Natural Ball
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Natural Ball

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"Rave interview"

In his teens, Gibbons said farewell to the family
farm and hopped a freight train heading north. And
on those long cold nights in that rickety carriage he’d
take out his only possession – an old steel harmonica
– and he’d play down n’ dirty Delta blues.
Okay, okay, I might’ve made all that up. But listening
to Natural Ball you could probably be mistaken
for thinking it. No, I made that up too. Mark Gibbons
doesn’t sound like he’s from a cane farm in Louisiana,
but he certainly sounds like he wants to be, which is
what really counts.
“We try to approach things as music fans fi rst, musicians
second,” Mark says. And music fans they are,
proudly counting infl uences such as Muddy Waters,
Robert Johnson, Otis Spann, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker,
and the list goes on, including, you know, all the
bluesmen that should be in any blues fan’s collection.
Of course, unlike that list, Natural Ball aren’t a bunch
of black guys living in the segregated South or playing
the smoky clubs of Chicago. They’re a bunch of
white guys from Brisbane playing Delta blues. Is there
some hidden sense of imitation?
“I think every non-black blues musician struggles
with that at some point. Eventually though, you realise
that the things that made those old black bluesmen
so great was just wanting to be nothing but
themselves. What you’re really yearning to achieve is
something they achieved, not because of the colour
of their skin, but a devotion to their craft.”
Being a very structured style of music, blues has
always been about how something is played rather
than what the notes are. For Natural Ball it’s all about
this concentration on the specifi cs.
“Sometimes you can say more with one note than
with twenty. You can make a more powerful statement
while playing at half the volume and half the
speed if you mean what you play. We try to place a
lot of emphasis on tone and timing, phrasing, tension
and release, all the things that our heroes used
instinctively.”
Most of us, with our iPods and guaranteed superannuation,
probably can’t fathom the hardship
in which blues saw its birth, but then we’ve all had
crap days, and from those come songs with titles such
When My Baby Left Me, Everyday I Have the Blues and
You Don’t Love Me.
“When anything happens in your life you can draw
inspiration,” Mark says. “The blues was born out of
poverty, but it’s not about staying there. The pioneers
of the blues suff ered hardships we can’t even imagine,
and while the subject matter of blues is often about
those hardships, the aim of playing them was not to
bring people down, but to get it off your chest and
have a good time doing it.”
And as for the origin of “Natural Ball”: “To have a
natural ball means to have a good time. We took it
from the T-bone Walker song, T-bone Shuffl e: let your
hair down baby, and we can have a natural ball.” - Rave Magazine


"Rave interview"

In his teens, Gibbons said farewell to the family
farm and hopped a freight train heading north. And
on those long cold nights in that rickety carriage he’d
take out his only possession – an old steel harmonica
– and he’d play down n’ dirty Delta blues.
Okay, okay, I might’ve made all that up. But listening
to Natural Ball you could probably be mistaken
for thinking it. No, I made that up too. Mark Gibbons
doesn’t sound like he’s from a cane farm in Louisiana,
but he certainly sounds like he wants to be, which is
what really counts.
“We try to approach things as music fans fi rst, musicians
second,” Mark says. And music fans they are,
proudly counting infl uences such as Muddy Waters,
Robert Johnson, Otis Spann, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker,
and the list goes on, including, you know, all the
bluesmen that should be in any blues fan’s collection.
Of course, unlike that list, Natural Ball aren’t a bunch
of black guys living in the segregated South or playing
the smoky clubs of Chicago. They’re a bunch of
white guys from Brisbane playing Delta blues. Is there
some hidden sense of imitation?
“I think every non-black blues musician struggles
with that at some point. Eventually though, you realise
that the things that made those old black bluesmen
so great was just wanting to be nothing but
themselves. What you’re really yearning to achieve is
something they achieved, not because of the colour
of their skin, but a devotion to their craft.”
Being a very structured style of music, blues has
always been about how something is played rather
than what the notes are. For Natural Ball it’s all about
this concentration on the specifi cs.
“Sometimes you can say more with one note than
with twenty. You can make a more powerful statement
while playing at half the volume and half the
speed if you mean what you play. We try to place a
lot of emphasis on tone and timing, phrasing, tension
and release, all the things that our heroes used
instinctively.”
Most of us, with our iPods and guaranteed superannuation,
probably can’t fathom the hardship
in which blues saw its birth, but then we’ve all had
crap days, and from those come songs with titles such
When My Baby Left Me, Everyday I Have the Blues and
You Don’t Love Me.
“When anything happens in your life you can draw
inspiration,” Mark says. “The blues was born out of
poverty, but it’s not about staying there. The pioneers
of the blues suff ered hardships we can’t even imagine,
and while the subject matter of blues is often about
those hardships, the aim of playing them was not to
bring people down, but to get it off your chest and
have a good time doing it.”
And as for the origin of “Natural Ball”: “To have a
natural ball means to have a good time. We took it
from the T-bone Walker song, T-bone Shuffl e: let your
hair down baby, and we can have a natural ball.” - Rave Magazine


"Palmwoods review"

The last time they played Palmwoods Got The Blues, Natural Ball lit a bonfire under music fans that’s still smoldering. The winner of the Blues Association of SE Qld ‘s band of the year on 2007, these young guys are steeped in traditional Chicago blues and the lineup of twin guitars, bass, drums, harp and vocals is perfect for the greasy electric blues that the Ball boys love to play. - Shaun Bindley, Host 4AAA's Blues with a feeling


"Palmwoods review"

The last time they played Palmwoods Got The Blues, Natural Ball lit a bonfire under music fans that’s still smoldering. The winner of the Blues Association of SE Qld ‘s band of the year on 2007, these young guys are steeped in traditional Chicago blues and the lineup of twin guitars, bass, drums, harp and vocals is perfect for the greasy electric blues that the Ball boys love to play. - Shaun Bindley, Host 4AAA's Blues with a feeling


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

Natural Ball is a fresh energetic young Brisbane blues band, with a passion and flair for that electric Chicago blues sound.

Forming in early 2004, these cats live to play. With a genuine love and admiration for bluesmen including Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and T-Bone Walker, these guys are grounded in the traditions of the golden era of the blues.

During the past 5 years Natural Ball has been playing venues all over QLD and NSW from small local gigs to large national and international festivals, including The Australian National Blues Fest, Blues on Broadbeach, The Brisbane Blues Festival, Travelling Blues And Roots Fest and the Sunshine Coast Blues Festival, these festivals have given Natural ball access to a wide and diverse spectrum of eagerly awaiting fans.

It was 2007 that proved to be the most successful year, culminating in Natural Ball being awarded the prestigious Blues Performer Of the Year award by the Blues Association Of South East Queensland.
This Award was judged by a panel of respected blues musicians including Phil Emanuel, Kevin Borich and local blues radio announcers. It included a cash prize and Natural Ball being flown to Goulburn in NSW to take part Australian Blues Music Festival alongside the rest of the best blues musicians in the country.
Natural ball are..............

' Its blues music as it's meant to be… Honest, emotive harp infused with soulful and at times downright dangerous guitar slinging. With a groovin' rhythm section keeping the punters on their dancing feet all night long; this is a genuine blues band that simply can't be missed.'