Frank Beard tribute mix

I was saddened to hear of the passing of ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard. I got to see them twice in concert, the first time being at the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington back in 1985 when they were still riding high on the success of their album Eliminator. More recently I saw them at the Manchester Apollo in 2013. Their music, especially albums such as Tres Hombres, El Loco and Deguello, have never been far from my turntable though those last two I originally bought on a 2 on 1 tape released in 1983 presumably to cash in on Eliminator.

Anyway, I've loved their music all of my adult life and it's sad that Billy is now the last remaining member of their classic and much-loved line-up. 

This mix features three of their songs along with some other favourites of mine from the world of blues, boogie and a bit of gospel thrown in too. 

Tune in on Mixcloud or on Ginger Feather FM from Monday at 1pm or 8pm. 

ZZ Top - Dust My Broom
Dom Martin - Daylight I Will Find
Little Whitt & Big Bo - Mean Old World
Eric Bibb - Lovin' In My Baby's Eyes
Jackie Venson - Rollin' On
Blind Boys of Alabama - Amazing Grace
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Gone But Not Forgotten
ZZ Top - Sure Got Cold After The Rain Fell
Robert Cray - The Forecast (Calls for Pain)
Hat Fitz & Cara - Sister Sister
Seasick Steve - Back in the Doghouse
Eric Clapton - Hold Me Lord
Captain Beefheart - Gimme That Harp Boy
ZZ Top - I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide 

Along The Watchtower festival, Lancaster Castle

I went along to the Castle on both weekends of this new festival and certainly heard quite a variety of music. It did get a bit confusing with some last-minute changes to the programme and even after googling a few of the acts I still have no idea who one or two of them were. 

There's always an element of pot luck at these events, having little idea what style of music you're going to hear, but the acts I enjoyed which were new to me included Hellon and the Mellons, The Collective (I think), Owen Saunders and Wet Library. I only caught the very end of The Limes but they sounded pretty good whereas I had to go a safe distance away from XOX who were probably the loudest band of the festival. I did wonder about them having such a full-on rock/metal band on at what is a major tourist attraction in town and I did notice some rather confused-looking visitors no doubt wondering what the hec was going on. 

Having the smaller Gallows stage so close to the main stage generally wasn't a problem though Owen Saunders' Spanish guitar playing was in danger of being drowned out a couple of times by Hiroshima Twinkie on the main stage. 

Of the acts I already knew, Rice played their Hendrix-influenced rock with their usual energy and showmanship. They had originally been due to play the main stage but were moved to the Gallows for whatever reason. It was good to hear Paddy Garrigan and TSP though the crowds on the final Sunday were somewhat smaller than on other days. Sadly I had to miss The Convulsions and Off The Rails on the first Sunday but by all accounts they played very entertaining sets. 

A shout-out must go to my mate Marc who, along with partner Joanne, played what I think was the last ever gig by Subordinate Claus but fear not, they are carrying on under a different name. They were on in the early afternoon of the first Sunday and it was good to see some friendly faces in the audience unlike the second weekend when I saw very few people who I knew. 

Being a new event to Lancaster I don't know how successful the festival was in terms of footfall but do wonder if having it on two weekends in a row is something they will repeat. On the plus side the weather was neither too hot nor had us seeking shelter from any rain forecast and there weren't many queues for food and drink. The Atkinsons coffee shop provided a good alternative to the festival bar which didn't seem to have much in the way of soft drinks on the first weekend. 

But all in all I'd give the festival the thumbs up and I even heard a rendition of All Along The Watchtower on the Gallows stage. Was that trio called The Collective? That's what it looked like on the board at the front of the stage but there was no mention of them on any social media postings I saw. 

Off The Beaten Tracks 17 August 2026

Playlist for my radio show going out on Ginger Feather FM from Monday or listen now on Mixcloud.

The Findlay Napier song is from his 2025 album Outsider which is available on Bandcamp.  

Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
Brigit DeMeyer & Will Kimborough - I Can Hear Your Voice
Annabelle Chvostek - Like A Hurricane
Neil Young + Promise of the Real - Field of Opportunity
Katherine Priddy - The Summer Has Flown
Jack Johnson - Pictures of People Taking Pictures
Findlay Napier - An Extensive List of Lost Things
Aisling Irwin - Growing, Growing, Gone
Calum MacLeod - Mum's Set
Blackbeard's Tea Party - Landlady
Bella Hardy - Queen of Carter's Bar
Brigit DeMeyer - Calamity Gone
Johnny Cash - Bird on a Wire
Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood (ft. Amadou Kouyate)

Setting up a new phone

My phone started to freeze on me and reboot at random times so after trying a few things like uninstalling apps, clearing caches and so on, I figured it was time for a new phone. 

All was going well with the phone due to be delivered today, but I was then told I would need to give the delivery driver a 4 digit code which was in a message on my phone... which had now given up the ghost and died on me. 

The O2 website is a good example of "let's cram as many options onto our help pages without actually letting customers speak to a human being or give them an email address to contact tech support." I couldn't phone or message them as my phone was playing dead and any emails I sent were returned as undeliverable. 

Thankfully I managed to get through to them on Facebook and after a while my phone decided it would boot up for one final time and I was able to get the code for the courier.

I then had fun logging in to my Google account which I had to do as I'd backed up my contacts there, but all is now pretty much done with it also having downloaded most of my apps which was an unexpected bonus. It's now hassling me to use its Gemini AI feature. No thanks. Not today.

What I find irritating is that just having a password is no longer good enough. You need a passcode or some such thing as 2 Tier logins are now the order of the day. This is ok if you can access the device they send the codes to, but if your phone is Fubar, you're up the creek without a login option.

I have a background of working in IT, mainly as a technician supporting users and troubleshooting PCs and printers, so I'll keep buggering on and will get there in the end. But for others of my generation and those older (I'm 62) this sort of palaver could just be too much and I can imagine many oldies just giving up and abandoning this ever-increasingly difficult digital world. 

I should say the O2 tech support people on Facebook have been very helpful. 

I'm now listening to the REM album Monster and the song Let Me In is oh so appropriate.  

OTBT mix 10 August 2026

On this mix you can hear music ranging from Stephen Stills and Anne Briggs recorded back in the 1960s to a track from the new release by American trio I'm With Her. 

Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday on Ginger Feather FM at 1pm or 8pm.

Indigo Girls - Closer to Fine
I'm With Her - Ancient Light (live)
Los Lobos - Bluebird
Stephen Stills - Know You've Got To Run (demo)
Crosby & Nash - To The Last Whale a) Critical Mass b) Wind On The Water
Nick Drake - Time Has Told Me
Kitty Macfarlane - Wrecking Days
Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening - Colliers
Leveret - Oh The Days When I Was Young / Young Collins Rant
Jamie Smith's Mabon - Gareth and Aoife's
Seth Lakeman - Kitty Jay
The Carrivick Sisters - Amsterdam
Anne Briggs - Rosemary Lane
Maddy Prior - Somewhere Along The Road
Will Pound - Waxy's 

Off The Beaten Tracks 3 August 2026

Listen now on Mixcloud or on Ginger Feather FM from Monday at 1pm and 8pm.

Re the title of the Annlaug song...
The Norwegian phrase "Stovet som glitrar og gror" translates into English as "The dust that glitters and grows" or "The dust that sparkles and thrives."

George Harrison - Any Road
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - Psycho Killer
Helen & The Neighbourhood Dogs - Not That Kind of Girl
Peter, Paul & Mary - Leaving on a Jet Plane
Jon Palmer Acoustic Band - One Fine Day
Kat Flint - The Blinking
Honey & the Bear - The Swallow
Annlaug Borsheim - Stovet som glitrar og gror
Police Dog Hogan - The One on the Left
Mikey Kenney - Tiny Little Light
Moll Baxter - She is Dragon
Salt House - Unspoken Waters
Rock Salt & Nails - Someday
George Harrison - Piggies (live)