CCpedia

Have you ever wondered about the pedigree of the artists you are listening to or are going to see? Then this is the place to find out!

LA Country

Research by Nick Catford.

Allen Glassock was brought up in Kent in the 1940s. When he was about 11 a friend handed him a guitar to hold whilst he went into the pub to get some cigarettes. He remembers thinking “wow” as he held the instrument and from that moment he knew all he wanted to do in life was to be a guitarist. His parents bought him a guitar shortly after and he sat in his bedroom for hours learning and practicing various chords. He is totally self taught.

By 1960 he was playing skiffle before switching to pop and rock ‘n’ roll. His first band, The Venoms, had moderate local success and led on to him joining the already successful Tunbridge Wells based band Tony Diamond and the Defenders playing lead guitar alongside guitarist Brian Prebble and drummer Roger ‘Spodge’ Siggery.
By the mid 1960s, offshore pirate radio was becoming very popular and Tony and The Defenders quickly built up a following from the pirate radio audience and even before Allen joined they were climbing up the Big L Fab 40 chart with their single Yes I Do in 1966. After leaving The Defenders, Allen first discovered what was to become a lifelong love of Country music while working in ESE Music in Maidstone. Local musician Eric Snowball opened his popular music shop in The Broadway (later moving to Upper Fant Road) in 1968; The shop quickly became a Mecca for musicians in the South East as well as a source of top quality equipments. The shop was one of the first importers of pedal steel guitars and it’s there that Allen met Gordon Huntley of Matthews Southern Comfort. Gordon was the premier steelie in the UK at that time and a regular visitor to the shop.
The Virginians Country band formed in The Maidstone area In the mid 1960’s at a time when the Fullers pub circuit in London was introducing young people to Country music. John Horten (lead vocals), Allen Glassock (lead guitar), John Kibble (bass), Tim (rhythm guitar) and Aiden (drums) formed the first line up. Originally gigs were in working men’s and social clubs and then later elevated to the Fullers circuit. There were a couple of changes to the line up with Tim replacing John Kibble on bass and Pete coming in as a second singer and replacing Tim on rhythm guitar. That line up remained static until The Virginians disbanded around 1970.
On the demise of the Virginians, John Horton went on to form Redwing (trio) in 1975. John Kibble formed a duo with JImmy J, the original singer with Allen’s first band Venoms and they did rather well touring with the Bachelors etc. Tim joined another pop band before rejoining John Horton in one of the early Redwing lineups.
When the Virginians disbanded, Allen was still working in ESE Music until c1971 when he west to Europe to tour with the folk/rock band Saraband which also included Tim from the Virginians. On returning from Europe, Allen moved to Cornwall in the early 1970s and eventually joined Frank Yonco in a reformed version of his popular Country band The Everglades.
During the 1960s, Frank Yonco and the Everglades were one of the preeminent British country bands alongside the Hillsiders from Liverpool and the Jonny Young Four from Kent. Frank Yonco came from Manchester, forming his first band, The Texan Drifters in 1963. Through the 1960s Frank toured extensively around Britain and abroad and was one of few British groups to have toured Vietnam during the conflict. They played at US military bases all over the world and supported numerous American country stars including Tex Williams, Sheb Wooley, Lefty Frizzell, Roger Miller, Red Sovine and Wanda Jackson.
Although they toured extensively throughout the UK at times Frank felt that the British public were not always ready for country music. To break up the monotony of continual touring he also secured a number of lucrative cabaret contracts and he quickly built up a very loyal following as one of our best Country music entertainers in cities around Britain. He was the first to realise the potential of including a girl singer in the act which was often common practice in the US where girls had always an integral part of the country scene. He brought Kit Connor into his show in 1967.
Frank Yonco had relocated to Cornwall to set up the Folk Beat International Agency and Rainbow Rooms in St. Blazey. He hoped that there would be 50 weeks work for most of his acts in the area and the ever increasing demand from clubs soon had him looking out for new faces to manage. During this period the Everglades took a break from touring but were soon back on the road with a new line up that included Allen Glassock using the stage name Alan Knight. They were Frank Yonco (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Kit Connor (lead vocals), Alan Knight (lead guitar), Sandy Horn (pedal steel guitar), Terry Dean (bass) and Dave Fidler (drums).
Frank’s continued popularity in that period led to TV shows with the then Westward TV channel and in 1976 they released an album (Frank Yonco’s 4th album) Drinking The Beer And Singing A Country Song.
Later that year the band appeared on the talent show New Faces (Series 4 episode 20) which was aired on 1st May 1976. The Everglades sung Ladies Love Outlaws but they lost out to Our Kid, a harmony band from Liverpool. They were invited back to New Faces for the first episode of series 5 which was billed as ‘Winners and Near Misses’. They performed The Walkers’ 1974 song I Wasn’t Born In Tennessee and came second again, this time to Exeter housewife Simone.
Many theatre tours of the UK followed and a UK/Europe tour with US Country singer/songwriter Johnny Bond. Radio shows included The Jimmy Young Show, the Terry Wogan Show and BBC’s Country Club. They recorded another album, Old Greyhound in 1977.
After leaving Frank Yonco and The Evereglades in the late 1970s, Allen returned to Kent where he joined John Horton’s Redwing. The line up was John Horton (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Martin Hempstead (pedal steel guitar), Allen Glassock (lead guitar), Alf Kershaw (bass) and Pete Gamble (drums). Alf Kershaw is Steve Jay’s (Plain Loco) ex-brother-in-law.
Allen Glassock stayed with Redwing for a year. Redwing carried on with numerous changes of line up until they disbanded in 1993. In the mid-1980s, Allen moved back to Cornwall where he did a number of dep jobs playing lead guitar, pedal steel guitar and bass. He also set up his own recording studio, Desert Wind Studios, near Saltash.
He formed a trio called Fusion which included a female singer. When she decided to leave the act, after advertising and searching for a replacement he was delighted to find Lottie Roberts. Lottie Roberts grew up listening to a wide range of music from Gloria Estefan to Fleetwood Mac but never Country. She always loved music and enjoyed singing. When she was 20 she went to work overseas for tour operator Thomas Cook in the Canary Islands and Turkey. She worked as a tour rep and in the resort office but while in Turkey she did some singing in a few bars and beach bars alongside her day job. This was all solo singing and covered a wide repertoire which included modern chart music, R & B etc. When she returned to the UK in 2010 she was working as a contracts manager for a recruitment company and decided to test the water to see if there was any chance of a singing career.
She put a demo on a website as a singer looking for a band to work with and was quickly contacted by Allen Glassock who told her he ran a function trio in the South West. Their female singer was leaving and he was looking for a replacement. Lottie went along to his studio and the two of them hit it off instantly and Lottie was asked to join the trio. After a few months spent learning their programme, Fusion were ready to go back on the road. They also worked as a duo LA2 which really began to take off in 2011.
Within just two years of joining the trio it was the duo that were getting most of the bookings. Lottie was still doing her day job time which was extremely demanding and it was impossible to do this as well as working in the duo and trio. Within a few weeks of handing in her notice she and Allen found themselves working on a cruise ship sailing around the world.
At this time, their repertoire was pop, rock and jazz but Allen was keen to introduce Lottie to Country music. One day he played her some music by the Time Jumpers and she quickly fell in love with Dawn Sears beautiful voice and was intrigued by Country music as a genre. They started putting more and more Country into their act and Lottie quickly felt it was a lot more natural for her to sing Country than the pop, motown, disco and jazz that made up most of their act. After working on the cruises, they worked in Egypt, Ibiza, The Canaries and mainland Spain for Tui hotels as a cabaret act. After working for many years living out of a suitcase and working seven days a week they decided it was time to slow down a bit and returned to the UK in 2016. They continued working in hotels, function rooms and clubs playing mainly dance music and also took on some cabaret work.
Allen was however keen to concentrate on Country and the idea also appealed to Lottie having heard about Allen’s earlier career as a Country musician in the 70s and 80s. They sent a demo to Sylvia McMaster of Sylvan Entertainments, an agency specialising in Country artists. Sylvia liked what she heard and it wasn’t long before they relaunched as LA Country. A trickle of bookings soon became a torrent as word spread round. After working with Sylvan for a year Sylvia invited LA Country to become one of her acts and they are now one of the busiest duos on the club circuit. Lottie is the voice and sings most of the vocals. Allen has always considered himself a musician who could sing and he sung some lead and harmony vocals in most of his bands but he know likes to do what he does best play his guitar with the odd comment.
Lottie told me recently “Believe it or not I use to be very shy on stage and never really spoke until one night we were working in Ibiza and Allen had wrapped my microphone cable around my mic stand along with flowers from then on it almost became a comedy double act.” Allen and Lottie married after lockdown in 2022. LA Country are based in Afan Forest near Neath in South Wales and are happy to travel all over the country. They have a very wide repertoire designed to satisfy line dance and traditional Country music clubs.

Vic Oakley

Research by Nick Catford.

Vic Oakley fell in love with Country music at an early age. His older brother John was in the merchant navy and used to bring 78rmp records home. Vic lists his early influences as artists like Hank Snow and Lefty Frizzell. His career as a musician started on a very small scale in 1983. He had always been keen to learn to play the guitar and a friend who was a good musician lent him a guitar and showed him a few chords which he began to practice. Eventfully he was able string a few songs together. At that time, his wife worked for the chairman of Great Wakering parish council in Essex and Vic hummed and strummed a few songs at a council social gathering in their garden one day. The Council chairman suggested that he might like to play to raise money for the new village hall fund.

Although he had never played professionally or in any kind of band, Vic agreed to try and put a band together. He asked around the village and came up with seven people who were prepared play in a one off band for the event. They included Barry Philips on guitar, Hazel Connor on bass and Graham Sutherland on keyboards and Vic of course. It later transpired that Graham Sutherland was actually Graham Maitland who occasionally played with rock band Wishbone Ash in the 1970s. The makeshift band only played together once but by now Vic was bitten by the bug and he soon formed his own country band with a different guitarist Greg Hobson. As all the members had full time jobs the band only played occasional gigs at the local British Legion hall, it was more of a social gathering for friends who wanted to play together as a hobby.
By the early 90s they evolved into Easy Country and began picking up a few more local Essex gigs including the Barge CMC on Canvey Island where the compare was Alan Woodhuse whose brother Vic hosted Essex Country on BBC Radio Essex. Vic Woodhouse asked for demo which quickly led to more bookings further afield. On one occasion Vic went to the Froxfield CMC in Hampshire with Neil Lusk from Highway Connection who were playing at the club. Neil got Vic on stage to sing and Reg, who ran the club, gave Vic and Easy Country a booking, their first gig outside East Anglia.
In 1996 Vic was asked to join The Longriders by Les Evans, and he quickly agreed. The formation of the Long Riders in September 1995 dealt a devastating blow to George Moody with the departure of two members of his band, The Country Squires. Guitarist Les Evans and drummer Keith Roscoe left together. Les spent a short time with Colin Ford’s (former lead singer with Fever) new band Lost Legends but he and Keith soon formed The Long Riders with Kevin ??? on bass and new recruit Vic Oakley on lead vocals. A third members of The Country Squires, bass player Robbie Hawkes had also planned to join the Long Riders but he stayed in the Country Squires for a while as he couldn’t bring himself to tell George he was leaving but eventually he too succumbed to temptation and after 12 years on bass in the Country Squires he too left to join Long Riders. At this time The Long Riders comprised Vic Oakley (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Les Evans (lead guitar and vocals), Robbie Hawkes (bass and vocals) and Keith Roscoe (drums).
Vic’s time with The Long Riders was less than a year and he eventually left and was replaced by Peter (Pedro) Sunderland on lead vocals. Vic’s next band was Wanted Dead Or Alive who were formed in 1993 by Luke (lead guitar) and Jody Taylor (lead vocls). By 1996 they had been joined by John Oakfield (bass) and Martin Lee (drums). By the time Vic joined c1997, only John Oakfield survived from the original line up. When he joined Wanted Dead Or Alive, Vic told them that he wouldn’t be staying long as he was intending to launch his own new band No Regrets with Terry Conway. Sadly following an accident, Terry was unable to join the band but despite this set back No Regrets did come onto the circuit as a trio in 1998 and comprised Vic Oakley (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Robbie Burns (lead guitar and vocals) and Brian Steel (rhythm guitar and vocals). The band had three good singers and they soon got a reputation for good harmonies. This was maintained when they later downsized to a duo – good harmonies were always an important part of the act.
After a few years, Robbie Burns left to join Henry Smith’s Country Dreams. A number of top rate lead guitarists would later join No Regrets; these included Neil Martin, John Caswell, Dave Inglis and Terry Conway but in 2000 Bob Common came in on lead guitar and he and Vic would stay together for the next 22 years. Bob started playing guitar in 1967 and played many different styles of music including as a member of a non touring band in Dundee for many years before joining his first Country band, Rhodes County in the 1980s. His next band was Rufus Stone before joining the very popular Wishbone with Dave Anderson in the early 1990s. Following the disbanding of Wishbone at the millennium, Bob Common joined No Regrets on a part time basis while he was also a member of Rebel Yell for a year; and eventually joined full time in 2003. That year the line up was Vic Oakley (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Bob Common (lead guitar and vocals) and Clive Grant (lead guitar and vocals). Clive and Bob shared lead guitar but Clive’s time with the band was short, leaving in less than a year.
No Regrets have continued to work both as a duo and a trio until 2019 when the trio played its last gig after Dave Inglis decided to go solo. Until then, Vic worked with Bob Common on Scottish tours and tours of southern and central England and with Dave Inglis on tours of the North East. Bob Common retired from playing in 2021. Initially Vic planned to continue as a soloist but now he too has decided to go into semi-retirement and on 5th December he announced on social media “I have made the decision to quit touring at the end of this year it has got harder and harder to get enough work to justify doing it ….. I would love to thank all the people who have helped me to survive 33 years on the circuit I had a ball with some of the nicest guys on this earth I love you all, If Papa Vic’s gets going I will come over for that for sure” Papa Vic refers to Billy Curtis’ Dawlish Festival. The venue has cancelled and Billy is looking for a replacement venue. It appears we haven’t seen the last of Vic but it will take something special to coax him south from North Ayrshire.

