s afternoon technically but I don’t really care. I’m very pleased to announce that we are Tom Gee Band and we are 8 beautiful people strong; David Sudall, Jim Jamm, Gavin Stevenson, Joe Roughton, Matt Newby, Laura Popperwell and Bridie Burkinshaw. And me, but yeah. Sort of goes without saying doesn’t it?

We have a gig at the Library with our good friend Richard from the 360 Club. It’s 27th January a Friday night in Leeds. Get down for a chance to be on the Suzie’s Rendez-Vous video! AND our 2 new tracks will be available. AND it’s the first full band gig. AND it’s going to be awesome, fun-filled and groovy. One last plug, please please please like the fan page on facebook if you don’t already. If you do already muchas gracias. The new year looks exciting and hopefully we can make it as good as last year. Not much to follow is it really? UK & Ireland tour, 02 Arena, new EP….just casually. Crack that one out again? You bet. Here is a video of our misdeeds at the O2 last year. Thanks for your support from 2011 and as for 2012? (Cue cool sign off line in Lethal Weapon style) I’m gettin’ too old for this… doesn’t really work does it?

Schmeh (there’s an underrated word, yes it’s word) I’ll leave you with this gem, courtesy of Mr. Jamie Moore. Enjoy and See you soon.

Hasta luego

TG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZpEDKwPUQ0

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We launched the new EP Roots on 26^th June at the 360 Club in Leeds (the EP was mixed by Roni Szpakowski of Peak USA…in Chicago) and then played a load of gigs around the UK over the next two weeks on our “Get Out of Bed” tour.  We then managed to sell over 250 EP’s (which certainly helped the finances…mixed in Chicago) We’ve since sold over 150 songs on itunes and had a couple of tracks played on a Canadian radio show. (Chicago…huh?)

Then, you know, casually, we went to the O2 for the Live & Unsigned Grand Final, didn’t win but had an amazing time.

The next Friday Dave, Jamie and me received our degrees, Jamie from Hull Uni, me and Dave from Leeds College of Music. Had lovely day with our families, not forgetting Dave (Thad), who is probably a better musician than the rest of us, or at least he thinks he is, who is still working towards his forthcoming engineering degree. Multi-talented ba*%&rd.

Starting to book gigs for September once the August holidays are over. So keep your eyes peeled for new songs, new gigs and new band members! That’s all I have for you now.

Love and thanks for all your support. Let’s keep it going.

TG

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So we rocked up on the day of the audition, cranked out What’s She Gonna Say and got told to stop playing half way through. Not the best of starts. We went to wait outside and watched the organisers come out one by one to explain that various bands hadn’t got through offering feedback on their performance, things they can change and improve on. To be fair we were relaxed, didn’t really expect anything to come of it. “Tom Gee?” We all looked up. “Yeah you guys are through well done.”

So 2 months later there we were in the Regional Final on the 27th March at Dewsbury Town Hall. Lots of fans turned up to support us, people were nervous, still practicing before they went on. We were relaxed. Again. It’s not that we didn’t care I guess we just didn’t expect anything to come of it. So you can imagine our surprise when our name was called out saying we were through. I think that’s when it hit me that we were one step from the O2. That was a good feeling.

Sunday 8th May arrives, The Willows in Manchester. Again a huge crowd there to support us. Cracked out a Beyonce cover before the opening track of the new EP Roots called Little Late. Video here! (http://youtu.be/LZ_2s-nlbY4) And the final act going through to the Grand Final of the Live & Unsigned competition 2011 at the O2 Arena is….Tom Gee. Get out. No it’s not. No it really is. Wow.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us along our journey and thanks to those who are coming down on Saturday to see us. For those of you that can’t make it you can still show your support by texting unsigned62 to 84222 or watching the youtube video! http://youtu.be/LZ_2s-nlbY4

It’s Wednesday for God’s sake, the gig is on Saturday and it really hasn’t hit me yet. One thing for certain though; I can not wait.

See you Saturday.

