These Boots …

.. are made for walking!  Great work Lee Hazlewood on writing this brilliant song.  Pete did a cover version what seems like a million years ago, way back in January 2010 in the kitchen studio of Mr Orville Brody in Rennes.  At the same time, over a 2 day recording session he put down acoustic guitar and vocal to 10 songs in fact, and it was planned to become the album Midnight Show.  When we got back to Milan for various reasons we decided to re-write the album and re-record the whole session with some the new and reworked songs.  So this recording got put on the shelf, and Midnight Show as you know it was recorded in an ugly ground-floor apartment in Milan, with me looking out the window to warn Pete when the gate was about to get slammed and ruin the track.

The good news is that we have decided to release this song, along with two others as part of the Devil Inside single, available at present in digital download only.  I added some vocals to the track as well, and joined Nancy Sinatra in spirit to Pete’s Lee.  The single is online and listenable here:

Now I’m a bit concerned about the weather in France this week as I’m seeing a lot of talk about snow flurries floating around the interweb.  I was hoping not to have to pack all my heavy duty winter clothing, but looks like I’ll be taking it, just to be sure.  We’ve got just one and a half days left here, and last minute preparations are underway.  I think this may be the most well prepared tour we’ve ever undertaken, and I hope it’s going to be the best yet.  12 concerts in 12 days, here we come.

PS My Ampeg Mini (code-named Ms Amy) has grown since the last time you saw her.  She’s nearly as tall as me now!

amy ampgeg stack

Last Rehearsal

Hello! Here we are at our last rehearsal in the studio just outside Milan this morning.  We are sure going to miss our morning coffee at the best coffee machine in the city.  It’s more like coffee flavoured water than coffee actually, but for some reason it has become an integral part of our rehearsal routine.

thebandshot

I think we are pretty much ready.  We’ve bought some new stuff to make us even louder than before (much), attempted to pack it tetris-style into the car (it fits, just), and written and re-written the set list.  We’ve had a run through of the Beasts of Bourbon song that we’re going to play with Head On next Saturday at Mondo Bizarro (that’s the 16th), and run through the song that we think Headsucker is going to ask us to play.

This weekend I’m going to stock up on car snacks and neurofen, get all the merch sorted out and packed up, and decide how many different outfits I can possibly fit into my bag.  Writing new songs has taken a back seat for the moment because there just hasn’t been the free time to concentrate on them.  Nonetheless, we have a couple already added to the set.  We’ll be playing the entire album in our show, all 10 songs.  I’m rather pleased about that.

Looking forward to seeing you on the road next week if you are in France!  Come and say hello, or bon soir as the case may be.

Bisous from us

 

SAE Institute Milano

This week we are playing house-band for our good friend Ivan Rossi, who teaches at the School of Audio Engineering here in Milan.  We’ve got a couple of songs to record, and I think we’re going to save them up for our next album.  Here’s some shots from our first day.

sae7sae6sae5sae4sae2

sae1

Ivan, Mr Boss Man.

✿ WIN ✿ Album of the week #12 – PETE ROSS & THE SAPPHIRE – Rollin’ on down the lane

Feeling festive yet?

Rollin' on down the lane Christmas giveaway

Just to help you get in the spirit of the season here’s your chance to win:

  • a signed CD copy of the new album ‘Rollin’ on down the lane’
  • a CD single of Devil Inside, which includes previously unreleased material
  • AND a crochet guitar pin, handmade by yours truly, SS

TO ENTER: All you need to do is send your name and city by email to rollin4xmas@yahoo.com

The lucky winner will be drawn by Santa’s little independent adjudicator on December 25th, at 5pm.

Good luck and Merry Christmas from SusySapphire

For all the rest of the merchandise we have available check out our bandcamp page here: Pete Ross & The Sapphire

the CD’s have arrived …

I can’t wait to see the vinyl, but in the meantime this big box of CD’s turned up in the post today…

PeteRoss&TheSapphireCDs
The album is out on 30 November, but you can pre-order it through bandcamp; click here.

There’s a ‘rollin’ pack with t-shirt, bag, the album of course, and a special edition single too.

We are really looking forward to getting on the road with this one … see you soon!

rollin pack

Music Video out now – Devil Inside

An abandoned psychiatric hospital and a bizarre, derelict casino on top of a hill overlooking Lake Como are the two locations we used in filming our new music video.  There are no traditional band with instruments shots, it’s more like a mini-film, shot by Italian director Viola Barbato.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, and thanks for sharing!

Directed by Viola Barbato
Photography Nicolo Lusbek Luckenbach
Stylist Martina Calabresi (dress supplied by Missoni)
Make up Valentina Tomljanovic

Featuring Susy Sapphire, Keith Rose and Pete Ross

Concert and Music Video Release – Ohibò, Milano

We’ve been working hard this month getting ready to play this next concert at Circolo Arci Ohibò in Milan, this Friday 28th September. We’ve got Alessio on the drums as usual, and we’re joined by Tommaso playing keys and doing some backing harmonies as well.

It’s not just our usual concert however, because we are finally ready to release our new music video. We worked with Viola Barbato, who also directed the last video of Il Genio (Tahiti) and we are so happy with the final product. It’s not your usual music video, so stay tuned, or if you are in Milan, come and see it Friday. Ohibò has a big screen!

ohiboposter

Lazy Susan

I’m not sure where  the Lazy Susan originated from but they came into existence in Australia in the 70’s. It’s basically a round rotating table that is placed in the centre of a dining table so people can help themselves without asking someone on the other side. Pretty simple and effective really. Found most commonly in Chinese restaurants.

Anyway…that’s beside the point. The real reason for this post is to show off the second and latest in our series of promo banners for the forthcoming album. (see Pool Party blog for the first banner). Here is “lazy” Susy Sapphire doing her thing on this fantastic vintage sofa that we discovered collecting dust, in a garage in the south of France. 

Lazy Susan