Last blog 2006

Hiya!

Back again....Christmas is behind and all the food is eaten etc. I hope you all had a peacful vacation.
The gig at Semifinal went really well and it was great to have Bryn and Tipe singing songs that I've done with them before but never with Miri and Harri. Kasper was great on the keys and will definitely play with us again in the future.
If I remember correctly the set list went like this,
1.Check up from the neck up
2.Falling off a drunken horse
3.Confession time
4.P.P.R
5.The Hunter (Bryn)
6.Cortez the Killer (Bryn)
7.Shapes of things (Bryn)
8.Home
9.We play the game
10.P.O.P
11.Riding Free
12. Wishing well (Tipe)
13. Fly like an eagle (Tipe)
14. Voyager (Tipe)
15. Rock'n roll hoochie coo (Tipe)
16. All I want to be
17. Chechered flag
18. Hush
Encore Highway star (Tipe)

With the jams and everything we played for a total of two hours.I have some video footage that will be posted soon as well.

Now I'll sit down and relax until January 18th, when I go on tour with Jarmo Nikku, Miri Miettinen, Jari Heino and Igi Kosanowitc. We're touring as Granfelt / Nikku Guitar Fest. I hope it will be as much fun as Semifinal was! Mostly covers like Allman Brothers, Dereck Trucks Band, Gov'tMule etc. :-)
The tour dates for Granfelt / Nikku Guitar Fest. are (January)
18th Jazzbar (Jyväskylä)
19th London Pub (Mikkeli)
20th Old Cock (Lappeenranta)
25th Henry's Pub (Tampere)
26th On the Rock's (Helsinki)
27th No:1 (Tammisaari)

BGB will do some gigs in Northern Finland mid February and another German tour at the end of March. Dates will be posted soon.

I'd like to thank Miri, Harri, Pete and new recruit Jukka "Beavis" Oja for a great year. I think we took a serious step forward and 2007 can only be better!
Thanks also to Micke Kanervo, Ralf & Co at KBN, Pasi Kuusjarvi at Dex Viihde, Christian & Irene at Hypertension Music, Anne & Marjut at Bonnier Amigo.
Most of all thanks to YOU! for coming to the shows and supporting us. All your great comments and emails mean a lot to us.

I wish you all a great beginning to the new year!
C U out there!

Ben

Well, tonights the last gig of 2006!

We've rehearsed 2 days with Kasper M?rtenson (keyboards). Bryn jones and Tipe Johnson came in and did their songs once so we sort of know what we're doing :-)
I feel that this will be a very special gig since it was very interesting to have keyboards on so many songs...I like it sooo much!
I don't need to tell anyone how much I like Bryns and Tipes singing...they're both about as good as you can get as a singer, honest!

I'll be back hopefully tomorrow with a gig report!

Cheers,

Ben

Calling all browsers!

Hi to all from behind the code...
... we are testing a guestbook now as an addition for the forum. So please, when and if you have the time, go over to http://www.bengranfelt.com/guestbook and leave a message - and let's see how it holds up!


-Micke

Back home!

After a week of playing with my son, sorting out business stuff and getting used to being home I'm back at the blog.

We had a good tour and the future looks good too! We'll be back in Germany in March so stay tuned for new dates soon.
We met a lot of nice people and played at new venues, thanks to everyone especially the new promotors!

Here's a link to some funky pschycedelic pictures from Bretten http://www.altes-rathaus-bretten.de/20.0.html
More pictures will be up soon and I will also put up reviews etc soon.

A BIG thank you to Miri and Harri who in my opinion played better than ever before! It is very enjoyable to see and hear their solo spots develop to something special everynight. As a band I think we are in top form now so I can't wait to do the next gigs here in Finland soon.

C U all,

Ben

PS. thanks also for all the mails, keep them coming because they mean a lot to us!

Germany part II

Guten Morgen,

So, the last 5 gigs are coming up now and we are still alive!
So far it's been a pleasure and we've meet many new friends.
Hamburg was great as was Föhr and Melle Buer. The TV filming of the Hamburg gig will be aired in january/february and I will inform you about the date later on.

We are also getting the first record reviews now and they are all GREAT!! I will try to put them up here when I get home. Also Guitar magazine here in Germany has a 2 page feature. I did an equipment special with my friend Christian Tolle for Guitar & Bass Magazine which will be out in january I think.

That's it for now, we're heading out to Wezlar and one of our favourite clubs Francis now.

Later....

Ben

FINALLY!