TG

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Live and Unsigned Votes Needed

Can you believe it’s just over a week to the Live and Unsigned Grand Final. Obviously the performance on the day is paramount but there are other factors taken into consideration; there are also competitions within the competition.
There are two ‘Video Views’ competitions (MUZU.tv and Youtube) and a text vote competition.

Text Voting is now live for the National Grand Final of Live and Unsigned 2011. As well as performing for the judges on the day, the public have the opportunity to vote for the act who they believe should win Live and Unsigned 2011.

Each act has been allocated a specific code (ours is unsigned62) and the public can now vote via a text, for the act they want to win.

In order to win Live and Unsigned 2011 we must be within the top 3 Judges scores. Those acts not in the highest judges’ scores cannot win! Those acts in the top 3 get their scores ranked and added to the audience text voting. The acts with the combined highest ranking will be the winners.

We have consistently been in the top ten leader-boards for each competition – So help us in the final push. Anything you can do would be great. View the videos a few times and if you’re feeling flush text our code – unsigned62 to 84222 (we’ll remember when we’re famous!!)

We have a competition running to win two free tickets to the Live and Unsigned final. It’s free to enter just click [HERE]

And the winner of Live and Unsigned 2011 is……….?   Go on you know you want to!

See you at the O2 – Thanks for everything

TOM

Tom Gee – Manchester 8th May 2011 on MUZU.

Live and Unsigned website

Live and Unsigned Leaderboard

The o2 Live and Unsigned page

Live and Unsigned facebook page

Live and Unsigned on Twitter

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Okay there were no rocket-propelled grenades but we did launch the EP, sell CD’s and get recorded by the BBC! Yeah really – the performance was recorded for BBC Introducing and will feature on Alan Raw’s show, which goes out on BBC Radio Leeds. Alan is a well known supporter of new music. He had us on the show previously for the launch of the ‘Speak Easy’  E.P. and we’ll be back for an interview next Thursday – don’t miss it!

It was a top night with three other great acts: Neve, Nigel Passey and Love of the Brave [There was something familiar about the guy on the semi-acoustic but I can’t put my finger on it!]. The 360 club is just a proper music venue which attracts a real appreciative and discerning audience who thankfully seemed to love it.

We played all four tacks from our new E.P. ‘Roots’ and they went down a storm and exclusive, hot-off-the-press, CD’s sold really well (thanks Karen and Chris). A massive thanks and well done to Dan, who really was the man, stepping in for Jamie and keeping the Get Out of Bed Tour alive!

Thanks to Richard for promoting the evening, we appreciate it, and to Pete on the sound desk for making us sound so good!  It was great to see Chris Dawkins and Kenny Higgins in the room. A really big thanks also to everyone who came to support us on an epic night – The E.P. Launch, the official start of the Tour, and our last home-county gig for months!  Yep, now we’re off! First stop Manchester. Tonight we’re at the Night ‘n’ Day, Manchester if you’re about pop in and see us. Sunday we head for Liverpool (Django’s Riff a brilliant venue) then it’s off Darn Sarf!

We’ll keep you posted here and in the picture Gallery.

Following last night ‘Roots’ is now available on iTunes. So check it out on the music player below then mozy on over to iTunes and get your very own copy, why don’t you?

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When the bard penned the immortal words ‘All the world’s a stage’ I wonder if he had the White Horse in mind. You see there isn’t one! But that’s fine – we like it like that. One week on a pitch in front of 14,000 people the next at the end of a room with 100 or so in your face.

It was a great atmosphere you really know whether your audience likes you or not when they’re so close you can tell what aftershave they’re wearing. Feedback is fairly instantaneous when people are two feet away.

So it’s somehow all the better when an intimate crowd like you, especially when they’re a Yorkshire crowd. A county renowned for forthright views and demand for value for money echoed in the Yorkshire Mantra you can hear across the county – “How Much??”

The reaction to the new tracks from the ‘Roots’ E.P. was particularly satisfying. When it came to an encore the crowd asked us to play ‘Broken Bridges’ again – so they definitely liked it then.

All-in-all another great local gig at the start of the tour before we venture out of the Shire!

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