As you may have noticed, Oysterband are interested in more than just playing good music. They tend to live and breathe what they're doing, they get involved, they get steamed up. So if you're interested in the band's personal take on the world, here, in the aptly-named F-Word, is where you'll find it.

The F-Word is going with the flow and turning itself into an on-line magazine (shock horror, Oysters arrive in 21st century, I hear JJ is also considering installing a 'phone). To be frank, we have to do this: the cost of mailing it free to 20000 people in twenty-odd countries became painful, and the idea of charging for it is a bit naff and too much like work. It'll turn The F-Word into more like a rolling paper-in-progress, but it'll be worth checking in from time to time to see what's new.

 

THE STORY SO FAR

 

Greetings....

It's album time again, after a considerable gap. Click on News below to read more.

 

 

A word in memory of Alan Briers, who died on December 1. Musician, principal begetter and hands-on organiser of Trowbridge Festival, all-round diamond geezer, he'll be much missed by Oysterband; he was very good to us over many years. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

 

 

Lee Partis, after a great many years in the saddle as Oysterband's drummer, is taking a sabbatical break. His MySpace blog explains:

As some of you may know, I am a qualified and accredited psychotherapist; I qualified four years ago and have been working since. My main interest in therapy is in working within the prison system and I have been attempting to persuade the relevant powers of the need and demand for counselling and psychotherapy for offenders on an organised and coherent basis. I have been discussing this with the band for some time: they were supportive and adaptable both during my period of study and whilst I was working within a prison and have continued to support me since. Touring is my main problem as it requires me to be away for extended periods, and that is very difficult when I am working regularly with clients who need predictability and continuity. Now I am in a position to develop my ideas and continue my work in psychotherapy but only if I take a break from being an Oyster: so that is what I am going to do. So, Towersey Festival will be my last gig for a while. I am not sure how long 'a while' will be, but I am pretty sure that I will be bashing the drums as an Oyster again at some not-too-distant time in the future. The guys will continue with a dep (muso-speak for deputy) for the rest of the year. We already have someone in the wings and they will be revealed in September. I am about to get my website up and running, so as soon as it is finished, I will get a link from the Oysterband website and the MySpace page. If you are interested to see in more detail what I am doing, please take a look. If I don't see you at Towersey, keep well, have fun, be good and I'll see you all very soon. And if you can't be good, be lucky! Lee xxx

Are you up to speed on the UK Government's plans for ID cards? Thought not.... It isn't just about identity cards. The scheme includes a huge database to keep tabs on everyone, a massive infrastructure to collect people's details, and a giant network of technology needed to verify people against their cards and both of these against the database.

Hmmm. Not everyone is entranced. Some tens of thousands of British citizens have pledged to refuse to sign up to the ID scheme and have put £10 each towards a legal fund to protect those the government might prosecute for refusal to comply. (One of these is Oysters' Lee Partis.) You can find out much more, donate money in support, or sign up yourself at: www.no2id.net/index.php

 

 

To quote an expert: "Of course the people don't want war....that is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." ------- Hermann Goering (Adolf Hitler's deputy) at the Nuremberg trials, 1946, quoted in "Nuremberg Diary" by G M Gilbert

And if in fact you don't think it's the purpose of your national Armed Forces to make the world safe for Standard Oil, you might want to contact www.stopwar.org.uk or similar.

 

 

Former editor of these pages Ben Stone has moved to Derby and co-opened a tattoo emporium. If you're in the area and fancy a pack of Celtic dogs curling round your clavicle, contact Ben at: Tradition 180°, 97c Monk Street, Derby DE22 3QE, tel. +44 (0)1332 200088. Ben's cover image for the Trawler album has been spotted on a bicep in Uppsala and a shoulder-blade in Quebec City so far, but they didn't quite have the master's touch....

 

Cheers

yr humble Ed and Dogsbody

(a.k.a. C Clowtt)

 

and always remember: "Faith is nice. But doubt gets you an education." (Wilson Mizner)

thanx, Ben!