Up until 20 years ago, nobody called me 'Dants'

I had my nicknames of course…Dougie Howser MD, Aitken Drum, Aitken Thespian Bland, Willy, Colin Medantos, Mr D, id, Scruffy, Harry Cliché, The Dr Of Shop, Rhythm, Pigpen, Piggy, Piggy Penster Man Not From Leominster…and the equally wordy Ian Danter Stalking Black Panther The Beast Of Bordesely Green.

Maybe it's just as well that 'Dants' has stuck lately.

It’s really gratifying when you see something you’ve invested time and patience with starting to bear fruit and justify why you started doing it in the first place.

Musical Exchanges.

A place that no longer exists, but whose influence, history and heritage is as important to Birmingham’s Rock music culture as any band or artist from that area. And I got to work there for 5 years.

There’s an awful lot of hand-wringing going on currently about the prospect of Birmingham City being relegated from the Skybet Championship, being as they are 2 points above the Bottom 3 as I type this with just 2 games left of a truly astonishing season – astonishing for all the wrong reasons.

But I’m not here to be yet another blogger picking the bones of the disastrous Rowett//TTA/Zola/Redknapp story. Others have written very eloquently on the struggles of the past few months and there’s no need for me to augment them.

I took my first foray into the world of ‘theatre’ rock shows at the weekend – and it was one hell of a good introduction.

Leather And Lace – my latest covers project that came to be nearly 2 years ago – is now getting bookings in UK theatres, after our debut night at a club in Chesterfield late last year to ‘work out the bugs’, as it were (see the recent blog on my site about how L&L got together and got to that stage, both literally and figuratively).

Consider what makes a truly great rock n roll frontman;

• Vocal ability and a unique style of delivery
• The skill to engage with and fire up an audience
• Stagecraft

I thought I'd post this some 24 hours on from the dreadfully sad news that Graham Taylor, former England, Watford and Villa boss, has passed away at the age of 72. A man universally loved and respected by his peers and fans alike - the tributes from all and sundry that I read and listened to were something else. Brilliant memories.

Then, I was asked by a pal whether I could tell the story of how my impressions caused me a moment of sheer panic at the hands of Graham Taylor himself...so here goes...

Well. Every bugger else does 'list' blogs these days, so....

Many's the time I've read a 'drummer of the year' poll in Rhythm mag or Modern Drummer and I've fully understood why Neil Peart, Steve Gadd or Keith Carlock have dominated proceedings over the years. They're brilliant players, attaining levels of control, technique and finesse that leave us all open-mouthed and more than a little inadequate by contrast. But that's fine. We can't all be like 'The Professor'...I'd still love just 5 minutes sat behind that 'Time Machine' kit though :)

It’s been around 2 years in the planning, but I’m one small part of a new covers band that’s now rolling off the production line.