Graham's Musical History
Hi, my name is Graham Metcalf and I have been involved in music all my life.
I was born in York on the 29th May 1946. My Mum was a wonderful pianist and she sent my sister and myself to piano lessons from the age of about 8 years.
I persevered with the piano with little enthusiasm, although I passed a couple of exams. Everything changed when my school buddy, John "Zeke" Lund (later of the band Smoke, and eventually becoming a well known record producer) got hold of a guitar. He had some friends who had a SKIFFLE group and was keen to start his own band.
Following rapidly on from the skiffle craze came BUDDY HOLLY and the CRICKETS and then the TV show "OH BOY!" which featured a young band called CLIFF RICHARD and the Drifters, (later The SHADOWS). This new sound of electric guitars just blew us away, and set the format for our own band which we formed along with school mates Graham Robson and Derek Waugh.
We used to rehearse at a local church youth club in York, and gave occasional concerts to the general approval of the other youth club kids, and the shock and horror of the older members of the parish.
By the time I was 17 the pop music world was progressing into a new phase. A band called THE BEATLES had hit the world with their new style combining rock 'n' roll, rhythm and blues and tuneful ballads. The explosion in the formation of new bands meant that I had to change from being a mere instrumentalist and start to sing.
Singing was not something I did. I never took part in any school musicals or plays, and I could not see myself fronting a band. However, after trying one or two self-styled "vocalists", and being let down by them once or twice, I was more or less forced to give it a try. After all, we had bookings to fulfil.
So I found myself singing the latest Beatles songs in some of the roughest pubs in the centre of York on a Friday and Saturday night. There were fights all the time, but in general, the mood was happy, and our efforts always appreciated. We used to earn about £5 per night, which gave us £1 each and £1 for the taxi fare. (None of us had a car, how we got all our gear in a taxi I'll never know).
Our band was called THE PATHFINDERS.
This is a picture taken at our reunion in April 2004. We met up at a jam session night at the Ship Inn, Acaster Malbis and played together for the first time in 40 years! With no rehearsal either!
(L to R): David Jackson, Graham Metcalf, Graham Robson.
After the sixties beat boom had faded I took a short break from music while I concentrated on building a career in engineering science and completing some lost education! However, I soon missed the music and began to hang out in folk clubs and pubs, which were now booking acoustic artists rather than electric bands.
I started to follow the music of SIMON and GARFUNKEL, RALPH MCTELL and GORDON LIGHTFOOT. During my time at college in Hull, I met up with Mat Hill, a technician from York University. He was involved in running a country music club at the old Half Moon in York. I was invited along to play, and soon found myself in a country band.
Fascinated by some of the instruments used in country music, I started to learn banjo and steel guitar.
Over the years I have played in several bands: The Morvans, The Tycoons, The Escorts, Ventura Highway, Goodacre Country, Broken Spoke, Nightlife, Ovation, Twister, Wildwood Duo, and most recently UNION CENTRAL, as well as working solo under my own name.
My Instruments:
Martin DM acoustic, bought brand new in May 2004. A very plain instrument, but sounds wonderful!
Fender American Standard Stratocaster, 1989. A good all round performer. I have modified the wiring to give a series/parallel mix facility.
Sho-Bud Pro-1 pedal steel guitar. Single neck 10 strings, 3 pedals, 5 knee levers.
Gold Star GF-100FE 5 string banjo
Gold Tone Paul Beard Signature
"Dobro" type square neck resonator guitar
Wechter Scheerhorn dobro
UNION CENTRAL (See "Union Central" on nessmp3)
The band UNION CENTRAL performed their first public gig at The Black Swan, York, on Saturday 4th June 2005.
We had a "plug" from the one and only "Whispering Bob" Harris on the previous Saturday on BBC Radio 2.
The band members are:
Geoff Earp - bass, Maggie Allred - fiddle and guitar, Phil Quin - guitar and vocals, Josie Mills - vocals and mandolin, Graham Metcalf - dobro/guitar/banjo/vocals.
We got together after Phil placed an ad in the local music shops. We all love the music of Alison Krauss and just wanted the chance to play with other like-minded people. We are hoping that our efforts will be appreciated. The first reports we have received are encouraging.
Update August 2007
During 2007 we have performed at the York Live Music Festival, The Beverley Folk Festival, as well as our regular gigs at The Black Swan and The City Screen Basement Bar in York.
Details of gigs are also posted on http://www.fairplaymusic.co.uk
The "Ventura" guitar
Back in 1970 I had been out of playing music for a while, but had held on to my 1960 Fender Duo Sonic. Meanwhile, I had been influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Gordon Lightfoot, who all played acoustic guitars, so I went out and looked for a reasonably priced instrument. I found a guitar in Leeds, I think at Kitchen's music shop. It was new and had the name "The Hawk" as a gold transfer on the head.
I became interested in country music and I played this guitar alongside my Fender for several years in the band "Ventura Highway", a name which I had suggested after listening to a song of that name by the band America. When my "Hawk" guitar started to look a bit careworn, I decided to give it a facelift. I removed the scratchplate and gave the soundboard a scraping to remove some deep scratches, and to thin the top hopefully to get a better tone. At the same time I scraped off the "Hawk" transfer, simply because I didn't like the name, and would rather have had a guitar with no name.
As I scraped off the transfer, I removed part of the top layer of black paint on the front of the head. Imagine my amazement when I discovered under the paint another name, inlaid in mother-of-pearl.
The name was "Ventura"
The GM Capo
Over the past year or so I have been developing a radically new type of capo for the square neck resonator or lap steel guitar. I realized that there were many problems and limitations with the capos which were available at the time and decided to try and make my own. After many trials with different ideas I came up with this design.
The heavy brass top component lies flat across the strings. The pressure bar which passes under the strings is made from a length of carbon fibre rod, covered with a silicone rubber sleeve. This rod is just flexible enough to give an even pressure across all the strings provided that the capo is adjusted for the gauge of strings being used.
I have sold many of these capos on Ebay, with excellent feedback comments. However, I became aware of a possible improvement which would incorporate a feature which a few other capos have, and which seems to be favoured by certain top dobro players, notably the great Jerry Douglas. This feature involves putting the pressure bar on top of the strings, so the metal component lies underneath. This gives the left hand fingers a little more clearance, allowing playing close up to the capo without obstruction. I redesigned the capo with the pressure bar on top, and I believe it is a great improvement.
See My Store to purchase the GM Capo.