:8.30 am Geneva time

Today on the French Swiss border one of the worlds most expensie experiments took place, a team of scientists carried out an experiment to discover some of the secrets of life and the universe using what some are claiming to be is a "very dangerouse" technology indeed.

Now I have a few more songs left in me so I was troubled at the thought of these guys playing with Black holes...  is it safe? should they carry out the main experiment in October [ This will be a more powerful experiment ]..

Is the Hadron Collider safe or they putting people at risk?

Today I was watching one of my favorite TV shows with my daughter who is seven and a half.. she loves the show which is the US sit com "Home improvement" .To UK folk like myself the Show seems fairly new but is in fact a few years old now, anyway I decided to check out the shows stars via the net and was saddened to see that Earl Hindman the actor who played "Wilson" the wise neighbor who never showed the lower half of his face, had died back in 2003....  when we watch many TV shows it is easy to forget they were made a few years back, when we discover that some of the stars are no longer with us it is at that moment you realise how fond of them you really were..

Ed's chats with Tim Allen were legendary.....

Here's to the man on the other side of the fence..  "Earl Hindman 1942 - 2003"

Other shows I rate highly  and think are cool...

Two and a Half Men

Voyager

Enteprise

The X Files

Frasier

Been laying low for a while, my Aunt and then Mum passed away within months of each other so this has been a real bad summer.... can't believe what has happened and am gutted...

Anyway on the plus side we have at last found a lead guitarist after a 2 year search.. his name is Craig and I will post some more details as and when we make some progress... I have uploaded a "rough" demo of a song I wrote called "Roswell" ... Craig the new guitarist has not yet played on it but it should point to the direction in which the Blue Cougars are headed... Craig's sound will certainly provide the eerie atmospheric twang we have been looking for.

All the best... Rene

I have to be honest and say that the biggest pain for the band has been lack of songs on our myspace, this has been for a variety of reasons but I will save that story for another day. The good news [ depending on your point of view ] is that I am presently mixing 3 songs for the myspace, with any luck the Blue Cougars will be able to torture your ears some time before Christmas.  The songs will consist of 2 mid tempo numbers and one killer ballad [ kill your eardrums that is ]...

There's a bit of a new mexico twang going on in all three tracks but as usual we are staying true to the awesomness that is "The Fifties".

Anyway as soon as they are ready I will email those of you on the Cougars email list  [ you must be crazy ] and send a message out via myspace...

Anyway enjoy the weekend and be safe..

Rene - The Blue Cougars

The other day on the way back from seeing a Hot Rockabilly band called "Western Electric" I bumped into a couple of folk called Julie and Trevor. Ayway I walked into the local bar to get a late night beer and this chap [ Trevor ] said to me what kind of music do you like? I replied something like Eddie Cochran, Elvis, rockabilly etc. Well turns out his partner Julie runs Elvis.co.uk . Best of all the couple live 3-4 minutes from my house...

Now even better....

After chatting for a while Julie tells me she co wrote the Eddie Cochran Bio "Don't forget me" . Now this blew me away cos I am a huge Eddie fan [ I even own a Gretsch 6120 similar to Eddies ].. Turns out Julie stayed with Sharon Sheeley Eddies Girlfriend when he sadly passed away.. I bet nodody else in my town would have a clue who Sharon was yet here I was chatting to someone who had stayed with her.. [ Sharon CO wrote C'Mon everybody and also wrote Poor little fool for Rick Nelson ]..

Well we all ended up chatting and having a meal at a local restaurant and I have to say .. what a great couple..and I can't wait till the next time I run into them...

Anyway got a dash for now..

Byeeeeeee  

Rene

Well folks things for The Blue Cougars have been a bit quiet this summer, I had a bit of a health scare which thank god turned out to be a false alarm. Also I have moved house and set up a new studio but now we are getting our heads down and starting to mix some tracks..

Should have some stuff up in the next 2 weeks..

