Ginger & Friends

Yes, you read that right: 500%. An idea that was by no means a guaranteed success has grown beyond all expectations.

Tweeting earlier, Ginger proudly announced, “YAAAYYY!!! 500%. You guys have done independent music proud! This is a historic hammering in of corporate coffin nails.” And followed it shortly after with an insight into the album’s title: “Now I can tell you the title of the triple album. It will be the final percent amount. With my lucky number 5 at the front we cannot fail.”

With almost a month left on the pledge and showing no signs of slowing, who knows what the final title of the album might end up being?

If you haven’t joined in yet, you have until February 29th to Pledge. Remember, Pledging is the only way to get all 30 tracks, and access to the behind the scenes videos, so don’t miss out.

Ginger has been added to the line up for the 10th anniversary Download Festival at Castle Donington.

Tweeted Ginger: “Hit the tarmac at Stanstead to hear that I’ve been added to the Download bill. Playing big festivals and landing safely make me very happy.”

Details are scant at the moment, but we’ll fill in the blanks as and when we have the information. In the meantime, you can check out the Download announcement here.

Now that hopefully you all recovered from a fantastic end-of-year tour and a stunning Birthday show in London, Ginger would like to share with you all this personal message:

“2011 will be a year I’ll never forget. Beginning the year by enduring a brief dance with budgetary disaster (The Frankenstein Effect, which will hopefully be put straight soon in 2012) the year continued into great disappointment as I left the Michael Monroe band under circumstances beyond my control, and then seemed to hit a wall sometime in July when I seriously considered giving up the idea of making a living from music. It appeared time in my life to get a proper job.

Gx”

We’re hearing from Rich Jones, that the Birthday gig will have an early start tomorrow, with doors at 6pm and Ginger on-stage at 6:30. This is because of a 10pm curfew at the venue.

So please let people know to get down early in order to catch the full set. Note no support bands for this one. More news as we get it.

Now that the Triple Album Project has hit the halfway point, it’s time for Ginger to take a break.

Of course, since Ginger doesn’t really do ‘time off’, and given that a change is as good as a rest, he’s heading out on tour instead for a thirteen night Rock’n'Roll Christmas party.

Starting in Swansea tonight, Ginger and Friends take in the Hard Rock Hell festival tomorrow before a flying visit to Finland. The band then hits a UK venue near you in the build-up to a two night stay in London for the long sold out Islington Birthday show on December 17th, and a final blow out at the Relentless Garage the night after.

The friends joining Ginger this time around are ‘Random’ Jon Poole, Rich Jones and Denzil for the Hard Rock Hell and Helsinki shows. And meeting them at the airport when they get back will be Chris Catalyst and Victoria Liedtke who will join them for the rest of the tour.

The boys (and girl!) will be performing a fully electrified set, and will be playing a variety of material including many rarely played Wildhearts songs – plus a healthy serving of tracks from Ginger’s solo releases.

The full list of dates, along with ticket links is as follows:

• Thu 01st Dec – Swansea, Sin City (Tickets)
• Fri 02nd Dec – Hard Rock Hell (Tickets)
• Sat 03rd Dec – Helsinki, On The Rocks (Tickets)
• Wed 07th Dec – Manchester, Moho Live (Tickets)
• Thu 08th Dec – Glasgow, Garage (Tickets)
• Fri 09th Dec – Newcastle, Academy (Tickets)
• Sat 10th Dec – Leeds, Cockpit (Tickets)
• Sun 11th Dec – Southampton, Talking Heads (Tickets)
• Mon 12th Dec – Norwich, Waterfront (Tickets)
• Tue 13th Dec – Bristol, Fleece (Tickets)
• Thu 15th Dec – Wolverhampton, Wulfrun (Tickets)
• Sat 17th Dec – London, Islington Academy (Birthday Show) SOLD OUT
• Sun 18th Dec – London, Relentless Garage (Tickets)

Support on all dates is Hawkeyes and Exit_International, except Swansea (supported by Exit_International only) and Helsinki (supported by Stalingrad Cowgirls). Note there will be no support acts at the birthday gig to allow more time for Ginger.

