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