The forum has been updated, pruned, scrubbed, cleaned and wiped!
Unfortunately some of you, dear users, may have been affected by this and have to register again - but by doing this massive cleanout I hope we have now acheived a higher security on our board. We will be monitoring the board extra closely fora few weeks to see if we are safe (well, as safe as you can be on the web) from spammers - so here I ask of your help, if you see some suspect behaviour please email me directly at micke[a]bengranfelt.com and I'll look into it a.s.a.p!

Also - to ensure each and everyone's own security, I would recomend you to update your profile and change atleast your password!


br, Micke

Live from Germany

Hi to all,

Here we are in rainy Hamburg after 4 gigs here in Germany. We have 2 off days now and then we'll play here at the Down Town Blues cafe which is a very nice venue.This show will also be filmed by HH1 and we will get the material for our own use (a DVD with different concerts at some point !)
So far we've had a good time and the attendence has been doubled at the 2 "old" venues that we did last year so things are looking good.
Ralf "Papa" Neumann is taking care of us and whatching that drinking is kept to a minimum...he,he he doesn't know that he is dealing with proffessionals!

Ok, I'm getting ready for my Jiu-jitsu training here in Hamburg... I'll be back with more tour stuff and pics later this week.

C U

Ben

A few reviews

Here are 3 links to reviews of our cd and live show...more to come later.
http://www.overhookmusic.com/bengranfeltband_thesumofmemories.html
http://www.cinemasf.net/view.shtml?kst/b_0017
http://www.cinemasf.net/view.shtml?kst/b_0003

There are also some really nice comments on www.wishboneash.com 's forum page.

Ben

What a weekend!!!!

Hi all,

What a weekend Miri, Harri, Jonna and I had in Chesterfield!
This years Ashcon was apsolutely fantastic, the new location was superb and there was a record attendence of 950 true fans!!
Thanks to everyone there who made us feel so welcomed!
I truly enjoyed the gig we did and it was SOOO great to play with Andy, Bob, Ray and Muddy + chatting to all the fans!
Guy Roberts is the master of true Rock'n'roll happenings!! Thank you once again for inviting us!
I hope we can make it back to the UK next year for some club dates.
I have pictures and they will be up soon....

Now there's only 3 days until the German tour! Can't wait for that to start! I'm sooo ready to play again!

Cheers,

Ben

Hello everybody,

So, the last gigs with Anssi on bass went well and we had a blast playing and partying....untill the morning after the last gig...uh,huh...I'm getting old!
Anssi will most probably do some gigs with us next year again if Harri is busy.
The gig with Wishbone Ash is next up and I'm really looking forward to it. We will have one rehearsal before we fly over to trim the set down to 60 mins.
after that it will be Germany and 13 gigs, I can almost taste the beer and the wurst already :-)

On the gear front I'm putting together a small pedalboard for gigs where I can not have big equipment or heavy gear. It will have a Wah, Captain Coconut and the Boss Leslie pedal+ a tuner. I will use a small Boss delay with a tap tempo pedal as well.
My Big pedalboard will go to Germany and stay there after the tour so that I don't have to ship it to Europe anymore. I will primarly use the BIG rack here whenever possible and the small board on guesting gigs or one offs.
Now that we have to ship our backline to Germany I have to take the small board to the UK along with my 59-Historic Les Paul and Shoreline old Tyler since my main guitars have already left for Germany.
I have also taken new photos of my gear and they will be up shortly too.

Cheers,

Ben

PS. A small correction to my last post. It was indeed the new album that was nr. 3 on the charts and not the Live Experience and the fault has been corrected.

Hello again,

On www.hitit.fi our Live Experience cd was chosen 3rd best album for september.
This is a list for localradiostations. I'm very suprised after looking at the competition...we're the only rock act and only band singing in english!?? Do they even know that we have a new album out ????

KUUKAUDEN LEVY -VOITTAJAT
Syyskuu 20061. AGENTS & JORMA KÄÄRIÄINEN - ?Is Alright (EMI)
2. JIPPU - Salaisuuksia, joita yksinäiset huutaa unissaan (HMC)
3. BEN GRANFELT BAND ? Live Experience (Bonnier/Amigo)
4. ANTTI SARPILA FEAT.JOHANNA IIVANAINEN ? Gospels & Spirituals (omak.)
5. DISCO - Vihaa, rakkautta vai jotain muuta (Sony BMG)
6. KATRI HELENA ? Elämänlangat (Warner)
7. CHARLES PLOGMAN ? Aamuun on hetki aikaa (Sony BMG)
8. PEPE WILLBERG - Luokses palaan taas (Viivu)
9. MAARIT HURMERINTA - Nälkää ja rakkautta (EMI)
10. SUTI & ALATALO ? Harmaa Ferguson (Musiikkijakelu)
11. SARA ? He kutsuivat luokseen (Universal)

Ben

Aloha,

This weekend we're doing the last 3 gigs in Finland before going to the UK and Germany.
As I said earlier bass duties will be handled by our good friend Anssi Vexby. The last one in Tampere on sunday is a special one since it is the after"show" gig for the Karate World Championships that will be going on the whole weekend. As some of you might know I've got a second degree black belt in Karate (now Brazilian JiuJitsu is the thing!) and I know a lot of the guys who are judges or part of the Finnish Karate Union...we're gonna kick some Ass ! Normal people are also welcome...they serve alcohol :-)

A couple of weeks ago I did a guitar clinic in Vaasa Music Shop and it was fun, check out the pics above!

