TICKETS are on sale for a special charity concert with local guitar legend, Francis Dunnery.
He will be performing at Whitehaven Civic Hall on October 24 in aid of the Charlie and Kathleen Dunnery’s Children’s fund.
The concert is just one of the 12 dates in the Brand New It Bites ‘New Progressives’ tour around the country.
During the tour, fans will be able to hear the quirky sounds of the Tapboard guitar, a unique instrument which Francis will be playing during the concert.
The original Tapboard resulted from Dunnery’s chance discovery of a new playing technique, which involved tapping the guitar frets/strings with both hands (drawing on his skills as a drummer) turning it into a percussive instrument.
Inspired by the results he contacted Dave Farmiloe, (current guitar technician at Fender UK) who built the quirky, unique sounding instrument.
Over the years, the Tapboard has become infamous for its piece of chrome shower hose that travels the length of the instrument – with an egg timer at one end!
Francis said: “I don’t think I ever fully utilised the true potential of the instrument, so I’m having another go 20 years later. I’m going to break the guitar land speed record and will be performing some of the Tapboard classics as well as some new material.”
The night at the Civic Hall is expected to be a sellout, with fans travelling from all around the world to see the local legend.
Francis fronted the original It Bites, achieving initial success during the 1980s with the chart single Calling All The Heroes.
Following the band’s split, Dunnery re-located to America, recording a series of solo albums including Welcome To The Wild Country, Fearless, Tall Blond Helicopter, Let’s Go Do What Happens, Man and The Gulley Flats Boys.
He has also recorded sessions with Robert Plant, Lauren Hill, Santana, Ian Brown and The Syn.
For more info, or to buy tickets, visit: www.ticketweb.co.uk
By Sarah Robinson
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Published in The Whitehaven News