Mike Heap, THE LEGENDARY CLAMPETTS

MIKE HEAP is bassist and songwriter for The Legendary Clampetts from Springfield, Illinois. Mike talked to Ceri Shaw for Welsh Steel and AmeriCymru

CERI: How long have The Clampetts been playing together? MIKE: The band's been together about 3 years. We originated from a project that Matt (Erley - drums) and I were involved in called 'Banzai Kitty'. The Legendary Clampetts was more or less the moniker that Matt and I chose as an inside joke after our original guitarists left to start another project, and it just sort of stuck. We've actually been recording and performing as The LC's for about 16 months now. CERI: How would you describe your sound? MIKE: Our sound is really a 'mash-up' I suppose. I know there's punk, funk, progressive metal and a lot of old school classic rock sounding type stuff in there. It actually depends on what I'm trying to convey in the song. For example; 'Riot In The Hospital' has a straight up punk / rockabilly feel to it. The melody and progressions were written to capture and express the tongue in cheek outrage of the lyrics. All of our material is meant to 'stand alone' and tell a story or express an idea or opinion, so we don't really pay any attention to, or try to stick to any particular 'genre' or label. CERI: You are the main songsmith for The Legendary Clampetts. What inspires your lyric writing? MIKE: Lyrics, to me, are the most important part of songwritting. So, I take a lot of time with just that aspect of the song writting process. Everything I've ever written starts with expressing a story, an idea or an opinion. The subject matters are diverse, 'Cry Havoc' is an anti-war protest song, while 'Bird Thing' is a song about growing up and leaving home and how scary, exciting and sometimes sad that can be. CERI: Who would you count amongst your musical influences? MIKE: Wow, musical influences. Okay, here we go....I do this in a couple of ways. As a bassist, my all time 2 greatest influences are John Entwistle and John Paul Jones without reservations. As a lyricist and composer, I really admire Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull. As far as bands go, Blue Oyster Cult, Queen, Thin Lizzy and Genesis top a really really long list. CERI: Any tours or live appearances in the near future? MIKE: We're currently in our home studio working on some new material at the moment, so other than the possibility of appearing on the Ernie Ball Stage at The Warped Tour stop in St. Louis, MO , we don't have any shows scheduled until late August in the midwest. CERI: Where can people go to hear/buy your music? MIKE: You can hear us at several different sites - We're on ReverbNation and of course Myspace. On both Myspace and ReverNation, you can stream all the songs there and the ReverbNation site has some special free downloads available to anyone that becomes a member of our fan base. I'd like to take this opportunity to announce that we'll be launching a new website this coming fall where among other things friends and fans will be able to 'rent' and 'recommend' (R&R) our material ( songs and videos). Long story, short answer - we believe the old methods of 'selling' music is dead, and we're approaching this is a new manner that befits the digital age.....stay tuned for more, is all I can say at the moment. You can also find us twitter at ww.twitter.com/clampettsspfld, on www.imradio.com/theclampetts and our youtube channel CERI: Care to tell us something about the Ernie Ball Battle of The Bands? MIKE: The Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands is an annual contest that the Ernie Ball company conducts in conjunction with the Vans Warped Tour. The concept is to give a platform for undiscovered bands to showcase their talent to a larger regional or national audience. The contest has launched the careers of several major artists over the last 10 years or so. We're currently in the running for one of 5 available slots during the tours stop in St. Louis, Missouri. At last glance, we occupied the # 2 position after having spent 20 days as the number one contender. Fans must create an account in order to vote, but don't let that stop you - you won't be inundated with junk emails from either the Ernie Ball or the Vans companies or any other sponsor or participant. What we've seen thus far, is that a lot of the bands involved have their fans go 'trolling' for return votes from other bands and fans in order to benefit their chosen band.....and it seems to work. We'd certainly appreciate all the help and support that we can get. We've been discussing offering logo t-shirts to any of our friends and fans that are helping us out, not only in this contest, but in any of our efforts. CERI: On your AmeriCymru profile you describe yourself as a first generation Welsh american. Care to tell us a little about your Weslsh background? MIKE: My dad was born in Swansea. He and his mother moved to New Bedford, Mass. when he was 7. My brothers and I were constantly exposed to our culture and heritage from my dad, but more so from our grandmother. She insisted on speaking to us in Welsh as much as possible. My dad was a history nut, and had an extensive library of Welsh history and social traditions, which he 'tutored' us boys on....he went so far as to insist that we watch the movie Zulu at least once a month....why? Well, as he put it, and I'm paraphrasing here - ' the most glorious victory in the british army belongs to a Welsh Regiment'. My Welsh heritage was and still is the most defining aspect of who and what I am....I even have the goch ddraig with the words Wales Forever tattooed on my left arm. CERI: Are there any Welsh or Celtic influences on your music? MIKE: I couldn't claim that my writting has any more Welsh or Celtic influence than anyone elses music I do, however, like to image myself as keeping alive the old bardic traditions of my ancestors in some remote fashion. CERI: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru and WelshSteel? MIKE: I'd just like to say to you Ceri, thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself and speak to the members of AC and WS and connect with them via these forums and websites. And, on behalf of The Legendary Clampetts, thank you for taking the time to give us a go, we hope you enjoy the music. Interview: Ceri Shaw Email

