tag:wildstrays.com,2005:/blogs/k-tuesdayKT Tuesday2020-03-10T19:52:41+00:00The Wild Straysfalsetag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/62442102020-03-10T19:52:41+00:002023-12-10T16:42:55+00:00A Universe Renewed Episode 3. The Valkyrie, Evesham 6/03/2020<p>Hey everyone, another gig and another "Behind the Strays" </p>
<p>Also my first week at my new job and a gig to finish the week is just what the doctor ordered.. I managed to get an early finish for the Friday too, which was super cool. <br>So a perfect way to finish the week and start the weekend. </p>
<p>I went home, changed and then loaded up the gear into my van. I then picked Liam from the city centre and because we were heading out of Birmingham on the A45. We picked up Grace last. </p>
<p>We loaded the rest of the Grace's gear and then set off to Evesham. <br>Honestly we have some fun journeys on the road back and forward to gigs and this was no exception.<br>We spent the next hour and a bit singing our hearts too the "Now that's What I Call Music" albums. </p>
<p>Normally Grace will be in control of the music in the van while my phone is often the sat nav. <br>Plus it's always nice to listen to new music, hell i listen to my playlist every day of the week back and forth to work and walking around the local Tesco. <br>So to be introduced to new bands is always welcome in my eyes. <br>Well as long as it's not too to heavy. I mean I like Metal, but alas, it would be a boring place if we all like the same stuff. </p>
<p>Anyway back to the story, I had never been to Evesham before and I know that as a band we have never played there either. </p>
<p>So, singng along to Nsync, Steps and even Darius and his song “Colourblind” at one point, we soon arrived in Evesham. In fact I think we rolled into Evesham singing "Because I got High" followed by "Who Let The Dogs Out” lol.</p>
<p><br>We slowed up a little and then Grace said, take that left. <br>Which was a good call because it lead us straight to the back of the venue. <br>The name on this pub is so cool, “The Valkyrie” and it seemed to be bathed in yellow lighting. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/1681a924f550a516ae77903d55b3d3e112e85975/original/incollage-20200310-191906095.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I jumped out the van and walked into the venue to scope it out and ask where we can load in. <br>I met with the headline band Isolation. <br>First i met with the drummer Paul. I said, hey hows it going? <br>Then he introduced me to Alan the singer. They said to start loading in and we then settled into the venue. </p>
<p>I got chatting to Nat the bass player from Isolation about using her bass amp and her accent was quite similar to mine. <br>They were from Gloucester. <br>Everyone was super lovely here, the stage was a good size <br>and venue was gorgeous and this night had the hallmarks to be a cracking night. </p>
<p>Isolation sound checked and we hit the bar.<br>Omg it was then i noticed bottles of Corona in the fridge behind the bar. <br>So the first round was a bottle of Corona for me and two jagerbombs for Liam and Grace. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/e5edc865d4053f3382a11fe910c053e6b45de652/original/incollage-20200310-192641090.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We had a giggle, got chatting to Alan Hodgkins and then my good friend Gez came through the door. This was his first Wild Strays show and so big hugs and a quick introduction to Grace and Liam we had a good catch up. </p>
<p>Isolation had finished sound check so now it was our turn to set up onstage. <br>There was only two bands on tonight, so we got told we can pretty much do any set length we wanted. <br>We agreed to go on at 9pm and do a 40minute set. <br>We do have a longer show, but we have cut a few songs as we are still a member down. But as always our mantra “The Show Must Always Go On” we are here and we intend to bring a Wild Show.</p>
<p>The stage set and the crowd was building, so again we headed to the bar, make mine a cider. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/b48a03cf08788d733ea5bdb3caa461e2a9660024/original/20200307-092336.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I had great fun talking to new people and the venue owner Steve. </p>
<p>Time was ticking by and before we know it, it was 20.50 <br>Grace had headed off to get changed and the sound engineer Dave came up to me and said give him two minutes before we start heading to the stage. Because he needs to turn the lights off and stop the jukebox. </p>
<p>With that Grace came out and we gave Dave the all good to go sign. </p>
<p>Dave then hit the lights, and as dry ice entered the stage our sound clip the New Wild Order march started. </p>
<p>A quick check of tuning and as the sound clip faded, we ripped into the first track called "The Beast Inside" </p>
<p>This is now the fourth gig which Grace has been playing both Lead Guitar and Bass guitar, and despite me running across the room to the sound desk to change the sound clips as she changed from one instrumemt to another. </p>
<p>The energy here at The Valkyrie was fantastic. </p>
<p>The crowd were really up for it. The lighting on the stage was one of the best we have had for a while and this only incresed our energy in the band. <br>Smiles were big, the audience engagement was great as we punched through "Fireproof" <br>I also really enjoy “Own Perosnal Hell” as we had the whole room chanting back "This time its Personal.”</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/27497ff4460c62895aaddeb8518205da9134a451/original/received-665741167568890.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Liam's drum solo had a huge round of applause and we finished the show gathering all this lost Strays with our self titled track The Wild Strays. <br>A huge finish and for me I reckon that was one of the best gigs of the year. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/6e1d3681089a626e0966b13b2a67b2e762ce09f6/original/received-1423093827899052.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />An amazing night, and..,we have also been asked back to play. Which is always nice to be invited back to a venue.</p>
<p>We packed up our gear and jumped off stage then prepared for Isolation's set list. </p>
<p>As we know by now I don't talk much about other bands we play with, but honestly these guys had a great show and we as a band we happily jumping around to thier set. </p>
<p>Afterwards we thanked them for the opportunity to support them and we got talking and without saying too much,..we maybe doing a few more shows with this band. :)</p>
<p>A great night and smiles all round. Great energy and a great band to work alongside.</p>
<p><br>Thank you to Gez and Alan for making the trip down to support us in a new town. <br>We think we may have also made some new fans in Evesham too. <br>Also a huge thank you to Alan for all the pictures. <br> </p>
<p>We finally finished the night climbing on the pub tables and just generally having fun. A great night and we will definitely be coming back here another day</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/ed7515c2e0bfe600293cd77b0b67d6bebdda6b68/original/incollage-20200310-200105304.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Take it easy and catch you on the next one. <br>Love and respect, <br>KT </p>
<p>And remember, <br>Keep it Wild, Strays x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/62192082020-02-18T19:35:38+00:002022-08-15T18:40:03+01:00A Universe Renewed, Episode 2 The Underground + So-Called-Studios. 18/02/2020<p>Hi, welcome back to another Tuesday and my Behind the Strays.</p>
<p>Friday 13th of February and tonight we are playing Metal to the Masses at the Underground in Stoke on Trent.</p>
<p>Load in is 16.00 and so we figured we would need to leave about 14.45 in order to get there in time. However, the traffic always seems to have a little plan for us, despite looking at the sat-nav for an ETA. </p>
<p>I picked up Grace and together we headed into town to collect Liam. I just have to mention driving down the A45 towards Birmingham centre and suddenly Grace came out with this very melodic gibberish, I was like what the hell was that?. She pointed at the number plate in front of us and was making words out of it for a vocal warm up and exercise. I dunno, last week she was cartwheeling in the car park and this week its random vocal warm up using vehicle registration plates. It did make me proper smile though. </p>
<p>Anyway, moving on, we arrive at Liam’s and then head towards the wonderful M6 and it didn’t disappoint. It was very slow moving from Junction 6 through to Junction 11 and then the road started to open up to Junction 15. </p>
<p>We navigated our way through Stoke and arrived at the Underground. I had never been here before, but Grace had played here with the Wild Strays back last summer. So, we looked to her for advice on the parking and lucky enough we found a spot right outside the venue. </p>
<p>We headed in and met with., and please forgive me if I get this name wrong. I think his name was Roy. Anyway, he seemed a cool guy and he introduced himself as the sound engineer. He then said we can start loading in. </p>
<p>We walked back towards the car and sure enough another car had pulled in the centre of the little tuning road and blocked us in. I tutted under my breath and then Alan stepped out the car, ALAN ? Alan is a lifelong Stray and admitted to me that out of all the gigs he has been too and trust me he’s been to many and supports so many bands on the independent scene. He said to me, he has seen the Wild Strays more times than any other band. That’s certainly commitment and it is very much appreciated. </p>
<p>So, our faces turned into smiles with hugs all round. We unloaded the rest of the gear and waited our turn for soundcheck. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/5b1932d38f6e352624838450ce4a062b7a74f3c4/original/a.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I must admit, i thought this was a pretty damn cool venue. </p>
<p>We had been handpicked to play Metal to Masses and we were all excited to get the invitation. Yes we were a member down, but anyone that follows the Wild Strays knows our mantra.</p>
<p>The Show will Always go on. So here we are and we will bring the strongest show we can. We did get told that one band had dropped out tonight due to a member not being able to make it. </p>
<p>But uh uh, not us \m/</p>
<p>As a band we used to be based around Stoke and Stafford, but more recently members have moved to Birmingham. So, getting people to this show might be a little difficult, and i think we all knew we were not strictly a metal band. We are all Punk and Rock and Metal and Stuff. </p>
<p>Which I think makes us unique. </p>
<p>But a gig’s a gig and as I say, we were excited to be invited and have every intention on bringing a Wild and Kick ass show. </p>
<p>We sat about watching the other bands sound check. We had it confirmed that we were on first, which kinda suited us really, as Grace had two guitar rigs to set up. Her own Lead Guitar and then her Bass Guitar. </p>
<p>As we did for the Salty Dog, Grace would swap instruments throughout the set and play Lead guitar on the songs that had a lot of Lead parts and the swap to bass guitar on the tracks that were very bass driven. </p>
<p>The bass player from Banzai Pipeline was a pretty cool guy and said we could use his bass cab. His only request was that we don’t touch the settings. Which of course we were super careful about. Thing was when we came to set up on stage he was nowhere to be seen and we couldn’t get it working. Roy the sound engineer said, don’t worry we can DI the bass guitar. </p>
<p>So we said, ok cool. The only thing with this is, Grace would have no control over the volume of the bass guitar. </p>
<p>We sound checked 9 Lives and it sounded pretty damn good. So the stage was set and people started to come in. It was a nice size stage too.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/cbc1f888928dbb1fc67b5c85093cf9a597567b6a/original/b.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />It was time to hit the stage, our intro kicked in and we kicked off with the same set as the Salty dog. </p>
<p> Beast Inside is a blistering track to start with and Grace started the set on Lead guitar. </p>
<p>The next track is one of my favourites and there is a small music clip while she switched to Bass guitar. The song starts with all the attitude and I quickly realise, I genuinely can’t hear her bass. </p>
<p>Now with no lead guitar present and not being able to hear the bass guitar. The vocals on the monitors were not working. All I could hear was my guitar. I lost my way after the solo and we cut the song a little short. Not a big deal and probably no one noticed. </p>
<p>I said to Grace after the track, I can barely hear your lead guitar and couldn’t hear her bass guitar at all. We asked for more monitors, but he said he couldn’t get any more out of them. I didn’t know what to say really, but we carried on. </p>
<p>I have to say that only 6 days before we didn’t have any problems at the Salty dog in Northwich with this same set up and set list., but here in The Underground I couldn’t hear anything from the monitors. </p>
<p>Still the show goes on and as professionals, I think both me and Grace looked at one another and telepathically said, we can do this… </p>
<p>I ended up moving to the centre of the stage so I could be nearer her guitar cab and with more attitude we attacked Own Personal Hell which then leads into Liam’s awesome drum solo which always leads nicely into With your name on it. </p>
<p>Finally, finishing the set with the final track of the night The Wild Strays. </p>
<p>We won the crowd back with these last 4 or 5 songs and had the room clapping along to “Gather all the lost souls” and we finished with our usual big crescendo and a few cheers from the audience. We packed down and jumped off the stage. </p>
<p>I spoke to Alan afterwards and he said it sound ace out front. But you know when you know you haven’t played your very best, well it felt like that. </p>
<p>But we know one bump in the road won’t shake this Wild train we are on. </p>
<p>Tomorrow night we are back in our hometown of Birmingham, a brand-new venue for us called, So Called Studios and I got to say we blew the bloody roof off and put on one hell of a show. </p>
<p>But that is for next week.. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nah I’m only joking, </p>
<p>I would normally do this kind of blog in two parts, but I had in my mind these three gigs would be a trilogy of blogs. But, you see we have another show lined up the Friday March 6th which isn’t that far away and so I thought, ok let’s have Episode 1 for the first gig of the year, then Episode 2 as the battle of the band gigs and as these two gigs are back to back. The next gig will be the 3rd film of the trilogy and will be Episode 3 lol. </p>
<p>Hey we may even have a new bass player for then too. Who knows what the future will bring, but yeah so I thought I would cover both gigs this week. </p>
<p>I hope your still with me, my mind is a crazy little place sometimes, but yeah. Back to the story and here’s the night after the night before. </p>
<p>While we are on this topic, my new Behind the Strays with KT is no longer a weekly thing anymore. </p>
<p>I’m going to be popping up every now and again on Tuesday if there is a gig to cover or some good behind the scene stuff to cover. Just means it will always be fresh and full of nice content. </p>
<p>So, home to bed after a diversion from Stoke on Trent which seen us head the wrong way up the motorway to Junction 16 and then back down to Junction 6. Nightmare thanks to the night roadworks and closures on the motorway. </p>
<p>Sleep then wake for Saturday and another show. Man, I would love to do this for a living, another town another show. </p>
<p>That’s the dream right. </p>
<p>Anyway, back on with the story. </p>
<p>This weekend has been the arrival of Storm Dennis, he’s been a bit underwhelming really, knocked a few wheelie bins over, I’m joking. I did hear it was rough out there across the UK. I didn’t think Birmingham was too bad, but there again, I slept most of Saturday, it was indeed windy Saturday night, and Sunday.. well I binged watched Netflix for 7 hours under a duvet ? </p>
<p>Right, back to the plot. </p>
<p>This time Grace ran into town and picked up Mad Leg. This is a nickname Liam has acquired since he is a bloody awesome drummer and even getting screams from the girls in the audience. Honestly, I stand there sometimes and just think, yeah that’s so so cool. The way his double bass drum thunders through the house pa. </p>
<p>Ok, I’m rambling let’s get back on point. But yeah, they both collected me, we jumped in the van and headed to Acocks Green, Birmingham. </p>
<p>Only a short distance from our location and it was getting pretty windy out there to be fair, we sat in the van outside the venue when we arrived because we were a little early. </p>
<p>Then a BMW pulled up with what looked to be one of the acts, we later learned it was Jack Alexander Pretty, cool guys to be fair. As always, I don’t talk much another other acts on here. But all of the acts were strong tonight. </p>
<p>However, we did have one the Tinfish boys come down to support us which we all thought was super cool. Dave the guitarist from Tinfish was accompanied by Glubetser who runs Glubbox Sounds Radio. Really great guys and of course a shout to Ryan Lowry the owner of So-Called Studio. A great recording and rehearsal studio and now a cool venue. </p>
<p>We were first on here also, but again that made it easier for Grace to set up two rigs rather than normally just one. </p>
<p>So, same set but different venue. But this time Battle of the Bands. </p>
<p>We loaded into the back room and I walked up to the band Jack Alexander. I introduced us Wild Strays and we said hello to everybody and then we waited our turn to soundcheck. </p>
<p>We set up our merchandise stand which looked pretty cool as always. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/2e97b56347ae7738c625aed6abc590a87b886425/original/f.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />It was then our time to set up on stage. Ryan did a great job at ensuring all bands had the best sound that night and then we waited time until time ticked down to hit the stage. Ryan had this awesome sound clip which introduced us to the stage. </p>
<p>We were proper fired up for this gig after last night. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/8051483d5cf03b6edcedfa5886510e3d1a2ac44b/original/e.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />The sound was excellent, I could hear everything and tonight, despite still being a member down, we were here to put on one hell of a show, and we did just that. </p>
<p>Everything was on point and tight. The crowd participation was ace and considering this was indeed a battle of the bands all acts were super encouraging of the other acts. </p>
<p>We had a scream on this stage, the change overs from Grace from bass to lead were flawless and we were told by members from the audience that we really did bring a strong, entertaining, passionate and technical but fun rock show to the table. </p>
<p>Even Jack Alexander said halfway through his set, please give it up to The Wild Strays, saying, quote; “Now that’s a real rock band” </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/e9b0a287ee6e0e9375a7c359e360f4e4f6f91d42/original/c.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />So we ended on a high with a rapturous applause and smiles all round. </p>
<p>We now all look forward to the horizon of the summer of 2020 with a side mission of seeking a new Bass Player to complete the line up before we head to Evesham on March 6th. </p>
<p>Catch you on the next Behind the Strays. </p>
<p>Until then, </p>
<p>Keep it Wild, Strays,. </p>
<p>Love and respect, KT x </p>
<p> </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/62121152020-02-11T20:10:21+00:002022-05-30T10:38:19+01:00A Universe Renewed, Episode 1 The Salty Dog. 12/02/2020<p>Well its been a little while, but I’m back with my legendary ramble’s, blogs and behind the scenes of all things Wild Strays. Well from my viewpoint anyway, but alas.. lets do this. </p>
<p>A new year and new beginnings along with new songs and plenty of cool stuff lined up for 2020. </p>
<p>I’m guessing by now you have all seen our re-branding and modern look to our band artwork, logo and indeed Bruce. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/bbec5b99632705c62f4ab500173bcded0ab8bc94/original/2kxx-ls-blk.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>So I’m sure you won’t mind if I start this first blog by giving Grace a quick shout out. For all her hard work she puts into the artwork, promos, posters and videos which I think are so so cool..</p>
<p>While I’m here I also want to give a shout out to Liam, he has very quickly become a important part of this Wild Stray family and he is not just an awesome musician, but he works hard on the media side of things too. </p>
<p>So it’s Friday the 6th of February and we all have to day off work, as we know travelling to up to Northwich is going to be a bit of a mission on the last day of the week. Ah but we love it really, 3 o’clock in the afternoon comes and I load some gear into the van and then swing by to pick Grace up and then we head to Liam’s </p>
<p>Traffic was an absolute nightmare as predicted, and as we started to head to the M6, a overhead sign announced that Junctions 14 and 15 were closed. </p>
<p>So it was Grace’s idea to head onto the A38 to Lichfield. It wasn’t a bad road to be fair, although at one point we did end up in some country lanes. It took about 3 hours to get to the venue albeit a wee stop at Asda in Newcastle Under Lyme. Which seen Grace doing cartwheels in the car park. I’m not even joking, crazy woman ? </p>
<p>I got to say though, we did pass Roberts bakery and I think we all got rather too excited to see all the bread going round on conveyor belts. Twas cool though. </p>
<p>We arrived in Northwich and things started to look familiar, as it wasn’t so long ago that me and Grace was invited to talk and play guitar live on Northwich Radio. I’m not sure if the podcast is still available but we might have some other radio footage on the way soon. So watch this space or stay tuned to our News of the Wild updates. </p>
<p>Finding a car park for the Salty Dog did prove a little difficult as we must have done a circuit of the pub via the one ways system's at least 3 times. </p>
<p>On the third time, Grace said, hey, hey hold on a sec.. ,back the van up a bit. </p>
<p>On our left, it appeared that all of Mc’Donalds customers had poured out of the establishment to witness a fight. It was then Liam seen one of them pick up a bike and throw it at the guy he was fighting. </p>
<p>Crikey, and here's me thinking with all this beautiful architecture that this was a sleepy little place. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/169706a47ca3636deb5c9e3260089ab90269322f/original/dsc-1828.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We managed to park behind the pub, and we walked in through the rear of the venue. It was then I was greeted by Paul Mcintyre, a great, great guy that I met back in Reading. He travelled 2 hours to come and see us which I thought was pretty awesome. Thanks Paul it was great to see you. I’m just sorry we didn’t get a picture with you after the show. </p>
<p>We then introduced ourselves to Shaun the sound engineer and we proceeded to load in. As I say, we managed to load into the rear of the venue and there was a cool canal and a bridge that kinda reminded me of Sydney Bridge.Ok not as glorious but squint your eyes a little bit maybe :)</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/f9b5fa1955368b157c00d3e349529d5ca90ac4a0/original/78.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We were placed in the middle of the pack for tonight's show, so we settled down to watch the first band called The Magic E’s. </p>
<p>As before I don’t talk too much about the other bands on here, but they had a great sound and we were told they would be off at 9pm, so everyone is chilling and I headed to the bar to get some drinks and got chatting to Alexandra, a really cool barmaid. Next thing I hear is The Magic E’s announce that this is their last song. </p>
<p>So I went back around and found Liam was out the back setting up his stands and Grace was getting changed. Oh well at least it meant we had a extra ten minutes to set up. </p>
<p>Which is just as well really, because tonight was quite special. As you may have read from News of the Wild, we are indeed a bass player down. But Grace decided she would step up and play bass on some songs and lead guitar on the others. It made perfect sense because some songs are very bass driven and others, we would miss the lead guitar. </p>
<p>We had practiced this a few times in the rehearsal studio and it sounded good. So that was the plan. </p>
<p>We kicked the show off with Beast Inside which I think is a first time we have ever started with that song, but it kicks the doors off from the get go and certainly the right way to start off a show,. Grace started the show on Bass guitar which then leads into one of our new tracks called Fireproof. </p>
<p>A quick sound clip and a change to lead guitar for Grace and we run through Broken Glass. Dodo Doom is to follow leading nicely into Own Personal Hell. </p>
<p>Next up a blistering drum solo from the one and only Liam McCarthy and into another new track called With Your Name On It. </p>
<p>We of course finished the show with the high energy and crowd pleasing track The Wild Strays. </p>
<p>We had an absolute blast at this venue and have been invited to come back with other bands. But more on that another day. Shaun did an amazing job on the sound desk and I must give a special shout out to my friend Phil who also made it down to the gig. I wasn’t expecting to bump into him or Paul, but thanks guys it was a real pleasure to see you both and once again, shout out to Alexandra. The Salty Dog in Northwich rocks \m/ </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/c6d6673cf805cfe19489ddf9eb6d29103ceeb326/original/alex.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/7104f02bbea766c888790b597e6c3c990e6839d6/original/phil.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> A fantastic night and a great way to start the year with a trilogy of gigs in quick succession. </p>
