Want to hear it straight from the Horse's Mouth? Ask your question here.

Issue #74, Part 2 - April 16, 2007

Gary Battista: How did Mick Ronson and I hook up with the Iron City Houserockers? Steve Popovich was managing me and Ronson along with the wonderful Sam Lederman (who saved my ass - more than a few times). I think Joe and the boys were on Steve's label. I remember going to see them in Pittsburgh. Good and honest.

Kevin/Belfast: Got a copy of 'Truth - Whole Truth'. Fabulous. IH still the man!' Blush.

Mary Shefferman - Ah! Now I get it. Willie's offering pints for plugs. Shameless - William - shameless. If I'm around I'll do it Mary, but Mick Brown's got me on one hell of a schedule.

Neil Bates: What's the best live band I've ever seen? The Who at the Roundhouse - Elton opened (brilliant too). The song would be 'Like a Rolling Stone.'

Tom McGarry: 'My lucrative solo offers' is pure invention.

Paul Duggs: There's nothing wrong with Wales. There might be something wrong with the promoters in Wales. Cardiff's great, but if we don't get a decent offer, we can't go. People to pay, hotels to book, flights, commissions, petrol and on and on. It's not as easy as it looks.

Paul: Toronto! Working on it. Look, I want to promote this new record, but it's up to the promoters.

Bob Adamonis: 'Seattle - or anything in the Northwest.' Working on it.

Pat Johnson: 'Missed West Coast, but saw Town Lake two years ago - fantastic.'

Steve Hall: It's not that I don't want to play Leeds - I do want to play Leeds. There just happens to be a problem. Like I said before - it's nothing to do with us. When the problem is solved we'll be there.

Joe S.: Going to San Juan - just saw us in Healdsburg. His wife wants a pair of my shades (German - Cazal). Converted after 20 years! Looking forward to SH. 'I Am What I Hated' is a cool little song. Band play great on it. Andy's on banjo!

John: 'Your whole body of work is good - can we hear different ones next time out?' Yup. It's difficult. Having not played the West Coast for a long time, you can't suddenly hit them with unfamiliar tunes. Plus, Zombies fans were there too. Next time we'll be up to date. For example, I'm doing Paris acoustically - they're not really familiar with much I do at all, so you have to adapt. Some folk know me well - but a lot of folks don't!

Kelly Wallace: 'Will Ralpher show up at any UK shows?' Don't know - he knows he can whenever he feels like it.

Paul O'Neill: Pleased to meet you, Paul. Once the songs are out there you can do them as long as you credit the writer and pay the piper. In this case the writer would be Mick Ralphs, not me. I can't speak for Mick, but like I said, as long as you credit him you are legally entitled to obtain a license. Good luck with the project.

Pete: No, I haven't begun recording the album after SH, but I am deep into the material - which is what usually takes a lot of time. This is the furthest ahead I've ever been on a follow up. I don't know why it happened, but I'm grateful. Thanks for helping out on your blog. Australia is being discussed, but nothing definite as of yet. There is also label interest there so we'll see.

David Drew just preordered SH. 'We love 'Big Mouth' and are chomping at the bit for the rest! See you at BB's in NYC. Come to Long Island - lots of fans here!'

Lindsey B: 'Atlanta! Last time you played the Agora you set the record for encores.' Didn't know that. I think a lot of promoters are waiting to see what the record does. I have a lot of ground to make up.

Tall Paul: 'My best friend owns EASTSIDE RECORDS in Tempe, Arizona. He played a promo copy of 'Shrunken Heads' and I love it. Congrats on a great release. I cannot recommend it enough. It's nice to have a new rock record to listen to. As a former artist manager I hope this does well. Come to Phoenix!'

Gary Meloni: Sorry, Gary - I'm not remembering this. Doesn't matter. See you in June.

Wayne/Vancouver says the PAYOLAS are back together. Excellent band; excellent singer. It's just like old times!

Edward Markes: You're up against it on this one. Labels are in free fall and they're only doing stuff that's iron cast guaranteed. I don't have the weight. Perhaps Joe Elliott does. He's very into Mick and has done stuff in the past. Sorry to be so realistic. Appreciate your interest in Ronno.

Pat: 'For my money, Mick Ralphs is one of the most beautiful, inventive and melodic guitar players I have ever heard. Why did he leave Mott?' Because I started to write hits and so did he - but neither of us could sing his hits, so he went with Paul Rogers who could. 'Why Ariel Bender?' Ariel fitted like a glove personality wise - in his day, pretty unbeatable. 'P.S. Mick Ralphs, George Harrison, Mick Ronson and Mick Taylor - all beautiful players in the melodic sense.' Good thinking.

Anthony Caminiti: Apparently Bob Rock got a huge award at the Juno's (Canadian Grammys). During Bob's acceptance speech he thanked Ronno for being his 'muse' and guitar hero! 'Have you ever met Bob Rock?' Yes, a very nice guy and a talented producer and guitarist. 'Just listened to 'Words' - enjoyed it very, very much. Looking forward to the release. Not sure whether to order over the internet. They are legitimate companies.