Well, see you guys out there! Kuopio, Mikkeli and Tampere here we come!

Cheers,

Ben

Just a quick note for those who want the cd and do not live in Finland.
Go to www.cdon.com and do a shearch for the cd. They have it in stock.

Also here's a link to some pics from the Kokkola gig taken by rainer Frilund.

http://www.saunalahti.fi/fubb/bgb_28-sep-2006_kokkola/bgb_kokkola_2006.htm

Bass player info: On the 3 remaining gigs in october bass duties will be handled by Anssi Vexby. He did some gigs with us last year and is a cool player! Harri is unable to do these gigs due to prior commitments.

Cheers,

Ben

So far so god...

Hi again,

We're now 5 shows in to the Finnish dates and the going is good :-)
We're going to Kokkola tomorrow and with 3 shows in a row we'll surely have a blast again.
The setlist has changed a few times but we're still doing about 14-16 songs in the set + encores.
All the new songs have been well received and we've chaned the "oldies" around to have some variation for us.
So far highlights have been Svengi, Järvenpää and Old Coock, Lappeenranta.
I've done some interviews for radio and local papers and the general feeling seems to be that the album is the best we've done so far....well, I can't disagree with that, can I?!

We'll do a few more finnish dates in december and will end the year at Semifinal in Helsinki the 21.12 with a special show with 3 special guests. More about these dates soon.

Cheers and se you out there,

Ben

PS.There will be some chanes to these pages soon... we just need some time to sort out things first.

bengranfelt.com forum

Hello all,
a quick note from here behind the server - as you all know the message board has gone totally nuts. Simply said, it had been hacked.

We took it down as of now - to update and improve security. If all goes well we will hopefully be back very soon and all your REAL posts and accounts will still be there - if all doesn't go well, well then all your posts will be gone ;)

...and in that case a totally new board.


but now, I'm off to the record release party,
Micke

Here we go!

The album is released today in Finland and we have our tours first gig at On the Rocks today as well. We're going to play 8 songs of the album + the obvious old favourites.
We'll have the album for sale + new T-shirts.

What also is great is that we now have a deal in Europe and the UK with Hypertension Records.
They will release the album to go with the German tour in November and will help with tour promotion etc. They seem to be really ready to comit to work and promote the album :-)

The Tampere gig the 12.12 has been moved to the 13.12. Sorry for this.
Also the gig at the Music fair in Lahti the 23.9 is at 15.00 NOT 14.00! However if you're ther at 14.00 you'll see Harri play with Anssi Nykänens drums show on the same stage :-)

Check out the GIG page for a show close to you!

Ben

PS: I know the forum is F****d up and it will be taken down and replaced with either a simple guest book or a new forum...have patience!

Petri Auer (aka "Shrek") and I in backstage madness...


Live at On the Rocks...

Well, the Guitar Slingers gigs are done and we had a blast! It's amazing how well we still play together even thou we've had such a long break...pure rock enjoyment!
Thanks to all the fans who sometimes camo very far away (Rio from Japan, Colin and Ann from the UK and the couple from germany whos name I've forgoten...sorry!). It means a lot to us that so many long time Finnish fans also came...you rule!
Cheers,

Ben

ADDITIONAL GUITAR SLINGERS GIG 2.9 AT SWENGI IN JÄRVENPÄÄ!!
We got an offer to do this gig last week and it will be a nice ending to the gigs we're doing this year. Showtime is about 23.30.

Check out the updated Gig page as well for BGBs Finnish, UK and German dates.

Cheers,

Ben

Ok, so after a call from my wifes mother I do realize that the Guitar Slinger gigs indeed are in august and not in September :-)

I sincerily apologise,,

Ben

Hi again,

Sorry for my long absence but hey! A holiday is a holiday!
We're getting ready to work again and actually we already were in Gronau, Germany for a nice festival the 5.8. We had alot of fun and met some new fans and old fans.

