Ed Cox was born in 1969 and although he wasn’t brought up in a musical family he has always enjoyed singing. He first sang ‘in public’ when he stood up in front of his infant school class with his cousins and sang Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling In Love.
His aunt Sharon particularly liked music and in the 1970s he would sit with her in her bedroom listening to music on her record player. She would record songs on cassette by placing a microphone in front of the speaker which she would later play back on her walkman walking to work.
Sharon was killed in a motorcycle accident when she was 19 and her love of music was Ed’s early inspiration honouring the kind of music she loved. She particularly liked Elvis Presley and that was the kind of music Ed would later go on to sing.
After leaving school in the mid 1980s, Ed started singing and this is when he first considered singing professionally. Initially he was just doing karaoke but then, in his early 20s he started singing solo, mainly middle of the road and covers and then formed a duo with a friend. His first gig started at 8pm, and although his dad came he told his housemate he’d be back at 8.15 because “it’ll probably be crap”. He got back at 1am, happy and proud. Unfortunately the duo only lasted for a few gigs as his friend didn’t have the commitment that Ed had to pursue a career in music.
By now Ed and Spencer James had become good friends. Ed would often look after the house while Spencer was away touring with The Searchers. He caught glandular fever and was really ill for a while but as he was recovering, he asked Spencer if he could do some recording in his studio once he was fully fit and well. Spencer suggested that he should come round immediately and have a tinker. Ed felt okay that day and he sung Bette Midler’s iconic song The Rose. Spencer was gobsmacked and said to him “how is it I’ve not heard you sing until now?” He immediately began speaking to local pubs saying “can my mate come and sing in your pub” and that is how Ed’s career started in about 1994.
Spencer knew local Country Singer Dave Anderson who has played pedal steel, guitar and sung on some of Spencer’s Country influenced albums. Dave formed The Thrillbillies Duo after the demise of his band Wishbone at the Millennium. Within a year, he mentioned to Spencer that he was looking for new partner in the duo and Spencer immediately thought of Ed. At that time, Ed didn’t know a lot about Country music so Spencer gave him a crash course playing him a large selection of Country songs and Ed quickly knew Country was the direction he wanted to go.
On Spencer’s recommendation, he spoke to Dave Anderson and in 2001 he joined The Thrillbillies replacing Neil Lusk. The duo quickly established themselves as one of the best Country duos with two good singers, good vocal harmonies and good playing. While working with the Thrillbillies, Ed did some other work in a duo with his friend, bass player Paul Gunn.
Dave knew a former British DJ Max McFarland, who had emigrated to New Zealand. During the 1990s he took his band Wishbone there on tour. When Max later brought his family to England on holiday he went to see the Thrillbillies performing at Chichester. He told Dave that the duo would be well received in New Zealand and suggested they come over and he would arrange a tour. They did one six week tour in 2007 and another in 2009. They stayed with Max and toured the North Island extensively. Both tours were a huge success and they got a lot of new fans and sold a lot of CDs. They also toured in Spain.
The Thrillbillies released four CD albums during Ed’s time. The first with 11 tracks was called Talk Of The Town which included Ed singing The Rose. Spencer James played acoustic guitar on some tracks. The second album with 16 tracks was Chills & Thrills followed by a 13 track album As Seen On TV which was engineered by Country singer Paul Wright. The last a double album called Twice As Nice was released about 2010. The first album, Middle Of The Road, had 18 tracks and the second album Live had 12. In 2009 he also recorded a 17 track solo album called Love Joy and Commitment – songs inspired by April 5th; the day his Aunt Sharon was killed. One of the tracks was again The Rose.
Ed stayed with the Thrillbillies for 18 years but by 2019 he knew it was time to move on as he was keen widen his Country repertoire and include a lot of newer material. Both Ed and Dave decided to continue as soloists and The Thrillbillies disbanded after 19 years in 2020 when lockdown began. With the forthcoming end of the duo, Ed had already launched his solo career and solo bookings were filling his diary, but in March 2020, covid struck.
Ed now has a very full diary and is in the happy position of being able to turn work down if it involves travelling all over the country leaving him shattered when he gets on stage. He now considers he is doing the amount of work that he wants to do and really loves what he is doing. He feels he is much happier as a soloist than he was in the later years with The Thrillbillies. He doesn’t like driving through the night anymore but is still happy to travel to gigs all over the country but prefers to stay with friends or in a hotel rather than driving home.
Ed has now taken up songwriting. His first song, a ballad about the day his aunt died, was written and recorded in 2016 and it will be included on an album of original songs planned for release on CD and download maybe by the end of 2024 or next year. He also hopes to include some of these original songs in his Country act, one in particular called I Didn’t Know. Ed considers himself to be a perfectionist when it comes to recorded material and he says it has got to be right before he considers it finished.
During lockdown he bought some additional studio equipment and did a lot of writing. A friend, Vicki Church who has been a fan of Country music all her life has helped with some of the lyrics and Spencer James has gone through his songs as well. Ed and Spencer are still good friends and Ed says of him “he’s my big brother, whether he wants one or not”. Ed does support shows with Spencer including the Searchers Christmas party (fan club event) in 2023 (and booked again for 2025). Spencer is now touring as a solo, or with The Spencer James Band.
Since starting his solo career, Ed has recorded a 24 track double CD album called the Fitdog Sessions. The album was produced by Chris Furner at the Fitdog Recording Studio. Ed first met Chris in 2005 and they have been friends ever since. Only some of the tracks are Country. Before recording the album, Ed put feelers out to see what people wanted him to record and he tried to fit some of those songs onto the album which includes songs by George Michael, Prince, Elvis (three of his all time favourite artists) and Spandau Ballet, as well as country’s Tim McGraw, Merle Haggard and Jake Owen. It is an easy listening album, exceedingly well produced by Chris Furner and available at gigs or through Ed’s web site or Facebook.
Click here to see Thrillbillies in New Zealand in 2007.
Research by Nick Catford.