The Barhoppers

Research by Nick Catford.

The Suffolk based Barhoppers Duo is husband and wife Gabbi and David Crayford-Noble. Both have had a long career in the music business stretching back to the 1970s.

David Crayford-Noble was born in Norfolk and was one of four boys. His early love of music started with him singing in the church choir and scout gang shows. His mother and uncle both played piano a bit and David also began taking piano lessons and went on to play the trumpet in his school band.
He got his first guitar at 14 and this soon became his instrument of choice. When he was 19, he started performing spots at folk clubs and occasionally in pubs and social clubs. He entered a talent contest as David Noble a contemporary folk and blues singer at the Bosa Chios night club in his home town of North Walsham. He beat 47 other acts to win the competition which earned him a place in a special final at the Norwood Rooms, Norwich. By now David knew his future career lay in music and he wanted to become professional musician.
At one of these solo gigs, David met Nigel Chapman and the two of them formed a duo called Buddys in 1976. Nigel played guitar, banjo and lap-steel guitar while David played guitar, mandolin and accordion; they were both singers. With such a diverse instrumental repertoire they billed themselves as a multi-instrumental duo.
Initially, Buddys played contemporary folk music working mainly in folk clubs and pubs but once established, they quickly moved towards country music as they both liked this genre, and were inspired by artists like Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and ‘new country’ artists George Strait and Alan Jackson. Most of their work was in East Anglia and at the height of their popularity they were doing up to 300 gigs a year. Buddys had two tours of Germany in the mid 1980s.
Nigel had a very serious motorcycle accident in 1994 and this eventually led to the demise of Buddys. During their 18 years on the road, Buddys released five cassette albums, ‘Buddys’, ‘Ten Years On’, ‘Bunch of Thyme’, ‘A Bakers Dozen’ and ‘Country Crossroads’. David now took a break from regular playing other than depping with one or two local bands, including Zetas Country, when required. He was however on the lookout for a new band to join.
In 1998, a new 4-piece band The Barhoppers was formed by Tony Browne and Rob Davidson. Tony and Rob had played together before. David knew both of them and was invited to join and Tony found singer Suzy Cattrell who had been working as a soloist. The new band comprised Suzy Cattrell (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Tony Browne (pedal steel guitar, guitar and banjo), Rob Davidson (bass) and David Crayford-Noble (rhythm guitar, mandolin and accordion).
Rob left at the end of 2000 and the three remaining members carried on as a trio. In 2010 Suzy decided to leave the band to spend more time with her new partner who wasn’t keen on her continually touring. With Suzy fronting the band, The Barhoppers released three CD albums ‘The Barhoppers’, ‘Images’ and ‘Same Old Faces’. Tony and David both advertised for a new singer online and former cabaret singer Gabbi Worsley was the successful new recruit.
Born in London, Gabbi Indick started singing at a very young age and was performing to audiences at the age of 10. Her parents had aspirations of her being ‘discovered’ and becoming a child star, like Lena Zavaroni and Bonnie Langford. Her father got her bookings in working men’s clubs and this soon involved travelling all over the country. As a teenager, Gabrielle, as she was known on stage would often open the show and she supported a number of established acts including Little and Large, Marty Wilde, Ted Rogers, Bob Monkhouse and Frankie Howard.
Her favourite gig during this short juvenile career was performing at Caesars Palace (not the one in Vegas!) in Luton where she was singing with a 15 piece orchestra. She met her future husband John Worsley at this time. He was a song writer, arranger and record producer and wrote the scores for her. At Luton she supported artists like Peter Gordeno, Charlie Williams, The Drifters and Roy Orbison. As a teenager, Gabbi certainly didn’t appreciate the shear gravitas of working with such established artists even now she still finds it difficult to believe what she did.
John had a recording studio in London’s Demark Street called TPA (Tin Pan Alley) studios, where they met when she was making a demo. He and his business partner Dave Meyers (they were famous for writing the Eurovision Song Jack in the Box for Clodagh Rodgers in 1971) asked her to record some of the songs they had written. All of this was while Gabbi was still at school. TPA eventually moved premises to Tangerine Studios at Dalston. When Gabbi left school at 16 she worked at the studios as a receptionist and, as she was there, she was often asked to put a few ‘ooos’ and ‘arrs’ onto tracks. It was there that she met Les Charles who was mixing his first hit single ‘Love really hurts without you’ in 1976. He changed his name to Billy Ocean and the rest is history.
John and Gabbi started dating but he didn’t like her doing the club work. At the time she was doing three shows a night in three West End night clubs, The Embassy, The Aster, and The Blue Angel. With such a heavy workload, Gabbi was getting very disillusioned with the whole thing, so it didn’t take much persuasion to convince her that recording records and possibly getting a hit, would be a better way to advance her career so she stopped gigging.
Gabbi left home and moved in with John at 17 and they married just after her 19th birthday and quickly started a family. John eventually decided to leave the music business as he too had become disillusioned with it. They moved away to Ashford and then to Suffolk. It was a further 10 years before Dave Meyers tracked his former business partner down and persuaded him to get back in to music again, but this time without Gabbi who was busy running the village shop. John and David’s new venture had some success In 2005/6 they had a number 1 hit in the World Dance Charts that remained in that position for 4 weeks. The song was called ‘Hypnotic Erotic Games’. It was a collaboration between Dave, John, two of Dave’s sons and Gabbi’s son. They called themselves ‘The Soulshakers’ and featured a singer called Lorraine Brown, who Dave had discovered singing at a holiday camp. After suffering from deteriorating health John passed away in 2009.
In time, Gabbi decided to make a tentative return to the music industry. She saw an ad in her local paper asking people to audition for ‘Suffolk’s Got Talent’ at the Leiston Film Theatre. Having heard her singing in the car her son persuaded her to “go for it”. He downloaded some backing tracks and she went to the audition. This was her first time back on stage for over 20 years. She was amazed she got through the auditions and made it into the actual contest singing LeAnn Rimes’ How Do I Live. Judges comments were mixed. One male judge said “you would make a good wedding singer” but a female judge, Helen McDermott, a presenter at Anglia TV commented ” You have a very nice country voice, and fabulous legs!!” She didn’t win the completion and went back to work in the local cafe the next morning. To her surprise, Helen McDermott came in with Wayne Burns (the Theatre proprietor, and producer of the show). She took hold of both her hands and looked her in the eyes and said “I just wanted to come to tell you that you are very good and not to give up”
This recognition gave Gabbi a real boost and she quickly decided that she was going to be a singer again. She searched on the internet for bands that needed a singer. She found two, one was David Crayford-Noble looking for a lead vocalist, and the other was Tony Browne, looking for a singer. She applied for both and it turned out they were both The Barhoppers
Gabbi auditioned for the band on April 1^st and everything seemed to gel. She was given 40 songs to learn in two months so she would be ready to take over from Suzy who was leaving in June. She practiced hard, but got a call from Tony in May to say that Suzy had walked out, and he asked Gabbi if she could start early? Not wanting to let them down, she said “yes”, but knew she really wasn’t ready, and she knows those first few gigs were really bad. As Suzy had left with little advance notice it turned out to be a baptism of fire, for Gabbi, to learn a lot of new songs in a very short period in order to honour a long list of advance bookings. Despite a shaky start, Gabbi quickly settled in with her new band. David and Gabbi got together as a couple in 2012.
In 2014 Tony Browne left the band to spend more time with Sally (his new wife) rather than be travelling around the country every weekend and Gabbi and David carried on as a duo and are still working as such today. A further two CD albums have followed since Gabbi joined the band: ‘Something Old, New, Borrowed and Bluegrass’ and ‘Sounds Like Heaven’. Shortly after joining The Barhoppers, Gabbi started writing songs. Two of these are featured on their first CD. ‘Something,Old ,New, Borrowed and Blue/grass’. These are ‘Once Bitten Twice Shy’ and ‘Fast Train’. Their next CD featured more original songs, the title track ‘Sounds Like Heaven’ and ‘To Have and to Hold’ The original version, and a bonus track of the version they sang to each other at their wedding. This CD also features a song David wrote called ‘Remember’.
Although they class themselves as semi-pro they are happy to travel anywhere in the UK although they try and arrange mini tours to avoid travelling from one end of the country to the other – it doesn’t always work out! When touring they usually travel from gig to gig in their motor home in an attempt to keep costs down. In 2020 The Barhoppers released the single ‘Time Of Change’ about the coronavirus pandemic and was written at the beginning of the first lockdown. They are hoping to record a better version which will ne include on their next CD which is in the pipeline.

Johnny Holland

Research by Nick Catford.

Johnny Holland was born in Dudley in the West Mindlands and still lives in the area. He started singing when he was five or six and, at that time, he had aspirations of being another Elvis or Cliff. He would regularly sing at Christmas parties at school.

He learnt to play guitar while still at school when his mother bought him his first guitar for £7.35 and, when he left at 16, he fronted a number of 60’s/70s cover bands as a singer and guitarist. He worked as an apprentice electrician at this time so his gigs were mainly local and he would just play for fun. The second of these bands was called Ice Cream Tree and Johnny was with them for a couple of years. He then moved on to Revolver and then in 1996 Snakebite, a Whitesnake tribute band. He stopped playing regularly in 2000 when he broke his leg while on stage and settled down to a ‘normal life’ getting married in his late 20s.
He and his wife divorced after 5 years and in his late 30s he was once again bitten by the singing bug and for the first time he began performing as a soloist. Initially it was just Johnny and a guitar and he refused to even use a drum machine until the late 80s as he was very keen to promote live singing. Although he has always liked Country music at this time he was still singing mainly middle of the road and covers on the cabaret and working club circuit. He rarely travelled more than 100 miles from home.
Eventually he got fed up with being a “human juke box” and wanted a change in direction. One year he went to the Notts Americana where he met Carol who had been an avid line dancer for four years. They got on well and went to a few dances together and he quickly knew that this was the music he wanted to play. In c2002 he switched to County music and immediately found the country club circuit was a lot more friendly and rewarding with a much better environment for working. He fulfilled any remaining middle of the road bookings knowing that he would never go back to it. His Country influences at that time were artists like Hal Ketcham, Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson and Toby Keith.
It was a totally different lifestyle with a lot more travelling and sleeping in the van but that didn’t worry Johnny who was now really enjoying his chosen career for the first time. Johnny has always worked as a Country soloist and wouldn’t now consider working in a band because of the economic situation. Although gigs have reduced in recent years he remains busy and has no thought of retiring any time soon.
Johnny does write some of his own songs but these are generally not included in his dance act. During his career he has released eight studio CD albums, the first was called Already Living and the others in order of release are Long Hard Road, Riding Driving Country, Riding High, Keep Country Driving On, Long Time Coming, Out Of My Car and, most recently, Trilogy.

Honky Tonk Strangers

Research by Nick Catford.

In the 1980s and 1990s there were many hundreds of good bands regularly working in clubs and festivals around the UK. Since then, band numbers have dwindled dramatically as have people attending those clubs that have survived and these days few clubs can afford more than a duo. Some bands have survived, generally those who don’t rely on gigs for their living and it was good to see a new 5-piece band, Honky Tonk Strangers emerge onto the club scene in April 2022 in an attempt to buck the trend.