<p>See you for part two of the saga, next Tuesday. </p>
<p>Or so we thought,</p>
<p>We finished the gig and drove home. I woke up on the Sunday to see Liam had noticed we had been tagged in a Premier Video on YouTube. It seems Bryan Spink has a youtube channel and films bands who perform at The Salty Dog and then Premiers them on Youtube. </p>
<p>So i spent Sunday evneing watching the countdown to the launch of our show. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/440b43952e1386496143e6b5cca1ba95ab482878/original/dsc-1876.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />So i couldnt resist but take a photo of it on my telly, but if you fancy watching it please click the link below; </p>
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwBTYwHsShM</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well thats it for now, its certainly good to be back,</p>
<p>As always,</p>
<p>Keep it Wild, Strays,.</p>
<p>Love and respect, KT x</p>
<p> </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/59196262019-10-08T19:52:31+01:002021-09-14T02:40:48+01:00Round 3, Ye Olde Foundry, Dudley<p>Hey, welcome back to another KT Tuesday. </p>
<p>Last Tuesday I had no internet after moving to my new house in Birmingham... <br>Yay.. I’m back in Birmingham. </p>
<p>To be honest, I have lived in lots of places across the UK and Birmingham is the first place I have actually moved back to, or lived in for a second time and this time, it really does feel like coming home. </p>
<p>I love the music scene in Birmingham, I'm familiar with the layout, streets and have some friends here too. So I'm really happy to be back. </p>
<p>So… back to the plot. </p>
<p>As discussed in the last blog, we were stood around the merch stand in the venue Redrum on the Friday night and Grace received a message from a promoter who she did a gig for earlier in the year. </p>
<p>Grace went on to explain, would we all be up for a gig tomorrow night in Dudley at Ye Olde Foundry? </p>
<p>As we huddled around in a circle listening to the question we looked and one another and said.. "Hell yeah, Lets do it" </p>
<p>So Grace messaged him back and that was that. Two gigs on the bounce and three in less than two weeks.</p>
<p>We continued on with the Redrum night and watched the other bands, had a bit of a jump around for a bit… it was then when Grace was dancing and moshing with Mike, I looked round and seen she had spilt her drink on the floor right in the middle of the dance floor. <br>Laughing and still dancing around it. </p>
<p>We all smiled and then I ran up to the bar, saying or more like lip syncing to the barperson over the noise, <br>“Hey can we have some wipes please, we have spilt a drink on the floor” </p>
<p>Hey.. hold on a sec.</p>
<p>I'm supposed to be talking about the gig in Dudley.. </p>
<p>So to tie this up we finished the night and then we headed to McDonald's after the show for some food followed by ice cream. Mmm.. Ice cream.</p>
<p>Now… there is a little thing about this gig in Dudley that I didn’t really see coming. Grace said to me, hey this gig is going to be a bit of a tough one for me. I said how come ? </p>
<p>We spoke privately and I reassured her that we will stand united and just go with the flow. <br>What ever, we got your back. </p>
<p>What happened next was an incredible night. </p>
<p>We all met up and then jumped in the van and headed off to Dudley which wasn’t that far away to be honest. Our load in time was 5pm and we arrived before any other bands. </p>
<p>We met with Billy (the sound engineer) who Grace knew from before and he said we could start setting up. Even though we were not on first, it made sense to make use of time and do a quick sound check. </p>
<p>There was also a cool back room to load the cymbal stands in pre set up. So Liam could just quickly throw them in front the kit to help speed up change over time. </p>
<p>We did our traditional fun awkward sound check and this was a proper old school pub, no stage to stand on just up close and personal on the pub floor. </p>
<p>I must admit I like these kind of gigs. </p>
<p>There was one monitor in the front of us and we were loud. But it felt great, next we met up with Primer and then White Crow. </p>
<p>Both of these bands we so so friendly and it made a real difference too, everyone was having fun, talking about this that and the other. </p>
<p>White Crow sound checked and then Primer, both bands sounded ace. The pub started to fill up being a Friday night and it was Free Entry. </p>
<p>As you know I don’t talk to much about the other bands on the bill, but definitely check out Primer and White Crow, they both had amazing songs and we were all up dancing along with everyone else. It was a blinding night. </p>
<p>We also had Mike back for this gig, which made a massive difference. <br>Yes we will always carry on a scheduled show if we are a person down if we can, but having him back with us just felt good to be back to full strength again. </p>
<p>From when the intro kicked in, the beat of the drum and the first chord struck. <br>Everything just clicked and we put on a killer show. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/bb310e34044b91da3ab10959a6bd1282557b3f4d/original/2dd05baa-a1b2-4b22-b88c-a321f6c57b7d.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We did a 45 minute set list here and one of the many highlights for me and there was many... But one stood out, was when we started the final song “The Wild Strays” </p>
<p>It starts with a really mellow guitar piece from Grace and I would normally speak to the audience and Grace would step off the stage and wander into the crowd. </p>
<p>But this time, and I didn’t see where she went. <br>She walked behind me and around to the back of the pub, next thing her wireless guitar partly lost its signal, I started to play alongside Mike and Liam..but I swear she went outside into the street lol. </p>
<p>Next thing she appears back in sight and walks through the crowd and back onto the stage. </p>
<p>Smiles were all around the pub and once Grace joined us back onstage. A quick shout of 1-2-3-4 and we kick into the song. </p>
<p> A fantastic crowd, who were also nice and loud joining us on the “This Time its Personal" chants, leading into a huge finish. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/17b4136fd12d2cbe1d80f946d608447efb161160/original/c051bd50-f97a-4e5f-9f37-6506e0396ed4.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We then packed down and then stuck around to enjoy Primers set. </p>
<p>We made so many new friends on this night and had people coming up say they totally enjoyed our show. </p>
<p>Billy did an amazing job with the sound and all credit goes to him for the stunning pictures he captured as well. </p>
<p>Below is a group picture of us Wild Strays with White Crow and Primer.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/7788ab83b1dd1b2cd33a61bb9188c3f03c70c1c4/original/1f71761d-391b-444d-a8df-31784bad0a67.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Next up we head to Cheltenham for our last show of these four gigs in a row. </p>
<p>It's been so much fun doing these gigs in quick succession and I will tell you all about it in the next episode. </p>
<p>Spoiler… Jake our old bass player also joined us on our adventure. </p>
<p>Until next time, <br>Keep it Wild. </p>
<p>KT</p>
<p>Before I go, those who follow us on Facebook may have seen our very own Grace Hale has been in and out of hospital this week, she has been through so much this year, and I just wanted to give her a personal shout out.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/8251e39ba06fa067a522dda7eab741fa3f9767ba/original/4f2a7c91-8531-4f19-b192-53ac97e1177a.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Get well soon Missy, from myself, Liam and Mike, we miss you x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/59035112019-09-24T18:04:17+01:002019-09-24T19:10:59+01:00Round 2 and We Come Out Swinging <p>Hey and welcome to another KT Tuesday. <br>Can you believe I'm three gigs behind on my blogs. Well two after this one.</p>
<p>This particular gig seen us back at the venue Redrum in Stafford. </p>
<p>Stafford has always held a special place in the bands heart due to it being the birth place of The Wild Strays.</p>
<p>The first chords of "Guilty of my Innocence" "The Wild Strays" and "9Lives" were also born there. </p>
<p>In fact I may do in time..a blog with backstorys to the songs. <br>Speaking to Grace and getting her view and inspiration behind the songs she wrote and as we go on the other members too. <br>That could be a cool thing to do. </p>
<p>Anyway back to the plot.<br>We have played Redrum a couple of times and it's always been a good venue. </p>
<p>This gig came out the blue really, as I seen a post on Facebook by the promoter, asking for any bands that could jump in and play at short notice.. as a band had pulled out. </p>
<p>So I messaged the rest of the strays and within a hour or two, I messaged Shaun the promotor back and confirmed we could fill the spot. </p>
<p>To be honest I didn't really know who we were supporting and I did a cheeky search on the bands. </p>
<p>Both bands were a similar fan count to ourselves and it was penned to be a great night.. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/181d08abf485c889f62677046ebae0f37e64b02e/original/redrum-nnice.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I got talking to the guitarist out of Electus and then the singer later on in the evening. <br>They were great guys and I think we could see ourselves on the same bill again one day. </p>
<p>Both bands soundchecked and then it was our turn. </p>
<p>We have a cool device now which enables us to do some cool intros. <br>If you haven't heard it yet, then get your fine asses down to a Wild Strays show and come and see for yourself. </p>
<p>We finished soundcheck and it was ok, the drum kit backline was interesting and I was told to turn my amp down so quiet that I could barely hear it. </p>
<p>Sadly new monitors had only been installed on the morning and the sound guy was still getting the best out of them. <br>And I got to be honest. <br>I couldn't hear a thing through our set, apart from the drums. </p>
<p>But we plowed on and put on a wild show with a united front. </p>
<p>Afterwards we had a great chat with Shaun the promoter and we have some interesting things in the pipeline with him next year. </p>
<p>It wasn't particularly busy at the gig and we stuck around to support the other bands and left towards the end of the night. </p>
<p>Then... out the blue, Grace received a message from another promotor asking if we could do another gig the next day. <br>This time in Dudley at Ye Old Foundry. </p>
<p>We all looked at one another and said, hell yeah let's do it. </p>
<p>Little did we know it would turn out to be a truly amazing gig full of so much energy and support from the other bands and crowd. Grace even ran around the back of the pub with her guitar mid-set. </p>
<p>But more on that next Tuesday. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/9f72406f111d78912eb5bc9a7d842e2614b24dc9/original/4853dc56-c890-4c4e-9e19-6beb7988e69b.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />(Photo taken by Tinykubo)</p>
<p> </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/58952412019-09-17T19:26:48+01:002019-09-17T20:42:14+01:00A Wild Headline<p>Hey and welcome back to a "KT Tuesday" blog. <br>Its been a little while. </p>
<p>But honestly, it's great to be back and already there has been plenty of adventures, laughs and new memories made. </p>
<p>I could write a whole blog on why I have been away.. or why I'm back. </p>
<p>There is quite a story there and probably some of it too personal to tell. </p>
<p>But after some time away.. Grace and myself set a date and time and we sat down in a restaurant back in early June of this year. <br>A lot of honest words were spoken and we spent the night chatting,..then because of our talking we missed the cut off to order some food. <br>But it really didn't matter, it was just good to talk and crossing that burning bridge is the best thing I have done. </p>
<p>A few weeks later we climbed Mount Snowdon together and I think it was here we really cemented our friendship again. </p>
<p>You see friends are hard to come by, and throw being in a band together well you might aswell call each other family. <br>Yes you may not always agree, but if there is a spark there, a comman interest and hunger for music.. and a passion to make something special.. and if friendship is also there, well that really is the sprinkle on the cake. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/e7ba9afc1eee420f01f408d82788ad01f2fa2fb5/original/950933a8-f39d-4d44-8420-c8dd5e144fd9.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Anyone who has been in band’s knows how much work and effort goes into them. <br>And I'm damn proud of the Wild Strays and everything that has been achieved. <br>So when me and Grace talked about me coming back the fold, i think my face said it all. </p>
<p>This time is different though. It just feels way different. </p>
<p>There is talk about a magazine that wanted a gritty interview with myself and Grace. </p>
<p>We are not sure if this is going to happen. <br>But we will keep you posted. </p>
<p>So, we headed back into the studio and I got to say, the energy was incredible. It felt like we hadn’t had the break and with the new members, the place was buzzing with passion and electricity.</p>
<p>If you been following the "News of the Wild" newsletter every week or social media then you will see there is a “New Wild Order”</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/935e0ebcab11774fd04aaa0ca1059d910339aa7d/original/2549de2d-2c45-4ea1-993c-b8f328ed4a24.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I would suggest heading over to the members personal pages on www.wildstrays.com for more info. </p>
<p>Both Liam and Mike are the New Wild Order that we needed and the band has a good sense of balance, love, respect and fire in our hearts to hit the stages around the country in 2019 and onto the Festival stages in 2020. </p>
<p>So this leads us very quickly to the new songs and the Headline show in Birmingham. </p>
<p>We really wanted to come back with a bang and what better way than to put on our very own show, filled with roster of bands that span many genres and who are not only our friends but also bands that are there to have fun, support each other and bring great energy. </p>
<p>What happened was exactly that. </p>
<p>I bumped into our first act while playing at the Rigger in Newcastle under Lyme. <br>Her name is Kira Mac and I was instantly captured by her original material and country music flavour. </p>
<p>We spoke after her performance and when us Wild Strays sat round to talk about who could open the night. <br>I suggested Kira Mac would be perfect for kicking our Wild Night off. </p>
<p>Next up was Liam’s idea. <br>Because we are self defined as "Punk and Rock and Metal and Stuff" we knew we needed a punk band. <br>Liam's best friend Danny is in a band called The Leftovers and they are a punk ska band from Stafford. </p>
<p>Sounded good to us and I had also seen them in Silverdale with Liam a few weeks back. <br>They had a great fun energy and were a great choice for the night. </p>
<p>Next was to find a main support. <br>Now, I knew of this girl called Karly Snarly, we had been friends for over 3 years and she had recently joined a band called “In Plain Sight”<br>They are a hard rock band from Watford in London. </p>
<p>So I messaged her and asked her if she and the band would be interested. <br>She messaged back straight away and said yes. </p>
<p>So the stage was set. <br>Country, Punk Ska, Hard Rock and then the “Wild Strays”</p>
<p>We worked hard on the promotion of this gig, we even had a interview with Nicky Clifford from Northwich radio. </p>
<p>Infact so much has happened over the last two months since my first rehearsal back with the band and the radio interview that perhaps I will do a flash back series like before in my previous KT Tuesdays </p>
<p>But to the gig, <br>We put posters up in PMT in Birmingham, Robannas studio, The Flapper of course and even a tattoo studio. <br>Thanks Kirstie, from KTrew Tattoo. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/b7d10e7dfc5368a7e2030c30f08bb1a1eae11386/original/e0bdb09b-7a1d-4d29-abad-c5871f3a19a5.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We had a scream putting these posters up all over in fact. </p>
<p>Crikey there is so much to tell, also a quick shout out to Dirty Dave, Stinky Steve and Clean Pete. </p>
<p>You know who you are. <br>A late arrival one night at the Flapper as me and Grace invaded the pub after it shutting its doors. <br>We convinced them to let us in so we could stick some posters up. </p>
<p>So onto the night in question. <br>Everything was set. <br>Grace, Liam and Mike had the day off work, sadly I had to go to work so I left my amp, guitar and gig bag with them. </p>
<p>Load in at the Flapper was at 16.30 and sound checks were scheduled by Grace who I got to say organised and scheduled the timings like clockwork. </p>
<p>Not to mention her hard work and dedication on posters and marketing. </p>
<p>But alas. </p>
<p>I took my guitar to work along with a change of clothes and was due to finish work at 16.30 and I would then travel down to Birmingham from Stoke on Trent to make the gig. <br>I should have arrived around 18.30 all being well with Friday night traffic. <br>So I managed to leave work on time, and headed to junction 15 of the M6. <br>I proceed south and when I get just past Junction 13 my car temperature gauge starts getting hotter and hotter. <br>Past 3/4 and increasing. <br>Next is blue smoke coming out from the bonnet and I'm thinking. <br>Noo don't break down on the M6. </p>
<p>I managed to limp of Junction 12 and then spotted a dirt track on the right hand side. </p>
<p>Little did I know, this was a yard containing 4 lorries and the rescue boys who pull stranded cars off the M6. </p>
<p>Well my car was smoking and I pulled up and jumped out to then open the passenger door to get my spare guitar out and belongings. </p>
<p>One of the guys asked me if I was ok and if it was going to catch fire. </p>
<p>I wasn't sure so we stood back. <br>Thankfully it didn't but being mechanics. <br>They looked at my car and said it had totally had it. </p>
<p>So I rang Green Flag and they said they would have to send a recovery vehicle and that I would need to stay with the car. </p>
<p>I told them that wouldn't be possible as it was my first show back with the Wild Strays and there was going to be no way I was missing it. </p>
<p>Thankfully after messaging , a dear friend of the band Alan Hodgkins. <br>Who was coming to the show. <br>He said he would do a detour from Leicester and would pick me up and get me to the show. </p>
<p>I had another coffee with the guys who I learned thier names as Chris and Sponge. </p>
<p>Alan arrived and I grabbed a quick picture before we pulled off. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/147cad2d10ead9cf18f63b2a332f23f8504f44af/original/587fd62f-3c89-4384-8e98-dfc1216675ce.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We arrived just in time to catch the last few songs of Kira Mac and then the night proceeded. </p>
<p>Quickly followed was The Leftovers who were superb and then it was time for In Plain Sight. </p>
<p>Everyone in the venue was in such great spirits and honestly the night was such a great night. </p>
<p>In Plain Sight smashed there set out the park and then it was our turn. </p>
<p>This was also Mikes very first gig. </p>
<p>Our new intro kicked in and the crowd started chanting. <br>"Wild Strays" <br>"Wild Strays" <br>"Wild Strays" </p>
<p>Well im stood there backstage with Grace and Mike. <br>I'm looking at them both and then to Grace as I said woah you hear that. Grace just looked back at me and said, yeah that’s pretty damn crazy, with a big smile on her face.<br>We were all blown away by everyone's warm welcome. <br>Honestly. <br>All the hard work, the blood sweat and tears to get get to this point. </p>
<p>As I say, there is a new order and new balance in the Strays and we hit the stage like an explosion. </p>
<p>We played nearly a hour of all original material and honestly it felt amazing. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/ee7aebdf4eb6f11b449b21a92c53dd476aa9d7c4/original/15.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I'm sure i could go into more detail but this blog already feels long. </p>
<p>But thank you to everyone who came down and supported us. <br>Who has been on our Wild Rollercoaster with us and marches onwards with us in our new wild order. </p>
<p>Catch you on the next KT Tuesday. </p>
<p>Love and respect, <br>KT </p>
<p>And remember .. <br>Keep it wild, Strays x <br> </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/55593332018-12-18T19:12:29+00:002018-12-18T21:16:15+00:00A Christmas party with Tinfish - 18/12/18<p>Hey and welcome to another KT Tuesday. </p>
<p>It’s been a busy few weeks for us all, I was only talking to Tanya while driving her home on the Sunday morning about how crazy it is that our next gig is her fifth show with us. </p>
<p>I mean seriously where does time go. <br>Well I kinda tell you where the best bits should go, and that’s where your heart is. <br>The rest is all blurred lines with work and sleep. </p>
<p>But I’m waffling so let’s crack on. </p>
<p>We have been looking forward to this gig for a while. Tinfish have become not only a band we have done what must be half a dozen shows with, but they have also become our friends. </p>
<p>Every time we see them there is always big hugs followed by a good natter and catch up which honestly to me this is the best feeling. To meet up with another band and have that warmth with, is really something special. </p>
<p>I personally can’t help but dance along to their songs and I know we all sing them in the car on the way to a show. As you know I don’t shout bands out on my blog very much but if you fancy giving Tinfish some love, then certainly check out there stuff. </p>
<p>So long story short, to be invited to support their headline show in Shirley at the Red Lion, this already had the hallmarks for a great night. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/ea3b2ae81e52120b9ae43b540ff7ac1b8c089ce9/original/gig-poster.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />A little back story, back when the Wild Strays was just in its infancy, me and Grace were invited down after playing a few shows with Tinfish to the Red Lion In Shirley, To see and celebrate their first Ep Launch. <br>It was the first time we had seen this venue and it was this night Tinfish said to us, we must to come down to Shirley and play in the future. </p>
<p>We were driving back from this weeks show, Grace said to me, hey do you remember all the snow last time we came down to this place to see Tinfish. </p>
<p>I was like oh yeah, and we spent a good 5 minutes reminiscing about the snow and how we drove into the McDonald’s, had a bite to eat and drove gingerly home. </p>
<p>But before we get to our trip home let’s rewind and talk about our day. </p>
<p>We needed to head to the studio for a few hours because we had been asked to do a Christmas song for this gig. </p>
<p>We had chosen “Fairy Tale of New York” I actually like this song but I didn’t realise Grace had a little plan for it. <br>Of course I should have seen it coming. I mean this is the Wild Strays and to be asked to do a Christmas song cover for a Tinfish headline. Well we had to make it a bit special. </p>
<p>What happened actually blew me away and left me smiling so much. <br>Within a week of us choosing this song Grace sent over some revised lyrics to the band chat and I gotta say. </p>
<p>She really did hit the jackpot. <br>I read them through and was instantly onboard. Of course the others needed their say, but yeah she did an amazing job on those lyrics. </p>
<p>I was practising on and off over the next week or so and the plan was to go into the studio and kinda put the song together. </p>
<p>Thing was time flew by like it always does and it didn’t seem possible to really work this song out in a couple of hours. </p>
<p>I mean it was ok, I still needed to read the lyrics because it was a lot to remember and it really needed a rhythm guitar because Grace was doing the lead and violin parts. </p>
<p>I mean it sounded good but certainly needed a bit more time to perfect. </p>
<p>After a few attempts it was decided that although this song is ace and we should totally record it or youtube it, or do something with it. . </p>
<p>It’s not quite up to a live performance yet. </p>
<p>We ran through our Rocky cover and decided to keep it back for another day. </p>
<p>Running out of time, we packed up from Robannas and headed over to the Red Lion. <br>It really is the other side of Birmingham, but actually didn't take that long from the practice studio. As we got closer me and Grace had flashbacks of the area and parking. <br>We ended up conveniently parking behind the building. <br>This made loading into the venue so simple. </p>
<p>We decided to lock the car and head into the venue and was then greeted by Tinfish and Alan Hodgkins who was already there as well. </p>
<p>We unloaded the gear and got chatting to everyone there. </p>
<p><br>Being a Christmas Gig, Grace, Tanya and Spice dressed up for the occasion. <br>As for me... well you know I kinda like my black t-shirts lol. I did however wear a Christmas hat which is pretty good for me :) <br>It stayed on until the I started to headbang at least x </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/f496a94afe3d6ffbbd77a893359d9b8f44002979/original/group.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />But it was a great gig, the atmosphere was so so good, everyone was there to have a great time. </p>