Rick Goward: 'Just spoke to Bob Coburn today and he said 'Rockline' is booked for May. Great exposure. See you at the Coach House.' I'm doing quite of bit of press etc. This new management team are working me!

Jeff Williams: 'What's your favourite track on 'Shrunken Heads'? I don't know. It's one of those albums that hangs together really well. Every song plays a part. It's hard for me to pick one. 'How do you relax when you finish touring?' When you finish, the adrenalin goes and the tiredness sets in so we're pretty much useless for a few days. It's great to do normal stuff.

Ron Frank: 'I wonder if you had any thoughts on the subject now that 'All of the Good Ones Are Taken' has finally been reissued on CD? You haven't shown much enthusiasm over the years. How do you feel now?' I like 'Seeing Double'; like 'Ronno on 'Death 'n' Glory Boys'; can't remember much else. That was then - this is now.

Judy: Why won't you consider a New York appearance? Oh I'll be doing gigs around New York - soon.

Dave P.: 'Comments only. Love 'Words'. Come to Northampton. God knows we need you real bad.' Hangin' in Division I there. Good show.

Malcolm George: 'How come you've never released DVD of 'YUI Orta UK' gigs? I just saw it on You Tube. They were fantastic gigs. Any chance of an official release?' I haven't got a clue about this - I'll hand it over to the wife.

Patrick Humphrey's: 'I really enjoy shows where the artist performs a lot of new material while promoting the new disc. It keeps the set fresh and exciting for the fans. Will you be doing more new songs on the upcoming California shows?' Yes, quite a lot actually. The only reason I did old ones last time out was to give people a quick catch up before moving on.

Andy Allison: Oh dear. Isn't that always the way. Murphy's law. Never mind - we'll have fun in Glasgow. There's millions of them out there - some of 'em quite nice too!

Camden Barbour: 'Andy York is my favourite guitar player. Did you hear me shout for 'Angeline' on the Ringo tour?' Of course I did.

Hunter Tremayne just preordered the new CD. Having fun listening to the bonus tracks. Favourite is 'Real or Imaginary.' Has all the albums and CDs. Hunter is writing a new play, which will be off Broadway later this year (good luck with it).

John Doray: 'Is the Las Vegas show a closed show? Can't find the venue or see how to buy tickets.' I'll get Trudi to follow this up. I think it's the Canyon Club.

John Eder: Haven't had a chance yet, but I will.

Paul: 'Me and my bro looking forward to King Tuts in Glasgow. Will you be playing mostly songs that were acoustically based or acoustic versions of songs you fancy performing in a new way?' I'm just going to play a load of stuff acoustically and hope you like it. Obviously, I have to adapt a bit, and we will!

Rob Roe: 'I.H. dies and goes to heaven (I know it's a stretch, but play along with me here). Who would you want to meet and have a nice long conversation with?' Churchill, Bonaparte, John Adams, Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, Ronno, my mate Barry. All my dogs. It goes on. 'Come to Tuscon.'

Bucks Burnett: You can get this info from the Jerkin Crocus website. I think there's a link from Ian Hunter.com. If you are still having trouble write to me again. Write anyway to remind me in the summer and I'll get Trudi to sort it out.

Tom Semioli: Not bad - not bad at all! Now all we've got to do is get a few million together and make it.

Scott: 'I live in Milwaukee and I know several hundred people here love you - if you're worried about the take - play a small place like the Miramar Theatre. It would please a lot of people round here and it will be profitable - probably.' We'll see.

Shalalalapushpush (phew): 'I'd just like to say that being a Yorkshireman - I don't really care if you play Leeds or not because fans can travel to gigs if their fav artist doesn't play their home town. Good luck with the new album - see you on tour.'

Gary Gibson: Am I doing a full set at Wychwood? Checking on that as we speak. 'Looking forward to the new album - 'Big Mouth' excellent.

Ian Kell: I don't know the words.

Jeffrey: Bit of a damp squib that. They're so hysterical over here and it's wrong.

Chris Miller: 'Do 'Nightingale' at the Pigalle.' I think it's been done enough for now Chris. Time for other stuff.

Evan Jones: 'Is a wider U.S. tour possible? Anything's possible if the album starts to take off. It's really up to you chaps. The more it moves the more the gig offers come in. Everything is encouraging at the moment. It has to continue to build - triple A stations - PBS stations - it's a long hall without the necessary mountains of money required to get on radio stations. Sirius and XM look promising. Wish us luck!

Roger: 'What's the minimum sized venue you'll play? I don't mind them small, it's one on one, but obviously, people have to be paid.

And so to bed.

I'm so happy you chaps like what you've heard. One never knows what's going to happen, reaction-wise. It needs to get bigger in order for us to tour where you want us to go. Hopefully this album will help us get to your neck of the woods. One of the disadvantages of being a 'well kept secret' is the touring aspect. Like I say, we are working hard on it so buy a load of SH and force your friends too. That's all there is to it! I'll be gone for a while now - probably miss the next one, but I'll get back to you when possible.

P.S. No burning freebies this time! I know you won't but somebody you know will.

P.P.S. I didn't answer 'em all - but I did read 'em all!

IH
The Horse's Mouth