The new album titled "The sum of Memories" will be released in Finland the 13.9 a day before we start our tour here. The Finnish tour dates will be up next week as well as the German dates in November.
We will also play at this years ASHCON in Chesterfield, UK the 4th of November.
I'm really looking forward to this 'cos I haven't seen Andy,Bob or Ray for about 2 years! also meeting good old Guy Roberts + all the fans of Wishbone will be a thrill.
We will have t-shirts and cds for sale at the gigs so make sure you come along and get yours.

I'm also ready for the upcoming Guitar Slingers gigs which are,19.9 Kemi, Rantahotelli, 24.9 On the Rocks, Helsinki, 25.9 No 1, Tammisaari, 26.9 Makasiini, Hanko.We had fun rehearsing for these gigs and it will be a blast to play with Jore,Ako,Harri and Aukki again....more next year I think!

Well, that's all for now,

Cheers,

Ben

WebPlayer and the New single!

Hello guys n' gals,
you probably already noticed the new music player down on the bottom of the screen. The player will loop samples from all the songs on The Past Experience and Live Experience!

And here, for the first time anywhere, short samples from the new promo single:
Riding Free
Checkup from the neck up (EDIT)
So much easier (EDIT)

If you're lucky you could hear longer versions of the new songs on the music player ;)


greets, Micke

Hello again,

Today I've been having a rare day off in the sun...well actually 3 days with the family :-)
On monday I sang the second last song for the new cd so only one remains to be sung and 2 to mix then we're ready.
In the near future you'll hopefully hear 1 or 2 songs on the radio from the new promo single which has the following songs on it.
1.Riding Free
2.Checkup from the neck up EDIT
3.So much easier EDIT

Last week Ben Granfelt & Friends did the first show in Tampere and we had a blast.
Tomorrow the 16.6 at On the Rocks we'll be joined by Bryn Jones on vocals for some covers by Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore, Neil Young + original stuff. we might have someone else coming up to sing as well but that'll be a suprise...if it works out.

That's about it for now again...oh, and the 16th happens to be my birthday as well...only 34! or was it the other way round???

Cheers,

Ben

My first "Blog"

Hello everyone,

Here we are, I'm doing my own blog :-)
This means that news and info will reach you quicker.

We've mainly been busy in the studio with Manne either recording vocals and mixing.
Kimmo Lehtiö has been recording the basic tracks and overdubs when needed.

So far we have 7 mixed tracks, 1 ready for mixing and 3 songs to do vocals and some small guitars overdubs.

Here are the titels and some short descriptions.
1.Intro Jam (this is our intro song in the live set, an instrumental groover).
2.Check up from the neck up ( I love the title, also a very groove riff and a live favourite for us.I'm very pleased with the vocals on this one).
3.Falling off a Drunken Horse ( Lot's of harmony vocals on this one.I actually proud to say that we record the basic tracs live and the solos are jams that last untill...well, untill we're done...meaning that the solos are quite long he,he. This one we've also played live already so it was easy to record).
4. So much easier ( a very long slow song with an almost prog feel to it in the middle. We decided that we would not make songs shorter if we liked the mood and feel we created so this one is close to 6 mins. I did all the vocals on this one and Manne put me thru hell :-) I think this is one of the best songs I've written...actually it was written durinh my time in Wishbone and meant for the next cd but since we never went to the studio I decided to save it, and I'm glad I did.
5. Too many Gods ( I'm not going to deny that I was influenced by Robin Trower when I was younger and even bought a R.Trower Strat after the tour last year when we supperted him. I don't think this song is a Trower rip off in anyway but the feel in the riff and solos is there. One of the best mixes, very good live feel and groove...Thanks Manne).
6. Bridge of Dreams (Well, this is a tribute in a way to R.Trower, a slow instrumental written after I got home from the tour with him).
7.Into you ( Everyone who has heard this one things it sounds like Pink Floyd !?? To me it's a slow bluesy number with a melodic chorus a c-part + a very long outro solo ...again I'm very happy with Mannes mix).

I'm meeting with my new record label All Star Music (distribution and promo by Bonnier Amigo) this week to decide which 2-3 songs to put on a promo cd for the radios and press. We might use some edited versions because of the lenght of the songs but I'm not woried about it. The real versions will be on the album of course.
It's very nice to have a label that want's to work on promotion and a person to call re. promo and other stuff.

My sons christening will be next weekend His name will be Jim Edward. He has brought so much joy to me and Jonna, Life is indeed amazing!

Well, more blog later,

Rock!

Ben

Welcome

Welcome to the new and improved bengranfelt.com

To ensure all the latest information directly from Mr. Sprucefield we have now implemented live blogging news from Ben and also the possibility for him to update gigs and images himself. So be on the lookout for news and images directly from the road, live and right when it happens!

So here we begin... but be on the lookout for more minor and bigger developements during the following weeks!


-Micke