<p>We even managed to get Steve and Dave up onto the stage to shout “This time it’s personal” (a Wild Strays first I must add) on our song Own Personal Hell. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then it came to the part in the set which we had set aside to do the Christmas cover. We had shown Tinfish and a few people some of our lyrics from our rendition of Fairy Tale of New York .. ahem i mean Wild Strays of Nu-Rawk and they said we should totally do it. </p>
<p>Well, we put it to a vote and got the crowd to cheer which one they wanted. </p>
<p>Which one did they choose. </p>
<p>Oh course it was our Christmas cover. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/3524207363dc2ef6ec36e10f5a93869e054f7ca0/original/collage.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We did the song and had a laugh and honestly tonight was so much fun. </p>
<p>In fact, we then got invited back on the stage later in the night to sing with Tinfish on thier Christmas song, to which i jumped off the stage towards the end and got this cool picture. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/b7d9bf5ef412e20b5982d39aa5efa4810fbdc3d2/original/gt.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Spice also joined them for their debut single "Lets make some noise" but i was having too much fun dancing and sadly didn't get a picture. </p>
<p>I think it was a great night with a really good party atmosphere. </p>
<p>The pictures above are a little dark but after our show we danced and partied right until the last song and then stuck around chatting some more before heading back home. </p>
<p>Before we did leave we got a few pictures of the Tinfish boys and thanked them for having us join them at there local venue and Christmas party headline show. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/d34469da3e5af0f8532811c36c4a382fd0c2e445/original/tinfish.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We also discussed some plans for next year but I can’t give too much away just yet. </p>
<p>As always, us Wild Strays are always planning something :)</p>
<p>And so back to the where this blog entry kinda started and the long journey back to Stafford after the show.</p>
<p>I got to say something personal here to Grace. I was dead tired and driving at gone midnight up the motorway after 5am starts all the week. Spice and Tanya fell asleep pretty much straight away, yet Miss Hale was talking to me and singing in the back of the car all the way home and making me smile. </p>
<p>Thanks for riding shotgun with me Missy and keeping me company..She did this and all the time i knew she had to be up at 4.30am for work on the Sunday. We arrived home at gone 1am and unloaded the car and then she headed to bed. </p>
<p>That's a whole bunch of respect from me.</p>
<p>Thanks Grace, i really appreciated that, i owe you one xx </p>
<p>A special thanks to everyone who has come down to see our Wild show over this last year. <br>A extra big shout out to everyone who has hit Like on our Wild Strays Facebook page. </p>
<p>Your support is always appreciated. </p>
<p>We have one more gig to go for 2018 and another new venue for us. <br>This Saturday the Strays arrive in Newcastle-under-Lyme and play The Rigger. </p>
<p>Don’t miss our final show of the year. </p>
<p>Until next time, <br>Keep it Wild, Strays </p>
<p>KT xx </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/55490192018-12-11T14:45:31+00:002018-12-11T18:00:41+00:00The Wild Strays in Europe's Music Magazine: WildSpiritz Rising, Issue 4. Christmas Edition. <p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>A Wild Strays Special. </strong></span></p>
<p>We were very lucky to be featured in the Christmas edition of the new and rapidly growing WildSpiritz Rising Magazine. <br>They specialize in giving exposure to up and coming Unsigned bands and catching up with bands hot on the circuit right now. You can find them on the following link, www.wildspiritzmusic.com</p>
<p>I hope you enjoy the article taken with consent to archive here on our website.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/4ea4be1c5fcec87023506906dad24a2cd3f02ae7/original/website-logo.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Ernest heard about our band through social media and got in touch to ask for a Interview. After exploring our band further he saw our gig at the Sunflower Lounge supporting The Ramonas. He asked if he could come down to do a live gig review to go with the interview for the magazine. </p>
<p>Of course we took the opportunity.</p>
<p>If you read my blog a few weeks back called<strong> “First World Problems” </strong>you know that we met him just outside the venue and he hit me by surprise with his journal. <br>He was a lovely guy and below is the interview in full, followed by the Live Gig Review. </p>
<p>Ernest Platt chats with lead vocalist and guitarist KT</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/52cd67e5fa891bb55ff07614acd6932f79b11381/original/4.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The Wild Strays are a hard rocking band who don’t really conform to what would be called ‘the norm.’ They play, what in their terms, is a mix of punk, rock, metal and a bunch of other stuff thrown in for good measure. One could possibly be forgiven for thinking that they might be too punk for a metal line-up, and on the other hand, too metal for a punk line up. <br>But for all of you out there who pay attention to things like this, you will realise that in playing this way, The Wild Strays are pretty difficult to pigeon hole to a specific genre, and this, ladies and gentlemen gives them something that is a little bit special.......The Edge. </p>
<p>As with most independent bands The Wild Strays not only play hard, but they work hard, holding down full-time jobs. Luckily for me a window of opportunity presented itself and I managed to get time with lead vocalist and guitarist KT. </p>
<p>First up for me was to find out about the band getting together. </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>In terms of bands you guys are new and have been playing live for a year now. How did it all come together and how long did you spend in the studio before deciding you were finally ready to get out there?</strong> </span></p>
<p>“I met Grace in 2016, she had applied to be lead guitarist with the band I was already in and we clicked immediately. We shared the same music tastes, passion and drive, which lead to us leaving that band to form The Wild Strays. </p>
<p>“Before we got to the studio we were writing and jamming songs in the lounge and we didn’t really get to a studio for about four months. It was just Grace and myself who were then first into the studio and after a couple of rehearsals (sometimes with Grace on the drums) we then decided to get a bass player who was a guy called Jake.</p>
<p><br>Grace knew Jake from a previous band and as he was at a loose end at the time, he was up for joining and seeing where it was going. He immediately felt that there was some-thing different about The Wild Strays. Jake had been in bands before but sadly they never really took off. However he was up for jamming with us to see where it would go. </p>
<p>We still needed a drummer, so I spoke to Phil Brooks who I knew from a place where I used to work. I called him up and asked if he would help us out.” <br>“We knew that he was never going to be our full-time drummer, but he was a good friend and he was up for the challenge. He did all he could to enhance our sound and will always be part of The Wild Strays history. <br>We spent two months rehearsing and went for it. </p>
<p><br>After two gigs on the live scene we advertised for a full time drummer. Spice joined the band and we have never looked back since.” </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/843624c9ccb30105c82f8e4d1dd5810e97d34974/original/ja-1.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/a00e99cdb9537ed2d1578e7858b38f79c905a42e/original/spice-bio.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><em>[Picture above, on the left is Jake, on the right is Spice]</em></p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>Being independent and unknown was it difficult to get venues to play? </strong></span></p>
<p>“It was incredibly difficult at first. A lot of venues state that they only book gigs through their promoters and unfortunately we live in an era where most venues tend to use that line as a get out clause. What it takes is for someone to give you a break.</p>
<p>With our previous band rehearsing we knew a guy called Robert Hoffman well. He owns Robannas Studios and it was through him that we got in touch with Adam Ward.</p>
<p>It was Adam who gave us our shot in a back-street warehouse in Digbeth in Birmingham. <br>There were tiles missing above the stage, the dressing room was built from pallets and there was no bar. This venue was called Get The Fear. I’m not sure it is still going though.” <br>“From there we maintained contact with him and he still gives us gigs today. He is a fabulous guy to know.” </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>Your musical style is a real mash up of genres. Is this some thing that you discussed or is it just a natural thing based on your own musical influences? </strong></span></p>
<p>“I’m very pleased to say that it is entirely natural.</p>
<p>Grace is a proper Bullet for my Valentine fan and loves Trivium even more. I’ve also got to say she is a huge Taylor Swift fan as well.<br>I’m into the Swedish sleaze metal and everything between. The Runaways and Thin Lizzy to Crucified Barbara and Crashdiet to many more. I think we all listen to many different artists but there is also a cross over where we listen to the same artists. </p>
<p>So, as it is Grace and myself who have done most of the writing so far, you can see why it’s a fusion of music. </p>
<p>However, Spice and our new bass player Tanya are starting to have creative input into the song writing and so there is an ever broadening spectrum of influence which will drive us forward.”</p>
<p><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/32d6bb3f95fe9e5e89430554e7d73434867b2108/original/7.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>And how do you feel that this style is received? </strong></span></p>
<p>“To be honest it’s been awesome. We have had excellent reviews from radio stations with our debut single "9 Lives being played both in the UK and the US, and the traction on Facebook is very strong. With the imminent release of our EP we will have an even better understanding. <br>One reviewer called us ‘fresh and crisp and exciting’ so I feel that we have been taken in very well.” </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/aa4a397adcdf8b79f8f229a8a0674de87c4ef52a/original/padatan.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><em>[Picture above, Tanya]</em></p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>I noticed on your social media that you held auditions and recently engaged a new bass player, Tanya. How is she settling into the band and the live set? </strong></span></p>
<p>“She has settled in incredibly well. She is both a tomboy and a girly girl. I’m sure she wont mind me saying that. She is fun energetic, lively, warm and friendly and has gelled into the band like she has always been there. We are all extremely happy. You can see her hunger and dedication so like the rest of us she will help drive the band forward. We couldn’t have wished for anyone better.” </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>Sticking with social media I was very interested to see that there is a weekly blog from you. How did this come about and why do you do it? </strong></span></p>
<p>“We have our website, www.wildstrays.com and there is a page for each band member. That is their own little space to engage with people who follow the band. I love writing, well i enjoy talking and so it was only natural for me to write about our adventures. People come up to me at gigs and they are avid readers of my blog which has encouraged me to write weekly and maintain it for them.” </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>Do you think it is something that all bands should do? </strong></span><br>“I couldn’t possibly tell other bands what to do.” </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>I’d like to talk about your sound for a moment. On the EP you can get the energy, passion and angst in the music but seeing you live it was a different experience entirely. And it’s like a ‘yeah man’ moment as it really comes across well. What are your thoughts on this? </strong></span></p>
<p>“I have to say that that is a very nice compliment. And I have to say that it’s true.</p>
<p>We are very much a come see live band. We engage with the audience and through the playing you can feel the raw emotion exuding from each member. What we give to the audience they give back and there is a real electricity surrounding the set.” </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>Musically and vocally the band have shown amazing progression. Do you feel that you are almost where you need to be or is it a case of never stop? </strong></span></p>
<p>“I think it’s a case of never stop. Next year we want to be working on dual guitar harmonies. I feel that vocally I am stronger and will continue to improve. There is much more to come from us. </p>
<p><br>I don’t feel that the band have reached their full potential yet and it’s a very exciting time for us. As we move forward the sound becomes tighter, we bounce off each other very well and we test our limits with each performance.” </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/ece1828e18f02aea62f1e113bcc9c9dab3181c28/original/newgr.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>If I’m right I think that you have three more gigs to do which takes you to the end of the year. What’s 2019 looking like so far? </strong></span></p>
<p>“I think that 2019 is going to be our biggest year yet. We have some great things in the pipeline and we have gigs booked all over the country including a festival. Keep checking in on our website and social media platforms for updates.” </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>Wildspiritz Rising is currently picked up worldwide. What would you hope to get out of being featured in the magazine? </strong></span></p>
<p>“I would like to think that it brings our music to a wider audience and that there will be a good insight into The Wild Strays and where we want to go. <br>We are very pleased to get some magazine exposure and its through people like Wildspiritz we get to be heard by a greater number of people.” </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>Being independent, how do you feel the music industry could better support bands and artists like yourselves? </strong></span></p>
<p>“There are a lot of opportunities missing. We have so many music channels but there do not seem to be any grass root shows. With all the social media available not enough is being done to promote the independent artist. It all stems back to being able to get that first break. <br>It’s through people like Adam Ward and publications like Wildspiritz where the independent artist gets to have a voice and this needs to happen more.” </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>You gain fans wherever you go. Is there anything you would like to say to them? </strong></span></p>
<p>“If you have ever come to a Wild Strays show you will see that when the crowd claps and cheers I tap my heart, and I do so at every gig. This happened instantaneously in the early days of the Wild Strays. <br>We are having the time of our lives and it wouldn’t be possible without the fans. I am so grateful to each and every one of you who join us on this Wild adventure. </p>
<p><span style="color:#27ae60;"><strong>Final words before we wrap up? </strong></span></p>
<p>“Keep it Wild, Strays.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color:#2ecc71;"><em><strong>THE WILD STRAYS LIVE REVIEW <br>THE SUNFLOWER LOUNGE <br>BIRMINGHAM <br>FRIDAY 30th NOVEMBER </strong></em></span></p>
<p><em>On a crisp evening I battled the traffic and made my way to the Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham. It’s a cracking venue with a very good bar upstairs and a fabulous room downstairs for band performances. Adam Ward the venue promoter is a very gracious host and gave me a warm welcome. The purpose of my evening was to review The Wild Strays which would round off my magazine article perfectly. Interview, EP review, live review. On a bill that featured four bands they were originally down for a thirty-minute set but due to unforeseen circumstances, one of the other bands pulled out, so happily for me I was treated to an extended set by The Wild Strays. After much rushing about the band were finally ready and the rain and thunder of ‘Banished from the Heavens rang out through the pa. This was followed by a drum intro and the band launched into my favourite track, ‘Broken Glass.’ There is an energy about the band that draws the audience in and with her powerful vocals KT Eden is the consummate front woman. ‘Beast Inside’ and the most recent single ‘9 Lives’ further enhanced why the band are so highly thought of on the live circuit. There was a slight interlude and little bit of banter as they set up ‘Guilty of my Innocence’ which showcased the guitar playing of Grace Hale. Being an extended set, we were treated to two covers, The Runaways ‘Cherry Bomb’ and the Bullet for my Valentine version of ‘No Easy Way Out’ from the Rocky movie. Although there was a pause due to a tuning issue, new bassist Tanya seems to be a good fit to the band and has settled in well. There was a big finish in the form of ‘The Wild Strays’ and by this time everyone has a smile on their faces. <br>As a live band The Wild Strays just keep getting better. Their audience engagement is superb, and they put on an excellent show with everything left on the stage. This is what it’s all about. And the bar is set high.10/10 <br>Full set list – Banished from the Heavens, Broken Glass, The Beast Inside, 9 Lives, Guilty of my Innocence, Cherry Bomb, Own Personal Hell, No Easy Way Out, The Wild Strays. </em></p>
<p><em>As the year winds to a close and 2019 rears its head we will be keeping tabs on the Strays and will bring you updates. If you haven’t managed to see them live yet you have three chances left this year. Get to a gig. You won’t be disappointed</em>. </p>
<p><em>Ernest Platt</em></p>
<p><em>Editorial Director</em></p>
<p><em>WildSpiritz Rising </em></p>
<p><em>ernest@wildspiritz.co.uk</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>So that’s about it for this special. Thank you to Ernest for the awesome four page spread in your magazine and for allowing us to also archive it here. <br>Please check out the link www.wildspiritzmusic.com for further details of the magazine and there support for all things music.</p>
<p>Until next time, <br>Keep it Wild, <br>KT x </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/55490072018-12-11T13:54:42+00:002018-12-11T16:55:45+00:00Wild Winter 1/3 The Giffard, Wolverhampton 7/12/18 <p>Wild Winter Part 1 of 3. </p>
<p>Three back to back gigs leading up to Christmas and the first one kicks off with a revisited trip to the one and only Giffard in Wolverhampton. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/6d6e6eff6e4848642ccb28426f504fc61db9d62f/original/new-gig.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />My alarm woke me at 04.50 as I needed to get ready and load my gear and then head off to work. I generally don’t like working on gig days. But hey ho. The reason.. I really do enjoy the trip to the venue with the other members of the band. It’s always an adventure and good fun singing along to songs or just having some nutty banter back and forth. </p>
<p>But today I would finish work at 16.30 and then head straight to the venue on my own. <br>As it was, it wasn’t a bad trip down and I kinda knew where I was going after being here for the first time only a few months back. </p>
<p>I reversed up the dead end road and squeezed my car into a space. <br>It seemed I was the first here. So I unloaded my car and headed in to the venue with my guitar and amp. </p>
<p>I was met with the smiley faces of Tanya and Terri and had big hugs from both of them. </p>
<p>The main band were loading onto the stage to start their sound check and by the time I looked round Spice and Grace had arrived. We helped bring their gear up the stairs and we milled about for a bit. </p>
<p>I decided while there wasn’t much to do, so I would downstairs for a bit just to soak up some of the atmosphere. I really do like this place as I said before in a older blog. It just reminds me of places I used to hang a few years ago in previous bands. There still is some good rock pubs about but they are getting less and less. </p>
<p>So I ordered a cider and just sat there for 10 mins. </p>
<p>I then headed back up stairs and Spice had already set up his cymbal stands. <br>The main band were still sound checking but it was ok as it was 18.30, doors open at 19.30pm and we had over a hour before we were due on at 19.45 </p>
<p>Another ten minutes went by, Kings of Lies finished with their sound check and we then started loading onto the stage. <br>We started to set up and we were told we had to go on at 19.30. This was a surprise to us all as we had been informed our start time was 19.45. I had a conversation with the promoter to discuss why it had been brought forward. As always we keep things professional here on the website and.. Well, we decided it was, what it was, and I messaged a few people to say we would be on 15 minutes early. </p>
<p>Our apologies to anyone who didn’t make it down in time and to Steve who only caught our last two songs. We'll make it up to you. </p>
<p>On a lighter note we saw Alan Hodgkins who we met for the first time at the last gig, two weeks back at the Sunflower Lounge supporting the Ramonas. <br>It was real nice to see him again and we chatted for a while. I later learned after the show he had travelled from Leicester to come down and see us again.</p>
<p>Anyway we hit the stage at the new time of 19.30 and I gotta say we had a blinding set. We have been really pumped for these series of gigs and tonight was no different. In fact we have been on a high since the Ramonas gig. <br>The sound engineer did an amazing job at giving us such a large sound and it felt amazing. <br>The vibe was perfect, the energy was perfect and it was a great gig. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/365c96b875265248413b464d21f81aea6b314124/original/collage.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I got to give a quick shout out to Tanya, she had a accident with her knee earlier in the week and was in tears just the day before in pain. She messaged the band chat and explained she was in pain, but she wanted to soldier on through the gig. She did sit on the side of the stage for a short time, but she nailed her part and during the set Grace explained to the audience that Tanya had damaged her knee. </p>
<p> Tanya, you were awesome \m/</p>
<p>The sound engineer did also pass a comment on my new amp. He said it sounds so much better than my last amp lol (my old Marshall amp has now retired) Hmmm we never did blow it up.. </p>
<p>We finished our set and we pretty much decided to load the cars rather than leave the gear kicking about. <br>Huge thanks to Steve and Alan for helping us with our gear down the steps and into the cars. </p>
<p>We would normally stick around and support the other bands. <br>But as Grace had to be up at 4am for work and I had been up since 5am we were all ready to head back home and crash. </p>
<p>I did catch up with Ian from King of Lies outside. We got chatting about promoters and how they wanted to open the door to more venues. <br>I said I would send over some numbers who have supported us over the last year or so. So look out for them in a town near you. I think it’s always nice to share information. I mean if someone puts us onto a new promoter we are always super grateful. </p>
<p>We were then stood outside the venue chatting and Alan then requested a picture of us all. <br>I got to admit this picture makes me smile. Thanks Steve for taking it. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/9a466e41820961ac038e724a3ce4e44844d9bcc6/original/alan.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I think we are all a little crazy lol. </p>
<p>Alan had also ripped a poster from a wall in the venue earlier that night and asked us to sign it. Which is super humbling. Actually thinking about it, we signed a set list for Phil back in Derby. Actually.. now thinking about it, that would have Jake's signature on it. </p>
<p>Hmmm I might actually get a signed set list for myself lol. <br>It would be nice to frame and keep for safe keeps I reckon. </p>
<p>Anyway I’m waffling. </p>
<p>Tanya decided she was going to stay and enjoy the rest of the night with her sister and friend. I think she ended up in The Foundry and arrived home gone 2am. </p>
<p>Spice, Grace and Grace’s dad jumped in my car as Grace had parked her car near Sainsbury’s. We had a giggle driving and missing turnings. I think we drove round the block twice. I still don’t know Wolverhampton very well lol. </p>
<p>Then me and Spice headed back home while Grace dropped her dad home, then back home for her and her 4am start. </p>
<p>A wicked night, we had a fantastic show and met with some great people, old and new friends. <br>Now we look forward to our friends Tinfish and thier Christmas party in Shirley, Birmingham. </p>
<p>See you there, </p>
<p>Until next time, <br>Keep it Wild </p>
<p>KT x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/55393772018-12-04T19:56:33+00:002018-12-04T20:08:00+00:00Hit The Ground Running - 04/12/18<p>*sneaks through the door quietly* <br>Hey shush it’s a KT Tuesday and I kinda haven’t done my homework... :) </p>
