Gladstone are playing at a charity night which is to raise funds for The Multiple Sclerosis Society and The Special Care Baby Unit at South Tyneside Hospital. The line up is as follows:
1) Young Irish dancers (they are reported as being the best in the region!)
2) South Tyneside Dance Work Shop (disco dancers)
3) Gladstone
4) Buffet
5) Disco
6) Raffle
The night begins at 7pm sharp and finishes at 11pm(ish).
Tickets are £5.00 each and are available by contacting Chris Howey on 07887556365.

Eventually I’ve got round to writing an article on our latest album “O.P.S”. It’s unofficial. It’s limited edition. It’s typical Gladstone. When people approached us to tell us what they enjoyed most about the gig they would sometimes ask if we had recorded our version of “Paint it black” or “Eleanor Rigby” or “Long train running” and we ashamedly replied with a negative response. So, we eventually did something about it!

Over the years I’ve listened to music quite intensely, and having studied music to a high level I find it difficult to be able to allow music to pass me by or become a noise in the background. I have come to the conclusion that recordings don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be perfectly in time or perfectly in tune to capture a listeners’ attention. Some of the tracks I’ve enjoyed the most are flawed in some way. “Brown sugar” by the Rolling Stones speeds up quite considerably from the beginning of the track to the end but it maintains the listeners’ interest throughout. Some of Led Zeppelin’s tracks have vocals which are wildly out of tune but they have achieved classic status such as “Battle of Evermore”. Some musicians have a tendency to be perfectionists and create music which is perfect, but lacks the character I’m trying to describe. I realised that with the afore mentioned bands, they created their best recordings before they were using click tracks and big, fancy multi-track recording studios with endless editing capabilities, where any flaws in the performances could be retrospectively corrected. They had been out on tour and the studio work they were doing was a necessary part of the job as an up-and-coming band. They were well-oiled and could play the tracks with their eyes closed, hands tied behind their backs, standing on their heads.

We’ve been playing these tracks for two years with exactly the same line up two or three times a week. That’s the reason why we recorded the album “O.P.S.” in the way which those early bands recorded their best stuff. We recorded it digitally but without click tracks, in a room which wasn’t designed for recording. How often do you hear live music being performed in a studio? If you’ve had the unfortunate experience to have heard musicians working in a studio you’ll realise that studios don’t have any character. They’re clinical and sterile places where producers and engineers can make recordings which are technically perfect. Occasionally these people have created music which sounds exciting, real and vibrant, but it isn’t common. We have, in my opinion, created an album which does sound exciting, real and vibrant and maintains the listeners’ interest right up until the end of each track. If you already have a copy of the album, I hope that this article explains what we set out to achieve and enhances your enjoyment of the CD. If you don’t have one yet, then get one quickly, because we really do only have a limited number to sell.

The next album will be a return to what we set out to do in the first place - make our own music. Some of the songs to be included on the next album are tried and tested set pieces in our live set, so it’ll be interesting to see if we can capture the feel of those live performances in the future recordings. Some of the tracks on the next album rely too heavily on multi-tracking to be performed live but we still want to make them sound as if there are a bunch of musicians playing together in a room having a great time.

If you would like to listen to a couple of the tracks from “O.P.S.” you can find them on the ‘music’ page.

Arty. 00:00 28 Jan. 08.

Gladstone are honoured to be part of the launch day for a brand new radio station, Quay Radio, on Saturday 7 July 2007. We will be playing a few live tracks on-air at 11am. For more information please visit www.quayradio.net

The frequency to tune into for Quay Radio is 107.5fm.

Other confirmed guests to be involved with the launch are Aaron Bayley, Miss King and The Kougars, Riccocia, celebrity psychic Gavin Cromwell, and stars from TV’s Holyoaks and Casualty among others.

Thank you to everybody who supported the charity event at The Chillingham for the Ndhiwa Community Empowerment & Development Project and the Kenya Acorn Project. The total raised on the evening was £762.46. Good luck to the MK2007 team with their continuing quest.

Gladstone will play a charity gig on Saturday 24 February (8pm start) at The Chillingham, Heaton.

This has been arranged by a group of people from the North East who aim to raise over £10,000 in the next 8 months to support a project that will empower young people in Kenya from poverty to self sufficiency. They plan to climb Mt. Kenya in July 2007 and visit the project in Ndhiwa and throughout the year fundraise and seek support and sponsorship to achieve their aim.

The MK 2007 team consists of Geoff Pickard, Brenda Sharp, Maire Kennan, Craig Littlefair, Gordon Wilson, Val Wilson and Victoria Wilson.

Their partners are the Ndhiwa Community Empowerment & Development Project and the Kenya Acorn Project

For tickets contact Geoff on 0191 2402607. Tickets cost £5.

Gladstone wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We hope you can come and see us soon.

Best wishes. Gladstone x

Happy Christmas from Eloise too!

Thanks to everyone who bought CDs.

A special thanks also goes to David Robson of The Harbour Lights in South Shields.

Arty and Ruth from Gladstone were so moved by the television images of the famine in Niger they decided to do what they could.

"I needed to do something bigger than just a personal donation" says Arty the 'Cellist and Guitarist from Gladstone. The band decided that the proceeds from CD sales through August would go directly to a charity portal channelling money toward the crisis.

"This is this first time we've done anything like this and we hope that the money goes to the people who need it the most" states Ruth who has recently given birth to Eloise, her first child.

Reciepts of the donation will be available for viewing on Gladstonemusic.com in early September.

For more information on the relief efforts go to the Oxfam website.

Many thanks, Art.

Here is the latest and most gorgeous member of Gladstone. Eloise was born on 24th November 2004 at 10.58am and yes, we are going to put the song in the new set! See you in April.

Gladstone are taking a six month break from their gruelling schedule in order to produce another band member! (hopefully will be a lead guitarist like Steve Vai) We will be back on the road in April 2005 with some new covers and original songs.