Ginger’s Guitar Auctioned For Charity
By Ean | May 19, 2011
Rock memorabilia collectors now have the chance to get their hands on something very special!
Ginger’s famous, one-of-a-kind stickered Gibson Les Paul is being auctioned to raise money in aid of the British Red Cross.
Says Ginger, “Released in 1978 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Gibson Les Paul, I bought this guitar around 1987 when I was asked to join New York rockers The Throbs. After a short term in NYC the guitar came back to England with me to form The Wildhearts. I formed the band and recorded every Wildhearts album with this guitar (also Silver Ginger 5 ‘Black Leather Mojo’, Supershit 666 and multiple solo projects). This fine guitar acted as my main guitar on every tour The Wildhearts ever did, including the AC/DC ‘Ballbreaker’ tour, as well as appearances with Sex Pistols, Manic Street Preachers, and many more. And it rarely needed tuning onstage. Basically if you ever saw The Wildhearts I was playing this guitar and if you ever heard The Wildhearts then you were listening this guitar. Every song was written, played and recorded with this instrument. THIS is history.”
Any questions regarding the guitar can be addressed directly to Ginger via his Formspring account.
Click Here for the eBay auction.
Happy Bidding!
Ginger Rock Radio Interview
By Ean | May 5, 2011
Ginger, Jase and Jon were interviewed by Tom Russell of Rock Radio in Scotland yesterday before their show at Glasgow’s Apollo 23.
As well as having a chat about current musical goings-on, the guys performed an acoustic version of Cheers.
The whole thing was videoed for posterity and you can watch it at the Rock Radio site.
Ask Ginger A Question And Win Some Guitar Strings
By Ean | May 4, 2011
Total Guitar magazine is interviewing Ginger later this week and they are looking for questions from fans.
Any questions that are printed will win a set of strings. Just remember it’s a guitar magazine, so vaguely guitar related questions stand more chance of being used.
For full details, including where to send your questions, check out Total Guitar Magazine.
Ginger Acoustic Benefit Show In Tokyo
By Ean | March 26, 2011
Ginger will play a benefit show in Tokyo on Sunday 24th April in aid of those affected by the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
The show takes place at Koenji High in Tokyo, tickets are ¥3,500 in advance (¥4,000 on the door), on sale from the Vinyl Junkie store from 26th March and general sale from 2nd April.
All proceeds will be donated in support of the ongoing aid efforts. Please see the Venue’s show page for full details and ticket links.
Ginger Acoustic Dates April/May 2011
By Ean | March 4, 2011
Following more than a few interest-piquing teasers from the man himself on Twitter, the details are in place and we can now reveal that Ginger will be heading out on an Acoustic tour in April and May.
This time ’round, Ginger will be accompanied by Jase Edwards and ‘Random’ Jon Poole which is likely to result in an evening’s entertainment you won’t forget in a hurry. Special guests each night will be Willie Dowling & John Steel from the wonderful Jackdaw4.
The dates are:
• Thu 28th Apr – Sheffield, Corporation
• Fri 29th Apr – Tunbridge Wells, Forum
• Sat 30th Apr – London, Borderline
• Sun 01st May – York, Fibbers
• Mon 02nd May – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
• Tue 03rd May – Ashton-under-Lyne, The Witchwood
• Wed 04th May – Glasgow, Apollo 23
• Thu 05th May – Reading, Sub89
• Fri 06th May – Leicester, Sub91
• Sat 07th May – Southampton, Talking Heads
• Sun 08th May – Birmingham, HMV Institute
You can find event pages for each gig on Ginger’s Facebook.
Tickets for all shows are £10, except London which is £12.50, and are on sale now from the usual outlets – Please see our gig page for full details and ticket links.
Ginger Birthday Show 2011
By Kris | March 2, 2011
Once again we will be celebrating the birthday of Ginger Wildheart on the 17th December 2011 with a very special Ginger and Friends performance in the capital.
Having sold out two years in a row at The Relentless Garage, this year’s event will be at the O2 Academy Islington for the first time.
Previous guests who have joined Ginger on stage include Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), Chris McCormack (3 Colours Red), Nathan Connolly (Snow Patrol), Olga (Toy Dolls), Ray Mcveigh (The Professionals), Tom Spencer (Yo Yo’s), Rich Jones (Black Halos) Conny Bloom (Electric Boys), Willie Dowling (Honeycrack) Alex Kane (Antiproduct) and many, many more.
Who will be at this years event? You’ll have to be there to find out.