<p>I think this could be a little thin on the ground. <br>Basically since the last few gigs and rehearsals, we all had this past weekend off and I pretty much worked on the Saturday morning and played Red Dead 2 on the PlayStation 4 during the rest of my spare time. <br>(It’s a beautiful game by the way :) </p>
<p>A lot has been happening around the band in the last few weeks. The build up to the Ep is certainly one of them. We also caught up with a certain magazine at the Ramonas gig and we look forward to sharing that with you in the next coming days. </p>
<p>Of course Tanya joining the band has happened and... already she now has two gigs under her belt. I’m pleased to say she has slotted perfectly into the band. Her debut being the Headline show in Stourbridge. Then of course our gig just gone which was a kick ass show at the Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham </p>
<p>Another gig next year in Stafford is on the cards with some cracking acts lined up for that. (details coming soon)</p>
<p>Plus new promoters to work with next year throughout the UK as we are stretching our legs further a field. </p>
<p>We also venture down south near my hometown, to cider country "Somerset" in March and in the spring we head across the border to Wales and of course not forgetting our festival in February. </p>
<p>London is also on the cards as is Bristol. </p>
<p>So we will see what next year brings and as always, huge thanks to all the Strays that follow us. </p>
<p><br>Be sure to keep up to date via our Facebook page and of course the hub for all things Wild, our website. </p>
<p>Sorry it’s short and sweet this week. <br>There is plenty more to come... until then, catch us at The Giffard in Wolverhampton this coming Friday. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/6d6e6eff6e4848642ccb28426f504fc61db9d62f/original/new-gig.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Come down and say hello. </p>
<p>Until next time, <br>Keep it Wild, <br>KT xx</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/55293892018-11-27T19:47:24+00:002018-11-27T20:27:06+00:00First World Problems, Supporting The Ramonas - 27/11/18<p>Welcome to another KT Tuesday and today had the all the hallmarks of being an epic day. </p>
<p>We also had Spice back for this gig which meant we are back to full strength. </p>
<p>We have had this particular gig booked since March of 2018, and now it is finally here. <br>Tonight we are supporting, the very busy and most awesome Ramonas. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/4d954c476d0775ad32cec453dee09399680ea775/original/ramonas-gig-poster.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Since booking this gig we have really been looking forward to it, and after last weeks strong performance with just the three Wild Stray's pulling off a headline show. <br>We felt super strong going into this show. </p>
<p>I have also got rid of my old amp (we actually wanted to find a demolition company and blow my old one up) but it’s still living down PMT at the moment. <br>We might have to get it back and try and achieve the blowing up of my amp :) <br>Anyway, I have tried and tested my new amp once at the Claptrap gig and some practice sessions at home and I was happy with the set up once Grace help me achieve my tone. </p>
<p>The plan today was to rehearse for a few hours then head back to the house for a bite to eat and then make our way down to the venue. I got the message that we would be leaving at 9am on the Friday morning to get to the practice studio scheduled from 10am till 12pm. </p>
<p>This studio was in Stoke on Trent, so the idea was that we would run through the songs. I mean the last time we practised together as a four piece was at Tanya’s audition. But we of course practice at home and myself, Grace and Spice have been doing the set for a while now. </p>
<p>Back to the story...myself, Tanya and Grace loaded the car and set off to Stoke. We pulled up outside of Spices house. <br>Tanya jumped out the car and knocked on the door, then went in. They both came out a few minutes later and we headed to the studio. </p>
<p>We have never been to this studio before and I think it was about ten minutes from Spice's house. It was a place called Venom Base Studios. <br>Honestly we arrived or at least in the area. I stated to have flashbacks of our practice in Stafford. This studio was next to a garage or breakers yard. Not knowing where we were really going. Tanya and Grace jumped out and was told by the owner to head to the Boilers Room on arrival. I presume they knew where the studio was. </p>
<p>They then waved us back down the street as they now have the directions to head behind the building to the studio. We had to reverse the car down the slope and then was faced with lugging our gear up the steel fire escape steps. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/fff220c39b93b112e039f8b1daa06cb93ecab150/original/venomo.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Once in, the studio looked amazing and welcoming. <br>We were treated by a smiling guy called Chris and he offered us free drinks throughout our session. The room was toasty warm and a good size. We set up and started to practice. I didn’t really work to hard on beating out on the vocals at full volume because we had a full show to do later. </p>
<p>So we jamed through the songs and ran around the studio while doing so. Head banging while playing and just generally having fun. <br>It was a great session and we ended up staying a extra hour till 1pm. </p>
<p>We packed up and then set off back home to Stafford with Spice in tow. I cooked some fish and rice and we pretty much chilled for a few hours. </p>
<p>It was then time to head to Birmingham. </p>
<p>We knew it would be quite busy being a Friday so we left in plenty of time. The venue was supposed to be a bit of a bugger to park outside as well. But we’ll figure that when we get there. </p>
<p>The Sunflower Lounge is located on the Queensway pretty much right next to New Street station in the centre of Birmingham. <br>We pulled up and then locked the car, just so we could find the lay of the land and figure out where to load in. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/9b9bb80ee96f2ca7358c3e47220749d54fc52c05/original/sunflower.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We all walked down the stairs and The Ramonas were on the stage doing there sound check. They sounded loud and and pretty damn awesome. I must admit I was super excited for this show. I think we all were. </p>
<p>We then laid eyes on Adam Ward who always gives both me and Grace the biggest and warmest of hugs. I’m sure he would have done the same to Tanya. He probably would have shook Spices hand. I’m actually not sure but anyway... <br>Then spotted Chris Long and another warm greeting. </p>
<p>This night felt so friendly and Tinfish hasn’t even arrived yet. </p>
<p>We loaded our gear into the back room and then Grace rode shotgun with me to the O2 car park. <br>We met up with the others and decided to go for walk to find a shop and pick up some drinks. </p>
<p>On the way back we bumped into Ernest from WildSpiritz Magazine. Well he hit me with his book. Gently I must add :) and he was like.. oi oi lol </p>
<p>He contacted us a few weeks back and enquired about doing a piece in his magazine on The Wild Strays. <br>A Ep review, A live Gig review and a Interview. </p>
<p>Of course we jumped at the chance and it was nice to finally meet him in person. (This will be shared on our page once released, as we are in the Christmas edition of Wildspiritz Magazine. (More details to follow) </p>
<p>We then headed back into the venue. Ernest was introduced to the whole band and he then left to introduce himself to the other bands he was reviewing that night. </p>
<p>The time was ticking by and we got chatting to Adam Ward and caught up with Chris Long who we hadn’t seen for ages. <br>The first act Endangered Species were on first and as we were there enjoying their show Tinfish arrived. Dave was the first person I saw and again a big hug and kiss on the cheek. </p>
<p>We have been doing the odd gig with Tinfish here and there for over a year now, and they are super lovely guys. <br>It was only a few minutes after that, we got wind that one of the bands were running late. Forty five minutes late. <br>There was talk of us being bumping down the bill, but as we had people coming down to see us, it was a difficult decision. <br>As it was, Jenny from Rebellion was there alongside Adam and they decided to let us keep our slot and asked if we minded doing and extended set by going on 15 minutes earlier. </p>
<p>Well, we jumped at the chance. </p>
<p>I mean Ernest was here to review the gig, and we were fired up to be supporting the Ramonas so we were eager to hit the stage. </p>
<p>We enjoyed the rest of Endangered Species show and then started to load our gear onto the stage. </p>
<p>Once set, we had a few minutes before we could start our show, then it was time for our intro and we kicked our show off with the traditional rumble of thunder. </p>
<p>We belted straight into our recently new track called Broken Glass (which can be heard on our up and coming Ep) then into the full version of The Beast Inside. <br>I then started talk for a bit while Grace is doing the warm intro to our Debut Single 9 Lives. </p>
<p>The sound was amazing here at the Sunflower Lounge and I actually forgot Ernest was reviewing the night. Because we were having so much fun. The monitors were perfect, it was also a good sized crowd too. In fact it was a great turn out. </p>
<p>9 Lives ramps up and that song always sounds so strong. <br>The call and answer from the crowd on Own personal Hell was one of loudest I have heard. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/72eff0ce22c3c44de0f604dc3b16af1acbd26bbc/original/gig.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We also did a couple of covers which is rare for us. But we had a fantastic night and how cool was it that the Ramonas were in the wings listening to our set and the other bands on the bill. I was only saying last week that some main acts don’t check out or watch the supporting acts. As we are headlining last week, we made a point of seeing the other bands on the bill. </p>
<p>But the Ramonas watched every band that night. I thought that was pretty damn cool. </p>
<p>Next up was our friends Tinfish and they played a blinding set, also a quick mention to Lawrence thier drummer. It was his birthday on this day and he looked liked he was having a blast tonight. </p>
<p>A very happy birthday to you Loz, from all us Wild Strays, we hope you had an amazing birthday xx <br>Then it was time for the main event. As always I don’t talk much about the other bands on the bill. But I gotta say, we spoke to the Ramonas back stage before the doors opened and they were super lovely girls, we sat and chatted for a while. Hearing a few stories of their life on the road. </p>
<p>Tonight they were playing their First World Problems album in full. The room was now full and they came on stage and kicked the night off with 2016 Fuck This. <br>They came bolting our the gate and we just jumped around like crazy. One of my highlights was jumping up and down with Grace, shouting, "you got problems, i got problems, First World Problems, First World Problems" </p>
<p>That was awesome, jumping up and down screaming this at the top of our voices :) </p>
<p>Such a great, great night. <br>Thank you to everyone who came down to see us and the other bands. </p>
<p>A special photo below, this marked our first year having Adam Ward as our promoter. He was the one that gave us our first shot a year ago into the Live scene and we been working on the Birmingham circuit ever since. </p>
<p>Also in this photo is Chris long, me and Grace met him for the first time in Coventry a year or so ago and again such a great great guy. If we were ever to make it on tour, he would be the first person we would ask to come with us. We should take more photos like this one. </p>
<p>Tanya, Spice, Grace, Adam, Chris and myself, KT </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/cbb9268b7b77523ef4af484368be40864b86e7aa/original/group.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We now have a week off and then it’s three gig's on the bounce for us. Two of which are Christmas party's.<br>Hmm.. we must come up with a little name for the next three gigs. </p>
<p>Anyway, <br>Till next time, as always, </p>
<p>Keep it Wild xx </p>
<p>KT x </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/55215362018-11-20T20:18:24+00:002018-11-27T19:28:45+00:00Headline Gig at the Claptrap, Stourbridge (Man Down) - 20/11/18<p>A new dawn. </p>
<p>Welcome back to another KT Tuesday and today we take a look back at last Saturday’s gig. </p>
<p>Two big things were happening. </p>
<p>1. We had our very first headline show. </p>
<p>2. Our new Bass player was being revealed as it was her first gig with us. </p>
<p>Little did we know, or think, that of course things happen in 3’s </p>
<p>Let me explain. .</p>
<p>Tanya has been working hard on the bass lines for the last two weeks and stayed over on the Friday night before the gig to run through a few last minute things. <br>We also had a rehearsal booked on the Saturday for a few hours just to make sure everything was tight. </p>
<p>So the day was pretty much planned. </p>
<p>We woke up, had a cuppa tea and I had some coco pops and then proceeded to get ready for the day. </p>
<p>I was in my room and next thing I know, Grace is knocking on my door. <br>I said, wassup. She said, have you seen the messenger chat? <br>I was like, no. </p>
<p>(This is totally how it went lol) </p>
<p>Anyway turns out Spice is really sick. I mean I caught up with him on the Friday night to pick up some of his drum kit and he wasn’t right then. </p>
<p>However on the Saturday he was really poorly and messaged the chat to say he couldn’t make the show. </p>
<p>We suggested perhaps he could skip the rehearsal and just make the show ? </p>
<p>It was a idea, so Spice got some more sleep and we headed down to Robannas. </p>
<p>Grace is really good in these situations so she kinda took control and we decided that perhaps we should prepare for the worst and Grace would drum in rehearsal with me on guitar and Tanya on bass. </p>
<p>So, we arrived at the studio and somehow Rob had double booked our usual room. <br>(So far this day wasn’t going very well, could this be how the day was going to continue) </p>
<p>A band were in this particular room we normally use and we decided, rather than hump our gear all through Robannas we would grab a subway and come back in a hour. </p>
<p>Rob said the room would be empty by 1pm <br>The load in at the Claptrap had been changed to 6pm so we still had time on our hands. </p>
<p>We finally got in the room and started to run through the songs and although Grace is a great drummer. The songs did sound empty without her on lead guitar and of course there is only one Spice on drums. </p>
<p>We continued to run through the material and we decided to call Spice about 3pm. <br>After some lengthy discussion between him and Grace it was decided that Spice really is unfit to do the gig. </p>
<p>So what do we do. </p>
<p>Well...we decided we should call the promoter and pretty much give him three options. </p>
<p>1, we explain we can’t play the gig because our drummer is ill, but would come down to the venue and support the other two bands on the bill. </p>
<p>2, we suggested that we drop down the bill and perhaps open up the night proceedings with a stripped down set. </p>
<p>3, we continue the head line but explain it might feel a little light on the guitar side and be a little rough around the edges. </p>
<p>Well, Andrew from Shenanigans Promotions took a moment to think and then said. <br>I would rather you guys headline. <br>Your sound and tone is loud and I think you will be fine to continue. The evening is set to ramp up to a big finale. </p>
<p>He was super grateful at the same time. He said as the bill was only three bands he is super happy we didn’t throw the gig. </p>
<p>Well, we all looked at each other and I’m not going to lie. We were super excited to headline and we certainly didn’t want to throw the show. </p>
<p>So we got back to practice and then packed up the gear to start heading over to Stourbridge. </p>
<p>We had some giggle's while driving to the venue and found the place easily enough. I jumped out the car and ran to the other side of the road. I rang the bell and then banged on the door. </p>
<p>The owner of Claptrap came to the door. <br>I said hey, he said hi. </p>
<p>I said; I’m with The Wild Strays. He said oh yes please come in. </p>
<p>So we started to unload and carry our gear up the stairs. <br>(There is always some stairs) </p>
<p>This place was so so nice and really quirky too. <br>Lamp shades all over the place and some of which were upside down. There was even a door on the ceiling and doors used as tables. <br>This place was amazing and a good side sized stage too. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/f2359d6b731e8c6eb1da02c1836256578934a392/original/clap.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />[picture above taken from the official Claptrap website] </p>
<p>After a short time, Left Hand Man band arrived and we introduced ourselves. They were super cool gigs to be honest. </p>
<p>Next was our sound check, we played through a song a couple of times and then we pushed our amps to the back of the stage to allow for the other bands to set up and sound check. </p>
<p>The time was ticking by and soon it was time for the first act. </p>
<p><br>As you may already know if you read my blogs, I don’t really discuss other bands here but a lady called Jess Silk opened up the evening and I was really looking forward to her set. I had already checked her out on YouTube and yeah she was ace. </p>
<p>Us, Wild Strays also wanted to make a point of watching the other bands. We have played with many headlining bands over the last year and many of them don’t listen to their support bands. <br>Not all, but some. </p>
<p>We didn’t want to have that reputation so we were there all the way through the night listening and enjoying the night. </p>
<p>Left Hand Man really did an amazing job and with such a big sound and we were a little worried how we might go down. </p>
<p>We were certainly heavier than the other acts and there was easily way over 100 people there dancing and having a good time. </p>
<p>Grace and Tanya went to get ready, and I headed over to the bar for a cider. </p>
<p>I came back and sat down, I looked up and Grace and Tanya had some really cool outfits. Honestly they looked amazing. <br>We made our way onto the stage and started to set up. </p>
<p>Those of you who have seen us, know we start the set with rain and thunder and then into the first song. </p>
<p>Heads turned and we smashed straight into Broken Glass and then The Beast Inside. </p>
<p><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/91c186149cda827877fed67d0b54c54bf8522a0e/original/stage-1-best.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Just before 9 lives, Grace would normally open up the song with a beautiful riff. <br>However tonight, for one night only; Grace was on Drums </p>
<p>We decided before hand to use this opportunity in the set to address the audience and explain the following. </p>
<p>So I started by saying. <br>Those who may know us Wild Strays will notice Miss Hale is not up here next to me tonight, but she is on Drums for the very first time for a gig. <br>(Grace does play drums and very well, but this was her first ever live show) </p>
<p>I continued by saying, that our drummer Spice is very ill in bed and couldn’t make it tonight.<br>However we didn’t want to let anyone down. </p>
<p>This is also a really special night because not only is this our first Headline show but making her début for The Wild Strays tonight is our new bass player Tanya. </p>
<p>I finished with so if you could all give them a big hand and especially a warm welcome to Tanya we will crack on with our Début Single 9 Lives. A cheer and claps erupted. </p>
<p>From that point on we played a blinding set. </p>
<p>Grace really did amazing on drums and was told after the show she had such a great energy. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/9bac5dbee44dc1b37e3edf65d10cc549071e76fd/original/jam.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>And.. Tanya nailed her first live show. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/489099504ad7ef8fff5d64454a196aefab5efaf0/original/tanya.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />There is some great pictures taken and now we prepare for our next show where in just three days time, we will be supporting and we been waiting for this opportunity for a while.. the very busy touring band of the Ramonas. </p>
<p>These girls are pretty much always on end road and we can’t wait to share a stage with them. <br>Alongside some great bands and of course our friends Tinfish. </p>
<p>This next show is one not to be missed. </p>
<p>So, we finished our set and with a huge round of applause. </p>
<p>We came off stage and one person said to us. <br>“We won the hearts of the audience tonight” </p>
<p>Another said “We have shown true versatility and courage tonight” </p>
<p>All I know is, we did grow a little bit stronger for doing that show with 3/4 of the band. Spice I hope you are feeling much better. You were truly missed and I can’t wait for us to be back to full strength. </p>
<p>Here's a cheeky little picture i caught of Tanya of taking some of the gear back to the car. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/08450aa2197191daeb13b5db4ba4890a47963c0d/original/tan.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>A very warm welcome to the Wild Strays Padatan xx </p>
<p>Until next time, <br>Keep it Wild, </p>
<p>KT xx </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/55113832018-11-13T18:12:21+00:002018-11-13T18:32:26+00:00Flashback Series Part 6 - The Flapper, Birmingham. <p>We are finally here, </p>
<p>The Flashback Series has now caught up with all the blogs on the website and what better finale for the series to finish than with the crescendo of the gig of all gigs. The Wild Strays supporting legendary bands like Vice Squad, The Lurkers and the Vibrators. <br>Plus, Complete Dysfunction, Ghoul, Queen Mantis and of course our great friends Tinfish. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/2c24fc31c7d7b59c2ceedb14840c71a0f5ba4fe9/original/gig-poster.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>It was quite a line up put on by Adam Ward and top it all off. It was the last ever Punks Alive gig,..ever at the Flapper. </p>
<p>There was a big petition to save this venue from being knocked down and turned into luxury apartments. But sadly that failed. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/4fbd4d98cff596b3a648b552890ce3f10bf3eda4/original/flapper.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />So here we are, a legendary venue approaching almost 30 years of music history in Birmingham and this is now Punks Alive's last ever gig at this venue. </p>
<p>There really was a lot of excitement around this gig. Huge bands that had been around for years and we were stoked to be on the same bill as them. <br>Plus we are due to catch up with a long time friend of the mine and Grace, a guy called Chris Long. </p>
<p>Chris has spent a lifetime on the road looking after bands with various names such as Joan Jett and travels all over the world constantly with the most awesome Charlie Harper from the UK Subs and The Urban Dogs plus more recently with the Ramonas. <br>(Maybe one day he will join us Wild Strays) </p>
<p>Crikey I have just realised. This last Flashback is full of links to the past and future. <br>Because not only is this the last Flashback Series, our next gig is our first headline show and this leads straight into another gig which will see us supporting The Ramonas for the very first time. </p>
<p>So I’m sure our paths with Chris will cross again. <br>We must get a picture with him this time. (In fact you can hold me to that)</p>
<p>Thinking back to this night. I remember the parking being a pain. Just one small road leads down to the venue. Once you were down there, the only way back was to reverse. </p>
<p>We were actually one of the first bands there so pulled down to the bottom of the road. The Lurkers pulled up shortly after, and said to me, hey are you staying all night ? </p>
<p>He said the next van to pull down would be Becky from Vice Squad. No one was going anywhere once the headling bands were there. <br>We started taking the gear out of my car and into the side of the venue, and as we were on 3rd there was no pre sound check for us. </p>
<p>Chris was indeed here, not only because he wanted to see the bands, but also because Adam had asked him to help with security on the back stage door. Also to help with the loading in the gear from all the bands. </p>
<p>We settled in and had a drink. We also got chatting to Chris, and had one of the legendary hugs from Adam Ward. </p>
<p>Then it was time to get the show started, <br>I think Ghoul were on first, then our friends Tinfish were next, but because there were so many bands on the bill. The night did start quite early. </p>
<p>A few more people started to arrive and it was then our turn to take to the stage. <br>We had a great sound at The Flapper, and we cracked straight into our set list. </p>
<p>It was after this show we all got together and agreed we sit more comfortably in the Rock and Metal scene. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong it was a blast to play alongside these awesome bands, but this really was a hard punk scene that night and although we gave it our all. We decided from here on we would choose our audience a little more carefully. We are more rock and metal. Sure we have punk overtones. But hey we had a blast. </p>
<p>A fantastic night and someone also filmed a video. <br>Sadly this was the one song of the night that went a bit wrong... when I went to a clean guitar in the break down of Guilty of my Innocence, it was so loud that it threw me. </p>
