"How often do you rehearse?"

We're frequently asked how often we rehearse, and the honest answer is "Infrequently!", although we all enjoy the process when we can manage to arrange it. The main problem is one of logistics - including bluesman Hamish , the eight band members reside in or near Dorchester, Weymouth, Taunton, Somerton, Bath, Bridport, Clevedon and Exeter, so arranging a rehearsal is marginally more challenging than was planning D-Day in 1944 (although the weather is not usually so much of a factor for us) ... an incentive is therefore needed to mount Operation Rehearsal, and that takes the form of CAKE ...

Fortunately for the band, trombonist Pete Middleton's wife Rachel runs a one-woman business - The Pudding Kitchen - producing rather posh cakes and desserts for local cafés, bistros and Farmers' Markets, and the task of providing suitable sustenance for rehearsals and recording sessions has been placed by Pete (and indeed the rest of the band) high on her list of priorities. Our photo shows the modest spread at our last rehearsal ... as it was for an up-coming concert of numbers associated with 1917 and the Original Dixieland Jass Band, only five of us were required to be present. A jolly good feast was therefore had by (nearly) all - though not Hamish, Pete Ward, or Eddie! Sometimes there have to be sacrifices ...