There are some familiar names in the band with a wealth of experience over many years to draw on. The band is fronted by Mark Jacobs who also plays guitar. Andy Twang is on lead guitar and keyboards with Dave Hayward or Dave Wheelhouse (depending on where the band is playing) on pedal steel guitar. Harley Dave is on bass and Mark’s nephew Matt Jacobs is on drums.
Mark Jacobs’ love of Country music started at a young age. He learnt guitar at the age of 14 and he and his brother David formed Country Pride doing a few local gigs, some in care homes. When he was 16, he and David joined the Hank Dalton Band; Mark played guitar and David played pedal steel. Mark stayed with the band until Hank retired and that is when he first met Henry Smith when he joined the Dalton Boys in 1990 as lead singer. In 1995 the band was relaunched as Henry Smith and The Dalton Boys but Mark had left by that time and since then he has worked with many popular bands. He spent some time with Bournemouth 5-piece band Capricorn before joining the Rick McKay Band. The band was very busy including extensive touring in the north east but when they folded Mark joined another busy band Kalibre. Kalibre started as a trio with Bobby Red, Dale James and Bob Dixon. Shane O’Bourne replaced Dale James on lead guitar and he was then replaced by Mark Jacobs. Bobby Reed left the trio for about four years for personal reasons and Mark and Bob Dixon carried on as Kalibre duo. When Bobby Reed came back to Kalibre, Mark Left to form his own band Perfect Strangers. The band comprised Mark Jacobs (lead vocals and lead guitar), Dave Wheelhouse (pedal steel guitar), Terry Goodchild (bass) – Terry had been the bass player in the Hank Dalton Band and then in Henry Smith’s Country Dreams and Matt Jacobs (drums). Matt is Mark’s nephew.
Mark has helped with a number of other bands including Medicine Bow (from Cornwall) and Bakersfield as a trio. Most recently he has been working with Ridgeway Country and the Danny Lee band until the pandemic. He has also worked with Rick McKay in his Johnny Cash Revisited theatre shows from time to time and is currently playing bass in the show.
Andy Twang has also been playing Country music from a young age. At the age of 12 he was given his first guitar and his dad taught him how to play. Two years later he made his first appearance on TV when he performed the instrumental Ghost Riders In The Sky. Not long after that he joined his first Country Band, Clovis whilst still at school. Andy travelled the UK playing his guitar and met many different artists and performers; and quickly realised he wanted to be a Country musician. Since then he has been in many other top British Country bands including Medicine Bow, Diamond T Band, Dusty Rhodes Band, Band Named Sioux, Henry Smith’s Country Dreams and more recently the Ray Peters Band and Ridgeway Country. He has also backed visiting American artists including Billy Yates and Heather Myles. He is also recently rejoined Henry Smith’s Country Dreams switching from lead guitar to bass.
Dave Hayward is one of our most experienced and stylish pedal steel guitarists and over the years he has played with many top Country bands including Al Barrett’s Linemen, Frank Jennings Syndicate, Little Ginny, and Marietta Station. Such was his standing as a player; he has performed at Steel Guitar festivals in the USA, Holland and Ireland; and in the UK at every British Steel Guitar festival at Newbury. He also recorded a very well respected album London to St. Louis in 1980 with Gerry Hogan, another stalwart of the pedal steel guitar. More recently Dave has been a member of the Ray Peters Band and in 2015 he joined Ray in the Smokey Turtle Band. He has also been a member of the Ian Highland Band, Ridgeway Country and before joining the Honky Tonk Strangers. Dave is a member of Honk Tonk Strangers for the majority of bookings but if the band is playing in the south of England, Dave Wheelhouse comes in on pedal steel guitar.
Dave is another very experienced steelie with a wealth of experience. Dave’s dads love of Hawaiian and Country music influenced him from an early age. He used to listen to his dads old 78 records of Felix Mendlessohn and his Hawaiian Serenaders, Jimmy Rogers, Slim Whitman etc. He saw his first pedal steel guitar back in 1971 when he was 13 being played by Gerry Thaine. He saw Gerry again three years later and the two of them struck up a friendship. Dave’s dad took some measurements of Gerry’s steel and a year or so later had built Dave a twin eight string pedal steel having never seen one before. When Dave got married he stopped playing altogether and sold all his gear. Many years later when he was bitten by the bug again after encouragement from his wife but he couldn’t afford a pedal steel and decided to build his own. His background was in engineering so this wasn’t as daunting as it might have seemed. After a lot of research and development he built his first Sheffield pedal steel guitar and was later asked to build one for US pedal steel virtuoso Tommy White. Dave delivered the instrument to Tommy personally in Nashville and was there when he played it on stage at the Grand Ole Opry.
Dave has played with a number of other bands including Lost Highway and Wells Fargo. Having moved to the south of England he has played with Texacana, Ridgeway Country, Perfect Strangers and most recently Area Code 629 who disbanded during the pandemic.
Bass player Harley Dave has a very long history in Country music. He has played Country music since the early 1980s after meeting up with US Country musicians while travelling. His all time guitar hero has always been Bill Kirchen (Comander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen), while his bass hero is Billy Dee (Dale Watson & His Lone Stars). He has played with both of them and is proud to call them friends.
His first ‘serious’ bands were Ivor & the Engines who were a Skiffle-Billy Country band who were featured on BBC TV and recorded an album, Full Steamy Head on Fury Records c early 1990s. He recorded another album, Made in Austin TX with Too Country, their tagline was ‘Tried ‘n’ Tested, a Honkytonk band, sponsored by the Shiner Brewery’; they became a frequent sight in Austin’s best bars during 2002-2005. Shiner Beer has been independently brewed in Shiner, Texas, since 1909.
Dave has played guitar and bass in a number of British Country bands including Texas Nightlife (bass), Kay’D’s Redneck Rodeo (guitar), Shot To Pieces (guitar), Doggone Country Band (guitar), Gone Country (bass, then guitar). Pure Country Band (bass), Johnny Cash Revisited with Rick McKay – theatre show (bass & guitar). He is also currently a member of the Hayley Oliver Band where he plays bass and guitar. Dave has also played in two German bands, Texas Heat and Texas Rooster.
During his long career in Country music Dave has also been a backing musician for Tommy Cash (Johnny’s younger brother), Victoria Boland (Canadian singer, now in Nashville), Joni Harms (US singer/songwriter) and British Country singers Niki Dean, Rosie Horne and Laurie Gregory. He has also been Stage Manager/Sound Engineer for the Notts Americana International Festival, Trip Out Festival and Alan Cackett’s ‘Soul Café’ in Maidstone. He has also done some studio work and US interviews for Country 1035 Radio. In case you wonder about his name, he owns and rides three Harley Davidson motorbikes. He has been riding Harleys for as long as he has liked Country music.
The final member of the band and the only member without a long pedigree in Country music is drummer Matt Jacobs, Mark’s nephew. Have played in Perfect Strangers he is already a top class drummer and worthy of his place in the band.

Mick Sweetman

Research by Nick Catford.

Mick Sweetman’s love for country music started when he was a boy helping out on fairgrounds when they came to his village on the south coast blasting out country music alongside rock n roll. His record collection at that time consisted mainly of Slim Whitman, Charlie Pride and Jim Reeves and as time passed many more were added, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Ray Price, Brooks and Dunn, to name but a few and more recently Ricky Van Shelton.

Mick didn’t start singing until he retired in 2004 at the age of 60. To pass the time he decided to go for singing lessons with Alan Langham from Eastbourne who was part of the original Fifth Avenue band. Alan introduce him to John Lane and Maxine Lowe who were also having singing lessons and the upshot of that was the start of Crystal Clear a Country music group. They played locally in pubs and clubs and although Alan was a competent guitar player they decided to focus on four part harmony and let their voices be their instruments.
As time went by and members moved to different successful musical ventures, Crystal Clear became a trio end ended up being a duo and with Mick and Emma Phillips. They were fortunate enough to appear on television on The Phil Mac Country show and were chosen as the featured artist on The Smith and Rogers Country Show, both of which are/were International. A song writer from Canada, Jim Newcombe sent them some original songs, Moon Over Memphis (written by Newcombe, Taggart and Rayburn), Still 19 (written by Newcombe and Taggart) and I Painted it Blue (written by Newcombe Taggart and Rayburn). Crystal Clear recorded these in Mick’s studio at home and they can be found on YouTube. The songs were played all over the world and Moon Over Memphis ended up reaching No. 11 in Joyce Ramgatie’s International Country Music Chart in February 2015 and was featured as song of the month on Netherlands country radio. Unfortunately Emma had to stop singing for personal reasons in 2019 and having taken 7 months out, Mick decided to go out as a solo artist which he found a bit daunting to start with as he was so used to having someone by my side but his solo work has proved to be successful and he continues to enjoy a good following. At his age, Mick knows he will have to put his feet up at some stage but in his time as a Country singer he has many fantastic memories to look back on. He is so thankful and blessed that his music has made so many people happy. He has met so many lovely people who have become true friends.

Carolann B

Research by Nick Catford.

Carolann B is known affectionately as ‘Yorkshire’s Very Own 1st Lady Of Country Music’. She was born in Denaby Main a small mining village near Rotherham in South Yorkshire. She has been entertaining people since she was three years old initially as a dancer which she continued to do all through school. She learned to play guitar, violin and mandolin at school and this held her in good stead when she later took up singing. She was brought up with country music listening to artists like Marty Robbins and Patsy Cline. Her mum idolised Slim Whitman and her own idols from an early age were George Hamilton 4 and later George Strait and Garth Brooks Her parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all influenced her love of Country music.

After leaving school, she went into amateur dramatics but behind the scenes rather than on stage. Her day job in a newsagent didn’t leave time to be an entertainer so having an art degree she did things like painting the scenery.
Although Carolann has loved Country music from her early years she started singing as a volunteer for the Normandy Veterans Association, entertaining the veterans when she accompanied them to France. She would sing all the popular war time songs and quickly realised how much she enjoyed entertaining people. “Everyone always made a beeline for the buses we were on as they knew they would get entertained all the way there and back” she told me.
When she was performing with the veterans she realised how much she wanted to perform on stage singing to people. Carolann’s unique voice and love of Country Music soon had crowds at a local restaurant where she had started singing as a favour for a friend, asking for more. A request from a local charity for Carolann to sing on stage for the climax to their fund raising weekend launched her to local stardom and gave her the confidence to start a semi-professional career in 1990
Starting with only ‘word of mouth’ bookings, Carolann went from strength to strength wherever she appeared she was given a return booking, this became one of her main stays in creating a firm circle of fans who she counts as friends who follow her from venue to venue. Two local agencies soon took Carolann on and her booking calendar quickly started filling up.
Carolann recorded her first CD album in 1998, it was called Singing For My Supper, a reference to her humble beginnings. Later that year she toured in the USA singing at venues in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee including the Ryman Auditorium. In 1999 she was back in the US touring several US States including North Carolina and Branson Missouri. In May 2001 Carolann, who by now had her recordings played on several radio stations, started work on her second album which was called By Request, This was finished and released in August 2001. During this time Carolann teamed up with top lead guitarist Andy Spivey to form the duo Dixie Diamonds. They recorded an album, A touch Of Fever, so called as the CD contained two songs written by the award winning Rod MacLane from the band Fever. This was released in August 2002 and received enthusiastic reviews in magazines and various radio shows and was requested by DJ’s as far afield as Australia, Malta, Holland and the USA. Fever’s Ken Dunning said of her recently “She’s a lovely lady and a very good friend of the Fever.”
At the beginning of 2004, due to work commitments the duo had to split to allow Andy to concentrate on his band work and to allow Carolann to concentrate on her solo career with a view to starting a band of her own. This came to fruition in 2005 when she launched her own band Highway 4 that featured a young lady drummer (Nikki). However in Nov 2005 when the lead guitarist injured his wrist and withdrew from the band, Carolann decided that it was unfair to the rest of the group to have to work round her busy schedule and she folded the band. Carolann was already committed to over 130 gigs and studio time for a new CD album Easy On The Eyes which was released in November 2006.
2007 saw one of Carolann’s Dreams come true when she opened for one of her childhood idols in September, Mr. Ambassador of Country Music himself, The late George Hamilton IV at the Brigg Pavilion in North Lincolnshire, plus a tour to the USA during November / December that year.
In July 2008 Carolann was nominated for UK Female Country Artiste of the Year. This together with a new Radio Show called Ladies Night the third Friday and Saturday each month on UK Country Radio and a new CD between Heaven & Hell kept her busy. Carolann’s radio show gave an added boost to bookings and her entries into UK Country Radio listeners’ club award were boosted by her airtime exposure leading to the entries being nominated as a finalist in four consecutive years from 2009 – 2012. Another CD album, A Little More Country was released in 2011. The 2012 song entered into the Listeners club award was Don’t tell Me Your Not In Love, a song originally recorded by one of her Country idols George Strait. The song was also featured on her 7th album A Little More Country. An award is for a song by a British or Irish artist that was promoted by that artist on UKCountryRadio. Each artist was allowed to select one of their promoted songs to go forward for the award.
2012 saw a change in direction for Carolann as she started arranging Country themed holiday breaks which proved very successful and very popular with one a year until 2014 when she took a break from holidays. In February 2015, a new acoustic CD with Allan Watkiss as the Carolann B Duo had already been recorded and was released later in the year with the title Acoustic Experience. The holiday breaks returned in 2016 although not all were Country themed. In 2016 Charity work for the Rotherham Young Dementia Group grossed £1500 with a further £2,000 being raised for Sheffield Kidney Unit Research Centre at the Northern General Hospital.
All live performing and holiday bookings ceased in 2020 during the Covid pandemic but now that we are learning to live with Covid the holiday business is once again picking up as are gigs. Although Carolann has now given up her radio show she is still busy working as a solo artist but can also be booked as a duo if required. She currently has two duo partners. She works with long time friend and solo artist in his own right Ben Thompson as the B & C Country Duo. Her other duo partner is another long time friend and solo Country artist Arizona Wes. Together they work as White Rose Duo.

