The Apaches

All the month of August The Lads have rested up and taken it easy pulling in some holidays,

John Went to the USA for a full 5 weeks and visited the Fender Custom Shop in Corona California

Here is a picture of John with Ralph in the Custom Shop and also a picture with Todd one of the Master Builders. These are two of the nices't Guy's you could ever wish to meet, and boy do they know their stuff about guitars it is amazing the quality of workmanship that goes into making a Custom Shop Fender.

John said it was a real privilege to meet Ralph & Todd.

September :

4th September The Lads did a short live performance at The Doncaster Little Theatre, on their preview evening, arranged by Kevin Spencer. It looks like the 1st December will be a fabulous evening at the Doncaster Little Theatre when the lads put on their full show.

October saw a Live show at The Empress Ballroom Mexborough this venue has had live entertainment as far back as the 60s here is a photograph of the lads on stage at The Empress.

The first day of the month and the boys were back at the Little Theatre Doncaster, This is a great venue no one in the audience takes a back seat as all seats have a perfect view of the stage,and the sound is terrific.

Here is a picture of the lads doing a sound check, before the audience is let into the auditorium

The show lasted about 1 hour 45 minuets to a fantastic close to sell out audience who were shouting for more, the lads were brought back to play an encore, and some of the folks that saw them at The Empress came back to see them here. All in all this was a fabulous evening it looks like these guys are getting a following. 

A new year sweeps in and Bazz the Bass and The Apaches part company.

John - Martyn and Dave have decided to add another dimension to the Band

 as well as another Bass Guitarist  -  -  they intend to Put in some Rock n Roll numbers from the 50s and 60s  by Cliff Richard after all he was the singer that fronted the Shadows for a good few years, Cliff Richard songs, and the great

sound of The Shadows. What a great show that will be.

Remember : MOVE IT   -   TRAVLING LIGHT   -   WHEN THE GIRL IN YOUR ARMS. 

A quiet time was had by the band during Frebruary and a real search was on for a replacement

Bass Guitarist It had to be someone that knew The Shadows material and those exacting Riff's

that are needed for an authentic Shadows sound. And along came John Swift who seemed to

slot in perfectly he brought with him a knowledge of music and knows his way around a valve

amplifier, and a five string Bass. Rehearsal's got underway and it did not take long before John

was comfortable with all the arrangements. Thoughts are now towards making another CD

with a complete set of new Tracks as a follow on to the first.

Well it is nearly 12 months since John paid his visit to The Fender Custom Shop, John Swift joined the Band and left to retire in Cyprus, Malc Fairclough has now replaced John Swift, and Gerry Naison has joined us on Keyboards, all in all it has been an eventful 11 months.

There have been discussions amongst the band and with the new line up which gives them greater scope they have added new material to the show which takes it to another level.

As from July 1st the whole nation has gone SMOKE FREE and The Apaches welcome this. let us hope now that people can sit in a smoke free environment more people will turn out to see their favourite Bands, In the knowledge they will suffer No discomfort from smoke.

So far this year has had its problems for The Apaches, most of the well laid plans have had to be put  on hold, the visit to the recording studio to make a New Cd with a new list of tracks, The visit to Holland, and other european engagements.

Bass guitarist John Swift leaving and going to live in Cyprus, and then Malc Fairclough finding the pressures that go with playing in a band too much for him, and the boys are still trying to find a replacement who will settle into an exacting position within the band. To play the Bass riffs as they should be played is no mean task, and as such a good reliable Bass player is proving very hard to find.

One nice thing came out in October, Our secretary Ruth had her 40th birthday, (we even gave her the afternoon off) but back to work in the evening ! She does an exceptional job for us and sometimes it goes without comment. So we would like to say a BIG Thank You for all the hard work you put into organising - making sure things happen - and generally giving us the support you allways do from behind the scenes. THANK YOU RUTH.

November approaches and we are still looking for a Bass Guitarist, It now looks like the gigs over the Christmas period will have to be cancelled as stand in Bass Guitarists don't cut it. And to take a show on the road that is OK is not good enough.

Well here we are in January starting another year, and I can tell you it has got off to a very good start

Ian Cross joined the band on the 11th December 2007 As Bass Guitar

too late for the Christmas engagements but !

after waiting for someone like Ian to join us The Apaches are now settled.

Rehearsalls are going fine and heading for 2008 like a storm.