Mike Badger and the Shady Trio play:

• Action Packed! Rockabilly Extravaganza Camp and Furnace Liverpool L1 OBY Sat 6th April 2013

• Shy Lowen Horse Sanctuary Music Fundraiser  Sun 30th June 2013

Mike Badger is Liverpool’s answer to Billy Childish, albeit minus the flamboyant punk attitude and undying enthusiasm for three-chord thrash. Founding member of The La’s and The Onset, visual artist, record label honcho and singer/songwriter, Badger, like the music he makes, is impossible to pigeonhole.

With Paul Hemmings (The La’s), Martyn Campbell (The Lightning Seeds) and Tommy Scott (Space) returning once more to give an old friend a hand, Badger’s third solo album, Rogue State, is an excellent blend of stripped-down garage-beat (‘Big Boots’), rockabilly (‘The Tupelo Hardware Store’), dreamy pop (‘Don’t Leave Me Standing’) and touches of folk (‘They’re Animals’) – all with a reverberating country twang. Other highlights include Badger riding the country rails with Hell bent relish on ‘Platform 9’ and his duet with local songwriter Lizzie Nunnery on their self-penned, downbeat ballad ‘Rising Tide’. A perfect pick and mix for the ears.

Alan Brown (Shindig Happening Magazine Dec 2011)

Mike Badger and the Shady Trio; a Rockabilly band from England. The name was unknown to me, but they are certainly no newcomers in the music scene.
Mike Badger is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist and sculptor from Liverpool. He was co-founder of The La’s and went on to form alternative country/roots rockabilly band The Onset in 1988 and The Kachinas in 1996. He is also a partner in Liverpool’s independent Viper Label.
He has released several solo albums, performed in Austin, Texas in 2009 with local and international acts and formed a band called the Nashville Liverpool Underground Medicine Show. His current band, Mike Badger and the Shady Trio formed in summer 2010.
The Shady Trio is: Barry Southern (lead guitar and backing vocals), Chris Marshall (double bass and backing vocals) and Ian Laney (percussion and backing vocals).

They’ve released their first CD called “Lucky 13”. As the name suggests, the CD consists of 13 songs, all written by Mike, both the lyrics and the music! Surely this is worth mentioning, because many, especially new bands in the scene limit themselves to playing, well known or not so well known, covers.
On this CD Mike returns to his “old love” the pure, raw Rockabilly. As he quotes:
“I have made music in different styles, though usually Roots music, garage, rock and country, but I keep coming back to Rockabilly. It’s the fount from whence everything else has sprung, it’s raw, dynamic, uplifting and out for a good time! I want to bring original, contemporary Rockabilly back into people’s lives”.

The first song on the album Shake it up! sets the tone well. Pure, danceable Rockabilly. The fun of this CD is, that not all songs are alike. A clear influence of Hillbilly and Swing can be heard and musically, the guys are good.
Other titles on the CD, all great up tempo songs, are for instance Thank Hank, Jump back down up round (my favourite),Rockability, Rolling down the road, Routemaster ’59, Heading for Tibet and many more!
So if you’re in the mood for a good old Americana feeling, just listen to this CD!

Mike has also been working on material with Anna Tai-Hogan and Hogie you can get the Hogie release by clicking on the link ad its available as a download and limited edition CD.

The Hogie Wagon

31st October (Halloween) 1980- I was at St.Helens Art College and decided to go to the Wyndham Lewis Exhibition at Manchester City Art Gallery. Kevin Wright and I took the train over. During the journey, Kevin joked that we might bump into Mark. E. Smith. We had discovered The Fall and dug their strange, but wonderful Woolly back rockabilly Punk sound.

As it turned out, we didn’t run into Mark Smith, but something even more seismic would ensue on that fateful Manchester trip. As we entered the gallery foyer, I saw this guy sitting in the corner. He had a big hat on and a light suit. He was drawing in his sketch book and was swearing at his work. I could hear him muttering :

“Shit!…Mother…Fuck!…Fucker!…Shit!”

It was bizarre. Who was this guy? there was something really fascinating about him. I went up to him and asked if I could see his drawings.