Little Rock

Research by Nick Catford.

Cross Country was formed By Mike McMaster in Teeside in 1984. Initially the band had a female lead singer Nadine Daynes, with Mike McMaster on lead guitar, Vince Holden on rhythm guitar, John Taylor on bass and Joe Bewick on drums. Mike McMaster left his own band in 1985 with Nadine’s boyfriend, Paul Stephenson, coming in on bass and John Taylor moving to lead guitar. This new line up was intended as a temporary measure for an important showcase. For its first two years the band only played local gigs within a 50 mile radius mainly in workingmen’s clubs between the bingo sessions in the north east. John Taylor was keen to tour nationwide and, as a result, Nadine and Paul parted company with the band in 1986. John Taylor switched from lead guitar to rhythm guitar and took over as lead singer. Steve Place came in on lead guitar with Ted Gray on bass. Nadine and Paul (who later married) formed Rebel Rose duo. They were later joined by Dave Wilson and worked as a trio and later a band. Paul and Dave were once in the northeast top band Diablo a very popular piece band who once performed at Wembley Arena.

Cross Country quickly became a very popular Country rock band, a real breath of fresh air playing the very latest songs from the States long before many British Country bands had even heard them. As they started touring extensively for the first time all the major festivals booked them and they regularly played the many US air bases like the popular Rod & Gun club at RAF Lakenheath. They were very well received by US service personnel because their material was so contemporary. They were regularly featured in the British Country Music press and their music was regularly featured on British Country radio. There is no doubt that they were the ‘in demand’ act being booked to support numerous visiting US Country artists including The Bellamy Bros, Tom Paul Glaiser, Albert Lee, Dan Seals, Carl Perkins, Colin Ray, Townes Van Zant, Joe Sun, Little Texas and even our very own Chas & Dave. They were eventually offered a record deal with Way Out West Records but couldn’t agree terms.
By 1994 the band was at the height of its popularity but John Taylor really wanted to play other music genres and he felt that Cross Country had gone as far as it could. Steve Place, Ted Gray, Dave Wilson and Joe Bewick formed a new band at this time called Little Rock which allowed them to continue to earn a living on the traditional Country club circuit. Dave Wilson was the lead vocalist but he left after a couple of years and the band became a trio with Steve Place on lead vocals. Cross Country came off the road in 1995.
With a generous financial incentive from some festival organisers, including one in France, Cross Country reformed in 2005 with the return of John Taylor. During their second period the band constantly featured at festivals and would often be the headline act they day they were on. On one occasion they were on the bill with Mark Chestnut. Little Rock also continued and remained a very popular club act initially with Ted Gray on bass but he retired from the trio in 2009 and was replaced by Derrick Firth (formerly of Dillinger). Ted continued to play with Cross Country until 2011 when he passed away and the band folded.
After the demise of Cross Country John Taylor formed the John Taylor Band which included Steve Place; they won BCMA Band of the Year in 2013 and 2014. Little Rock continued as a trio with Derrick, Steve and Joe and then a duo in 2012 when Joe Bewick retired. Sadly Derrick Firth passed away in 2015 and Chris Ringer came in on bass. Little Rock duo is still performing today. The John Taylor Band folded in December 2014 after which John formed the John P Taylor Band which plays all original material and also has Chris Ringer on bass.

Jon Rowdy

Research by Nick Catford.

Jon Rowdy started singing at the age of 7 in his church choir in Lyndhurst, Hampshire. He emigrated to Australia in 1970 and it’s there he first discovered Country music with artists like Slim Dusty, John Williamson and the Kernahan Family.

He came back to Lyndhurst in 1986 and one night Dusty Rhodes came into his local pub. Jon became friends with Dusty and his band and between 1989 and 1997 he was acting as a roadie for the Dusty Rhodes Band moving to Swindon in 1996 to be with the band. Occasionally he would sing with them as well.
In late 1997 Jon returned to Lyndhurst where he formed Texacana Duo with Nigel Randell. This was later expanded to become the 6-piece Texacana band. The line up was Jon Rowdy (lead vocals), Nigel Randell (harmony vocals and rhythm guitar) Gary Hollister (lead guitar), Dave Wheelhouse (pedal steel guitar), Robbie Whelpdale (bass), Matty Matthews (drums). The band was short lived folding seven months later.
With the demise of Texacana, Jon worked solo until 2008 when he formed a duo with Jonny Ryder called Double JR. The duo lasted for 7 years after which they both went solo. Today Jon still works solo but if required he still occasionally works as Double JR with Jonny Ryder and as a trio the JR Band with Jonny Ryder and a pedal steel guitarist. These have included Davy Adams, Jim Martin, Dave Kirk, Jim Pritchard and Ray Kedge. Twice a year he also works as Double Trouble duo with Dave Montna. He is also the resident singer at Pat’s Country Weekend in Westwood Ho every May and October.
Apart from playing a drum in the Navy, Jon has never played an instrument and considers his voice is his instrument.

Henry Smith

Research by Nick Catford.

Henry Smith was born on 30th January 1972, the son of Henry Smith an established Country singer in Berkshire. Henry Smith Snr grew up in Reading and was brought up on Country music, he first realised his passion for country at a very young age when he used to listen to Country music on a wind up gramophone. This inspired a passion in him to learn and share this love with others by performing. Henry Snr learnt to yodel at a very young age and used to yodel along to Jimmy Rogers. He then started performing as a guest singer with many popular local bands. His sound was unique and he was soon much in demand as he started to build up a fan base.

He loved singing Charley Pride, George Strait, George Jones and Willie Nelson songs and passed his passion for Country music on to his children then grandchildren. Having moved from Reading to Portsmouth where he grew up, Henry Jnr’s interest in Country music blossomed. “I like each and every one of the great traditional country artists” he told me, “George Jones, Randy Travis, George Strait, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and many many more, each of them has been my inspiration and influence throughout different times of my career.”
Henry was weaned on Country music, and never paid much attention to anything else. By the time he joined his first band he was already a Country veteran having joined his dad’s band as occasional drummer from the age of five. Henry Smith the toddler was supposedly asking his old man for his salary even before his gig was over!
When popular Southampton based Hank Dalton retired from his own band, Henry joined them in 1990 when he was 18. Having played with them for a few years in 1995 Henry Smith & The Dalton Boys were relaunched onto the Country circuit with a new line-up. Ian Stewart (lead guitar) was the latest recruit to the band having been standing in with them for a few gigs. When he was asked to join full time he immediately moved from Sheffield to Portsmouth. He started playing in 1973, when he was just 14, joining his parent’s band. Since then he travelled extensively, including America where he played lead guitar in Georgia for two years. Terry Goodchild on bass was the only original member of the Dalton Boys, having been with the band since they started. Greg Padmore on drums was the resident comedian in the band, seeing the funny side of everything. Greg was a top class drummer, learning his trade from his father who was also a top professional drummer in the 60s and 70s. Greg was converted to Country in 1980.
Henry & The Dalton Boys quickly made a very big impression on the country scene, including many festivals and showcases, receiving great reviews from the young to the old, and from fellow artists alike. On stage Henry made full use of his wireless head set by dancing whilst he sang and sometimes joining the audience on the dance floor. This flamboyant stage presence has been part of his performance ever since.
In August 1996 Henry Smith & The Dalton Boys were the cover feature in Southern Country magazine, three months later Henry changed the name of the band to Henry Smith & Country Dreams. The band name remains to this day although they were often called the Henry Smith Band. Six months later, the band released the cd album, What You Can Do Today, which sold in large numbers.
Moving into the 20th century, while many bands fell by the wayside becoming duos or even solos, Henry’s band continued going from strength to strength. There were numerous changes to the line-up though. In 2004 the band comprised Henry Smith (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Robbie Burns aka Chiv (lead guitar), Steve Harrop (pedal steel guitar), Mike Abbott (bass) and Neil Harris (drums). At this time Henry’s father often joined the band on stage as a guest.
By 2007 the line-up had changed again. Dave Hayward (pedal steel guitar) and Clive Grant (bass) joined Henry, Robbie Burns and Neil Harris. When Chiv passed away, another experienced lead guitarist, Andy Twang joined the band. When Dave Hayward left, Scott Newstead (keyboards) joined but his time with Country Dreams was short lived with Derek Thurlby bringing pedal steel guitar back to the band.
In 2009 the band were voted BCMA Band of the Year and again in 2010. Henry himself achieved Entertainer of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Over the years Henry has shared the stage with many visiting overseas artists including Mark Chestnutt, Billy Yates, Billie Jo Spears, Heather Myles, Joni Harms, Eve Sellis and Danni Lee. He recorded a duet, Fooling Myself, with Billy Yates which reached number three in the International Independent Chart.
During his career he has toured with his band widely in Britain and Europe with one excursion to Nabraska, USA, he is hoping he will be able to do it all over again in the near future. Seven out of 11 cd albums so far released have hit the radio charts, these include Mum And Dad, Hello DJ (2004), Welcome To My World (2004), There Goes, I Hope She Falls and Enough Tequila. Henry does write some of his own songs but never includes more than one on any of his albums. The title song on his 2004 album, Hello DJ, is one of his own.
In 2016 Henry first noticed a problem with his voice as he was unable to hit some of the notes, this then progressed to the odd word that just wouldn’t come out of his mouth and he was forced to give up singing. He was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a neurologic disorder that can affect the voice and speech causing the muscles that generate a person’s voice to go into periods of spasm.
After receiving treatment for the condition for six years, initially from the NHS but later with the help of a private London specialist partially paid for by crowdfunding, Henry started to get his voice back in late 2021 and he quickly knew it was time to reform Country Dreams and make a very welcome return to the Country circuit in late summer 2022. Performing to the public has always been his passion and he once said his biggest regret in life was not being born in Nashville, Tennessee.
The current line-up of Country Dreams is with all familiar faces. Joining Henry Smith (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) is Mark Jacobs (lead guitar and vocals). Mark and Henry have been the best of friends and have worked together on and off for over 30 years. Mark’s love for Country music started at a young age, he learnt guitar at the age of 14, joining the Southampton based Hank Dalton Band when he was 16. He stayed with the band until Hank retired and that is when he first met Henry Smith when he joined the Dalton Boys in 1990 as lead singer. By 1995 Mark had left the Dalton Boys and since then he has worked with many popular bands including The Rick McKay Band, Kalibre and his own band, Perfect Strangers. Most recently he has been working with Ridgeway Country until forming his own new band, Honky Tonk Strangers, which includes other members of Country Dreams.
Dave Hayward (pedal steel guitar) has made a welcome return to the band. He is one of our most experienced and stylish pedal steel guitarists and over the years he has played with many top Country bands including Al Barrett’s Linemen, Frank Jennings Syndicate, Little Ginny, and Marietta Station. Such was his standing as a player; he has performed at steel guitar festivals in the USA, Holland and Ireland; and in the UK at every British steel guitar festival at Newbury. He also recorded a very well respected album entitled London to St Louis in 1980 with Gerry Hogan, another stalwart of the pedal steel guitar. More recently Dave has been a member of the Ray Peters Band and in 2015 he joined Ray in the Smokey Turtle Band. He has also been a member of the Ian Highland Band, Ridgeway Country and has recently joined Mark Jacobs as a member of the Honky Tonk Strangers.
Andy Twang returns to the band but now plays bass rather than lead guitar. Like other members of Henry’s band Andy has been playing Country music from a young age. At the age of 12 he was given his first guitar and his dad taught him how to play. Two years later he made his first appearance on television when he performed the instrumental Ghost Riders In The Sky. Not long after that he joined his first Country band, whilst still at school. Andy travelled the UK playing his guitar and met many different artists and performers; and quickly realised he wanted to be a Country musician. Since then he has been in many British Country bands including Clovis, Medicine Bow, Diamond T Band, Dusty Rhodes Band, Band Named Sioux and more recently the Ray Peters Band and Ridgeway Country. He has also backed visiting American artists including Billy Yates and Heather Myles. He is also a member of Mark Jacob’s Honk Tonk Strangers.
Neil Harris on drums is a very experienced drummer having played with Henry for many years. Having played all styles of music including being a member of late 80’s pop band Halo James (they had a number six chart hit with Could Have Told You So). He first came onto the Country scene as a member of the Longriders. During his time with that band they worked with artists like Michael Twitty (son of Conway Twitty) and John Permenter.
With Henry back on stage he is also now working with his son Jamie who could soon be following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps. Jamie Smith got the performing bug at a very young age and loves it. He’s been working with Henry on his first studio album and Henry really believes he’s got the potential to become a big name on the Country scene.