Warning: Last years event sold out 3 months in advance!
Tickets are on sale now from TicketWeb.
2010 Draws To A Close…
By Andy, Ean & Kris | December 24, 2010
…so we take a look back on what has been accomplished over the last 12 months.
With the full release of ¡Chutzpah! Jnr, and re-releases of classic Wildhearts albums (all of which are available on the webstore), through to the visual and sonic candy of the Guitarmageddon shows, and Ginger’s addition to The Michael Monroe Band line-up, we ended with a very successful set of Ginger & Friends shows following his legendary birthday show at the Garage in London.
Says Ginger:
“Thank you for turning up, in your wondrous droves, to watch the Xmas shows.
Make no mistake I will be taking this new found popularity very seriously indeed, and will return the favour in the shape of much music throughout 2011.
Expect a new solo album and plenty more touring action. Oh yes.
I’ve missed performing in front of your beaming faces and intend on making it a regular occurrence next year.
See you on the road, you sweet, sweet people.
Gx”
We’d like to thank all of you for your continued support over the past year, and to wish each and every one of you a fantastic Christmas and an even better 2011!
Take care out there!
The Wildhearts Web Team
Rockstar For A Night!
By Ean | December 16, 2010
Ginger wants you to be one of his friends on this tour!
Ginger is looking for someone at each show (not including London) to get on stage and perform Vanilla Radio with the band. You’ll be playing the ‘high’ one string riff in the song. The ‘one string’ guitar will be a specially customised by Rich Jones and Tom Spencer,
At the end of the tour the band will decide which show had the best performance and that person will be given the Ginger and Friends guitar to keep!
So if you’re coming to the shows, and think you can play the one string high riff to Vanilla Radio with Ginger and Friends, get in touch.
The competition will be open until 5pm on the day before each show (so entries for Sheffield on Saturday need to be in by 5pm on Friday, etc.). At that time 5 people will be chosen at random and invited down to audition at soundcheck, with the best performer being asked to get up on stage for the show that night.
Soundcheck will usually take place at around 5pm, so make sure you can blag an early finish if you’re coming from work.
Please send your name, age, email address, phone number and which show you are attending to comp@gingerandfriends.com with the subject line “[show location] Vanilla Radio Comp”.
Or click these links for ready titled mails:
• Sheffield – Enter Competition – Entries by 5pm Friday 17th
• Manchester – Enter Competition – Entries by 5pm Saturday 18th
• Glasgow – Enter Competition – Entries by 5pm Sunday 19th
• Newcastle – Enter Competition – Entries by 5pm Monday 20th
• Wolverhampton – Enter Competition – Entries by 5pm Tuesday 21st
• Southampton – Enter Competition – Entries by 5pm Wednesday 22nd
Good Luck.
Guests For The UK Dates
By Ean | December 16, 2010
As mentioned yesterday, here are the guests we’ve got coming along as support on the UK tour.
• London – Eureka Machines
• Sheffield – The Glitterati + Silverjet
• Manchester – Laika Dog + Eureka Machines
• Glasgow – Baby Chaos + Sluts of Trust
• Newcastle – Supercharger + Eureka Machines
• Wolverhampton – Wolfsbane + Very Special Performance
• Southampton – OAF + Ginger & Hot Steve Acoustic
So it’s well worth getting down there early and catching them all!
Ginger & Friends Dates Are Upon Us
By Ean | December 14, 2010
Ginger starts his week-long Christmas party in a few days, so here’s a reminder of the dates and ticket links!
Beginning on Friday night with a sold out birthday celebration, he then moves around the country helping to bring some festive cheer to a town (fairly) near you, and dragging some fantastic guests along for the ride – stay tuned for a full list shortly.
17th December 2010
Ginger’s Birthday Bash
Relentless Garage, London
SOLD OUT
18th December 2010
Ginger & Friends
Sheffield, Corporation
19th December 2010
Ginger & Friends
Manchester, MoHo Live
20th December
Ginger & Friends
Glasgow, Garage
21st December 2010
Ginger & Friends
Newcastle, Legends
22nd December 2010
Ginger & Friends
Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall
23rd December 2010
Ginger & Friends
Southampton, Talking Heads
For those of you who are Street-Teaming, or are otherwise generously aiding and abetting the promotion of these shows, we have hi-res A3 sized posters for you to download and print out:
• A version with all the dates on it (see above), and
• A version with blank space at the bottom for you to fill in.
Right-click > Save Image As to grab them, then post away!
And thanks for your help!