Dugginson & Hurry Unplugged
Published: July 20, 2010

Recent attendees to Hi-on Maiden shows will have witnessed a good dose of Heavy Wood in addition to the expected Heavy Metal! Tentatively entitled 'The Journeymen' Messers Dugginson and Hurry have taken to the stage with an informal acoustic tribute to the music of Iron Maiden and Bruce Dickinson.

Bruce Dugginson explains:
"Iron Maiden acoustic? "Surely not" I hear you cry!"

"Well, the idea came about from our show at The Square in Harlow, where we had a packed house but no bass player. Time was getting on and the punters were rightly getting a little restless; Mr Hurry and I thought we'd better do something by the way of entertaining the masses until said bass player arrived. Out came the acoustic guitar, and in the space of five minutes we desperately tried to pull together a couple of Maiden songs that would work with just the two of us. We aimed for songs that the good folks in the audience could sing along with, to mask the fact that the pair of us didn't have a clue what we were letting ourselves in for. On we went, and yes, before you ask, we were a bit ropey to say the least. But it was to plant the seed that would become the Journeymen we have today."

The Journeymen in action at St Austell's Keay Theatre

"The essence of the idea came from the fact that wherever we play it's very rare you have any facility to warm up, let alone change in, the latter point there being very rare thankfully. Anyhow, why not warm in front of the audience? What I mean is share the fact that this is what we're doing and welcome the audience to be a part of it, therefore breaking down any of those bullshit barriers that we take ourselves too seriously, which we certainly in our case do not!. As well as us getting the chance to blow the cobwebs of fingers, and in my case the old pipes, it gave us a chance to do some other material that wouldn't be featured in the main setlist, and also in a totally unique way which is great in both parts."

"From this we decided it would be a great idea to support ourselves when, and where, possible, i.e. when we didn't have a support band etc. and do some Maiden and Bruce solo material purely acoustically. We picked songs that we thought would work in that bare environment, and put some work into arranging them appropriately. As you may appreciate, some of the Maiden stuff has a lot going on so the challenge is how to change the song to suit acoustic guitar and voice, without taking away the heart of the song."

Bruce Dugginson

"Several songs were picked and we trial ran the idea on our annual visit to Nijmegen last year, and it went down a storm. We've added material as we've gone on and we even did an acoustic tribute to the great Ronnie James Dio in St Austell last month, from a personal point of view it's just great fun."

"Every chance we get we will hopefully be supported by The Journeymen so keep your eyes open. Pssst, there's even a rumour of one Mr Swift joining the Men of Journey, or should I say Maiden's own Foster & Allen! We hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do."

"See ya soon,
Matty. (aka Mr Dugginson)"

Dave Hurry

Dave Hurry adds:
"What started as a feat of desperation in Harlow turned into something I really rather look forward to every time we get to do it! When we do a gig, the audience knows exactly what they're going to get - two hours of the finest Maiden, honed to perfection. Why not throw a little surprise into the mix? The acoustic act is a way of channelling a little bit of creativity into the tribute band arena - distilling Maiden and Bruce Dickinson solo tracks down to just an acoustic guitar and vocals takes a lot of thought and preparation, not to mention rehearsal. It's an immensely satisfying addition to the night for us as performers, and the feedback from audiences has been spectacular thus far. Long may it continue!"

Songs in The Journeyen's set have so far included: Still Life, Tears of the Dragon, Children of the Damned, Journeyman, Blood Brothers, Jerusalem, Strange Death in Paradise, and also a heartfelt tribute to the late great Ronnie James Dio, Children of the Sea/Heaven and Hell.

The most recent performance by The Journeymen was supporting Hi-on Maiden's 'Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour' recreation show at the Keay Theatre in St Austell, on Saturday May 22, 2010. Stepping in at short notice to replace the expected Helloween tribute band, who sadly couldn't make it due to ill-health. The boys did a great job and were extremely well received by the Maiden thirsty metalheads, who were in great voice during the performance.

Keay Theatre set list:

1. Still Life
2. Tears of the Dragon
3. Blood Brothers
4. Journeyman
5. Children of the Sea/Heaven and Hell (Dio tribute)