Theresa Coupland

Research by Nick Catford.

Theresa Coupland is from Colchester in Essex. She was born into a family of music which has been with her all through her life. She was strongly influenced by her father as they both shared a passion for music. She started singing in her dad’s rock ‘n’ roll band Revival when she was 14 and quickly realised this was the career she wanted to follow but not before she had raised a family.

She started singing Country music in the early years of the 20th century but initially this was only at home. It wasn’t until 2014 that she made tentative steps towards launching a Country career as a solo artist. So far this has been limited to making guest appearances with other artists like Henry Smith, Ian Highland Band and Glenn Rogers.
She has appeared on TV numerous times and worked with and alongside some great artists on the country scene. Theresa has released 2 studio albums My Crazy Life and Chances and is currently working with Henry Smith to produce a third studio album.
She lists her main influences as Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Garth Brooks, and George Strait and of course her father and Henry Smith who she thanks for helping to build up her confidence and point her in the right direction. She likes working with bands but for now she is happy to continue as a solo singer.

Darren Busby Duo

Research by Nick Catford.

Darren Busby became a fan of Country music long before he left school. He would come home from school and play his father’s records over and over. He soon began singing along with songs, in particular Slim Whitman and Marty Robbins. He told me “I like all types of music but from that age it was always Country music that attracted me, it was head and shoulders above everything else.”

He started going to a Country music club at the Carnival Inn in his home town of Barton on Humber with his parents and it is there that he met and quickly became very friendly with Country singer Dale Green who ran the club. Since 1975, Dale Green had fronted a local five piece band Dale Green and the Country Ramblers whose members all came from Barton.
It was quickly apparent to Dale that Darren wanted to be a Country singer and he sung for the first time in public at the club in 1977 when he was 14 and everything snowballed from there. Dale took him under his wing and advised him what he needed to pursue his ambition to become a Country singer. Darren left school in 1979 and quickly did his first full evening gig at the Red Lion in Barton.
He joined some friends in a local band Klass A, as the drummer and singer. The band was short lived but while with them he had learned a few guitar chords and joined his uncle Sean Busby playing bass in Southern Pride. They stayed together until 1987 when he decided to go solo and was eventually seen by agent/promoter, Frank Hambleton after Darren had been recommended to him by Country singer Ricki Sylva. Frank was impressed by Darren and felt the two of them would work well together and he became his manager and friend in 1990. In 1992 Frank was keen Darren should front a band and he already had an existing band in mind. His nephew Phil Baker played in a newly formed punk band with a girl singer which was managed by his son Mark. Frank didn’t think the girl singer was any good and he persuaded the band to switch from punk to Country with Darren fronting. At that time the band didn’t have a name. One of the songs Darren loved to sing was JJ Cale’s The Breeze. Frank suggested the band should become The Breeze and Darren Busby and The Breeze was launched on the Country circuit. The line up was Darren Busby (lead vocal and rhythm guitar), Andy Mottram (lead guitar), Phil Baker (bass), Steve Morris (keyboards) and Gareth Ashton (drums).
Darren still continued to work as a soloist as well as fronting the band. Frank felt that the band was a little rough around the edges at this time but they were keen to learn and he felt they had the potential to become one of the best bands on the Country circuit. The band quickly proved very popular but could only play part time. Together with his solo bookings Darren had a very full diary and was soon working most nights while continuing to work full time as a welder during the day. Frank took him to Nashville for five days in 1992. Primarily the trip was to meet up with Sylvie and Her Silver Dollar Band but while there, Darren did a couple of gigs singing at Tootsies Bar and Ernest Tubb’s Midnight Jamboree. He also went into a recording studio and recorded a four track cassette which was sold at gigs back home.
With a mortgage and two small children to support the demanding workload was killing him and he knew he had to go fully pro as a musician or cut down drastically on gigs to concentrate on his day job. Frank advised him to keep his day job and only accept gigs close to his home. It was a mutual decision that after five years managing Darren, Frank would stand down as his manager and Darren would take his own solo bookings.
Darren very reluctantly quit The Breeze in 1995 after little more than 18 months but not before finding a very worthy replacement. Gary Perkins was looking for a young band to work with. He had seen Darren and the Breeze and having heard they were no longer playing together he spoke to Frank who put him in touch with the Breeze’s Phil Baker and it wasn’t long before Gary Perkins and The Breeze began their Country journey.
The British Country Music Hall of Fame’s first member, Keith Manifold once advised Darren to give up his day job and go full time as a professional singer. Darren worked as a soloist for two years but in 1998 he finally made the decision to take Keith’s advice and go fully pro as a musician giving up his very well paid job as a welder.
In 2001 Darren thought his singing days were over when he developed a polyp on his vocal chords but after an operation to remove the polyp Darren feels his voice has come back better and stronger than ever. Turning to song writing he wrote six songs including Bachelor Days which was voted runner up in the UK Radio Awards best new song in 2001. He hasn’t written anything since but is considering writing again in the future.
In 2010 Darren was once again interested in working with a band and he joined an existing band called Atlanta. Darren was the lead vocalist and the other band members were John Davis (guitar) Tony (lead guitar) Paolo (bass) and Robbie (drums). They played their first gig in Leeds in October 2010 and stayed together for two years playing occasional gigs.
In June 2011, Darren did a charity bike ride with Darren Binns and friends from Lands End to John O’Groats raising money for Cancer Research, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the NACC. Collecting money at gigs they raised over £19,000.00.
Over the 43 years that Darren has been singing he has amassed a staggering 159 national and club awards including 2004 and 2005 when he was voted BCMA Solo Artist Of The Year. Also in 2005 he won BCMA Album Of The Year. More BCMA awards followed in 2010 when he won Solo Artist Of The Year again and Male Vocalist Of The Year which he won again in 2011. BCMA Solo Act Of The Year 2013 and 2014. CCN Male Vocalist Of The Year in 2017 and CCN Entertainer Of The Year in 2018. In 2016 he was the 39th inductee into the British Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 2015 Darren’s daughter Rachel married Darren Binns who with his father Don has been performing as Clear Cut duo since 1998.
Donald Allan Binns learnt classical guitar at the age of 11 and in his teens played in a number of pop bands; first came The Prey and then The Assassins. Other short lived bands followed until one evening he went to a Country music function at a Leeds pub and saw a local artist, Hank Rogers performing. After another Country gig, where he saw Doncaster Country duo Pat and Roger Johns, Don was quickly hooked on Country music and realised that is what he wanted to play in the future. He joined his first Country band, Wild Country, as a guitarist, in 1974 and they quickly made an impression touring in the UK and Germany where they worked at a number of US airbases. The line up was Wild Bill Sykes (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Don Binns (lead guitar), Mick Hinchcliffe (bass) and Tim Delaney (drums)
By the late 1970s, Don formed a new band, Nightrider, with the drummer from Wild Country and they went on to become one of the most successful British bands at that time making the finals of the Silk Cut Country Music Talent Competition, part of Mervyn Conn’s International Festival Of Country Music at Wembley Arena. The line up was Don Binns (lead guitar), Graham Hall – now working on UK Country Radio (rhythm guitar), Ron Simons – later Mick Winterburn (bass), Tim Delaney (drums)
Next Don formed Norwood Duo with drummer Tim Delaney. They travelled up and down the UK performing at country venues and working men’s clubs, supporting several established artistes including Bernard Manning and Karl Denver.
Initially, Don was a guitarist, but in 1988 he started singing as well, forming a duo with his 14 year old daughter Donna who played bass and sung harmony vocals. At this time he started using his middle name as his stage name and Don Binns became Don Allan. On their first gig in Halifax, they shared the bill with two new young singers, Becky Haley and her sister Joanne. The following year, Don’s 10 year old son Darren joined the family act. He initially wanted to be a drummer but was persuaded to learn keyboard instead and after learning three chords he made his debut on the Country club scene playing keyboard one set a night at weekends. As a trio they were known as the Don Allan Family Band. Like is father Darren used his middle name as his stage name becoming Darren Anthony.
In 1994 Donna retired from the trio to pursue a career away from music and Don then went solo with Darren sometimes joining him at weekends and during school holidays. In the same year Darren left school, with his heart set on a career in Country music. He and Don joined a four piece band called Sundown and the band quickly proved popular on the circuit winning a number of club awards. The line up was Don Allan (lead vocal and lead guitar), Darren Anthony (keyboards), Mike Abbott [formerly with Clydes Country] – later Mick Winterburn and Simon Kemp (bass) and Tim Delaney (drums). Tim was later replaced by Nick Carter. They backed American singer Lola Cagle on her only UK tour, Kris Kelly and X factor/Fame Academy star Carolyne Pool and even performed in front of royalty. On 4^th July one year the band were booked to play at Elisabeth Murdoch (daughter of Rupert Murdoch) house in London. One of the guests there was Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
Sundown disbanded in August 1998 and Don and Darren immediately formed Clear Cut duo. Don was the lead singer and played lead guitar, Spanish guitar and mandolin while Darren added harmony vocals and played keyboards, accordion, guitar and mandolin as well as being the spokesman for the duo.
As well as singing in the duo, Clear Cut ran their own country music club with the help of Don’s wife Maureen and other friends from Leeds. The Clear Cut CMC was a Wednesday concert club that ran monthly for 4 – 5 years at the Leeds Anglers Club who ran their own weekly Country club on a Saturday.
During the covid pandemic Don decided to retire from singing and Clear Cut came off the road. With time on his hands, and still having a love of playing Country music Darren Binns teamed with his father in law Darren Busby and the Darren Busby duo played their first gig at Gilly’s Traditional CMC in Wakefield in October 2021.
During his career Darren Busby has recorded about 20 albums, Initially these were cassette albums and later CD albums. His first album She’s Mine was released in 1986 and his second, Angels Of Mine was released in 1990. Other albums included Over The Years (1998), You Can’t Walk The Road Alone and From Here To Eternity. His latest album, Looking Back, is a compilation of tracks from previous albums. There was also an EP At The End Of The Day with five original tracks by Vic Holdroyd. All his early albums were recorded at Dale Green’s studio at his house and included Dale playing lead guitar.
Darren has never toured abroad during his career but he did have a residency on the Hull – Zeebrugge ferry. During his years on the road Darren’s father Terry has been his biggest supporter and he still comes to most of Darren’s gigs to share the driving and act as his roadie.

Cardy &. Coke

Research by Nick Catford.

Wes Cardy has loved country music since first hearing Johnny Cash in his teens. He formed his first band in 1975 playing MOR on the pub and club circuit. The band had the rather scandalous name of Soft Porn but this was soon changed to Sweet Corn. They remained together for 2-3 years with several changes of line up. During this period Wes built up valuable experience through entertaining in pubs and clubs.