<p>I think we watch the video back and when it approaches we all smile. In fact I have a picture here proving we smiled in the moment.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/da12f49e94e1e2afc1dfa91e2b37bf987a7166b0/original/smiles.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Well that's live music for you and its got to be fun right.. </p>
<p>If you haven’t done so, head over and hit Subscribe to our Official Wild Strays channel. There is some great videos on there and much more to come from us in the coming weeks. </p>
<p>We had a great night and the headlining bands smashed the night away</p>
<p>Looking to the future. we now move into a our 2nd year as gigging band. </p>
<p>I think we have grown a lot in the last 12 months. We have played alongside many bands and made many new friends. We also have some new promoters on board and are venturing further afield. <br>Here’s to another year of Wild antics. </p>
<p>Be sure to catch next weeks “KT Tuesday” where of course we will talk about the headline show and not forgetting our new bass players debut. </p>
<p>Until next time, <br>Keep it Wild x </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/55021192018-11-06T20:02:44+00:002018-11-06T20:18:09+00:00Flashback Series Part 5 - Wagon and Horse's, Digbeth, Birmingham. <p>Hey welcome to another Flashback series. </p>
<p>We pick up from the last episode, now with the first gig of 2018 and..Spice’s Début gig. </p>
<p>As you may remember from a previous Flashback episode we landed this gig from playing back in November 2017 at a new venue in Birmingham called “Get The Fear” <br>Our promoter Adam Ward had booked us again after our Début show with him at this venue a few weeks before. </p>
<p>But this time we were on the bill with a band called Terrorsaurs and of course other bands.. But we had not met Terrorsaurs until this time. We opened up the night, played our set and finished the show the Wild Strays way. Then we took our gear off the stage to then enjoy the rest of the night. </p>
<p>Ian the bass player and main driving force behind this band approached me after seeing our show. </p>
<p>He said, Hey, KT, I really loved your set. He continued to say there is no way you guys are a 7pm band and asked me if we would we be interested in supporting them on their last show in the UK before they headed off to tour America. </p>
<p>Well of course I bit his hand off and said we would love too. <br>He said, great. I thought you had a great sound and stage presence and yeah.. I’ll send you the details of dates and a venue location. </p>
<p>I shook his hand and pretty much ran straight over to the other members to tell them the news. <br>(For the full story of this night, please head back to Flashback Part 3) </p>
<p>Skip forward to the 7th of April and here we are. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/e44b4c24bd9af2a703340327fc7e97f71f946ec4/original/pos.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /> A new drummer and the new line up for the Wild Strays is here. </p>
<p>In the afternoon we headed to the studio for a quick warm up and I remember the mood was full of excitement to get onto the stage.</p>
<p>We knew we had grown in strength over the last three to four months with Spice being in the band. I even remember someone coming up with the crazy idea of turning all the lights off in the practice studio and just having the torches on our phones...so we could practice in pretty much complete darkness to get used to playing in the dark.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/19945fb5357b1c5a49fce2dd131c38f4ae05a444/original/res.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />It was good fun and after a quick rehearsal we headed off to the venue. </p>
<p>I used to work not far from this pub called the Wagon and Horses in Digbeth, Birmingham. So I knew the parking well and all the streets surrounding the venue. </p>
<p>However when we pulled up, and there were people everywhere. This Picture below doesn’t really do it justice but it was really busy, in the pub and outside. </p>
<p>Now we knew this was Terrorsaurs last gig in the UK before heading off to America. <br>But we were not expecting such a massive turn out. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/0e80bba60c335a2255a5f9422bf0d5cfe79009d8/original/wagon.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p><!-- more -->
<p>We started to unload and make our way through the side door and upstairs. Turns out Birmingham City Football Club we’re playing on that Saturday and they were all at the pub after the game. </p>
<p>Still it was going to be a great night. When we had got all the gear upstairs we were introduced to the sound engineer and also got chatting to a guy called Dean. He explained he was a promoter and drummer for Colorado Lounge. </p>
<p>He stuck around to hear our sound check and was a pretty cool guy to talk to. </p>
<p>Although we had played two shows late 2017 with Phil on Drums. This gig, this venue, and this sound felt real good. Maybe we just carried more confidence after two shows and now with Spice onboard, but we were totally up for this show. </p>
<p>A good amount of people and great feeling on and off stage. <br>We opened up the night and I got to say although we didn’t have too much room on the stage the sound was awesome and we had an absolute blast. <br>It’s still listed as one of Jake’s favourite gigs. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/fa97459fac4cfb4774f0f501259e43ed9c130f8d/original/livewag.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We came off stage and enjoyed the rest of the nights entertainment. <br>I got talking to Dean again after our show and it was this gig that we secured another show for later In the year at Scruffy Murphy’s supporting Colorado Lounge.</p>
<p>He explained that Colorado Lounge also promote their own gigs and would love us to play with them at Scruffy’s. Of course we were totally up for it :)</p>
<p>A fantastic night, another gig booked, and off the back of another live show. A great start to what would be many gigs in 2018. </p>
<p>As always thanks for reading.. Same time next week. </p>
<p>Keep it Wild , <br>KT x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54927352018-10-30T20:43:01+00:002018-11-06T19:33:19+00:00This Time It Really Is Personal - 30/10/18<p>There is a real beating heart in the Wild Strays. </p>
<p>The clocks go back. <br>Maybe it’s time to look back. </p>
<p>I was going to do another Flashback series tonight... I do really enjoy doing them. The last one I did was Spice’s audition and there is still much more to come on that series with the next one being, Spice's first gig for the Wild Strays and from what I remember it was also Jake’s favourite ever gig too. </p>
<p>So much has been happening lately with the recording of our Ep, Jake leaving and here we are just last week with another audition. </p>
<p>A new page, a New Wild Stray and another chapter. </p>
<p>News to come on this soon, but just a quick note on last Saturday. Thank you to everyone who messaged us concerning the position and who made it down to an audition. <br>The energy in the studio all day was electric and we can't wait to hit the stage again. </p>
<p>We will have our heads down for the next few weeks preparing for our next gig. But trust me, I’m excited. </p>
<p>The Wild Strays next gig, this coming November 17th will also be doing our First Headline Show. <br>Kinda strange that our Début gig was last year also on November 17th in 2017. </p>
<p>Spooky huh... well it is almost Halloween. </p>
<p>We have so many people to thank along the way in this last year gone by, people who have given us their time and advice, magazine interviews (Gig Radar and Black Phoenix Rising to mention a few) and gigs. One person in particular is Adam Ward who gave us out first break onto the Birmingham circuit a year ago. </p>
<p>Also a quick mention to my friend John Uting from SG1 Radio who had the first play of 9 Lives. We all jumped around like crazy in the lounge one Saturday evening when we heard our track on the radio :) </p>
<p>We still do gigs for Adam Ward and talking of which we are supporting the one and only Ramonas in just a few weeks time with Punks Alive Promotions. </p>
<p>We have also spent the last year doing 13 gigs in and around the Birmingham area, up to Derby, as well as Stafford, Burntwood, and Wolverhampton. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/a2673b02d7e8fd336fb0aa13774ea155b842cdd1/original/band.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We have done radio interviews (Thank you Jason Burgess and Trevor Rooney) and had our début single (9 Lives) played both here in the UK and USA. In fact we have also picked up a small following in America. So its been a great year. Who knows what next year will bring. </p>
<p>This year alone we still have four gigs booked in and we also venture up to Stoke on Trent for the first time to play a show for our new promoter (Rock Raven Promotions) on December 22nd at The Rigger. </p>
<p>Next year will see us In Nantwich for a Cancer on the Rocks Festival (which is packed full of huge names) and then heading down to Somerset near my home town in March (which I’m really excited about) a potential Bristol date and across the border to Wales. </p>
<p>To top it all off there is our Ep launch. <br>Which we are super proud of, and excited about. </p>
<p>Our new shiny Ep “Banished from the Heavens” <br>(More on this soon) <br>But thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered. <br>It’s coming.. </p>
<p>The Wild Strays has been a very personal journey for all members involved. We have all been in bands before, but for some reason, this does feel special, this does feel personal. We all have lives and we all go through good and bad times. I too have been on my own roller-coaster the last few months. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/4882a86d32bfd3167b5e3288cf81a9242eb7244d/original/me.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Bands are hard work, blood sweat and tears but mostly smiles and great fun. As a group we all stand together and I have to say I am super proud of everyone in this band and know there is much more to come from us, as I said at the top of the page. </p>
<p>There is a real heart beating in this band. <br>They truly are my best friends x </p>
<p>We pour our hearts and souls into writing our songs and performing on stage and we are truly grateful for every Stray out there that joins us on this roller-coaster. </p>
<p>Who take's the time to come to our shows and follow our wild journey. </p>
<p>Hold on tight, another Wild year is coming and this time with a new bass player. <br>See you in a few weeks, In Stourbridge at the Claptrap. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/dfb669b2d471ad3fba541c7ff3327bc3c8394fea/original/website-logo.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>(poster to come)</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54826592018-10-23T19:57:28+01:002018-10-23T20:25:31+01:00No Sleep till Wolverhampton (Escape The Studio)<p>No sleep till Wolverhampton. <br>Escape the Studio </p>
<p>We pick up from where we left off last week and this was; yesterday was Day 5 in the studio recording our Début Ep “Banished from the Heavens” </p>
<p>And today (Friday 5th October) we are straight out on the road for our “Escape the Studio” gig in Wolverhampton. The Giffard. </p>
<p>Because I was back to work today and the others had the day off. It was agreed they would take my gear down to the venue and I would meet them there. </p>
<p>As it was, I managed to wangle a 4pm finish unlike my normal 4.30pm finish. <br>This would hopefully ensure I would beat some of the traffic on the M6 as I travelled from Stoke to Wolverhampton. </p>
<p>It didn’t really work that well. I still got caught up in it being a Friday afternoon / evening. But it was better than it would have been. </p>
<p>To be honest I haven’t got a scooby where I’m going in Wolverhampton and had to not only use my Sat Nav to find a car park but also hot foot it to the venue. </p>
<p>Once parked I started walking and I was busy listening to my music and watching the screen on my phone to find my way. Then suddenly I bumped into Tanya. <br>She was coming to the show and I was like Heya :) </p>
<p>Thankfully she knew the way so we chatted as we headed to the venue. </p>
<p>Honestly once we opened the door to this venue.. this place took me way back. <br>Just such a old school rock pub. </p>
<p>I could easily spend my time there, if I lived in Wolverhampton. It had such a good vibe and feeling. Great music and friendly atmosphere. </p>
<p>We made our way upstairs and the main band we due to sound check and then we were allowed to put our gear in front of theirs, so we could sound check as we were the first band on. </p>
<p>I got chatting to Jason Burgess who used to work for Lasar Radio and did the radio interview with Spice and Jake a few months back. <br>Sadly there will be no follow up interview but don’t worry I’m working on it ;) <br>I’m always squirrelling away with something for us to get up to. </p>
<p>Jason has now set up his own Promotions company. Rock Raven Promotions and he has added us as to his portfolio. He’s a great guy and we look forward to working with him.</p>
<p>In fact we are playing the launch party to his company at The Rigger in Stoke on Trent on December 22nd. <br>I’m sure that is going to be a great party. </p>
<p>But let’s get back to Wolverhampton and our show. </p>
<p>We started to get set up on stage. Even managed to bring and set up Bruce our Banner this time. </p>
<p>I was still having some teething problems with my amp but we sound checked with Cherry Bomb and I thought we had a pretty decent sound. </p>
<p>All set up and with 30 minutes before we are due on stage. We headed to the bar. </p>
<p>A drink or two later and it was time to head back upstairs to get ready. </p>
<p>The room was filling up steadily. </p>
<p>I chatted briefly to Deb who’s the manager of Surrge. We played with this band at the O2 Academy in Birmingham a little while back and believe we have a few more gigs with them in due course. </p>
<p>We started our show the usual way and then straight into one of our new songs. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/33099cb6d0d5672903086ebbd708201b73aa98ca/original/stage-shot.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Now...</p>
<p>I’m not sure.. but I swear both Grace and Jake jumped off the stage almost straight away. Maybe it was later on in the set with 9 Lives but I could have swore it was early on, they just jumped into the crowd which is always great to see.</p>
<p>This was the first time for us playing in Wolverhampton and it felt good. <br>The venue was amazing and we can’t wait to go back there. (More on this another time) </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/422472c0752d64960511e103de09dd9e774385e2/original/montage.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />A cracking gig and a big finish as always for the final track The Wild Strays. </p>
<p>Just as the last chord rang out. We started rushing to pack our gear away before the next band came on stage. <br>But Tanya was there and said, “Hey.. I’d like to do a band group picture”. </p>
<p>Since it was Jakes last gig before leaving us I thought it was a really nice thing to do as did the others. <br>I’m so pleased we did. <br>Here’s the picture below. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/faf49a2198440a5d5ef3eda29a7ab6dba0cb785d/original/group.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Thanks Tanya, and thank you for taking all the pictures that night x </p>
<p>As you have no doubt have seen on our Facebook and here on the website, Jake has now hung up his bass guitar to head into the Wild and pursue his career. </p>
<p>But that evening in Wolverhampton passed so quickly. I feel my feet didn’t really touch the ground. In fact the whole night and the set flew by so quickly. (Maybe it was because i didn't travel with the rest of the band) I'm not sure. </p>
<p>Then we are told there was no where to store our gear so we had to load the cars. It really did feel like hello and goodbye. </p>
<p>However, I’d like to take a little moment here on my personal page to wish Jake all the very best for the future. <br>It was a real pleasure to share the stage with you, write songs with you and record with you. </p>
<p>A great picture of you on the throne too :) </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/2c290fb1d47800cb0e945e98d58df172abc6e2ca/original/throne.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Until we meet again, <br>Keep it Wild Jake x </p>
<p>I would like to also give a very special thanks to Steve (he knows who he is) who braved the dreaded man flu. He said to me he really wanted to stay in bed. But really wanted to come down to support us. Thanks Steve that’s 4 gigs on the bounce for you and we totally appreciate it. <br>As we do, all the Wild Strays out there. </p>
<p>I also managed to get chatted up after the show which kinda made my night and made me blush. His chat up lines were terrible, and as I looked over at Steve, Tanya and Jason we all cringed a little, but this guy did make me smile. Thank you <3 </p>
<p>Then a race to the station to drop Spice off and then part load my car before the long drive home and work again tomorrow. </p>
<p>Still we have a couple of weeks off now and I think we need it. </p>
<p>But not too much down time as auditions are approaching and a new Wild Stray must be found. </p>
<p>Until next time, <br>Keep it Wild x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54723032018-10-16T20:21:52+01:002018-10-16T20:21:52+01:00No Sleep till Wolverhampton (Recording Debut EP)<p>No sleep till Wolverhampton. </p>
<p>We left last weeks blog with our show in Birmingham at the Actress and Bishop (War of the Wilds) <br>This was quite a late night due to us being further up the bill and we also stuck around to see the heading band, Sour Bitch. </p>
<p>I was back into work the following day and then Saturday was spent going over the songs before we headed into the studio for a full week of Recording starting from the Sunday.</p>
<p>I was really looking forward to spending time in the studio and with the band. <br>One, because it’s really a rare occurrence to have the opportunity to hang with the band for a week.. and Two, I really do enjoy spending time watching the song evolve and working on it with love, care and attention. </p>
<p>Sure we have played them Live a whole bunch and I feel they kick ass, but it's in the studio where the song will be cemented in time, and we want and know they will sound great. </p>
<p>So Sunday morning came and we are due in Robannas Recording Studio for 10am till 8pm for the next five days.</p>
<p>I would totally take this over a weeks work any day of the week. </p>
<p>I picked Spice up from Stoke on the Sunday morning and we headed back to the house before then setting off in Grace’s car. </p>
<p>We continued on to pick up Jake and then headed to Birmingham. It was Sunday so the traffic was also really quiet. </p>
<p>We parked the car and made our way down to the studio. I think we were also 10 minutes early. <br>A quick chat with Rob and a round of teas and it was time to start work. </p>
<p>We have worked with our producer Miguel Seco several times now and we couldn’t think of anyone better than to work with on our Début Ep. He’s worked with some great artists over the years and it would not be fair for us to name drop... but we like his focus and attention to detail, as well as his humour. </p>
<p>Grace had some backing tracks for Spice to drum too with the tracks at the correct BPM that we wanted to record. </p>
<p>This saved us from all playing in the studio on Day 1 to a click (metronome) </p>
<p>This also meant Spice could spend the whole day laying the drums down to all the tracks. He was only with us on Day 1 and Day 5 due to commitments. </p>
<p>It was really successful too. </p>
<p><br>We had achieved everything we needed to on Day 1 concerning the drums. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/3f8b2da46120393da4727bbfc1df35abad414627/original/day-1.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Next was to head back to the house and shoot the Crowd fund video. </p>
<p>This was great fun and I think we finished about 10pm. <br>(If you haven’t seen it then please head to our Official YouTube channel and check it out (“wake me up before you indi go go”) </p>
<p>We should so do more group videos, it was a total scream. </p>
<p>Spice needed to get back for Uni the next day so we decided to drop him home and pick up some food along the way. This meant a late night but it was great to not have to worry about being up at 5am for work. </p>
<p>Jake crashed over at ours and now Day 2 was all about that Bass. </p>
<p>Up bright and early and out the door to try and beat Monday’s commuting traffic. Not hugely successful but we arrived on time. </p>
<p>Miguel called a meeting and we all sat down and made a plan for the next few days. </p>
<p>I don’t want to give too much away here concerning the number of tracks. <br>But we decided to do two tracks with Bass guitar, then Rhythm guitar followed by Lead guitar. Then hopefully a Lead vocal to finish the day (day 2) </p>
<p>Then day 3 the same again. </p>
<p>Then say, day 4 more work and backing vocals. </p>
<p>Day 5 would be mixing. </p>
<p>But this was Day 2. </p>
<p>Jake settled in and me and Grace got the cups of teas in. </p>
<p>A long day ahead but Jake nailed his parts and as normal Miguel was part mixing along the way. The bass was completed on the two tracks and it was then Rhythm guitars followed by vocals. </p>
<p>But for some reason I wasn’t feeling the vocal on the Monday night. <br>So I spoke to Miguel and said let’s do my vocals fresh in the morning. I think at first he thought I was crazy. </p>
<p>But I really am a morning person so I was happy to start the day doing vocals straight out the gate. </p>
<p>Yep, this really was a crazy week. We just played the Actress and Bishop and now 50 hours over 5 days in the studio which finishes at 8pm Thursday and then a gig, self titled “Escape the Studio” at the Giffard Arms in Wolverhampton on the Friday night. </p>
<p>So on the Monday night Grace went back into the studio and finished the Solo parts on those two songs we had been working on that day. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/c259bf2b4d6ecbea68a3aebaa74150d75d4e527c/original/day-2.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Day 3 (Tuesday) consisted of the same program. </p>
<p>I put the lead vocal down on both tracks completed yesterday and the vocals felt great. I was really happy with them.</p>
<p>Then we then started Laying the bass down, rhythm guitars and then lead for the next two tracks.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/e03b6821a5fcb671c62c5a957598dbeeb2e95d2d/original/day-3.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Day 4,...Wednesday and suddenly the week is flying by. </p>
<p>We came in and I went straight to the vocal booth as before to warm up. I did the vocal on the two completed yesterday and again they went down smoothly. <br>Grace was also working on solos again today, she also completed her backing vocals on this day as well. </p>
<p>We finished around 6pm and Miguel started to work on the mix. </p>
<p>Day 5, (Thursday) Spice was back today and we needed to hit some of his backing vocals alongside Jake and then get straight back to a day of mixing. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/569b3b815dd09abd071b404fe696e8d172e1d1aa/original/day-4.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I’m sure there will be a full listing of the tracks soon. <br>But overall it was a great week. </p>
<p>We are super happy with the outcome and can’t wait to launch our Debut "Banished from the Heavens Ep" into the Wild real soon. </p>
<p>Until next time. When we conclude the “No sleep till Wolverhampton” </p>
<p>Keep it Wild, <br>KT x </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54617562018-10-09T19:36:55+01:002018-10-16T20:30:41+01:00War of the Wilds, Part Two - 09/10/18<p>War of the Wilds - Part 2 </p>
<p>+ Prequel. <br>No sleep till Wolverhampton; 10 days, 50 hours Recording and 2 gigs. </p>
<p>Hey welcome back to my weekly diary. <br>Last week i was just too busy to sit down and put pen to paper so I did a personal "Facebook Live" on Tuesday night. </p>
<p>For those that missed it, it was more a ramble once I had got home just before midnight. </p>
<p>So, what have we been up too?</p>
<p>Well we shot a Promo Video which can be found on our Official Wild Strays YouTube channel. </p>
<p><a contents="The Wild Strays, Official YouTube Channel. " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSjdQWVjKTKRLN0ReDNfghA">The Wild Strays, Official YouTube Channel. </a></p>
<p>This was a fun video to explain about our crowd funding and how it would work and what sort of Perks you could obtain on donating. <br>We had a total giggle shooting it, some parts had me in stitches. I believe it is going to stay live on my our channel, so feel free to head over and check it out.</p>
<p>I guarantee it will make you smile. Please feel free to Subscribe and follow content from us, as well as personal videos from Grace and Spice. </p>
<p>However I can say that the crowd funding is now over. </p>
<p>A huge personal thank you to each and every one of you that donated. <br>We, Wild Strays really appreciated everyone who got behind us and can’t wait to get the EP to you early. </p>
<p>We also learned last night that everyone that did Pre Order a copy will get a free physical copy as well. (Once these are produced) but you will be the first ones to get one which will also be signed. </p>
<p>I am also looking forward to meeting the people who are joining us in the future music video and the few that are coming to the private party. </p>
<p>But for a minute or two let’s take a look over our shoulder at the past week and slowly go over what has happened. </p>
<p>It seemed a long time ago now since we started our War of the Wilds back in Stafford, but last Thursday we did Part Two of the War. </p>
<p>This time it was at The Actress and Bishop in Birmingham. </p>