Jon Langford, "The Newport man who played for Obama"

Jon Langford, a native of Newport who lives with his family in Chicago, a member of this site, posted a quiet link on his page and when I went to look at it, found that he was just in Washington, DC for President Barak Obama's inauguration and performed at an inaugural ball.

From the South Wales Argus:

"AS the United States' first black President was sworn in, a Newport-born man had a ringside seat to history being made.

"Musician and artist Jon Langford, 51, a founder member of the punk band The Mekons, had played at a Washington DC ball to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration the night before, and had a seat at the event being watched by millions of people around the world."
...

"Mr Langford performed six hours of country-punk with his current band the Waco Brothers in a sell-out event celebrating Obama's links with Chicago.

"'The concert was incredible and an illustration of how things are changing. I performed with blues singer David Honeyboy Edwards, who's 94. God knows what things were like when he was a kid,' said Mr Langford."

Read the rest of this really fantastic article and what Jon Langford says about the experience HERE.

One of Britain’s brightest football managers, Roberto Martinez tells his story

KICKING EVERY BALL

My story so far

“When I have a day off, I must admit, I take the whole day off, away from the game. Roberto, on the other hand, is still living and breathing football on his free day.” Jordi Cruyff

Roberto Martinez is one of the sharpest minds and most inspiring personalities in Welsh and British football today.

At only 33 years of age Roberto Martinez decided to bring a premature end to his playing career after being offered his dream manager’s job at Swansea City. After only fifteen months in the job he won the club the first division title and for himself the LMA Manager of the year award.

Since then Roberto has won the praise of countless managers, pundits and players, but none more so than from Swansea City supporters. At Swansea the fans recognise what he did as a player and captain, helping saving the club from relegation from the football league, before earning them respect in the Championship as one of the most exciting teams in the second tier of British football.

Originally from Balageur in Catalonia, Roberto Martinez played for his home town in the Spanish third division before moving to play Real Zaragoza in La Liga. In 1995 he was spotted by Dave Whelan, the millionaire owner of Wigan’s famous ‘Three Amigos’, alongside Jesus Seba and Isidro Diaz. He then played for Motherwell, Walsall, Swansea and Chester before deciding to follow his father’s footsteps into management when offered the job at Swansea City in 2007.

In Kicking Every Ball Roberto Martinez looks back over his life on the move and the ups and downs of his playing career. From his early days in Catalonia to his current role as one of the brightest managers in British football today. The book, published by Welsh publishers Y Lolfa, also includes a forward by the internationally renowned football player Jordi Cruyff.

KICKING EVERY BALL

Roberto Martinez

£12.95 ( 20.1968 USD approx )

Y Lolfa