Following the demise of Sweet Corn. Wes played in two country bands, Rustler and Cross Country before forming the Cardy Baker Duo with Sue Baker.
In 1980 he went solo and turned fully pro making the first of eleven visits to Norway where he was well received with a programme that was predominantly country and folk which people liked over there. By this time, he was writing a lot of songs, and one in particular, Cuckoo Hill became very popular with his Norwegian audience.
Wes and Jan Mellon first met in c1976 at the Colne Valley Theatre Group in Suffolk where they were both members, Wes was a founder member of the group and wrote and directed a number of plays and variety shows for them. Coming from a musical background, most of Jan’s early musical years were involved with school choirs, amateur dramatics and music hall performing at dances close to her home. At one time she had piano lessons the dropping of which she now deeply regrets. Still, the rudiments learned in the music lessons helped her pick up the guitar (and later mandolin) and helped her with her first love, harmony singing. Jan also sung with her ex at open mic nights in her local pub. Later, when Wes was writing and directing a musical based on country music, Jan helped with some of the lyrics for the songs and this sowed the seeds for later song writing.
After singing in a couple of local bands, Shimano and an un-named trio that Wes lovingly called Jack-Nee-Jan, Wes asked Jan to join him in a new duo and in December 1986 they formed Cardy and Coke. This was Jan’s first experience of singing Country. It wasn’t until she heard the songs of Merle Haggard (as sung by Wes) that the doors to a whole new world of wonderful music were opened.
The duo instantly proved popular and in 1989 they expanded to become the five piece Wes Cardy band which ran alongside Cardy and Coke duo. The original rehearsal line up comprised Wes Cardy (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Jan Mellon (lead vocals, acoustic guitar and mandolin), Mick Hunt (bass), Tom Crosthwaite (lead guitar) and Paul Grist (drums). By the time the band started gigging Tom was replaced by Robbie Bearns as he had no transport and couldn’t get to gigs.
From the start, Wes and Jan were keen that the band should include original songs in their repertoire. These included British, Irish and even some Norwegian songs. One of Wes’ own songs, One More Story, co written with Rupert Kingston was receiving a lot of air play on local radio at this time. This was Jan’s first ‘proper band’, and they consider part of their later success was having a male and female front line. Jan has always shared lead vocals with Wes.
The band made a rocky start with several changes in personnel with some of the musicians being ‘poached’ by other bands, but by the Summer of 1990 their line up was more settled and comprised: Wes Cardy (lead vocals and rhythm guitar). Jan Mellon (lead vocals, acoustic guitar and mandolin). Tony Ryan (pedal steel guitar). Tony Ryan was at ease playing behind a vocalist or as an instrumental soloist. He was a well respected player and appeared each year at the prestigious Festival of Steel Guitar at Newbury. At this time, Tony was the bands most recent recruit with a long career in country music having previously played with Hobo and Alberta. Prior to Tony joining, the band had a lead guitarist so his arrival gave them a new Country sound although he did play lead guitar on a couple of songs. Kelvin (Kevin) Ward (bass). Kelvin had played in many bands including Tawney and Rustler. He was also a lover of jazz and played a jazz guitar. Kelvin had a reputation for never smiling and became known as the ‘rotating manikin’ – if you see him, try and make him smile! Bill Johnson (drums). Bill had 15 years playing with MOR bands and only recently switched to country before joining Wes.
Wes’ long standing conviction that home grown British Country Music stands alongside the best of American imports, prompted him to defy his critics and c1991 he promoted what became a sell-out annual event, the All British Show, at the Halstead Empire, in North Essex.
As a respected songwriter in his own right, Wes has on three occasions won the UK Country Radio Awards, twice for Best Song in 1995 with Special Absent Friends co-written with Greg Tingey (this also received a nomination in the Great British Country Music Awards) and in 1998 with All That I Do Is For You co-written with Jan Mellon. The bands album, The Collection, containing these songs was voted Listeners’ Choice Album of the Year in 1998. Another of his songs Cuckoo Hill which had been popular in Norway in the 80s, was nominated in 1996 but was pipped to the post by Charlie Landsborough’s What Colour Is The Wind and Jimmy Nail’s Crocodile Shoes.
Over the years, the band have supported many famous acts including Gerry and The Pacemakers, Marty Wilde, The Bachelors, Raymond Froggatt, Charlie Landsborough, George Hamilton IV, Pete Sayers and even Wes’ all time hero, Ken Dodd!
With the band and duo, Wes and Jan quickly established a loyal following in East Anglia and the south east. By the turn of the 20th century however, band bookings dwindled as many clubs started booking only solos and duos in an attempt to keep costs down. The band played their last gig at Christmas 2000. There had been many changes in personnel over the 12 years they were playing and the last line up of the band included Dave Ainsworth (bass), Rob Turville (lead guitar) and Matt Cantwell (drums).
As with anything in life, luck plays as large a hand as talent and with the help of friends, Wes’ songs reached the ears of Ken Dodd and Daniel O’Donnell both of whom recognised the potential of Special Absent Friends. Ken Dodd started closing his theatre shows around the UK with the song and in 2001 recorded it on an album called Absent Friends for sale at his shows. Daniel O’Donnell also recorded (Our) Special Absent Friends on his 1997 album of the same name and another of Wes’ songs Love Me (I Love You) co-written with Charlie Ruffle. When I Needed You (co-written with Joan Hart) was short listed for Listeners’ Choice in the UK Country Radio Awards 2000. In 2001 Cardy and Coke recorded another album of mostly original songs entitled My Love Song For You with two songs penned by Jan.
Cardy and Coke went from strength not only at clubs and festivals but also in theatres in East Anglia. In 2007 Wes and Jan teamed up with Steve Cherelle in a theatre show, Remembering John Denver celebrating his memory and his music 10 years after his death. This show continued on and off for 10 years.
Over the years the band, and before they were formed, Cardy and Coke Duo, have recorded many live albums, far too many to list individually. The first of these were cassette albums but later ones were cds. These have appeared very regularly to represent the evolving repertoire of songs. Many of the albums have included original songs often written or co-written by Wes and Jan. Albums containing original songs have always proved to be the best sellers.
36 years after Cardy and Coke was formed, Jan and Wes are still together. During lockdown they both recorded videos separately and once they were able to form a bubble together, like many other artists they made regular live streams and also collaborated on videos with George Paying, Jim Martin and Julie Dawn.
With two years off during the pandemic, the increased cost of fuel, the stresses of life on the road along with personal circumstances led them re-evaluate the priorities in their lives. Whilst they still love making music together, they have now cut back on travelling, picking and choosing where they play. Jan stressed “we are still very much alive if not kicking quite so high!”

Steve Hanks

Research by Nick Catford.

Steve Hancock comes from Doncaster, South Yorkshire and his father Gordon was in a popular Country trio, Dusty Road in the early 1980s. The line up was Dave Hepworth (pedal steel guitar, lead guitar, banjo and vocals), Gordon Hancock (Rhythm guitar and vocals) and Chris Hartle (bass and vocals). Despite this upbringing in Country music, Steve was a late comer, not learning to play guitar till he was 20 when we was working as a RAF technician in Norfolk. Having learnt to play, he soon joined his first band, Country Style in which he played lead guitar and sung harmony vocals. The line up was Steve Hancock (lead guitar), Barry Loftus (rhythm guitar), Alan Gosling (bass), and David Smith (drums) with a young girl called Lisa on vocals. After a year with them he left in the early-1980s to front his own band Moonshine. The line up was Steve Hancock (lead vocals and lead guitar), Nigel Martin (guitar and keys) and Dave Bywaters (drums). The band quickly became popular in the Norfolk area. By the mid-1980s, Steve left the RAF and took full time employment working as a fitter at Norwich Airport. Travelling 50 miles to work and working in a band proved too much, and he had to leave Moonshine but he soon found a place as a bass player in a well established Irish band from Norwich called Spiral. The line up was Bill Docherty (vocals and rhythm guitar). David Downs (lead guitar), Steve Hampton (bass and vocals), Eric Coulson (pedal steel guitar, electric guitar and vocals) and Keith Greentree – later replaced by Collin Burrage (drums).

In the late 1980s, it was time for Steve to move on when he left Norfolk and moved back to Doncaster where he took full time employment at RAF Finningley. By now, Country music was in his blood and soon joined another Country band playing bass in Reno. The line-up was Jed Armstrong (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Steve Hampton (bass and vocals), Scott Foster (lead guitar and vocals) and Bill Haynes (drums). After being made redundant after 18 months and with no likelihood of another job in the aircraft industry with the decline in the employment market, Steve decided to turn fully pro as a musician; this is something he had always wanted to do but never had the nerve. He quickly teamed up with Keith Sterling to form the duo Hanks & Silva. It was at this time that that Steve Hancock became Steve Hanks. The new duo quickly made an impression on the local club scene. In 1993 Nick Payne joined them on pedal steel guitar and Tony Austin replaced Keith Sterling and the duo became the Steve Hanks Band.
Despite a few changes in line up which included bass player Stuart Ramsden in 1996 and multi-instrumentalist Steve Harrop in 1998 and a change of name from Band to Trio, they continued to prosper into the 21st century. Steve Harrop’s son Robben took the place of Stuart in October 2000. At the end of May 2002 the band came off the road and Steve Hanks launched his solo career. During the 1990s and early 2000s The Steve Hanks band recorded a couple of cassette albums and a CD album but sales were never good and there have been no further albums.
After a couple of years as a soloist Steve teamed up with Tony Hornsby, another former member of the Steve Hanks Trio in a new duo and, in 2006, he joined multi-instrumentalist Jon J Paul in a new trio called C’est La Vie. The John J Paul Band from Lincolnshire was one of the top bands on the club circuit in the East of England in the 1990s. The new trio comprised John J Paul (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard and accordion), Steve Hanks (lead vocals and guitar) and Tony Hornsby (bass).
C’est La Vie toured for 14 months before Steve decided on a career change. C’est La Vie carried on and expanded to a 4-piece band. Steve first trained as a teacher but another career change came in 2009 when he became a contract manager for a major welfare-to-work organisation. He was, ironically, made redundant in January 2012 as a result of changes in government funding and restructuring. It was logical for him to return to the Country circuit as a soloist with a brief return to teaching during lockdown. He also now provides the PA for many Country events and between that and singing he is still much in demand.
Steve has also worked as a TV Actor/Extra and has had numerous appearances in programme’s such as Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Heartbeat The Upper Hand and speaking parts in A Touch of Frost and Coronation Street as well as several commercials and a couple of films.
Although always a prolific songwriter Steve initially avoided singing his own songs until 2002 when he was asked to write a song for a film called Among Giants, The song Why wasn’t used in the film for copyright reasons but the response he got from playing the song live has prompted him to continue writing.

Billy Levin Band

Research by Nick Catford.

Kent singer \ songwriter Billy Levin has been in a number of Country bands over the years. In the mid 80s he was in a band called Drunk and Crazy with brother Tommy. They had a Sunday residency at the Fishing Smack pub in Barking, Essex. The band split when the lead singer and bass player moved to Yarmouth so Billy, Tommy and Wag (the fiddle player) teamed up with Trevor Kelly and Mike Scott Tracy. The band eventually became Trevor Kelly and the Lonestar Flyers.

Circa 1990 Billy joined Tallahassee working alongside Lyn Jones, Peter Pedro Barlow (formerly in the Jailhouse Band) and Jason Curtis. They recorded a cassette album called The Trot. Billy stayed with Tallahassee for two and a half years, eventually leaving to team up with his brother again in a new band, The Hollywood Cowboys. The line-up was Billy Levin (lead vocal and lead guitar), Tommy Levin (lead vocal and lead guitar) Ricky Kent (bass) and Adrian Bashford (drums). The band was short lived and, by the mid 90s, Billy joined Johnny Earle and Southern Star. Johnny Earle had replaced John Douglas when John left his own band to form the John Douglas Band.
In 1998, Geoff Eatwell left the popular Kent band Plain Loco and was replaced by Billy Levin. As Billy is a guitarist, this was the first time Plain Loco didn’t have pedal steel guitar in the lineup. In 1999 Plain Loco recorded the CD album Blue Memory; an album still considered to be a milestone in British country music. It is an album of all original songs. Billy Levin contributed five songs including Call me when it’s over and including the title song, three were co-written by Tony Crooks. The album was recorded in Sean Kenny’s studio and featured Karl Brazil on drums; Karl is now in Robbie Williams’ and James Blunt’s band.
In mid-2001 Billy Levin left and Plain Loco became a duo with Steve Jay and Tony Crooks. Billy’s next band was Dartford Crossing, but not being keen on touring they quickly folded. It was, at this time, that Billy Lervin realised he never wanted to work with backing tracks again. He bought a PA and formed his own Billy Levin Band; he told me recently “You can’t beat the buzz playing with a full band”. Over the years the band was also known as the Twangdaddies, a name that wasn’t always popular and is now usually referred to as Billy’s Band. The name come from the lyrics of Brad Paisley’s song Oh Yeah, You’re Gone – ‘Billy’s band is playing at the Canyon club on Friday’.
In 2012 Billy was lead guitarist \ vocalist in the reformed Porridge Country Band with brothers Ed and John Paine and their wives Bev and Sandie who had been playing together since 1975, forming the original Porridge band with Ed Pearson in 1989. The reformed Porridge Band recruited both Roger Humphries and Clive Lawrence. Clive only stayed a short while and was soon replaced by Billy Levin. Billy and Roger Humphries left the band in 2013 with Dave Lane replacing them both on lead guitar. From then on Billy concentrated on fronting his own band which also included Roger Humphries for a while. The current line up is Billy Levin (lead vocals and lead guitar), Steve Crispe (lead guitar and vocals), John Davis (bass and vocals) and Ali Clarke (drums). In the 1980s Steve Crispe has been a member of Roger Humphries band and later Greta and the Strayshots.