<p>Supporting Sour Bitch, Killer Bob, Kanada and our great friends Tinfish. </p>
<p>We decided to have a hour or two in the studio before heading over to the venue. <br>We all had the day off work so this seemed like a good idea to head down to Robannas for a cheeky run through the set. </p>
<p>Plus the venue really is only 10 minutes away from the studio. </p>
<p>We had Grace’s friend Tanya join us in rehearsals and she took some fantastic pictures throughout the afternoon and evening. </p>
<p>Below is some great shots of us rehearsing before the show. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/79b440c3f938b597755b3aba79e929dd9d559cb1/original/rehurs.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Then it was time to head over to the venue. </p>
<p>We arrived at 5pm and we were the first ones there. <br>We introduced ourselves to the sound engineer and carried our gear up the stairs. </p>
<p>Tonight however we were not the opening act. We were on 3rd, and due to hit the stage at 8.45 pm </p>
<p>It was great because this meant we would have a slightly bigger crowd. </p>
<p>Our good friends Tinfish opened the night and all of us Wild Strays were down the front singing and dancing to their songs. <br>We have almost known this band a full year now and we have played lots of gigs with them. </p>
<p>I don’t shout out to many bands on my blog, but honestly check out Tinfish. <br>Just super lovely guys with catchy songs and I heard they are working on a album soon too. </p>
<p>Next up were Kanada and then it was our turn to take to this stage. </p>
<p><br>We opened with one of our new songs called Broken Glass and then into Beast Inside followed by our debut Single 9 Lives. </p>
<p>A few technical problems with my amp which I need to get serviced but a great show. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/ec49f38117b42ee568aca18e61cd422f29e98ff2/original/gig.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We then hit into the track “Own Personal Hell” and we got the crowd to join in with those four words</p>
<p>“This time it’s personal” </p>
<p><br>Its great fun doing this section in the song and hearing the crowd get involved. Plus this was the part where we find out who were the loudest crowd in the war.<br>Stafford or Birmingham ?</p>
<p>Who won the war ? </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/de379a6b8b7eea988397632e26cab670d595f716/original/war.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Well, Grace put up a great piece on Facebook concerning the answer to this. </p>
<p>But... if you were to ask me and I whisper this in your ear.. <br>Stafford were slightly louder. </p>
<p>Anyway we carried on to the final track of the night. “The Wild Strays” and little did Jake know that earlier in the day both Grace and Spice had headed to Asda to have a Farewell leaving cake made up with Jake's face on it. As you may know Jake is leaving us to join the army and this was his penultimate gig with us.</p>
<p>(Grace told me the woman's face in Asda was funny. I mean Rumble Lord and there is no sign of his guitar lol. Still life is for smiling and having fun. I still would have liked to see her face though)</p>
<p>So in the break down of the song where we would normally give a shout out to the other bands on the bill. </p>
<p>Grace lead the charge and invited Jake to follow her across the room while still playing music.. to unveil the cake. <br>He totally didn’t expect it, but his smile said a thousand words. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/2ef2cfd80a543b2589eb2f8b54ce78a543470f5a/original/cake.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />The cake was shared with the whole room as we continued to watch the rest of the bands. </p>
<p>It was really nice to meet Nat from Killer Bob and to watch Sour Bitch. Plus a huge shout out to Adam Ward who it is always lovely to see and work with. </p>
<p>I had to go to work the following day so I took the gear home after the show while Grace ran everyone home. A fantastic night and the perfect run up to what would be 50 hours in the recording studio. </p>
<p>So much to talk about with the full working week Recording our Début Ep </p>
<p>But you’ll just have to wait till next week to hear all about it and the lead up to our "Escape the Studio" gig at The Giffard Arms in Wolverhampton. </p>
<p>Until then, </p>
<p>Keep up to date with us here on our website and of course social media, Facebook and Instagram. </p>
<p>Until next time. <br>Keep it Wild x </p>
<p>KT x </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54431782018-09-25T20:13:07+01:002018-10-09T19:11:03+01:00Flashback Series Part 4 - A Wild Spice. <p>Hey it’s that time again, <br>As I haven’t seen the Wild Strays since the Redrum gig, it’s time for a Flashback episode. </p>
<p>With Christmas 2017 fast approaching, we spoke to Phil and said it was time we started looking for a full time Drummer. It was a sad decision but Phil knew this was coming. We all knew it was time to find some one who was more into our style of music. </p>
<p>I put a advert on the Join my band website and I had a couple of drummers message me in the coming weeks. I got talking to a few and then I thought I would scout the website to see if any drummers had put adverts up themselves. </p>
<p>Well, I come across this one guy. Basically his advert stood out because he sounded proper fed up. <br>He had fallen out with his last band as for reasons that are not mine to say. <br>And the advert was blunt and to point. </p>
<p>I loved it. </p>
<p>He spoke his mind about how he was feeling so I decided to message him. <br>We had a couple of conversations on the phone and I explained we had done a couple of gigs, but I assured him in 2018 we would "Hit The Ground Running" </p>
<p>We set up a practice at Robannas and arranged to meet at Stafford Train station. <br>I remember seeing him for the first time. <br>He was super cool and me, well I’m pretty much like a excited cat on a hot tin roof most days. So that day was no different. </p>
<p>We chatted for a while and he jumped in the car and we went back to pick Grace up and then continued on to pick up Jake. </p>
<p>We got to Robannas and I remember the room. It was on the top floor, well just round the corner from the main desk where Rob sits. <br>Last room on the right. </p>
<p>We set up and already the feeling in the room was good. I also remember he was on a green drum kit. </p>
<p>We started hitting into the songs and the smiles across the room and the looks between us while we were playing was there from the get go. We knew this was our Drummer. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/4570fb28c9e2924868d44553d4d2f30b7a45d275/original/me-and-spice.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We played for a few hours and packed up. Then took him home via Lichfield and then to Stoke. </p>
<p>We offered him the position and he accepted. </p>
<p>I got to say this about him though.. </p>
<p>His name is Spice, I don’t think I have mentioned that yet :) and he is one of the most loveliest guys you could possibly meet. <br>He has a crazy sense of humour which fits so well into the band. </p>
<p>Below is some fun pictures taken with him. From teaching Jake how to shoot a can of larger with a knife at our Wild BBQ, to a studio in Manchester and the meeting of a Subway girl called Sammy. There is already so memories with this guy.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/efc9b3224fca12fe5c3ccdb9b1a35efd75423bf0/original/fun.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><br>He is sharp and witty and and on top of that. He is such a talented drummer. </p>
<p>He has taken the songs and had breathed new life into them and taken them to a new level. </p>
<p>He really is a purrfect fit into the band and anyone who meets him will surly agree. </p>
<p>As promised we did hit the ground running in 2018 with gigs all over Birmingham plus Derby, Stafford and soon to be Wolverhampton and shush.. but today we learned we may be making our way to Stoke on Trent. </p>
<p>So to wrap this up. <br>A top guy and wicked Drummer and a all round Wild Stray.</p>
<p>Spice, welcome to the pack. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/03f47ce77381693eafb5149ba044359df42bbdd8/original/wildstrays.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>So get your self along to a gig and come and say hi to him.</p>
<p>In fact our next gig is in 2 nights time. </p>
<p>Thursday the 27th of September at The Actress and Bishop in Birmingham. </p>
<p>Until next time. <br>Keep it Wild, <br>KT xx </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54339492018-09-18T21:58:12+01:002018-09-23T18:31:05+01:00War of the Wilds, Part One - 18/09/18<p>Hey and welcome back to another KT Tuesdays. </p>
<p>I feel this one could be a little late as i'm writing it on the fly. I have been a little busy this week. </p>
<p>Well this I think is our 9th gig in a row, all at different venues and you may have seen something on our face-book called [War of the Wilds]</p>
<p>What is War of the Wilds? </p>
<p>Well it was a concept drawn up by Grace, after announcing the following statement. </p>
<p><em>The War of the Wilds! <br>2 Shows, 2 Neighbouring Counties, 2 Weeks! </em></p>
<p><em>Our mission: To find out which county is the Wildest! </em></p>
<p><em>As Staffordshire residents but West Midlands patrons; we haven't really picked a side but we'll take any excuse to get people a little riled up and ready to party! </em></p>
<p><em>First battle of the September Showdown begins on the 15th at the Redrum in Stafford! Tickets available on our website or at the venue! </em></p>
<p><em>The finale will be on the 27th, for our return to the Actress and Bishop in Birmingham! </em></p>
<p><em>Neither event is to be missed and both are going to go down in history! </em></p>
<p><em>We'll see you there! And remember... </em></p>
<p><em>Keep it Wild, Strays! </em></p>
<p>This was also our very first home town Début here in Stafford and what better place then at the Redrum venue. </p>
<p>So this was setting up to be a cracking two gig showdown. </p>
<p>The day started quite relaxed to be honest. Jake arrived here at the house along with some friends and we all met Spice down at the venue. The load in time was 5.30pm and because we were taking friends with us as well. We decided to take two cars down. </p>
<p>Jake was riding shotgun with me and honestly, getting to the front of the Redrum was not easy. </p>
<p>In fact the one way street was blocked and I said sod this, and we ended up driving down it the wrong way just so I could get the car right next to the venue door. </p>
<p>No dramas, no police and no worries, and we started to unload. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/181d08abf485c889f62677046ebae0f37e64b02e/original/redrum-nnice.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The Redrum venue was under some developments and the downstairs was like a builders yard. We all had flashbacks our our rehearsal time at Stafford music Studios a few weeks back. But it was fine and continued to lift all the gear up the stairs which lead directly onto the stage. Juniper Wolf were sound checking when we arrived and we were expecting to be second on the bill after a band called Third Angle projection were opening the night.. </p>
<p>There was no sign of them, so we spoke to Tom the sound engineer and asked him if it was possible to set our gear up on the stage and get a cheeky sound check ourselves while waiting for the other band. </p>
<p>Which is what we did, the fun checking mics and guitars and we did our sound check with a old song of ours. The sound levels were great, the volume was great and I think we were all happy. </p>
<p>We all started breaking down our pedal boards and was then told the other band couldn’t make it. So it was just us, The Wild Strays and Juniper Wolf playing tonight. </p>
<p>We figured we are now first on and so re-set up our gear and put Bruce our banner at the front of the stage. So all we had to do was step on stage to play. </p>
<p>We got talking and since there was only us and Juniper Wolf, we figured we would talk to them about extending our set list to compensate for the missing band. </p>
<p>We decided to bring back a old song of ours and for the first time in a long time, and put a cover back in the set list. If you were there, then you know which one it was. </p>
<p>So, the stage was set. </p>
<p>All we needed was our intro and we are good to go. </p>
<p>The sound of rain, Spice on the drums, and the show begins. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/91f2a86bcaaf2df4b71e7b46f72d8f6989c6b882/original/in.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I must admit we were all hungry for this gig and it didn’t disappoint. </p>
<p>We came out with the thunder of Spices drums and belted straight into a new song of ours called Broken Glass.. Then into The Beast Inside followed by our début single 9 Lives. </p>
<p>There was a great crowd especially in the song Own Personal Hell. </p>
<p>This is one of our songs where we get everyone singing along. Just four words is needed. Both Grace and Jake when into the crowd to get Stafford fighting to be the loudest of this little war. </p>
<p>And boy they didn’t disappoint. </p>
<p>A few run practice runs, we were set to go. Just four words is needed “This Time its Personal” </p>
<p>Birmingham, I gotta say, this is all on you to beat Stafford. </p>
<p>The whole room was screaming those words and on a clap track for our final song for The Wild Strays all of the room had they’re hands in the air. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/467a33e540597f3f6fd8a871319c01807249d33f/original/j.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/2c58d09a19915301083e77b31aedcbe66ccd13c8/original/g.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/44e8068aad4ab285a8f46e80a9de5d60f5727676/original/k.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/bdce39086ec4cdc2f91f6795537f3dd70d7159ac/original/aline.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" />A belting huge note form me to finish the set and we wrapped up a great show.. </p>
<p>Great night, great crowd, great venue and Stafford.. You did us proud. </p>
<p>We had great support at this gig from friends both new and old. </p>
<p>But a little special mention to Aline who is heading back to Brazil in a few days. </p>
<p>She asked for a pic with the band which of course did and had great fun chatting to her and trying to take a some pictures. Please excuse the quality and also minus Spice. He had to catch a train. Safe travels back home Aline. Hope to see you and Steve again soon x </p>
<p>That's it for this week. </p>
<p>See you for Part Two of the War of the Wilds,</p>
<p>Thursday 27th September at The Actress and Bishop in Birmingham , </p>
<p>Trust me, you do not want to miss this. </p>
<p>Until then, keep it Wild </p>
<p>KT x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54244962018-09-11T20:58:09+01:002018-09-11T21:03:03+01:00It's Been a Funny Old Week - 11/09/18<p>Crikey, this KT Tuesday has come round quick. </p>
<p>Well it’s been a funny old week for lots of reasons, so I think this one could be a little thin on the ground. </p>
<p>We did however head into the studio this past weekend for a full day of practice. I think me and Spice got there around 11.30am and Grace and Jake had already set up the room as they arrived slightly earlier. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/e42679115765dcdfed27e429fe0d9a4477a0c229/original/room.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The last time we practised was in the Stafford studio before the Hairy Dog in Derby which actually seems ages ago. </p>
<p>It was nice to be back in Birmingham and in the studio. We ran through the set a few times then we started working on a new song. Which I gotta say, after the special ingredients of Spice, Jake and Grace it sounded pretty damn good in my opinion. </p>
<p>So we can’t wait to take the new song to the stage. </p>
<p>Do I say the name of it? I don’t even know if I should... I mean it did have a working title, but I think the name is good to go. </p>
<p>I did think about a sneak preview of lyrics. Perhaps that could be a new feature once the Flashback Series finishes. I have no clue, we will have to wait and see. But I do like hearing back stories to songs so think this could be a good idea. </p>
<p>I know the rest of the band are still working on there bits for the website. Hey also don’t forget Grace has some cool videos on her biography page too with G-Race plays. These can also be found on our Official Wild Strays Youtube Channel. </p>
<p>Anyway digress, or am I just waffling to make this dairy entry slightly longer :) </p>
<p>Shhh I just say it quietly.. The new song is called Broken Glass. But don’t tell anyone ;) </p>
<p>Anyway we packed up our gear and briefly chatted to Rob, then left the studio just gone 8pm. We spoke outside in the car park for a bit and then all headed home. </p>
<p>We are all excited for the next couple of gigs. Especially being across two different counties in the space of two weeks. </p>
<p>I think we are really keen to see who is the loudest Strays, the ones from Staffordshire or the ones from the West Midlands. </p>
<p>I believe its being called The War of the Wilds. I’m sure we will keep you posted of the results. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/c504fcaa34743df22bbe0def790ee60d82a7dce3/original/poster.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /> Don’t forget tickets can be bought from our website for the special price of just £4. So get yourself along, jump around to some cool local bands and come and say hello. </p>
<p>Right I think i'm done..I’m going to sign off. <br>I did warn you it was short. </p>
<p>But don’t worry, this Saturday we take to the stage in our home town of Stafford so I’m sure there will be plenty to talk about next week. </p>
<p>Stay tuned to our Face-book page for running times. </p>
<p>Until then, <br>See you Saturday, and as always. </p>
<p>Keep it Wild. <br>KT x </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54147032018-09-04T20:51:57+01:002018-09-06T11:07:01+01:00Flashback Series Part 3 - The Wild Hunt for a Drummer.<p>Welcome back to Part 3 of the Wild Strays Flashback Series. </p>
<p>Myself, Grace and Jake were working hard on the songs in the studio and we were hungry to get this band out onto the road. </p>
<p>I knew of a drummer I used to work with. His name was Phil and although a little older than us. Plus he wont mind me saying this, but we are bit heavier than bands he has played in before aswell. </p>
<p>He said he was happy to come down and play though the songs and even do a few gigs until we find a full time drummer. That’s pretty honourable to be fair. To put time into a friends band to get it off the ground. </p>
<p>So we arranged a day to meet up at Robannas. He came down to studio and I introduced him to everyone. He fitted straight into the band, and we had a blast playing together. </p>
<p>We worked hard on refining the set list and next it was to try and get some gigs lined up. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/c7c0ab7ada8f30e340282782685d4fc1f800ca22/original/early-phil1.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The idea behind this, was that we would look more appealing to another drummer if we are a gigging band. </p>
<p>After going to Robannas now for over two years with the previous band and now this one. We built up a good relationship with Rob Hoffman and some of his employees. </p>
<p>He and Rich both suggested we contact Adam Ward from Punks Alive Promotions. He puts gigs on all over Birmingham and would be a good place to start. So I sent a message to him and mentioned both Rob and Rich's names. </p>
<p>Adam sent a message back and said, yeah ill sort you out a gig. He was happy to put us on and give us a shot. </p>
<p>Now I almost feel like I could write an entire blog on Adam. He is a larger than life character. Just such a lovely guy and he gives me and Grace such a massive hug when ever we see him.. </p>
<p>I’m smiling as I‘m writing this, he is a great guy and became our first Promoter and still supports us to this day. </p>
<p>He set us up for a gig in Birmingham at a venue called Get The Fear. </p>
<p>A warehouse in the back streets of Digbeth. This place didn’t even have a bar, it was bring your own alcohol. It was a crazy place, but a good old proper grass roots venue for us to Début </p>
<p>I was invited down to see this venue and a gig he was putting on there a few weeks before we were due play. I remember this well because me and Grace had recorded the first Wild Strays Demo. </p>
<p>A powerful song with a sexual undertone written by Grace called Guilty of my Innocence. </p>
<p>We were on a time line to release this track that weekend after a little build up on Facebook. So I went down on my own and met Adam for the first time while Grace was home mixing the demo. </p>
<p>Adam gave me a warm welcome and one of his hugs, and he thanked me for coming down to support the gig. I was shown backstage, which was made out of pallets. This really was a warehouse and with a makeshift backstage area. But it was brilliant and we were over the moon to play there. </p>
<p>So the stage was set and the date was announced, along with some pretty cool veteran bands. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/9ac7dc241840b93cb450e323f641617e01286c4d/original/1-gig.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I mean the other bands on the bill had been around for years working on the Birmingham circuit and it had been a while since me and Grace had been on stage. Jake and Phil also hadn’t gigged for a while too. </p>
<p>We were on first and quite early as remember. So we hoped a few people would be there to see us. </p>
<p>We set up and did a sound check and the night came and went so quickly, </p>
<p>It wasn’t a bad début and sadly I just have the one picture of our sound check earlier in the night. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/c72954bc1e0459e85693e76d5fee896f9bec4796/original/onstage.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>For me it was one of the toughest gigs I have played. I think because it was early, there wasn’t too many people there to play too. I mean I guess there was twenty or so, including a good friend of mine Andy, but a place like that still felt empty. Plus it was our first ever show. </p>
<p>But we got though it and Adam Ward told me that a couple people came up to him and said they enjoyed our set. So that was nice to hear. </p>
<p>On the back of that Adam Ward booked us again to play a few weeks later. The same venue, but this time we knew the set up and we were really hungry to put on a even better show than last time. There were quite a few bands on this bill too. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/b9edbbce1e6b6828e4ce4ca2878aaf8572fa36a6/original/2nd-gig.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>It was at this gig we felt more at home and it showed on stage too. </p>
<p>We felt good and put on a much stronger show. We even met and made some pretty cool friends this night. </p>
<p>Adam Probert opened the night with some poetry and you should check him out for his work. Also it was here we met our now great friends Tinfish. We have since played several gigs with them now and we are looking forward to sharing a stage with them later in the year. Please check them out. </p>
<p>Plus it was here that we first met Terrorsaurs. Ian walked up to me and said. “Hey I really enjoyed your set”. “Would you be interested in supporting us on our last show in the UK before we head to Tour the States next year?” </p>
<p>Well of course we jumped at the opportunity. I said yes straight away and immediately went over to tell the rest of the band the good news. </p>
<p>This night really was the first step onto the Birmingham circuit. </p>
<p>Adam was happy with us, and Ian from Terrorsaurs had booked us to support them in early 2018 and we made some great friends with Steve, David and Lawrence from Tinfish. A really great night. </p>
<p>Christmas was approaching and it was time to put a advert out for a new drummer. As much as we would miss Phil, we all knew it was time. </p>
<p>I just want to take a minute to say a huge thank you to him for stepping in and helping the Wild Strays launch onto the Birmingham circuit and enable us to meet other bands and start to look for a full time drummer. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/7eb0b82e256da6493f5081493af0abd575c00dd4/original/early-phil-3.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Phil, you will always be part of The Wild Strays history. Thank you xx </p>
<p>To be continued... </p>
<p>Until next time, </p>
<p>Keep it Wild, </p>
<p>KT xx</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/54050312018-08-28T20:28:46+01:002018-08-30T19:52:54+01:00Flashback Series Part 2 - Best Friend's and a New Wild Stray<p>Hey,</p>
<p>Welcome back to the Flashback Series part 2. </p>
<p>Once myself and Grace worked out some songs after what seemed like ages since we have been onstage or into a studio after the break of our last band. </p>
<p>We knew it was about time we headed down to Robannas </p>
<p>Grace also plays drums, so we decided that we would get back into the practice studio and give the new songs a good run through at volume. </p>
<p>To be fair Grace is a good drummer and when she twiddles the sticks and is smiling (I’m sure there is a more technical term of twiddle but it’ll do for now) it reminds me of a very good friend of mine, Rob Chapman who used to drum in a old band i was in a few years back.</p>
<p>He would be smiling constantly behind the kit and every time I looked over at him. I couldn’t help but smile back, it’s infectious and was great fun and I’m not sure if it was just because we hadn’t been in the studio for a while, or weather my new best friend is now behind the drum kit smiling, but this was just the same and it felt pretty damn cool.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the story. </p>
