Nigel Dunne

Barry Middleton (BM) Interview with Nigel Dunne (Nige) - June 2010

BM: What were your first experiences of the Blues?

Nige: I was a fan of the Animals and the Stones as a child. My sister liked the Beatles and the Four Pennies. I liked the more raw stuff. Basically any one my parents said "look at that scruffy urchin" about.

BM: Who were the influences on your musical career?

Nige The Pretty Things, Howling Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Dr Feelgood.

BM: Does singing the Blues come from experience?

Nige I personally draw on experiences but feel that music is a personal thing. You don't have to.

BM: What was the first gig that you played?

Nige Worsley Collage. Age 16. We sang Blodwin Pig, Stones, Free and Animals songs.

BM: Do you think that Blues needs to evolve to stay relevant?

Nige Yes. You can't play the same thing in the same style for ever. A certain amount of natural evolution is always going to happen but that does not mean you cannot still play in the classical blues style too.

BM: Aims for the future and what do you hope to achieve within the Blues?

Nige I want to keep writing what comes into my head and keep producing albums. I would like people to listen to them and appreciate them. If people like our work then I will be satisfied.

BM: Why do you feel that young people are not as attracted to the Blues as other Genres?

Nige I simply feel that blues has been misrepresented to a lot of the youth. My son listens to a lot of sampled stuff and has now started to notice how much of it is taken from records that I would listen to. The name blues has quite a few people immediately think of slow miserable music. Many don't realize you can dance to it too.

BM: What other styles of music have you drawn inspiration from?

Nige Jazz, Swing, Blue Grass, Rockabilly, the whole spectrum really.

BM: When did you start playing (harmonica)?

Nige When I was 16 I got my first but didn't take it seriously until I had a motor bike accident at 21 and was told I wouldn't be able to play guitar any more. I now play both.

BM: How would you like to see music change over the next 10 years?

Nige I would like to see more people pick up instruments again. I feel too often people are reliant on samples and computers to make music. Computers are not as emotive as the real thing.

BM: If you wasn’t a musician (in a band) what would you be doing?

Nige I'd be playing solo.

BM: What sort of music did you listen to growing up?

Nige A lot of R&B, swing and big band stuff.

BM: You are a singer/songwriter. What drives your song-writing?

Nige Things that I see or experience. Or Tony (Roach my song writing partner) will say something off the wall and I'll be inspired by that.

BM: If you had the opportunity to play with any blues artist dead or alive live on stage who would it be?

Nige Either Buddy Guy or I'd play with Albert Collins again.

BM: What do you do to relax when you have some spare time away from music?

Nige Rugby, Fish, Listen to albums, Cook or drink with my mates.

Thank you very much for your answers Nige I will catch you somewhere on the road no doubt.

Barry Middleton
Nottingham Blues Society