Capricorn

Research by Nick Catford.

Capricorn duo was formed in 1979 when Robin Williams, a veteran of many Country music bands in Southern England advertised for someone to join him in a new duo. That someone was John Scott. John Scott has been a Country music fan as far back as he can remember. He recalls family parties, and the singing of Country songs as well as traditional Scottish and Irish ones, where he always had to do a turn, although from behind, the settee sometimes! His greatest influences in those days were George Jones, Buck Owens and Hank Williams. A week didn’t go by without buying an LP and writing down the words of the songs! It wasn’t only the songs that appealed, but also, Country music’s intricate history, which he still loves to explore.
From the age of 16, he sang in halls in his native Glasgow and helped to run a Country club. Later, with a friend, he performed in pubs and community centres, singing Everly and Louvin Brothers songs. John joined the army in 1976 aged 19, and spent two years trying to convert West German folk club audiences to Country music. He likes to think he had some success! He formed Pure Country duo with Janine Clarke, performing George Jones and Tammy Wynette songs mainly in the folk clubs at British army bases. On leaving the army he settled in Salisbury where, in 1979, he answered Robin’s advertisement.
John has met many of Country music’s major stars from Garth Brooks to Kitty Wells, and still remembers, as a 17 year old, how his knees trembled the first time he met George Jones. He is proud to have sung a couple of songs in Tootsie’s Orchard Lounge in Nashville and he even sang and acted in a Scottish Tattoo at the Albert Hall in front of 5000 people.
Robin and John chose the name Capricorn for their new venture as it was their joint star sign. They worked locally in Country clubs, pubs and social clubs playing mainly popular Country music. In the mid 1980s, Robin decided to take a break from singing and went to America for a 6-month holiday. John Scott didn’t want to give up singing during this time or go solo so, instead, he put a new 4-piece Capricorn band together while John was away.
The band comprised John Scott (Lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Jim Pritchard (Pedal steel guitar). Terry Parkinson (Bass) and either Bill Street or whichever dep drummer was available. Following his return from the US and realising there was no longer a place for him in Capricorn, Robin tried to form another band with local musicians but nothing came of it. Mike Pretty joined the band as full time drummer in 1991.
Mike Pretty was born in Bournemouth and grew up listening to the likes of Johnny Ray, Guy Mitchell and Frankie Laine on the radio. Then, like many of his generation, rock ‘n’ roll arrived and had a profound effect on him making him want to be part of it. He also discovered Johnny Cash, and it was on hearing The Ways Of A Woman In Love that his lifelong love affair with Country music began.
Mike started out as a singer but soon discovered his drumming ability, and for the princely sum of £25 he acquired his first drum kit. This led to the formation of Ricky Marshall and the Deputies (circa 1960) a Country-sounding name but heavily influenced by Cliff and the Shadows. Mike’s involvement lasted until 1962, when his interest in cycle racing brought an end to his musical career, or so he thought. However, by 1965 he began singing again, this time with a piano player, though after a year or so his showbiz career was once again put on hold. Old habits die hard though and his passionate interest in Country music, plus his ever-increasing record collection, combined to encourage Mike’s eventual return to playing. An informal jam session in 1979 led to the formation of the Cottonwood Country Band and for the next 12 years Mike was their drummer, until a chance meeting with John Scott in 1991 resulted in Mike joining Capricorn. Among Mike’s many favourite singers are Rodney Crowell, Bobby Bare, Ed Bruce and Jimmy Buffet.

Capricorn carried on until the mid-90s when an outstanding American guitarist from Colorado, James Furguson came in and brought the band up to a 5-piece.
In 1996 Mike Loft replaced Terry Parkinson who wasn’t really a Country bass player. Initially hooked on The Shadows, Mike started playing guitar at the age of 12 when he formed a school band. By the age of 15 he was doing private gigs and playing in pubs. He played in a rhythm and blues band on leaving school, based around Basingstoke and Reading. He then moved to Poole, and helped form Cincinnati Hog Farm in 1971, swapping over to bass guitar and playing a mixture of Country/folk/fun songs all around the Bounemouth area.
In 1975 he formed Three ‘n’ Easy with two former Hog Farm members, who, with the addition of a drummer in 1977, rebranded themselves as Western Approach, and were successful on the southern Country scene for 18 years, eventually disbanding in 1995. Mike then helped form Dorset-based Shameless, who performed a programme of high energy, modern Country material; a year later he joined Capricorn.
Shortly after Mike’s arrival, James Furguson left after 18 months with the band and Mark Jacobs came in on lead guitar. At this time, Capricorn were still a semi-pro band and Mark wanted a full time guitarist job so he only stayed with Capricorn for a while, eventually leaving to join Rick McKay who was putting together a new pro band. Instead, Rick McKay went to America so Mark ended up joining Kaliber. Next to leave was steelie Jim Pritchard which took Capricorn back to a 4-piece. Andrew Fletcher (Fletch) then joined the band as lead guitarist. He was a good musician but not really a Country player and many people considered him to be too rocky so his time with the band was short. The band advertised for a new Country guitarist although they had in mind Pat O’Dea who John already knew. By a strange coincidence, Pat O’Dea answered their ad and joined the band in 2003 as lead guitarist and vocalist. Pat 0’Dea was born in Ireland with a lifelong love for his native music heritage. Pat was bitten by the Country music bug on first hearing Marty Robbins’ El Paso. He initially began performing back in the ’60s with a Merseyside band The Lounge Lizards then worked as a solo singer/guitarist in London and Liverpool, before forming his own band, After Hours in Dorset, in the mid 70’s playing Country, blues and rock music.
Pat joined Bridport band Okie in the late 1970s, then moved to Bournemouth, singing and playing guitar in numerous club and for 10 years. In 1990 he helped form The Buckin‘ Broncos, who toured successfully around the southern Country circuit before disbanding in 1999. Pat then played locally again in Bournemouth before seeing John’s ad joining Capricorn.
Pat is also a prolific songwriter, writing and recording under the name Owen Moore. His material is generally folky with an Irish flavour and doesn’t feature in Capricorn’s repertoire. Over the years Capricorn won many club awards including the Southern Country (Magazine) Club Band of the year in 2008.
Around 2010 veteran Country singer Frank Jennings decided to revive his career. Many people consider Frank to be one of the best British Country singers. He achieved national recognition winning Opportunity Knocks in 1975 with his band, Syndicate. Frank Jennings Syndicate were one of the first UK bands to get a major label deal and during his long career he has recorded at Abbey Road for EMI and also in Nashville, where he appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, he has also appeared at the London Palladium. He toured in the UK opening for major artists like Don Williams and Tammy Wynette. During his revival, Frank was backed by Capricorn who in fact became the new ‘Syndicate’. Frank Jennings was inducted into the British Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2013. Frank has now retired from singing.
In 2012 John Scott was forced to take a year away from the band for medical treatment. This would have brought them down to a trio but they were able to find a new steel player, Mike Wrixton who joined the band in June that year. Mike was born in Bridport, Dorset and his roots come from a musical family where his father played piano and piano accordion in local pubs, his mother played piano and his brother is still playing Sax, Clarinet, Flute and Drums with several bands in Bridport and the surrounding area.
After learning the piano as a youngster he took up playing acoustic guitar in local folk groups before being drawn to Country music. He then joined a Country band called Okie, still playing guitar, which was the start of his Country journey. Mike was deeply influenced by bands like New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Flying Burritos, The Byrds, Pure Prarie League and got hooked on the sound of the pedal steel guitar. After a telephone conversation with Gordon Huntley, British steel player with US band Mathews Southern Comfort, he purchased his first student model MSA pedal steel from Gordon. His main steel influences are Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, Doug Jernigan and J. D. Maness. On Moving to Bournemouth in 1976 to take up a new job, Mike played in various bands most notably playing steel with local band Country Pride until the band broke up in 1985. Over the following years Mike played mostly as a stand in steel player with most of the local Country bands as he was unable to commit to a full time position in a band due to his job. However he managed to find time to play steel on a couple of Capricorn’s CDs. In 2008 Mike started working for himself and was soon back on the road with several local bands until he joined Capricorn.
They carried on for a year as a 4-piece without John. John eventually returned and Capricorn went back to a 5-piece for a year. During lockdown, John announced his retirement from playing. The other four members considered folding the band at this time but following lockdown they decided to carry on as a 4-piece and as bookings are once again coming in they intend to continue for the forseeable future.

Amy Morgan

Research by Nick Catford.

Amy Morgan was born in 1972 and brought up in Astley, nr Wigan, Lancs and now lives near Blackburn. She has always loved singing from a very early age. She sung in the school choir and whilst at secondary school, gave a solo performance at a Christmas concert. She gained an A grade in music and learned to play the piano as well as writing some original songs.

Amy grew up with her brother and sister, singing the type of songs that her parents loved and she went on to receive professional voice training, before spending one summer season as a singer working in karaoke bars in Turkey. Amy lists her early musical influences as Karen Carpenter, Maria Carey and Whitney Houston but she also liked Country music. After returning to England to live in Blackpool, Amy’s career didn’t take the path she would have chosen and, with her genuine love of singing, she formed Fire & Ice duo on the cabaret circuit working in North West England.
She continued to perform middle of the road songs and covers for about 18 months until she realised that her real passion was for Country music. Apart from her time in Turkey, Amy had never worked solo and had no aspirations to be part of a band. She knew her future career was as a solo Country singer and to help achieve that she invested in a second-hand PA system and in 2010 and re- launched her singing career as a Country singer playing her first Country gig at the Fort San Antone club near Preston where she had been practising for many months. Her sister and brother-in-law were regular visitors to the club but Amy is the only professional singer in the family.
Amy released her first Country album From This Moment in 2011; this features a well chosen mix of old and new songs and one of her own original songs Some Day. Since her first album she has released a further five albums which include six original songs with a further three of her own songs ready to be recorded.
Although Amy learnt piano at an early age she doesn’t play an instrument in her stage act and has no plans to learn an instrument in the future as she feels this would detract from her ebullient (look it up) singing style.

The Long Haul

Research by Nick Catford.

While many established British Country bands were folding or downsizing to duos or solos in the 2000s, The Long Haul made their debut on the Country scene in 2009 and quickly made an impression of excellence and are clearly in it for ‘The Long Haul’. The band is based in Brighton, Sussex and like many surviving bands they specialise in traditional classic Country, including Western Swing, Americana and two-step Texas shuffles. What stands them apart from many bands is that two of their members are prolific songwriters and many of their excellent songs are always included in their programme. BBC Radio 2’s Country music presenter, Bob Harris recently said of them while listening to their latest album, ‘An excellent band, I am really ejoying these songs’.