<p>So, to be back in the studio with me on guitar and vocals and Grace on drums, it was a absolute blast to be back making some noise.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/5603b21a10ab0ba94c049190e507dd4be8501bb0/original/gracedrums.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>But we knew we needed to look for other members. </p>
<p>Grace knew Jake from a previous band and were great friends. She told me he is a super chilled guy and cracking guitar player. So a date was set, and we arranged a get together. </p>
<p>I seen in a recent interview that we did with Black Phoenix Rising, Jake remembers the number of the room for his audition which was room 28. </p>
<p>I couldn’t remember that, but I do remember meeting him for the first time. </p>
<p>He has this chilled manner but is also a straight talker, I really like that about him, there is no undercurrent. He is so easy to get on with. Being that Grace and Jake knew one another from before, the jokes and fun atmosphere was from the get go and so it was very easy for him to settle in to the band. </p>
<p>He picked up the songs very quickly and wrote and enhanced most of the bass lines to make them his own. He really is a great guitarist and he brings a solid backbone of technical bass lines to our sound. </p>
<p>I guess that’s about it for Jake. I want to say a bunch more, but really its that simple. A great guy a fantastic guitarist and a pleasure to practice, record and play alongside on stage. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/94df0fb329a2e2110e182603f3a3bfb7d7d07f0c/original/all.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We continued to practice with Grace still on drums, but we needed her back on Lead guitar, so next up was to try and find a drummer. To be continued… </p>
<p>Till next time, </p>
<p>Keep it Wild, </p>
<p> </p>
<p>KT x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53958902018-08-21T19:08:13+01:002018-08-21T19:30:35+01:00Rock That Sunday - 19/08/18<p>Hey, welcome to another KT Tuesday’s. </p>
<p>StarDate: Sunday 19th August.</p>
<p> Venue: The Hairy Dog, Derby. <br>Name: Rock that Sunday. <br>Promoter: Rotten Roots Promotions. </p>
<p>We decided since we have had a little break since the Scruffy Murphy's gig in Birmingham, we would benefit from a little run through the set a couple of times followed by a night out as a band. </p>
<p>We mostly get together to practice, and gig. So we all agreed it was long overdue and we needed to get out of the studio and away from the sticks and strings to indulge in some good old pub games and a couple of drinks at the local pub. </p>
<p>So I called Phoenix Music Studios in Stafford on the Friday during my lunch break to see if they could offer a practice room for a few hours. I mean we would normally use Robannas but it didn’t make sense to travel from Stafford to Birmingham and back. Then the following day spend more fuel money to go to Derby and back the following day. </p>
<p>I spoke to Dean the owner and he explained the building was being renovated but he had a room complete with PA which was available from 4 till 7pm. </p>
<p>We loaded up our gear and headed the short distance to studio. It was actually quite nice only having to travel ten minutes to practice. </p>
<p>The front of the building is directly on the road and I figured we would head around the back. <br>I parked the car and pushed the rear gate open and precariously walked down the slope and knocked on the door. This rear entrance was slightly overgrown and as I made my way down the hill I did think, we surely don’t load through this way. <br>The door opens slightly as I knock, and I shout “hello' anyone there” <br>No reply so I try again. </p>
<p>I look around and see, it was more of a workshop around the back and I could see a open bottle of cider on the side so I figured someone must be here. <br>Some more hollering from me and then Dean appears. </p>
<p>He introduced himself and explained it would be too difficult to load from the rear, so to go back around the front and load there. </p>
<p>We pulled back onto the main road and on entering the building, I’m sure he wont mind us saying, but it is clearly being worked on. We said hi to the Electrician working there and continued to load in to the room while ducking under a light rope and avoiding building materials on the floor. <br>To be fair once we got set up, it was a pretty decent sound. <br>We were practising at full volume and the play through felt good. I think we were way louder than the PA. But it did feel good, especially the second play through. </p>
<p>Once finished we payed and packed up, then headed back to the house for something to eat. </p>
<p>Those who have me on Facebook may have joined me on my very own KT's “Face-book Live” Cooking Show. With a guest appearance of our very own drummer Spice. <br>Both me and Spice were giggling and enjoying our chat with you guys as we, well I cooked a curry. <br>To be honest I enjoyed the Facebook Live, it was really nice talking to people who tuned in and we should do more of them in the future. </p>
<p>We devoured the curry and then got ready to head out. We live just around the corner from a pub and I have been to this place once before. </p>
<p>Really quiet, nice locals and friendly staff. <br>However I didn’t really expect what happened next. </p>
<p>We walked in and said hello, the landlady even recognised me from a few months back, which I thought was nice. </p>
<p>We shot some pool for a while and then it was after 40 minutes or so, someone noticed there was Karaoke in the next room. <br>I mean this pub is quite big, and so we went through some doors and round the other side to investigate and all sat down in some seats in the corner. </p>
<p>There was another party of 12 or so on the other side of the room. They looked like they were having a blast and was singing away encouraging their friends to step up and sing. <br>I went and asked the lady for a book on songs who I later found out her name was Debbie, and she said she didn’t have a book but had most songs on her data base. </p>
<p>Spice was one of the first to sign himself up quickly followed by the rest of us. <br>Spice did sing solo and I can’t think of the song he did. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/64a0b9a08efe2daea924557743a96f5cef7c1d44/original/jake-kar.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsInNtYWxsIl1d.png" class="size_s justify_left border_" />He’ll kick me for forgetting. </p>
<p>Then Grace and Jake did a duet which was equally as good. Honestly it was great great fun, and the whole room was clapping, cheering and singing along to who ever was on the microphone. It was great fun. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/55701b2080ad27a1c338458d2e71414e4e448c8a/original/jake-grace-kar.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>I wanted to do Levellers, One way Life but she didn’t have that. <br>So I did Breakfast at Tiffany’s and a bit later on with Spice i did Boulevard of Broken Dreams. </p>
<p>Honestly it was a great night. We even did a song where all of us sung together. (I can't remember what that was called either) </p>
<p>We had some more drinks and Grace appeared with some shots. Which I’m not sure what they were but they tasted amazing. </p>
<p>Finally we finished the night with Jake and Spice doing Everlong by the Foo Fighters which people were up dancing with them and singing along. Then me and Jake with the final song of the night and again everyone was up dancing and singing as brought the house down with Whole Lotta Rosie by AC/DC. </p>
<p>It was a great night and we all headed home smiling and laughing. As we were walking down the street. </p>
<p>a little personal note from me. </p>
<p>I love walking back from a night out with close friends, I always stop time and I mean that by, I take a moment to soak those moments in. </p>
<p>Because a real good group of friends is actually a rare thing. It's why I love band life so much. </p>
<p>A much needed letting our hair down and so back home and for more chit chat and I headed to bed about 1am. A big shout out to Debbie Howe the landlady for a warm welcome and terrific night. </p>
<p>We will be back x </p>
<p>The following morning arrived in the usual way and it felt weird to be getting ready to leave for a gig around midday as we are due on stage at 3.30pm. We had to be there at 2pm, for load in and Sound Check. </p>
<p>I figured the place would be empty, but I didn’t really know for sure... I had never seen much of these “Rock That Sunday's” </p>
<p>We arrived at The Hairy Dog, locked the car and made our way in to meet the promotion company called Rotten Roots. </p>
<p>Really lovely people and we were shown backstage and where the free food and alcohol was kept. </p>
<p>We were shown where the gear is to be held and the ramp to the back of the stage. </p>
<p>All set, we just had to wait for the head-liners to sound-check and then we get to set up. A quick chat with the sound engineer about playing our intro and we were good to go. </p>
<p>I used the toilet quickly and came back and seen our Wild Strays logo projected onto the back wall. I thought that looked amazing.Totally made my night, and when we were stood on the side of the stage, we were ready to tear this place a new one.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/8cb3317de5ebc4269e85e75b1bc9fc3c1106d620/original/banner.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/b3dddb018774cc0ff8967b95d18942421f157086/original/img-3947.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /> I just want to give a quick shout out to Phil Taylor who travelled down from Nottingham to see our show. He also somehow managed to take our set list from the stage after our show, which I totally didn’t see :) and had us sign it after the show which was weird but in a totally good way. It was lovely to meet you in person Phil, thank you for taking some pictures and we hope to catch you at another show real soon. </p>
<p>Thank you to Rotten Roots for a great night and warm atmosphere and to Gabriela from Imperfect photography for taking some cool shots. Please check out her face-book page. </p>
<p>I feel this is one of my longest dairy entries yet. </p>
<p>But an amazing venue to play, which sadly we learned that the Council are looking to close this music venue. </p>
<p>So please head over there and give them some love and support. </p>
<p>Fantastic night of bands,. As always I don’t talk much of other bands. But please check them out, they were all amazing. </p>
<p>One quick final note. I just want to give a quick shout out to my fellow band members. They know what for, and I will never forget looking over to each side of the stage hearing those verses being sung. Thank you from the bottom of my heart <3</p>
<p>Here's to us. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/942e242b2b1c043c5f38eaba0850ac2244bb7a1b/original/jake.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/281a998978fdb79aabda95f31f6bf7b326766104/original/spice.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/112615755711eeee7a4b4b4715f14d6d842cadc4/original/kt.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/75df46e140a5ca2c944c52a25b7165e8dec82472/original/grace.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><em>Photos courtesy of Imperfect Photography. </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>That’s it for another week, take it easy and we very much look forward to seeing you all at the next Wild Strays show. </p>
<p>Until next time, </p>
<p>Keep it wild. </p>
<p>KT x </p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53874652018-08-14T21:32:01+01:002021-09-14T02:39:04+01:00Flashback Series Part 1 - The meeting of Two Wild Strays. <p>I have been thinking about doing this flashback series a while, especially when it’s quiet in between gigs. </p>
<p>I enjoy keeping the <span style="color:#27ae60;">KT Tuesday’s</span> a regular weekly feature and so, the Flashback series is going to cover the meeting of the band members and some of our early gigs. </p>
<p>The old gig posters and the people we have met along the way, who have become our friends and some of the bands we still look forward to sharing the stage with today. </p>
<p>So sit back, close your eyes. Well maybe not close your eyes because we don’t have an audio version of this. </p>
<p>And relax...</p>
<p>Twas the year 2016, a previous band. </p>
<p>I knew we needed a Lead Guitarist, as I had only been playing guitar a few years and to play and sing was always going to be a challenge. <br>I put an advert on joinmyband.com and this person messaged me and said they would be interested in an audition. <br>Her name was Grace Hale and she was... and I can’t quite believe I’m saying this. But was quite shy. <br>Awww to be fair, she is a little shy sometimes, but she more than makes up for that with the noise of her guitar on stage...</p>
<p>Anyway. </p>
<p>We arranged an audition at Robannas. </p>
<p>Now I may need to slightly side track here because of this awesome studio Robannas in Birmingham. </p>
<p>I came by Robannas after trying to book a practice with some friends and the normal studio we practiced at was fully booked. <br>I called Robannas and spoke to the owner Rob Hoffman. A super lovely, friendly guy and I’m sure he won’t mind me saying but slightly crazy like the rest of us in the music business. <br>You can catch him smiling and singing and both me and Grace have danced in the lobby, with him dancing behind the counter when he has the music cranked up to some eighties pop or rock, or what ever he is playing that day. </p>
<p>Honestly it’s brilliant. </p>
<p>Anyway I digress. He sorted us a room and we were so happy with the studio. I mean, this building is dripping with history. Black Sabbath has practiced here among many other huge acts like Anthrax, Robert Plant and UB40. <br>Without me doing my homework and I’m already late getting this KT Tuesday blog up, but there is lots more acts I have missed out in that little list. </p>
<p>Anyway, from that date on we have always used Robannas. It is a great studio to practice and record which I’m sure we will cover in this Flashback Series. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/eceefa6add68dc44b5c53a932e8879425d39e108/original/rob1.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>So back to 2016 and we arranged an audition and I said to Grace. Text me when you are here and I will come out and meet you, and take you to the room we rehearsing in. <br>I introduced her to the band and she set up her gear. </p>
<p>Long story short, but this girl nailed her audition. I was smiling after the first song. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/b76fddb8df3a368df9b6794636cff922c75574b8/original/gr.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>It was a yes from me straight away and after a few gigs we quickly decided that myself and Grace shared the same hunger, passion and drive to write more original songs and to get out gigging on to bigger venues. </p>
<p>We had both been in bands before and it was kind of inevitable we would spilt and form The Wild Strays. </p>
<p>So in the April the following year we left and in May 2017 The Wild Strays started to take shape. </p>
<p>We started working on some original songs; I think one of the first ones was The Beast Inside quickly followed by Guilty of my Innocence. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/d4e46211eb6a4fe6c13ef66cc1d0ff947d8b416a/original/ktgh.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" />Of course all we needed now is a Bass player and Drummer. </p>
<p>But that’s another story. </p>
<p>Until next time, </p>
<p>Keep it Wild x </p>
<p>To be continued....</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53780172018-08-07T19:51:31+01:002018-08-07T21:44:56+01:00The Gig That Should Not Be - 07/08/18<p>Hey, welcome back to my weekly diary. </p>
<p>This weekend has felt a little strange, as we have just done three gigs on the bounce and there was a small chance of landing another this weekend. </p>
<p>The A5 Festival based in Brownhills. </p>
<p>Basically, Jake had learned of the festival but we missed the application date. After a few discussions back and forth with the festival organizer, we were told we could be the back up band. </p>
<p>We thought that was pretty fair, but deep in our hearts we really wanted the gig. To play outside and run around on a huge stage, also to do a full month of gigs would be totally cool and a new record for us.</p>
<p>But we were happy to be the emergency back up band. </p>
<p>Well the Friday morning came and we got a message to say one of the bands has had an accident and could we play, if needed? </p>
<p>Well of course we were all well up for it. Although I was at work, I managed to wangle a 4pm finish instead of 5pm. I came home and we still had no news. Spice was already here with Grace building a Cajon. More on this later. </p>
<p>Jake was still at home, because he lives not too far from the festival. So we were all on standby and waiting for the possible phone call. </p>
<p>The time was ticking by, so we decided to contact the organizer once more. Turns out the band in question did make it to the venue to play. Her reply was; </p>
<p>“Hi, guys and girls, we are now waiting to see if we have a slot tomorrow! <br>The band we were worried about have been released from A+E. But we will get you on next year for being such troopers” </p>
<p>Well at least that’s one thing, and we have the contact now. All being well, we should be playing next year. </p>
<p>So me, Grace and Spice headed out to pick up Jake.</p>
<p>The original plan was everyone would crash over at our house to work on the acoustic set and finish off the finer details in the morning and into the afternoon. </p>
<p>We were getting hungry so we picked up some food while we were out and as it was now nearly 8pm we had a BBQ and caused some mischief unto the early hours of the morning. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/52a73b69a51315eaa7f968363591c6807891db62/original/photo-07-08-2018-18-39-03.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The following day we woke around midday and started work on the acoustic set for the up and coming radio show. </p>
<p>The truth of the matter was though, because we have been so busy gigging over the last few weeks we haven’t had the time to sit down as a band and really work out a acoustic set. </p>
<p>Grace had worked on some new clean chords for Own Personal Hell, and I got to say. That song sounded hauntingly beautiful as a acoustic song. The vocal was sung differently it felt really moving. I really enjoyed singing it. </p>
<p>We practiced it for a hour or so and then moved on to Guilty of my Innocence. </p>
<p>We quickly realised, preparing a acoustic set is going to take more than one afternoon. We were working on Guilty and still had 9 Lives to work out acoustically and this is just one week before we go Live on the radio.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/bee3dbe8567926d58f1c9863dba61eca974a03e4/original/js.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>We decided that we have no choice but to postpone the SG1 Radio Show Live Lounge and interview. </p>
<p>To be honest, I think as a band we were both hugely disappointed and a little relieved. We know the songs will sound great on an acoustic set, but rushing them will not do them justice at all. </p>
<p>I spoke with my contact John at the Radio Station and we will arrange something post Ep which actually makes more sense. Because the songs we will be playing, will be released, out there, and in the Wild for all to hear. </p>
<p>So maybe things do happen for a reason. </p>
<p>So the day was finished by a bit more of Burnout on the PS4 and we all headed home. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/03645670f48f1b8120989786d10e0167e04d893b/original/b.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>So that’s about it really. </p>
<p>We now have this weekend off, which wont hurt the band. Then we travel to Derby and the venue The Hairy Dog, for Rock That Sunday on August 19th and believe you me. We are going to be hungry to get back on that stage.</p>
<p>Just you wait until our intro kicks in.<br>Let’s see if Derby can be even louder than Scruffy's in Birmingham. </p>
<p><br>Then we build up to our own Debut Hometown gig here in Stafford, on Saturday September 15th, which we are really fired up for. There might even, have to be after party. </p>
<p>Catch me next Tuesday which I think will be the first episode of Flashback Series as I won’t see the rest of the Wild Strays this weekend. </p>
<p>Until next time, </p>
<p>Keep it wild, </p>
<p>KT x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53692832018-07-31T19:46:36+01:002018-07-31T19:46:36+01:00Weekend At Scruffys - 31/07/18<p>There is so much to talk about this week, I’m not even sure where to start. So I may skip or keep things short, just because this could be a long blog. </p>
<p>It started the usual way, Spice made his way down to Stafford and we loaded up and made our way to pick up Jake. <br>But this time we had two stops to make before finally heading to the venue to load in and Sound check. </p>
<p>I also knew it was going to be baking hot today, so I opted to wear shorts and T shirt. It was a wise choice because it was over 30 degrees, probably much more on stage with all the amps, stage lights and people. </p>
<p>We headed to Birmingham, and some of you may or may not have noticed something on the website. <br>A date coming up later in the year. <br>Well, we had set up a small meeting with the venue owner, and so we all sat round a table and discussed things. That’s all I’m saying on this particular subject for now. <br>I’m sure there will be a News Announcement soon enough when finer details have been added. </p>
<p>Then we made a phone call to Robannas about meeting our producer Miguel, this is more news to come. <br>I feel this blog has started cryptic, and I already know it is going to finish this way too. </p>
<p>But you will have to read more of my waffle before we get to that bit. <br>Just don’t cheat and scroll down. </p>
<p>Then we finally head to the venue. <br>Navigating the Birmingham city centre one way systems, we finally turn the corner and see the infamous Scruffy Murphy’s </p>
<p>We drove past the main entrance and pulled up at the rear of the pub. <br>I said I would run in and find out where we needed to load in. I spoke to the barmaid and she gave a shout to a guy called Matt to open the back door. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/1847ead0bfa0e9ef5c1bf4e3d822799995b460c2/original/img-3431.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Once opened we started to load in. The stage was quite a good size and it looked like this was going to be a real up close and personal gig. <br>We met with Dean, the drummer from Colorado Lounge. It was through him and us playing on a bill with Colorado Lounge earlier in the year that landed this gig. <br>Dean was quite busy setting up the backline so we continued to load in. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/2df1d4b2b4f8717add0642bc16b21e8db8494bff/original/img-3524.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We stored our gear and explained we were going to park the car. We also had sandwiches again which I made earlier, as none of us had eaten since midday. It was now quarter to six. </p>
<p>We pulled up to the nearest NCP car park just across the road and it was £16.50 for 3 hours or something like that. We all coughed and Grace who drove this time threw the car into reverse and we went to the next NCP car park which really was next door. We think the first one must have been a more secure one with gates and cameras. </p>
<p>Anyway, we parked up just inside the entrance to the car park. We tucked into the sandwiches and played a game spotting the happiest driver queuing to leave. <br>Most of them looked really cheesed off as they obviously just wanted to get home on a Friday night. </p>
<p>So back to the venue, and for the third time this year (I think) we were not first on the bill. So of course this is a good thing but also means no full sound check. <br>Just plug in and a quick line check before we start. </p>
<p>First on were a band called Get//Rek’d , now as you know or may have gathered I don’t do little reviews of other bands. <br>It’s not my place to do that and honestly I waffle enough as it is. <br>But if you get chance then check this band out, they are only a month old and are really lovely guys. <br>I got talking to all of the band throughout the night and again just really really nice guys. </p>
<p>I got to say all the bands on the bill tonight were super lovely. <br>Honestly everyone on this bill was dancing and jumping around to each other’s show. <br>It was a absolute blast tonight. </p>
<p>So the time was 20:20 and we started to gather our gear from behind the secure bar. We were due on at 8.45pm, and Get//Rek’d finished their set at 20.30 </p>
<p>The place was filling up and as we walked through the crowd onto the stage we started to get set up. <br>After 15 mins or so, a quick thumbs up to the sound engineer and the background music slowly became rain and thunder, a crash of lightning, then a shake of a spray can and Spice takes to the drum kit. </p>
<p>Jake, Grace and myself were all stood to one side of the stage as we look at one another before we run on to the stage. (That sounds epic, but really we were stood on the stage, just to one side) But one day we will run onto a huge stage haha. <br>Grace takes to the stage first and then me followed by Jake. <br>A huge intro, a roll on the drums and crash of cymbals and I scream into the mic, We are the Wild Strays and this song is called 20/20 </p>
<p>This song blends straight into The Beast Inside and we power through until the guitars let ring into a Flatline and a huge vocal from me. </p>
<p>Then Grace starts this beautiful intro and I announce “This next song is our Debut Single and we would love you to go crazy this.. is.... 9 Lives” </p>
<p>The song builds and with punches in the air, the crowd are bouncing their heads. <br>Just such a great track to play live, next up is Guilty of my Innocence which we now have three live videos up on YouTube of this song. </p>
