Virgil & The Accelerators
Barry Middleton (BM) interview with Virgil & The Accelerators (V&A) April 22nd 2010
BM - If you had the opportunity to play with any blues artist (dead or alive) live on stage who would it be?
V&A - Without a doubt SRV, could you imagine!!
BM - Which is the biggest festival you have played?
V&A -Tenby Blues Festival, although we have a few bigger ones lined up this year.
BM - Is there any instrument you would like to add to your line up that you think would enhance your sound?
V&A - A Hammond Organ.
BM - You are a singer/songwriter. What drives your song-writing?
V&A - It really is a group effort between the 3 of us. So far we have pretty much started off with a riff and expanded on it. Writing so far has been a casual affair, once the May Tour is out of the way we intend to get stuck in somewhat.
BM - What was the last blues CD that you bought for yourself?
V&A - 'Howling Wolf BBC Sessions'
BM - You started playing in your dad’s band at a young age, then ended up replacing him, does your dad still play in a band today?
V&A - Yes he plays with my uncle Hugh Morgan; they do gigs around the Aberystwyth area. If Gabriel is free he will drum for them.
BM - What makes a good gig for you as a performer?
V&A - When my guitars stay in tune (this can be a battle sometimes)! Most of all it is a positive response from the crowd, something which we are lucky to get at pretty much every gig so far.
BM - Do you think that your music is reflective of your generation?
V&A - Unfortunately not, our genre is overshadowed by the massive 'pop' machine, x factor etc. That said we are starting to see some younger audience members and they are getting it. At the moment there is a real buzz in the blues scene, we (meaning all bands) need to keep the momentum going.
BM - Where would you like to go with your music?
V&A - Quite simply all the way, the response we have had so far has been incredible. We have played venues within our first 12 months that we would not have thought possible. Jammed with our idols and Joe Banamassa invited us to one of his gigs, giving a full hour of his time one to one. As one of my idols you can imagine what that meant to me.
BM - How would you like to see music change over the next 10 years?
V&A - Quite simply we just do not understand why live venues are not sold out every night; there are many first class acts around. If people got behind live venues and gave solid support, it provides the roots for strong growth. I know your readers will be thinking 'that’s what we do' what we need to do is pull in those who would not normally consider going to a live venue. This can only result in a knock on effect. We intend at some point to follow Joe Bonamassa and Oli Brown by performing at high schools. Just to show them that blues is not what they perceive it to be.
BM - What can be done to keep the blues music fresh and modern or do you think it should stay in the past?
V&A - Natural progression cannot be stemmed. There are some great young acts around today drawing on the past but adding the future. Look
at Joanne Shaw Taylor, Oli Brown, Chantel McGregor, Scott Mckeon to name a few. All bringing something new to the table. Blues itself is an
expression, you can only express what is inside you and that naturally changes from generation to generation with each one having different life influences. You cannot pinpoint exactly what blues is. The amount of times I have heard 'I didn't know blues sounded like this'.....
BM - Your band has had a very quick rise to popularity what do you put this down to?
V&A - Without a doubt our manager Martin Lewis, he truly believes in us and simply put us in front of the right people. Gabriel and I for logistical reasons live with Martin, Tom is welcome anytime we all get on very well and consider it a 'family'. He keeps us in check too; we are young and reminds us not to get ahead of ourselves. To be honest without him we probably would have jumped at the first label that came along. So far he has turned two down, confident that there are better opportunities to come. We know we are in safe hands and his passion is admirable.
The Nottingham Blues Society would like to thank Virgil & The Accelerators for giving this interview.
BM - Who is your favourite act on the British blues scene?
V&A - Joanne Shaw Taylor, we toured with her and have become close friends. She is such a ballsy player too. Really enjoyed jamming with her on my 18th Birthday.
BM - You are about to go on tour with Oli & Joanne in May, does this mean you will be signing for Ruf Records?
V&A
We are still unsigned and in no rush, we have very good relationship with Thomas Ruff, he has expressed an interest but that is in the hands of our Manager Martin, at this point there is no contract on the table from any record label.
BM - What was your first guitar and how many do you own?
V&A - It was a 1982 Fender Bullet and I still have it, although I always wanted my dad’s 1984 Fender Strat which eventually he passed on to me. I have around 25 guitars but the most played are 1962 strat (my favourite, play like a dream), Gibson 335 (lovely big sound) and 1958 Historic Gibson Les Paul (real bitch to play but the results are wonderful). A lot of my guitars have been handed down by my father Hendry; he also passed on fine collection of vintage amps. I am very lucky, some of these amps are near impossible to get these days and definitely out of reach financially
You can see them Live at Millers, Kirkby In Ashfield on Thursday 29th April 2010.
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