Tickets for the UK shows (excluding Hard Rock Hell) are priced £12.50 (£15 in London).

Ginger will play a warm-up show before his appearance at Hard Rock Hell in December.

The show takes place at Sin City in Swansea on 1st December and Ginger will be bringing along OAF and December tour guests Exit_International to ensure an evening’s entertainment that you really shouldn’t miss.

Tickets for the warm-up show are available here.

Some ticket packages for Hard Rock Hell are also still available. See their site for details.

We hope you’re not gigged out yet this year? For, even as Ginger and the guys are still catching their breath following the fantastic Acoustic shows, we can announce another set of tour dates.

Ginger & Friends will be heading around the country during December, blowing the roof off a venue near you, and gathering steam in readiness for the long sold-out finale in London on Ginger’s Birthday.

• Wed 07th Dec – Manchester, MoHo Live
• Thu 08th Dec – Glasgow, Garage
• Fri 09th Dec – Newcastle, O2 Academy
• Sat 10th Dec – Leeds, Cockpit
• Sun 11th Dec – Southampton, Talking Heads
• Tue 13th Dec – Bristol, Fleece
• Wed 14th Dec – Buckley, Tivoli
• Thu 15th Dec – Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall
• Sat 17th Dec – London, O2 Academy Islington – SOLD OUT
• Sun 18th Dec – London, Relentless Garage

All dates feature the fantastic special guests Hawk Eyes and Exit_International, so make sure to be there early to catch them.

Tickets are available now from the usual places – See the gig pages for links – and event pages are up on Ginger’s Facebook, so let us know if you’re coming.

We are delighted to announce that Mr Ritch Battersby will be coming out of retirement to get behind the drum kit for two special Ginger & Friends Festival shows.

Ritch will be back behind the kit at Stormin’ the Castle in Durham on September 3rd & The Norfolk Spectacular on September 4th. Ginger & Ritch will be joined onstage by Willie Dowling, Random Jon Poole & Rich Jones. Tickets are on sale now.

I am absolutely blown away by the positive response for, and run away success of the Pledge Triple Album campaign. I had honestly wondered if we would actually make the intended 100% in 60 days. No one, not even Pledge themselves, saw us making 100% in 6 hours!!

I definitely didn’t expect to see the vinyl disappear in the first day, and I’ve had people who missed the opening 24 hours contact me, frantic that they missed out on the format of their choice.

As we’ve made clear, this isn’t mainstream marketing, we don’t want anyone to feel cheated. So we are making more vinyl available, literally as many as you desire.

Same with the ‘thanks list special’. You want it? We’ll keep it onsale.

And for the people who snapped up the first 300? Just you wait and see what we’re giving you just for being there first. You will be much happier than you thought you’d be. You have the rarest item of this whole campaign, just look below.

Like I said, no one here gets ripped off.
We want to do this again.

Gx

For the original 300 ‘special thanks liner note package’ pledgers

To commemorate you being the first 300 pledgers towards the ‘special thanks liner note package’ you will now also be receiving a numbered print of the currently unreleased artwork from ‘The Frankenstein Effect’. Painted by renowned artist Terry Pastor (who also did album covers for David Bowie (Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust) & Sweet among others), this is perhaps the most valuable item in this pledge! The artwork is below.

Thank you to everyone for your amazing support.

Less than 6 hours after the PledgeMusic campaign launched, your outstanding support propelled the campaign through the 100% target, and into PledgeMusic’s record books.

Thank you and well done to everyone who has helped Ginger to become the fastest growing campaign in Pledge history!

It isn’t over yet though – the 100% target was what we needed to ensure the triple album can go ahead, but the Headline grabbing campaign will continue to run for the next 60 days.

Don’t worry if you thought you’d missed your chance, you can still pre-order your copy here, although if you want to secure one of the ‘Special Thanks’ CD and Limited Edition Vinyl exclusives, you’ll need to hurry as there are now fewer than 40 remaining.

We’re closing in fast on 200% raised, so keep an eye on the Pledge counter and let’s see how high that meter goes!