Regard Rene

The Blue Cougars were formed by singer songwriter Rene Dwight [ a relation of a well know piano playing music superstar ] , The sound and image of the band is of a retro nature however the their tunes would not be out of place in a modern Hollywood movie score. Dwight's vocals are truly unique and haunting and he is a great lover of chilling reverb and echo effects, for those of you who may be fans of rock n roll / Rockabilly artists such as Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly and modern day crooners such as Chris Isaak the Blue Cougars will be right up your street. You could imagine them playing in some Mexican cantina or even in a classy members only nightclub, these guys sure have a classy sound all of their own.

Rene Dwight plays a stunning light blue 50's Hollow bodied Gretsch Guitar and his slow haunting bigsby tremolo treatment sets the atmosphere off to perfection. His vocals are nothing short of stunning... imagine a cross between Ricky Valance, Chris Isaak and Eddie Cochran and you will not be far away from the chilling sound that Dwight's voice can provide. You will also find hints of the late great Rick Nelson and of course Buddy Holly and Elvis will also be somewhere in the mix of things. Don't for a minute though think the Blue Cougars simply provide a fifties revival show.. no no no, The Blue Cougars perform mainly Dwight's self written tunes and just like Chris Isaak he always adds a hint of modern day songwritting to ensure today's listeners do not feel left out- this stuff is new!

The mixture of old and new musical techniques seems to work a treat, the use of Double Bass with minor chords and Dwight's unique way of writing produces an astounding sound of which you will not have heard before. When you see the band live you will think that a bunch of Rock n Roll legends has been transported via some kind of time machine, they look classy and fit in with the Rock n Roll hero thing but you will not find a curling lip in site. The cougars do not only provide a truly unique sound they are a thoroughly modest bunch of folk and do not go along with the fake posing brigade.

After witnessing one of their live performances you will be left with two main thoughts in your head, where do you buy the Blue Cougars music / MP3's / CD's and boy I hope they do well. So if you are into atmospheric Quentin Tarantino type modern day Rockabilly / Guitar pop then the Blue Cougars will astound you.

Plenty of thrills, twangy Guitars and Haunting vocals.

Check out The Blue Cougars Tunes on their Myspace site http://www.myspace.com/thebluecougars

ask jeeves

jeeves

Hi there Kitty kats...

Today I found another great myspace rockabilly hero who goes by the name of Darrin Stout... what can I say folks this guy is fantastic... to me he sounds like he could be a member of the "Rick Nelson" family..

This is one guy who not only sings but he swings the guitar with pure perfection... if you visit Darrins site I am 100% sure that you will not leave before you have pressed the "good ol" favorites button... this is guy who will want to hear again and again.

Check out Darrin stouts twangtastic myspace tracks here

Regards.... Rene - The Blue Cougars

Here's a quick one for you, I just watched a TV program about Edward Teach otherwise known as Blackbeard the pirate.. this reminded me of a Star of the fifites that also sadly died in a crash just like the late great Eddie Cochran..

The name of this brilliant artist was Johnny kid [ of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates ] ..

Anyway my dad [ who I dearly miss ] was a young rocker in his youth found out where Johnny Kidd lived... one day he travelled to Johnny's house to see if he could get an autograph... sadly kid was not there but his mum invited my dad in and gave him a cup of tea and a signed photo of Johnny..

Although my dad missed kidd he was well chuffed to have met his mum and from that day onwards remained a staunch fan..

Johnny was a kind of Gene vincent figure who was starting to make some waves before his untimely death.. I could not find an official myspace blog but found a superb myspace fan site..

Johnny's best and biggest hit "shakin all over" is not on the site but the amazing "please don't touch" is..

Do yourself a favor and check it out..

Sleep well me hearties.........

Captain Ren - The Blue Cougars

Johnny Kidd and the Pirates -"Please don't touch" track 2  HERE Johnny Kidd