Blog

We have a great affinity for Hamilton in Waikato, NZ...... In fact that is a sweeping understatement. Dale first visited there in 2011 as part of the Kylie Moss Band and has been back every year since developing friendships that have endured particularly in the musician community. To say that Hamilton feels like home to us is a testament to both Toowoomba and Hamilton - both fine cities with active and talented music scenes. Our comradeship is evidenced every time we visit and our friends at Hamilton Blues Society greet us warmly each year - that is a wonderful feeling for travelling musicians. It is also the home of our brothers in arms - Out of the Blues who are an immensely talented group of Nu-Blues musicians: Haggis, Maciek, Carlos and Andrew..... And wow are they good!! We can't wait to see you all again: Athol, Lindy, Derek, John, Dean, Marty, Hugo, Gleniss, Gai, Lyn, Jeff, Chris, John M.. See you soon

In short: It was an experience and a half from the moment we left! Steve Arvey and Rebecca Bird were magnificent hosts in Florida where we were guests of the Myakka River Blues Festival. Alligator burgers were consumed which became a theme on the TV interview Dale, Bob and Paul made when they got home (Don was in Asia at the time). The band did several gigs which included a number of highlights including the night Dale did the solo on the bar at Holmes Beach, Wayne Adams' birthday, several nights checking out the local bands, several guitar shops, beer tasting, tropical storms, getting lost (kinda)... Amongst it all was our friend Steve Arvey who has left an impression on all of us. Never a kinder, funnier, or more talented individual has been met by any of us. Paul Rayner came with us as staff photographer in chief and we saw just how adept he was at disco dancing up a storm. An incredible adventure of epic proportions and one we hope to repeat before day's end.... DR

DRB is deep into the planning of an overseas jaunt like never before commencing 23/5/2018 thru to early June.... Keep following us on our Facebook page for further details... The biggest trip we have ever done to the furtherest place ever - we may plug in and have a hit as well

A big shout out in advance of our trip to NZ this year to our amazing friends over there.... A special mention to Maciek, Haggis, Carlos and Andrew from our kiwi compatriots based in Waikato.... You continue to amaze us with your craft and professionalism (every week) and we can't wait to share a bill with you again... Upon arrival we look forward to seeing our friends in Hamilton at Biddys and having a bash... Then to our gigs up north where we plan to unleash Don Duffus on his first DRB tour of NZ - get ready for "I Put a Spell On You" like you have never heard.... We're counting down the days.... Shirley May: You're the best

Well we got to Vietnam and discovered an amazing place to gig: Beautiful, warm, friendly, great food, amazing beer... Many thanks to our amazing hosts and new friends: Sven Sabel at Hoi An, Tony Shepherd at Hue, Dung Cao, Huu Tam, Shorty, our long term friend and photographer (the 5th Beatle - Paul Rayner), our ladies, the list goes on and on.. So did we all catch a rotten wog: yeah kinda, some of us did.... too bad so sad. It was amazing and some great music went down. We played a bar called Citilia in Hue which ranks as one of the best gigs the band has ever done.. Guitar Hawaii was truly amazing and our respect runs deep for Tam who was amazing for us (and sold us lots of beer) Respect, respect, respect to a wonderful place and a wonderful time we had... DR

DRB has the honour of playing in Vietnam in October at both Hoi An and Hue...... Details are available on the Dale Robbins Band Facebook page... We have a number of our followers from both Australia and New Zealand joining us for what will be an unbelievable week of gigs at two of the best resorts in Vietnam. Bring it on -

We are proud to have been invited to play this wonderful festival following our debut in NZ last year.... Paul, Bob and Don will make landfall in NZ on August 10 with a warm-up set at the Hamilton Blues Society and then the weekend is set up north to play at several locations in Paihia and Russell... We are looking forward to NZ immensely as it is a highlight to play for our kiwi friends

... and 3 became 4... Don Duffus joined our band back in January and later on our newest member Paul Keidge, who also plays with Graham Thompson's "Ugly Session Band" has joined DRB.... Both guys bring years of experience and our gigs, and always changing repertoire, has kicked into a new gear.... DR

We've had the "Out of the Shadows" EP in our hands for several weeks now and we are really proud of it as a debut CD. We have withheld it from a "launch" and all of that other stuff bands are supposed to do pending how many copies we sell in NZ (where we just might sell the lot we suspect)... The second pressing is likely to go ahead in the Spring and we hope to be selling our CDs at gigs real soon... $A15...

Sometimes from the smallest of ideas something grows.... We've been starting to gig 'Money' by Pink Floyd a bit and it is suddenly our all time fave.... Such a great lyric and those polyrhythmic counts (which were doing my head in at first) are very engaging.... We jammed it one night at rehearsal (more or less as a joke) but it has adapted really well into the trio format... To quote: "But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise they're giving none away"