I wondered how he’d react but he willingly obliged and flicked through the pages of his book. They consisted of seemingly abstract, angular lines and portraits, quite animalistic.

“Are you an artist?” I enquired.

“Well, yeah, I do it, but I’m a musician too,” he said.

“Oh, so are we,” I replied, delighted.

“I know,” he replied .

“How do you know?” I asked him, feeling bemused by his previous answer.

“I’m psychic,” he said casually.

“Our band’s called The Smile That You Send Out Returns To You,” I said, feeling a little more confident. “and we don’t have a drummer.”

This seemed to impress the man, he introduced himself as Don Van Vliet and called some of the guys over who had been busy buying posters of Wyndham Lewis prints from the gallery shop.

“Hey guys – these fellas are in a band called The Smile You Send Out Returns to You,” he said excitedly. “And they haven’t got a drummer!”

I was awestruck. Not only did this super-charismatic American guy in the hat know we were musicians, but he’d just repeated the name of our band (a Native Indian saying Carl Davies had discovered on the back of a Beach Boys LP) perfectly. Any other time I’d said it to someone, they’d stumbled through it when they’d mentioned it back to me and jumbled it up-this man was very sharp!.

“What’s the name of your band?” I asked him.

“Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band,” he said.

“Oh wow – I’ve heard your name before!” I replied excitedly.

“Oh, well, we don’t get too much airplay over here,” said the Captain modestly.

“But John Peel plays you,” Kevin chipped in.

“Oh what a good man,” said Don. He continued on about getting rid of “that Mama heart beat” out of music and seemed strangely impressed that we had no drummer.

“be careful,” he warned us, before asking how old we were.

“18,” we chorused.

“Well you gotta watch that (Ronald) Reagan guy – do you know you could get called up!” he said sagely.

I told him we were into The Cramps and Iggy Pop. He told us he’d been with those guys recently, before eventually being pulled away by the arm by John French (Magic Band drummer). He was still rapping away ten to the dozen even when they finally dragged him from the gallery. They had a schedule after all .

Gobsmacked, we said goodbye and sat on the steps of the gallery, buzzing, but a little shaken and wondering what that had all been about?

He was some character and the meeting with him had really affected us. It was like the Apprentices having been shown a little of the Magician’s inner circle. After that, the Wyndham Lewis exhibition wasn’t on we just sat on the steps of the gallery –shaking!

The following day, back in college, Kevin showed me the cover of that week’s NME and there he was, wow! : Captain Beefheart standing in the Mojave Desert. ( the wonderful Anton Corbjn portrait). I read the big feature about him with growing interest and his quotes made so much sense about music, the environment and life in general. And he was real. I knew personally that he lived it. We knew it had been a great honour to meet him but while I couldn’t afford to buy his records just yet I logged the meeting firmly in my mind as a really special event.

One Saturday, a few months later, I went to Tuebrook on the outskirts of Liverpool and had a look around the shops there. I came across a junk shop off the main road. Inside, there were a pile of records and I looked through them. I came across a yellow label that read ‘Clear Spot’ by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band. Wow, that’s the guy I met in Manchester! The record had no sleeve at all, I gave them the 30p they asked for it and took it home. I put it on and as the NME interview had done, it confirmed everything I’d hoped for. There were incredible rhythms, wild man vocals and some of the most delicious ballads I’d ever heard. These songs really hit home for me, probably because they were more accessible than some of the more raucous tracks. ‘Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles’! What a statement. What a song. ‘Too Much Time’ was classic Soul music and proved Beefheart could sing like Otis Redding every bit as well as he could howl like an animalistic Bluesman. There was no turning back for me now. It was the best thing I’d heard and what’s more, I had the pleasure of remembering the day we’d met while I listened.

I soon got to hear ‘Safe as Milk’, the Magic Band’s debut album too. Kevin had bought it and it turned out to be another really wild inspired album that seemed to sum up everything I thought the sixties was about. The guitar playing on ‘Zig Zag Wanderer’ was electrifying. ‘Plastic Factory’ spoke of phosphorous chimneys burning. ‘Sure nuf n Yes I do’ was psychedelic Country music. Beefheart was just amazing. He was an environmentalist, woman worshipper, was an avant garde musician, and a unique songwriter. He seemed to encompass everything for me. And on top of all that a great visual artist and painter.

