Guitarist Joe Bull, aged 17 from Yate, had the thrill of a lifetime when a Rock n Roll legend, Tommy Allsup, turned up at Music College, Access to Music (ATM) recently. Joe, who claims his parents named him after the Jimi Hendrix song ‘Hey Joe’ has long been an admirer of the guitarist who played with Buddy Holly and influenced a musical generation from Hank Marvin, Eric Clapton to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.

Tommy, now 76, still plays amazingly well and treated the students to classic solo’s from his past such as ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘It’s So Easy’. Tommy was at the birth of Rock n Roll, mixing Country and Blues music into his own style after listening to artists such as Bob Wills and T Bone Walker.
Tommy toured regularly with Buddy Holly and played on the fateful night that Buddy died in a plane crash alongside Richie Valens and The Big Bopper. Indeed, but for a flip of a coin with Richie Valens, Tommy would have been on board that plane himself. You could have heard a pin drop as Tommy recalled that poignant event which was immortalised in the line ‘The day the music died’ which opens Don McLean’s American Pie.

Tommy also talked about his time as one of America’s top session guitarist playing on over 6,500 songs with the likes of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Too many hits to mention but here’s a few; The Gambler, Behind Closed Doors and Islands in the Stream.

Head of ATM Centres John Douglass said, ‘Tommy and his musical partner Kevin Montgomery gave generously of their time and it was a magical day we will never forget’.

As Joe had lent Tommy his guitar to play, Tommy produced a pen ‘that used to belong to Pete Tork of The Monkees’ and signed Joe’s guitar as a reminder of a great gentleman of guitar.

Tommy Allsup www.myspace.com/tommyallsupontour
Kevin Montgomery www.myspace.com/kevinmontgomery2

Footnote: They had a gig that night and were short of a bass player so ATM tutor Dave Lewis got the gig!

Bristol's The Hats recently appeared in an episode of teen drama Skins!

The 7-piece band (who have been described as 'The most exiting band in Bristol at the moment, think Mark Ronson just with more balls') features ex-students Rob Crooks on guitar and Steve Hatton on bass.

The Hats Myspace

We are developing a Video wall which will feature interviews with students, tutors and much more. These videos are designed to give you some idea of the feel of the studios - from bands in rehearsals to producers working the mixing desk.

You can see our first couple of videos here.

Bristol tutor Dan Jeffries has created a channel on YouTube specifically for demonstrating techniques in using Reason and Logic.

The videos cover different aspects of the software packages, from entry level information to more advanced tips and tricks. They prove useful not just to ATM students but also the wider internet community interested in expanding their knowledge.

You can watch the videos and subscribe to his channel by clicking here and you can see an examples tutorial on this site here.

Access to Music Bristol announce the launch of their exciting new Jazz Musician course from September 2008.

For further information please contact John Douglass

You can also read more about the Jazz Musician course on the main ATM Website