Axemans Place » Music

Drag Racer (BBC Snooker Theme) Full Play Through

Axeman — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:48:38 +0000

I’ve been asked to post a vid of me playing the full Drag Racer track through (to accompany my last post – Guitar Tutorial – How to Play Drag Racer – The BBC Snooker Theme, and help put it in context), so here’s a more-or-less full version, played far-from-perfectly!

Guitar Tutorial – How to Play Drag Racer – The BBC Snooker Theme

Axeman — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:24:57 +0000

As a kid, I always loved the theme to the BBC snooker coverage. It’s a great little guitar instrumental called Drag Racer, and was written in 1976 by the Doug Wood Band. I enjoy playing it, and on more than one occasion have been asked to show people how to play it themselves. You can hear the tune on Youtube, here :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GkgoeKHsXI.

It’s not too difficult for an intermediate guitar player, so I’ve posted a vid on YouTube to try and explain how it’s done. It’s not a complete end-to-end thing, it more explains how to play each part – you need to listen to the original track to get your head round repetition and running order. However, it should give you an idea of how to go about learning it, and hopefully allow you to play it a bit more quickly. I find it’s one of those tunes that loads of people know, and always raises a smile when you play it… Have fun!

UPDATE – Full play-through now posted – here…

The Storys – Town Beyond the Trees

Axeman — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:59:54 +0000

I thought I’d talk about something that I’ve been meaning to mention for a long time now. Back in August 2006, I first happened across a particular band that have grown to be one of my favorites of all time. They’re a not-well-known-enough but brilliant combo from Swansea known as The Storys (and yes, that IS spelt right – it’s intentional…). I was photographing at an awards ceremony near Cardiff, and they happened to be performing three songs that night, as part of the proceedings. I met them backstage beforehand, and got talking to them. I’ve rarely met a group of more genuinely nice guys in my life. Spoke at length to them about all sorts, including their supporting tour with Elton John. When they took to the stage, they blew me away. Their style is not something I would immediately latch onto in general, but the songs they played really struck a chord (so to speak). I’ve never before seen seen a band live without hearing some tracks, and been so blown away by the songs when they played them. I’ve seen them several times live since, and I can safely say they are the tightest and best sounding band I have ever heard live, and I’ve heard a lot…

This particular song is the title track off their second album, “Town Beyond the Trees”, and is a quiet number written from the point of view of a prisoner on death row with very little time left, and is written as a message to his young son. I can put this on and just close my eyes and listen, and it just takes me on a journey. Not many songs have ever done that. If you get the chance to see the Storys live, try and make it – you wont regret it…

Without Further Ado…

To check out more of their stuff, go to http://www.thestorys.co.uk.