I think I was so lucky to have met one of the most important artists of the Twentieth Century ( I don’t say this lightly- there might not have been The Simpsons if it wasn’t for Don Van Vliet-Matt Groening would agree) and coming across a copy of Clear Spot is the perfect introduction (for anyone reading this who isn’t up on his music). Trout Mask Replica is his most challenging for the uninitiated but most probably his masterpiece.

The words Captain Beefheart are written on the side of an old building at the bottom of Park Road on the way out of Liverpool City centre, it tells me what he meant to so many people in this city.

In 1984 I bumped into Lee Mavers and he told me he’d been getting into Captain Beefheart, so we formed The La’s.

Mike Badger 17th Dec 2010

http://blog.mcnulty.co.uk/?p=2457

http://blog.mcnulty.co.uk/?p=2590

Mike Badger

Cavern Walks has commissioned artist Mike Badger to celebrate Beatles Musical Legacy

Cavern Walks will be celebrating the musical legacy of the Fab Four this July after commissioning Liverpool-based artist, Mike Badger to produce a permanent sculpture in the shopping centre to mark Beatles Day.

The Liverpool based artist and singer-songwriter, who is well known by music enthusiasts as a founder member of The La’s, has been commissioned by the boutique shopping centre to produce a themed-sculpture to mark the city’s third annual Beatles Day on Saturday 10th July 2010.

Cavern Walks, which is situated at the heart of the Beatles Quarter in Mathew Street, is built on the sight of the original Cavern Club and already houses the only life-size statue of the Beatles standing together in the UK, which continues to be a popular attraction for visitors and tourists.

The sculpture, which is entitled “Musical Composition”, will feature an assemblage of reclaimed musical instruments associated with famous Beatles hits, including a vintage Zenith guitar donated by Mike himself in honour of Paul McCartney who wrote some of his earliest hits on a similar Zenith guitar of the same era.

Mike Badger, 48, from Wavertree, who is well known in the art world for his amazing sculpture work using reclaimed materials, also currently runs workshops on recycled materials in schools and galleries.

He commented: “I’m delighted to win the commission to produce a sculpture at Cavern Walks in celebration of Beatles Day as it allows me the opportunity to combine my experience of music and art. My own entrance into Liverpool’s music scene happened on the same street as the Cavern so the area signifies a lot of importance to me. The idea was to use a collection of reclaimed musical instruments placed together in an assemblage, reflecting musical composition.”

He added: “I have made many sculptures from reclaimed and recycled materials and I enjoy allowing the objects themselves to inspire and determine the eventual finished piece. The main parody explored in the sculpture is that you can’t touch music but it can touch you and this is what I hope visitors will enjoy about the finished piece when it is unveiled.”

Derek Millar, Commercial Director at Cavern Walks, which is owned by Warner Estates, added: “We thrilled to team up with such an established artist as Mike Badger. Mike’s experience of both music and art made him the perfect candidate to commission the piece of work and we hope that shoppers and visitors to Cavern Walks will enjoy viewing the artwork. The sculpture will be displayed permanently suspended in the centre to celebrate not only Beatles Day but the immense musical heritage of Liverpool.”

Other commissions/demonstrations produced by Mike to date include: ‘Tin Planet’ in 1998-1999 by local hit makers, Space, ‘The beat goes on’ Local Music Exhibition at Liverpool Museum in 2008 and the Go Superlambannas and Go Penguins project in 2008-2009. He was also the installation artist for The Mersey River Festival from 2001-2004 and artist in residence for ITV Granada in 2006 to celebrate their 50th year.

After leaving The La’s, Mike formed The Onset and is currently concentrating on his solo work as well as a collaboration project with musicians from Nashville. Alongside his own musical career, Mike is also a partner in local record label ‘Viper’ who archive Liverpool music.

Cavern Walks Beatles Day sculpture will be unveiled to the public on Thursday 8th July at 10am.