Bent Horseshoe talent competition

I think everyone should have a go at making music, and not feel self-conscious about it. That means I hate the idea of making music into a competition, and saying Band X is "better" than Band G. I think there are many things that make a musical experience enjoyable, and it's not always about who's technically the best player.

So why, you ask, am I involved in the music competition at the Bent Horsehoe on Friday the 7th?
Has Bing turned into a complete hypocrite? Has he sold out?
Nope, don't worry, I'm certainly not doing it for money!
And I haven't changed my opinion about music not being a competition. After talking with Steve, the guy who runs the Bent Horseshoe, it became clear that it's purely a vehicle for encouraging young talent to emerge.
He wants to get some younger people out to the venue (which is a fantastic venue, by the way - have a look at http://www.benthorseshoe.co.nz to see where they are located, and join their email list to see the great bands that play there).
The idea is to offer some of the young acts opening slots for more established bands. In short, he wants to grow the local scene, which is something I fully endorse.
Plus, I get to dress up and make stupid comments.
That's got to be worth it.

Also, if I see an act that's a bit ragged, and they aren't afraid to make a complete fool of themselves, then I'll have found a great band for the Bing Turkby Ensemble to do gigs with!
I guess that must be why Steve asked me to help out, it's certainly not because I know 5 different modal scales and can sing harmony...

So if you're free on Friday the 7th of September, come along and you should see the following things: 1) a great venue; 2) some entertaining young acts; 3) an eejit (me) saying silly crap; and 4) if you're early enough, a great view out over Horseshoe Bend (which is also an excellent swimming spot in Summer).

Swampfest fever

Wow, it's going to be a bigger, madder, more music-y Swampfest than ever before, come September this year in good ol' Palmy North, New Zealand!
The Bing Turkby Ensemble has been invited by the King of Palmy to do a special performance, so Jim K is racking his pea-sized brains for something amazing for us to do that will make everyone go 'hey!" or at least "oh... yeah..."
It may or may not involve some new toys Bing has been buying, including things that go "wee--ooo-wooop' and 'cling, clang, garooo' and stuff like that. Can't give you too many more details sorry.
But maybe he'll also this thing in the picture below, which goes 'wop-a-wow-wow-wakka':

What else has the Ensemble been up to? Just percolating a few ideas (translation: not much, thanks.)

We're in discussion with a pretty fancy company about getting a video made for the song No Indication, which would be rather cool. I won't mention any names yet, in case they decide it would do their brand irreparable damage to be associated with Bing Turkby. But the video concept has already been presented at a T-Tone Rekkids board meeting and everyone's stoked!
By the way, the album "Summon Forth the Mangonel" is still free to download at turkby.bandcamp.com. It's actually listed as 'pay what you want', so you can just type in zero if you like, or if you feel like paying fifty bucks, that's cool too.

Bing has been helping to organise a monthly 'Tuesday Bluesday' at Roslyn Library, and the last performance was by Harry Lilley and Rob Thorne - check their stuff out at http://thechildrenofmaui.bandcamp.com It's psychedelic dolphin music!