Portraits of a Musical Town
VICTORIA KINGHAM
Dave Boutwood is pretty fully occupied, if not to say consumed, by his love of music and musicians. His vinyl collection amounts to 3,000 items and his CD collection 4,000 more, occupying whole rooms in his Old Town house. He was born in Union Street in St Leonards, and went to Hastings Grammar School (now Ark Alexandra Academy). Since retiring to his home town, he has been to hundreds of local gigs and has made a wide circle of friends among musicians.
He has photographed them meticulously during their performances at pubs and clubs around the area – of course, he points out, you don’t actually have to go far from the Old Town to see and hear excellent local bands. His collection of photographs goes back about fifteen years, and they are all, he adds, taken from within the audience. He has never called himself a ‘professional’ photographer – his career was in data analysis.
Some of the best of these photographs, which he has now collected and published in this good-looking and well-designed book, are what he intended: as much reflections of the musicians’ character as they are of their performance. There’s a wonderfully intense photograph of Liam Genockey, for example (drummer with Steeleye Span these 30 years at least), with trademark plaited beard. In their present incarnation, which in 2025 included Genockey and local bass player Roger Carey, Steeleye Span released Conflict, and while Maddy Prior’s voice is not quite the powerful force that it has been, it’s a beautifully produced, fresh, driving and original album.
FROM HASTINGS TO AFAR
Everyone knows the bass line on Walk on the Wild Side. But who knew that Herbie Flowers, creator of that famous introductory bass riff – who died in 2024 having played bass on about 500 hit recordings – lived near here in Ditchling village? Also in the book are award-winning band Kid Kapichi, who recently completed an international tour.
Then there’s another resident, Pete Brown, who died in 2023, but not long prior to that led a fine performance at Hastings jazz club when it re-opened after the pandemic. He started as a beat poet and avant-garde musical performer, but was then immortalised by Sunshine of Your Love and the many other numbers that he wrote for Cream with Jack Bruce. He’s on the front cover.
Inhibited at first, Boutwood gradually gained confidence as people got to know him. Anyone who’s been to Porters on the High Street will have examined the photographs of performers that adorn the walls, all of which were taken by him. Regular performers Liane Carroll and Roger Carey are there, Sarah-Jane Morris, and many others. And while the photos always show musicians during performance, there’s something else there: unflinching honesty, and enormous affection for the subjects.
Favourite musicians? “I’ve had many over the years,” he tells me, “and find it impossible to single out an all-time favourite. My current favourite is Ben Maier.” Among recorded artists he lists an eclectic selection of likes: John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Gregory Isaacs, The Incredible String Band, Neil Young, Talking Heads, and Lambchop.
Inimitable Hastings
He knows that the music scene here is special. Musicians gravitate towards Hastings and St Leonards from everywhere, and often then decide to make their home here. From rock to folk to jazz to free improv to classical, they are loved and cherished by local audiences. The smallness of the place means that they’re able to learn from one another, interchange and (literally) interplay.
It’s interesting to see that several of his photographic subjects have more recently expanded their horizons to include production and promotion as well as performance – most admit that trying to make money playing music is a struggle, but a love thing anyway.
For local and national music lovers, this book of photographs is a necessary item. The launch will take place on 18 June at another classic Hastings venue, The Albion. Expect it to be crowded and enthusiastic.
Photographs from the Hastings Music Scene will be launched at The Albion, whose proprietor Bob Tipler is also a musician, founder of Hastings’ Fat Tuesday Festival, and co-producer of America Ground: the Musical. Thursday 18 June, 6 pm. Also see Instagram.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply