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The Melon Ground Sessions – June 1st Guest: Ricky Cool
June 1st, 2023,7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
We are delighted that, for a third year, Vo Fletcher is hosting a short series of summer concerts in our gorgeous Melon Ground.
He has a thrilling range of musical guests to delight us with collaborations often leading to the sublime. Check out the dates to see who’s coming and do join us for some unique outdoor musical experiences.
Gates and bar open from 7pm if you’d like to explore our gorgeous gardens before the music starts around 7.45pm
Remember- we are totally outdoors with nature – Cardies, hats and blankets might keep your body comfy while the warmth of the music warms your soul.
June 1st
Ricky and Vo will be exploring the great things that a guitar and harmonica can do together from Blues to Country to Swing and back again.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY – see below
Fortnightly Thursday evenings through the Summer from May 18th . Please check on the day- weather and other events may interrupt the flow. Tickets available in advance and (limited ) on the door.
Find the event date on the calendar and book your tickets for each separate session.
June 1 – Vo and Ricky Cool
Ricky Cool has been fronting and performing in bands since the mid 1970’s and is associated with some of the finest roots based music to come out of the West Midlands. He is renowned as a highly entertaining front man who always works with great musicians.
In 1976, along with a bunch of musical friends he formed Ricky Cool and The Icebergs. During a highly successful residency at The Barrel Organ (now The Dubliner) in Digbeth, Birmingham, the band attracted a large and devoted following. They were the first band in Birmingham to follow the ‘Pub Rock’ movement that had flowered in London the year before. With their mix of original numbers, rhythm and blues and Western Swing, together with the character Ricky Cool, an American who had been at the centre of all the major happenings in the development of Rock ‘n’ Roll, the band was hugely entertaining and original.
Within a short time of starting the residency they were the focus a half hour TV programme ‘This Is Ricky Cool and the Icebergs.’ This brought them to the attention of legendary rhythm ‘n’ blues producer Mike Vernon of Blue Horizon Records. The band recorded at his Chipping Norton studios. Further Television and radio appearances followed and the band started playing regularly in London, as well as throughout the UK. They also shared the bill with many famous bands including The Kinks, Dire Straits, Darts, The Specials and Steel Pulse. Ricky had established himself as a presenter of great music in the American tradition.
Since then Ricky Cool has fronted and played with a number of bands presenting American and Jamaican music in an authentic and entertaining way. He co-founded The Big Town Playboys, the band that nurtured the talent of Mike Sanchez. Ricky Cool and the Rialto’s became the nucleus of Robert Plant’s first Honeydrippers line up. He also performed with Robert Plant at the Birmingham Heartbeat concert held at the N.E.C. In Ricky Cool and the Western Swing Allstars, Ricky worked alongside some of the finest musicians in London including B.J.Cole and Bobby Valentino.
Ricky is regarded as one of the finest exponents of Blues and Country style harmonica in the UK and as such he still works with Mike Sanchez and also gigs with rising UK blues star Big Boy Bloater. He has played on recordings by Hank Wangford, Matchbox, Mike Sanchez and even toured with Billy Connolly as can be seen on the ‘Billy Connolly Bites Your Bum’ DVD.
June 15 – Vo and Ric Sanders,
June 29 – An Acoustic Who Takeover!
July 13 – Vo and Sam Slater plus 1,
July 27th – Vo and Jobe Baker-Sullivan,
Aug 10 – Vo and Tom Leary,
Aug 24 – Vo and Sam Slater plus 1