<p>We are of course super grateful for any one uploading a video of us, but if you fancy filming another song then you totally have our permission :) </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/823b4874f0c112dfea82ea09994dbc046f16a459/original/img-3536.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>And so it’s onto our newest track Own Personal Hell and I got to say, Scruffys in Birmingham.., <br>You have been the loudest Strays we have played too this year. <br>The backing to the chorus with you all screaming “This time it’s Personal” was the very best we have had yet. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. </p>
<p>And further more your clap track in our final song The Wild Strays was amazing. <br>A fantastic night and one we will hold fond memories of. </p>
<p>And then the night was taken by Among the Hollows which I got talking to the lead singer Ian later in the evening and again such a lovely guy. <br>A great sound and a pleasure to watch, and finally our hosts for the night Colorado Lounge. With clown masks and a great stage show. We were all jumping around and having fun. There was even a head banging conga train in the pit which I just had to get involved in. <br>A great night and a huge thank you to Colorado Lounge for inviting us on the bill. We had a fantastic night. </p>
<p>A special mention to a friend of mine called Steve who I have met through work. He came down on his own just to see our show, he had been reading my blogs on here and talking on the phone through work. <br>It was great to see you and we look forward to seeing you at another show soon. </p>
<p>And so there we have it, another show done. </p>
<p>But.. instead of dropping everyone home, this time the entire band was crashing at our house. </p>
<p>We stopped by Tesco’s which must have gone way past midnight by now, we wandered around hunting the isles for food so we could have a hearty breakfast in the morning. </p>
<p>We got back to the house and Spice was like “Hey ummm, I’m hungry do you mind if I cook a bacon and egg sandwich now ?” </p>
<p>I said nah I don’t mind, so I made a cup of tea while Spice was frying up his food. We chatted for a while and then me and Jake pumped the air bed up and I chucked down a few duvets. </p>
<p>A few hours sleep and with breakfast served and devoured. <br>We headed to Nantwich for a meeting that had been planned for a month or so. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/9f024dbd1302b015ea5fff8a1188cc646bf103ad/original/img-3537.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>This is where it gets a little tricky. <br>Because I have no clue how much I’m supposed to reveal. <br>There is not actually too much to say really.. <br>We met someone who knows a lot about the music industry. <br>That would be fair to say, and he likes us Wild Strays. He would like to help with advice and to hopefully secure a few gigs and festivals next year. </p>
<p>That’s all we know, <br>I don’t know what exactly will happen, but we are open to ideas and will see where our Wild Stray rollercoaster takes us. </p>
<p>Until then, <br>I will catch you again next week, </p>
<p>Keep it Wild, <br>KT xx </p>
<p>P.s <br>Below is rare photo that caught half of the Strays in the Wild. <br>Grace Hale and Jake Adshead. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/bb4f881f086f59bb4b0c0cf18dad02881b73defa/original/img-3535.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The location of KT and Spice are not shown here, but you can be sure, they were not far away. </p>
<p>Until next time, <br>KT x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53600192018-07-24T19:17:12+01:002018-07-24T19:17:12+01:00Cottage of Content - 24/07/18<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/efb5e7cdfdbb26443bd6336ce6fa8df792146a86/original/img-3401.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Cottage of Content, Saturday 20th July 2018</p>
<p>Our first gig outside of Birmingham and actually just around the corner for some of us. <br>No pre practice show down at Robannas for this one. </p>
<p>We took a nice easy drive down and slowly entered this quiet place called Chasetown near Burntwood. </p>
<p>My first thought was how many pubs there was here and then we saw a England Flag painted on a mini roundabout. I thought that was pretty cool. </p>
<p>A few more turns and we were here. <br>Pulling into the car park of the Cottage of Content. We were the first band on the scene. <br>We unloaded and met Treasa the landlady for the first time. She gave us a quick tour of the pub and I got to say. <br>Walking in there for the first time instantly took me back to some of the pubs I used to hang out, back in my teens and early 20s. <br>Just the smell of a good old punk rock pub, and decent sized bar to sit at and really friendly owners. </p>
<p>This place has that same feel and warmth. <br>I think after a hour or so of being here, Grace came up to me and said, “This place feels super laid back”. I think we are going to have an amazing show here tonight. </p>
<p>So after meeting Treasa and shown where the stage was, in walked the guys from a band called, The Meatbeaters. <br>Dave, the Lead Singer introduced himself and he was super lovely. <br>He helped Treasa set up the PA while Spice was busy sorting out the drum kit. </p>
<p>Once that was done, the back line was set, and we moved our cabs and amps infront and started to set up. A quick Soundcheck and then more adjusting with the monitors, another run though a song and we were good to go. <br>Stage set, all we had to do was wait until 7.30pm. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/8c7174394af5f196d5dc76e45682bd0eb791edda/original/img-3399.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Swaktang and I think Sad Sally were playing frisbee in the car park, I very nearly joined them. <br>But we had some friends come down and it was nice to take time out to talk to them. </p>
<p>One of them was Phil Brooke. <br>Now, if you have read our bio on Facebook or seen us at a show in late 2017. You will know Phil is our old drummer. He helped me, Grace and Jake jam out some of the first Wild Strays tracks and enabled us to do a couple of gigs before we found our Official drummer Spice. </p>
<p>It was great to see Phil and to meet his wife. <br>Then we heard news of our start time being bumped to 8pm. This was great news to us, it means that we have the potential to play in front of more people. </p>
<p>As it turned out we had a fantastic crowd and another really strong gig. <br>As I said last week, we probably had the strongest show yet at the Actress and Bishop, but this time we not only had another strong show but we had an amazing crowd too. </p>
<p>They were totally into it, and up for some call and answer, <br>“This time it’s Personal” and a clap track with our song The Wild Strays. <br>A fantastic night and to top it all off we have been asked back to play. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/deb4fa2ab345e4db64a847aed9f582481d019f98/original/img-3400.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>No date had been set yet, but we will definitely be back to the Cottage of Content soon. </p>
<p>We then spent the rest of the night watching the other bands. <br>It’s was great enjoying everyone’s show and in between bands we would all head outside to the front of the pub and chat. <br>Such a great venue, a fantastic atmosphere and just a totally awesome night. </p>
<p>It was also cool to see Sad Sally again. This is the second time I have seen them, and the first time I have seen The Meatbeaters and Swaktang. </p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who made it down to see us and who has hit like on our Facebook page over the last few days </p>
<p>We look forward to seeing all you, New Strays at the very next show in Birmingham this coming Friday at Scruffy Murphy’s </p>
<p>Until then, keep it wild. <br>KT x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53504072018-07-17T19:12:45+01:002021-09-14T02:41:36+01:00The Strays, The Actress and The Bishop - 17/07/18<p>*rubs eyes* <br>*reaches for phone* <br>“What’s the time”? <br>“7am” <br>Ugh two hours sleep, *tucks back under the duvet* <br>“Night world” Zzzzz </p>
<p>What a long day, but oh so rewarding. <br>Actress and Bishop. Saturday 14th of July. </p>
<p>It started with the gathering of lost souls. <br>Ha ha sorry, I couldn’t resist a line from our song The Wild Strays. </p>
<p>Spice arrived in Stafford, we loaded up and headed to back down the M6 to Birmingham via picking up Jake. </p>
<p>Again such a hot day, but maybe we should enjoy them.. I’m sure in the future posts, later in the year it will always be raining. </p>
<p>We booked a couple of hours at Robannas for a quick blast through the set and worked on couple of new changes. </p>
<p>Briefly seen Rob Hoffman although he was super busy, he did manage to tell us the story of his dancing on a revolving floor and falling off onto some guy and through a table lol <br> I shouldn’t laugh because the bruise was savage. <br>Hope it heals soon Rob x <br>We love ya :) </p>
<p>After rehearsal we headed back to the car and located the Actress and Bishop on the phone sat nav. <br>Only 4 minutes away. </p>
<p>So instead of our usual picnic spot we decided to head straight to the venue. <br>OMG just driving through the streets, this part of the city is so posh. <br>Really stunning buildings, beautiful architecture. <br>I couldn’t stop looking around. </p>
<p>Oooo is that it? <br> Spice was sat in the front seat next to me and he was like, “no keep going”..after a few minutes we caught our first view of the venue. <br>We pulled right around the corner and with twenty mins or so before we are due to load in. <br>We tuck into the sandwiches which I made this time. </p>
<p>Bringing sandwiches is a recent thing for us Wild Strays just because the whole day can be expensive with takeaways, fuel and drink. </p>
<p>I really like the packed lunch idea :) <br>I’m just worried that it might be Spice’s turn to make them next time. <br>Nah I’m only playing, I’m sure he will make amazing sandwiches. </p>
<p>Any way, me and Jake decided to take a quick walk around the corner to the Actress and Bishop just to find out if there was a loading bay. </p>
<p>We looked at each other as we opened the double doors. It was so so lovely here. <br>There was some beautifully crafted stairs when we walked in, and the bar had a really friendly feel about it. <br>England were playing on the telly, but we won’t talk about that. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/03b90b3306b4f44a83e3438c2647a98db33bf958/original/img-3190.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We approached the barman and explained we were playing here tonight and where could we load in ? <br>He said yeah, “just up the stairs and you’ll find Dan the sound engineer”</p>
<p>Me and Jake did look at one another as if to say, nooo we got to lift all the gear up those stairs. <br>But hey, this is going to be a great show and we are all pumped for it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/659b729b6003aa3d63a44fed1e638770a8e761a9/original/img-3191.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We starting unloading and as we are taking the stuff little by little, I noticed Dorja pull up. <br>Smiles were exchanged and we continued to unload my car. <br>It’s now 5pm and we are on stage at 7pm. <br>A little early for us to be going on, but hey it’s a gig and a cracking venue too. <br>A beautiful stage set in the corner with a rounded front. </p>
<p>Dorja we due to sound check first and then they would push thier gear back slightly. With us being the first band on, we would sound check and the other bands would line check. </p>
<p>Me and Grace got chatting to Aiym, the lead singer from Dorja. While the others we setting their gear up onstage. <br>We asked her how the tour was going and she said it was great to travel with the band, and see parts of the world together. Although she was a little sad that tonight was the penultimate gig of the tour. </p>
<p>We finally got onto the stage with about 20mins before the show starts. <br>We set up and even had Bruce with us again this time. </p>
<p>A quick run though a old cover of ours for sound check which gives chance to set levels and Grace gets to chance to check her lead channel. <br>And we are good to go. </p>
<p>Grace went to get changed, me and Jake went to get a cider. I’m not sure where Spice was at this time. </p>
<p>There was a couple of Dorja fans I got talking to, there names have escaped me. Plus Grace’s family came down to see the show and my friend Andy. </p>
<p>It’s time.. <br>7pm; <br>The rain, the thunder and Spice steps up to the kit. <br>Shortly followed by us running on stage. <br>I love our intro :) </p>
<p>We kick into the first song, and we are loud. <br>Suddenly the room starts to fill and we know we are here to put on our strongest show yet. Especially off the back of our last gig the Birmingham O2 Academy 3. </p>
<p>Straight into our second song seamlessly and it feels great. </p>
<p>Next comes our Debut Single “9 Lives” and with the punches in the air along with the bass and drums we deliver a powerful rendition of 9 lives. </p>
<p>And... I’m going to stop, because you’ll just have to get yourself along to a show to see the new changes. </p>
<p>We had a fantastic time and deliver our strongest show to date. </p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who came to watch, you were awesome and we loved playing to you. </p>
<p>And so another gig under our belt. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/21beb84ddb45fe988b7d40ab64a7ff4248f8a310/original/01.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We did get chatting to a band on the bill called Air Drawn Dagger. <br>They too had a cracking set and I think we may cross paths with them again some day. </p>
<p>Thank you to Dorja for the opportunity to support you on your Gemini Tour and huge thanks to the one and only Adam Ward. <br>Our very first and loveable promoter. </p>
<p>I did talk last week about a possible flash back series with how the band met and there should definitely be a entry for Adam Ward. </p>
<p>I also didn’t expect to bump into Ian and Paul from Terrorsaurs. Paul was playing with a side project Kanada. I got chatting to Ian, he has taken the time to give us some advice here and there. A totally lovely guy. </p>
<p>We supported them back in April before they headed off for their USA tour. We got chatting about what’s been going on and what we have coming up. <br>It’s was really nice to see him. </p>
<p>Great night, followed by Maccie’s somewhere near Walsall and a very sleepy KT by the end of the night somewhere near Newcastle Under Lyme. </p>
<p>Till next time, <br>Keep it Wild, </p>
<p>KT x</p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53391382018-07-10T18:31:17+01:002018-07-10T18:31:17+01:00No Access - 10/07/18<p>Hey and welcome back to another KT Tuesday’s </p>
<p>Although this one may be a little thin on the ground as i haven’t seen the rest of the Wild Strays for a week. </p>
<p>We decided because we have three gigs on the bounce starting from this Saturday. <br>It made sense for us, to all have this weekend off. </p>
<p>But don’t you worry, there is always something to talk about. I might chat about a previous gig, or a road trip. It could even be about how a member joined the band. In fact I may do a “Flashback Series” a kinda look over our shoulder diary entry. Or even a this time last year entry.. Who knows. </p>
<p>So this coming Saturday we head to the Actress and Bishop in Birmingham, supporting Dorja on their Gemini Tour. <br>Also on the Bill is; Air Drawn Dagger, Resurrection Men and Kanada. </p>
<p>We have never played at this venue before, so i can’t wait to check it out. Hopefully there will be plenty of room for us to run around on the stage. <br>It should be great fun, but make sure you get yourselves down early because we hit the stage at 7pm. <br>Tickets are just £5 and for 5 bands, that’s a bargain. </p>
<p>So come down, jump around and generally have a great time. We look forward to seeing you. </p>
<p>In other news I did help Spice move house last weekend. I couldn’t help him pack because.. well it’s his stuff and I have no idea where he wants it to go. </p>
<p>So I pretty much sat in his bedroom chatting and playing his acoustic guitar. Which I have to say, was a sweet guitar. <br>I really should get a electric acoustic guitar one day. <br>I mean I have a normal acoustic called Rocky. He’s red and black and is pretty beat up because I have taken it to work with me for the last two years. <br>Anyway I digress, we spoke about the up and coming gigs and the radio show in August. Then went we into a daydream chat about The Wild Strays future tour and world domination haha. </p>
<p>Once we moved all the stuff out of his room it was then off to his University to pick up his Drum Kit. </p>
<p>Of course there is always an adventure where ever we go. <br>This was no different. <br>As you can imagine all the doors of the music rooms were locked at the University especially being the holidays and this was a Sunday as well. <br>We managed to get through one door with his key fob but we couldn’t get into the room where his kit was. </p>
<p>Turns out they had reset all the key fobs or something. <br>So a bit of running around on campus trying to speak to or find security. <br>Spice ended up calling the main office, they said how would they know if it was indeed his Drum kit? </p>
<p>Spice said, “well I have pictures and even Youtube videos of me playing it” <br>None of this worked and after 15 minutes on the phone we ended up leaving it there for another day. Still it kept us busy and out of trouble. </p>
<p>So that’s it from me this week. <br>Hope you have a good one and we look forward to seeing you all down the Actress and Bishop for this Saturday’s gig. </p>
<p>Until then, <br>Keep it wild, </p>
<p>KT x<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/5bbebf96edc16f06bf88f50e9b17f3143e242c24/original/ys-1.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53292822018-07-03T12:47:27+01:002018-07-03T12:47:51+01:00O2 Academy 3, Birmingham - 03/07/18<p>Welcome back to my weekly diary, </p>
<p>This week I just have to talk about Friday the 29th June, and to top it off, probably one of the hottest days of the year. <br>Or at least it felt like it. </p>
<p>It started the usual way, woke up :) had some Coco Pops and then started to get ready. </p>
<p>Spice was arriving midday at Stafford Train station and from there we headed back to the house to load up. <br>The excitement in the room was electric and as we finished loading the car, windows down we started to head onto the M6 to pick up Jake. </p>
<p>We knew we wanted to put on a really strong show at the 02 Academy, so we headed to Robannas for a 2 hour warm up before the show. <br>Yep, it was totally boiling in the studio but the energy we took from that went straight onto the stage. </p>
<p>Plus it’s always good to see Rob at Robannas. </p>
<p>We loaded the car back up and decided to drive until we found some shade not far from the studio. </p>
<p>There, we unpacked some sandwiches and sausage rolls which Grace had prepared earlier. <br>Yes, not quite the blanket on the ground in the green fields of tranquility. </p>
<p>Instead we found shade via the tall buildings and the back streets of Birmingham. </p>
<p>Grace did suggest we sit on the roof of my car, which I think we were all up for, however my car needs a good wash. So it probably wasn’t a good idea. </p>
<p>It was really nice just having a bite to eat, chatting and having a laugh before we headed around the corner to the 02 venue. </p>
<p>Navigating the roads and finally arriving at the back of the O2, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a few months back when me and Grace went to see Trivium for a meet and greet. <br>I remember their coaches and trucks being round the back. <br>Now, here we are at the same place. </p>
<p>We arrive and check with security that’s it’s cool to unload and we are directed to this little back room to store our gear. <br>Honestly seeing the stage for the first time, I think we were all itching to get on there. </p>
<p>But we were 25 mins early and the other bands had to sound check first. </p>
<p>I think this was the hardest part, just waiting around. </p>
<p>We went outside to get some fresh air and it was kinda crazy seeing people queue for the show. </p>
<p>We walk back in and it turns out Lee, the sound engineer for the night was running slightly behind and we were asked to do a Line Check rather than a Full Sound Check before we start our show. </p>
<p>Finally 7pm arrives, doors open and the place starts to fill up. </p>
<p>We watched the first band Awakening the Hollow for 15 mins or so and then we decided to head back stage to get ready. </p>
<p>We hear the last song play out and it’s then all hands on deck to get our kit set up in 15 minutes. </p>
<p>Next thing we hear is Spice saying, I’ve lost my snare. <br>We were like, What ? <br>He said yeah, I put it here and now it’s gone. <br>So a couple of frantic minutes running around looking for his snare drum and finally we found it. </p>
<p>We think someone must have moved it. <br>Maybe to a safer place. </p>
<p>Finally all set up and a quick line check. <br>We were good to go. </p>
<p>The sound of rain and the crack of thunder, Spice starts the show with drums, and then a nice heavy riff to start the show which sounds like a war cry or a call to the Wild. <br>Big finish and a quick shout into the mic, </p>
<p>We are the Wild Strays, <br>and Bang, we blast into our set list. </p>
<p>It was a great crowd and atmosphere. <br>We were totally rocking out and I seen people jumping around head banging, dancing and generally having a good time. </p>
<p>I looked out over the crowd and it felt amazing. <br>We had such a great time playing for everyone who was there. </p>
<p>We did get a 5 minute warning, however we knew our set run time was about 28 mins. </p>
<p>The last song on the set list is a track called The Wild Strays and this is a crowd participation and big crescendo song. <br>So we wasn’t about to cut it short. </p>
<p>A shout out for the other bands and a clap track for Gathering and Calling all the lost souls and we bring this show to a end. </p>
<p>Amazing place to play, great sound. <br>A big shout out to Lee on the desk for a huge sound. </p>
<p>We can’t wait to play there again. </p>
<p>I did get chatting to a few people back stage, Autumn from Surrge was totally lovely, plus Anthony from Awakening the Hollow. <br>Plus a quick chat to the headlining guys Broken Lungs, at the end of their set. <br>Really lovely people and we hope to see you all down the road sometime soon :) </p>
<p>Till next time, <br>Keep it Wild, </p>
<p>KT x<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/8f8c2beead28df06b7763d287e5f382dd640cbb7/original/academy3-8.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>The Wild Straystag:wildstrays.com,2005:Post/53183252018-06-26T18:52:28+01:002018-06-26T18:53:08+01:00...This Time It's Personal - 26/06/18<p>Hey, <br>Welcome to my first ever “Own Personal Tale” entry. </p>
<p>If you know me in person, you will know I like talking. <br>So I thought it would be cool to share my little space on this website, writing a blog / diary and share a insight to what’s happening in and around the Wild Strays from my perspective. </p>
<p>I have no clue where this is going to go, but I’m sure there will be some fun stories along the way. </p>
<p>I’m also looking forward to seeing what the other members bring to the table. </p>
<p>So without further ado. </p>
<p>Welcome to my little page and I hope you can catch me every Tuesday for my update. <br>Same time and same place. </p>
<p>Well, this week, I feel I got so much to say about what has happened recently. <br>But as the weeks go by, I’m sure we can cover most of what’s going on. </p>
<p>However please hit that “Like” button on our Facebook or check into the website to see all breaking news first. </p>
<p>I’ll do my best to keep my blogs fairly short and to the point. However I have been known to waffle on sometimes :) </p>
<p>This week I would like to share a quick short story, it’s a little off topic, and is more of a back story. <br>But I may do this from time to time. </p>
<p>I moved to Birmingham in 2011 and at the time my partner had never been to a rock show. <br>I know pretty crazy huh. </p>
<p>So we booked tickets to see Halestorm, I think it was 2012 <br>This was his first gig and mine for quite some time. <br>The venue was the Birmingham 02 Academy. </p>
<p>I remember my excitement running hand in hand up the stairs hearing the loud music and smiling with excitement as one of the support bands was sound checking. </p>
<p>The sound was so loud and I felt like I was home instantly. <br>Halestorm played an amazing show and in that moment, right there. <br>That made me want to find another band in Birmingham and get back onstage. </p>
<p>Skip forward a few years and another band later. <br>I’m so happy to be in the Wild Strays. </p>
<p>Our music has heart, stories and is full of all the colours and emotions of life and I love pouring my heart and soul into performing our set. </p>
<p>This week, we are playing the O2 Academy 3, and I am so excited to get to stand on that stage. </p>
<p>It’s going to feel weird playing at a venue that only a few years ago, in that same building. <br>I got my want and hunger to be back with a band and back onstage. </p>
<p>So here we are, almost a year later and with my best friends. <br>The Wild Strays are about to play Birmingham 02 Academy 3 </p>
<p>I can’t wait for when our intro kicks in and we all run out on to that stage. </p>
<p>Get your self along to this gig, come and say hi and I very much look forward to next weeks entry where I’m sure there will be a story to tell </p>
<p>Till next time, <br>KT<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/301191/036ac69a856a96fe07ff01e3ecaa63c4761825f0/original/img-2932.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>The Wild Strays