There have been some changes over the years. The original the line-up comprised Simon Sparrow, lead vocals (rhythm guitar), Matt Windler (lead guitar), François DeVille (bass) and Dil Davies (drums). In 2016 François DeVille switched from bass to pedal steel with Scott Warman coming in on double bass. Latest recruit, drummer, James Chapman joined the band in 2019; since then the line-up has remained stable and now comprises Simon Sparrow (lead vocals and rhythm guitar). François DeVille (pedal steel guitar and vocals), Duncan James (lead guitar), Scott Warman (double bass and vocals) and James Chapman (drums).
Simon Sparrow fronts the band and plays acoustic guitar and bass (although the latter only in a previous band) and, along with François, he writes the band’s material. A self confessed Country enthusiast, Simon is a big fan of Texas Country, Western Swing and singer/songwriters. His prize possession is a Martin D18 guitar which comes out to gigs from time to time.
Simon and François DeVille are the only original band members left. Francçois came to playing steel relatively late but was lucky enough to study, all too briefly, with the late great Jeff Newman – arguably the world’s best steel guitar teacher. His ‘Top Gun’ boot camp (one on one instruction for five days) was an exceptional learning experience. Jeff’s motto was one which François tries, with occasional success, to live up to: ‘Make It Pretty’. He first played pedal steel with another Country band, The Diablos, leaving them in 2014 to concentrate on The Long Haul
Duncan James plays lead guitar and is pretty nifty with the twang of his vintage Telecaster. A Country music aficionado, Duncan provides the snap and soul at the heart of The Long Haul, he has been obsessed with all things Western since being given a Davy Crockett hat and a copy of The Yellow Rose Of Texas at the age of five. He lived in the US for 10 years but returned, Telecaster in hand, to play ‘both kinds’ of music here. His guitar heroes are many and varied but include all the usual suspects, from Marty Stuart and the B-Bender style (he’s owned one for 25 years) through to modern players like Guthrie Trapp. An all-rounder, Duncan plays Country, blues, swing, rockabilly as well as British 60’s pop, on which he grew up.
Scott Warman joined the band in 2016, taking over from François on bass. Born in London, Scott started off playing electric bass after buying one in a jumble sale, thinking it was a normal guitar and only noticing it had four strings when he got it home. Moving onto double-bass, he now plays with a whole range of artists in the UK and the US working with Nashville performers Amelia White and Alice Wallace, Finley Quaye, New York Americana singer Annie Keating, Robbie Cavanagh, Demi Marriner, Plainsong guitarist Andy Roberts and singer/songwriters Simon James and Karl Bray. He has been heard on many BBC radio programmes, including Radio 4’s Loose Ends, Bob Harris Country on Radio 2, the Tom Robinson Show on 6 Music and Alex Lester’s Radio 2 Christmas Day programme! In 2017 he toured the UK, Holland, Italy and Switzerland for five weeks with Annie Keating’s band, which included radio and tv sessions across Europe. He’s also a ‘Whispering Bob All Star’, supplying the double bass on Bob Harris’s 2020 charity relase Stand By Me.
Newcomer James Chapmen regularly performs all over the United Kingdom with many different musicians and bands, playing a wide variety of genres from jazz and blues to funk and rock. Recently, James has been in the studio creating sound libraries for the company ‘Loopmasters.’ James developed his love for Country music from a young age listening to artists such as Nanci Griffith, Vince Gill and Alan Jackson. ‘It’s really nice to be involved with a Country band’, he said, ‘playing both originals and covers as it is a genre I really enjoy and it’s great fun to play with like-minded musicians who share the same passion.’
The Long Haul have released three cd albums, their eponymously titled first cd, was recorded entirely live at Metway Studios in their home town of Brighton. It features live favourites, including Workin’ Man Blues and Sunset Boulevard. Their second album, Beautiful Lies was released in 2017 and recorded in Brighton, Austin Texas and Nashville Tennessee; it was produced by British musician Eamon McLoughlin who was a founder member of the Greencards in 2003, has received two Grammy nominations and along with his touring and studio work he still found time to be the staff fiddler at the Grand Ole Opry. The Long Haul were fortunate enough to have some marvellous guest musicians on board such as Lloyd Maines on pedal steel and Chris Scruggs on lap steel and tic tac bass, John Jarvis on keys and of course Eamon on fiddle. Their third album, 21st Century Blues, was recorded at the end of lockdown and was released in October 2021. The latter two albums consist entirely of original songs.

Wayne T

Research by Nick Catford.

Wayne Thornhill started his career as a singer working the cabaret circuit in North West England. Concentrating on a small area allowed him to hold down a full time job while singing evenings and weekends. Although he was brought up listening to Country music (his father is Arthur Thornhill from West Virginia and one half of The Thornhills country duo) Wayne wasn’t a die-hard Country fan so when he launched his career in the mid-2010s he sung mainly chart covers but with a nod to Country (Mavericks, Eagles etc) always included in his act.

He did occasionally sing with the Thornhills and after eight years on the cabaret circuit he made the decision to switch to Country, relaunching his career on the Country club circuit as Wayne T in late 2017. He still only worked in the North West so it came as a surprise when he had a CCN Newcomer Of The Year nomination in 2018. He didn’t win the award but as the year progressed he was getting rave reviews and requests from clubs all over the country to travel further afield. His diary for 2020 was filling nicely and when covid forced us into lock down in March that year he had already made the decision to give up his day job and work full time on the Country circuit.
With the demise of covid and clubs coming out of hibernation, Wayne is once again in demand. He has a very full diary for 2022/3 and is already busier than expected. He puts that down in part to his real love of Country music. Although he admits he wasn’t always a Country fan he now listens to nothing but Country music and has a wide repertoire that allows him to cater for all clubs whether Country or line dance and his programme is always 100% Country music.
Wayne still takes occasional cabaret bookings and is also a member of the Thornhill’s Family Country Music Show. This includes solo sets from Wayne and his cousin Dan, a duo set from The Thornhills and the final set where all four of them get together. This family show is proving very popular and although available for festivals and clubs they only take limited bookings as Wayne and Dan give priority to their solo careers.

Plain Loco

Research by Nick Catford.

Plain Loco was formed by Steve Jay in 1990. The original line up was Steve Jay (bass, harmonica and lead vocals), John Henry Ford (pedal steel guitar), Tim Relf (drums) and Tony Caldwell (lead guitar and vocals). Steve began his career in the late 1960s spending seven years in pop band Capricorn. They won the world popular song festival in Japan in 1972 and had a No 4 hit in Japan. When Capricorn folded, Tony Caldwell asked Steve if he would deputise in the Gary Blackmore Band – this was his first taste of country music and he ended up staying for 8 years from about 1974 to 1981. He left to join comedy showband Sweet Illusion and when they folded in 1990 he formed Plain Loco. mmmm Tony Caldwell has played in many different bands since the 1960s most notably country band Colt 45 with John Rayner and fronted by the late Bob Stammers. After their demise in 1977, Tony joined the Gary Blackmore Band staying until 1981. He then joined the Jonny Young Band but spent a year with Spellbound in 1983 before returning to the JY Band. John Henry Ford (real name John Rayner aka John Knee-Levers) has had an equally long career. He first immersed himself in country music in the 1970s taking up pedal steel guitar which eventually saw him perform at Wembley Arena with Colt 45 before touring for seven weeks with George Hamilton IV. John went on to join Highway Shoes who were considered to be one of the best UK country bands in the late 70s. mmmmm Tim Relf had previously been drummer with the Gary Blackmore band but his time in Plain Loco was short and, later in 1990, he was replaced by Trevor Walter. Trevor had already seen pop success as a member of The Look (formerly The Kreed) which was formed in 1979 and fronted by Jonny Whetstone. The band’s debut single, I am the beat, peaked at No 6 in the UK singles chart in 1980. The Look never repeated this success and folded in 1983. Trevor then became a school teacher.

Tony Caldwell’s time with Plain Loco was also relatively short lived and in 1992 he was replaced by another experienced guitarist Wango Wiggins. Wango had played professionally for many years. He recorded an album in the US with Allman Bros producer Johnny Sandlin; also on the album was Chuck Leavell who has been the Rolling Stones’ keyboard player for over 20 years. He toured Europe and the UK with a variety of bands including The Q-Tips (after Paul Young had left) and has shared stage and/or studio time with many established artists including Steve Gibbons, Glenn Tilbrook (Sqeeze), Ian Dury and Leo Lyons (Ten Years After).
Plain Loco now had a settled lineup and quickly established themselves as a top class act working all over the UK at Country music clubs and major festivals. They also worked in Belgium and Holland. Their first two cassette albums were recorded with this line-up. The first, Alive and Kickin’, was a live recording released in 1993. It featured Dave Anderson on pedal steel as John Henry Ford was unwell and couldn’t make the gig. In 1994 Plain Loco contributed one track to a compilation album The Best of New British Country. Next came a studio album, Smokin’, released about 1995 and a cd album, Whose round is it anyway, recorded live at Harefield FC, also in 1995.
John Henry Ford left Plain Loco in 1996 and Steve invited his former bandmate, Geoff Eatwell from the Gary Blackmore band, to replace him. Geoff built his own Hawaiian lap steel when he was 14 and, whilst still at school, he converted it into a pedal steel. Having been taught to play by Ed Payne of the Ned Porridge Band, he joined his first band, The Mavericks. Having done some gigs with Roger Humphries and The Cherry Pickers in 1979 he became a professional musician.
His next band was the Gary Blackmore Band with Steve Jay and Tony Caldwell. He stayed with them for eight years till the band split up. Next he joined Vic Woodhouse and Lindsey St John in Hickory Lake followed by four years with George Moody and the Country Squires. After a period of ill health, Geoff gave up music and got a job in the concrete industry. He was eventually persuaded back to music and did some sessions with the Private Parts Band and, at one of their gigs, he got to play with Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart.
After being made redundant in 1992, he went back on the road full time with Band Named Sioux and stayed with them until he was offered the job with Plain Loco in 1996.
As with many Country bands, Plain Loco’s lineup has been quite fluid. Next to go in 1996 was drummer Trevor Walter. He was replaced by another experienced drummer and good friend of Wango Wiggins, Steve Dixon. Steve had been in a 7-piece function band called Soul Intention fronted by Paul Cox since the bands formation in 1992.
In 1996 there were plans for Plain Loco to become the backing band for Tony Rouse performing at major concert venues and festivals. Tony Rouse had made his name in London’s West End firstly in Les Misérables in 1992/93 and then as ‘Greaseball’ in Starlight Express 1994 – 1996. The collaboration was, however, short lived and they only ever did two gigs together before parting company. One of the gigs was at the Bottom Line in Shepherd’s Bush.
A new studio cd album called River Road followed in 1997. The album was 11 original songs, four written by Steve Jay, three by Steve Dixon, one co-written by Wango Wiggins and Geoff Eatwell and one co-written by Wango Wiggins and Billy Karloff.
Next to depart was Wango Wiggins in April 1997. Steve Jay has never had a problem finding top class musicians and Wango’s replacement was Tony Crooks.
Tony began playing guitar at the age of nine and ten years later he was working 4 nights per week all over the North West playing a diverse mix of pop, rock, blues, soul, whilst still holding down a day job. In 1986 he moved to London and joined The Kick, a new band formed by Leo Lyons a founder member of the late 60s Rock band Ten Years After. After eight years, The Kick disbanded but Tony and Leo continued to write songs together mostly for the Nashville market, having become interested in Country music over the years. With this new found love of Country, Tony was keen to find full time employment in a country band and eagerly accepted the job with Plain Loco.
In 1998 Geoff Eatwell left and was replaced by Billy Levin. As Billy is a guitarist, for the first time Plain Loco did not have pedal steel guitar in the lineup. In the early 1990s singer/songwriter Billy Levin had fronted his own band, The Hollywood Cowboys with his brother Tommy and prior to joining Plain Loco he was with Johnny Earle & Southern Star. At this time, Steve Dixon couldn’t make all the band gigs as he was still playing with Soul Intention, on these occasions the band played as a trio with Tony Crooks programming the drum tracks. Steve Dixon eventually left later that year and it was decided that Plain Loco would carry on as a trio.
In 1999 they recorded the CD album Blue Memory; this is still considered to be a milestone in British Country music. Again, it is an album of original songs; Billy Levin contributed five songs including Call me when it’s over and three, including the title song, were co-written by Tony Crooks. The album was recorded in Sean Kenny’s studio and featured Karl Brazil on drums; Karl is now in Robbie Williams’ and James Blunt’s band.
In mid-2001 Billy Levin left and Plain Loco became a duo. They remained busy on the club circuit but by 2009 they were becoming known as a line dance act playing mainly new material. This meant that some clubs that preferred more traditional Country stopped booking them. In order to cater for all tastes, Plain Loco reinvented themselves as the Loco Boys playing a wide range of pure Country music from the 1940s to the present day. Both duos functioned side by side and the new arrangement worked well as bookings increased.
Two more cd albums were released, Stick Together in 2012 and six of the best + 1 4 luck. Both were covers apart from Silver shadow a Steve Jay original song.
The duos continued until the end of 2013 when Steve decided to retire from full time gigs and he and Tony went solo. They still do the occasional gigs together either as The Loco Boys or Plain Loco and even come out as a trio if required with Cliff Weston on pedal steel. Steve and Tony have also been running line dance weekends with top Country acts since 1998.
After leaving Plain Loco, Tony Caldwell went back to the Jonny Young band and was often seen depping with other bands. He joined an American band, Eddie Choate and Texas Nightlife from RAF Lakenheath between 1999 – 2001. He finished his career with the Jonny Young band in 2008 and no longer plays. He is now a strength and conditioning coach at Aylesford Rugby Club in Kent. Tim Relf also played with the Jonny Young band until they came off the road in 2008. Having an interest in Country music, in particular the pedal steel guitar, John Henry Ford’s (Rayner) musical career changed direction after he listened to Marty Robbins’ album, Hawaii’s Calling Me. He joined a band called The Hawaiian Islanders and still plays bass with them.
After leaving Plain Loco, Trevor Walter worked with the Mike Scott Tracy band. He is retired from teaching and now plays with northern soul band the Hi Fi Sneakers. Steve Dixon stayed with Soul Intention until they disbanded in 2017 and was also a member of Gary Moore’s band in 2010. He and Paul Cox also played in a Free / Bad Company / Led Zeppelin tribute band called Fire and Water. Steve released a solo album a few years ago and now does occasional sessions and gigs. mmmm After Plain Loco, Wango Wiggins became a music teacher, session guitarist and composer of music for radio adverts and jingles. He is now retired from education but still plays occasional gigs and sessions. After leaving Plain Loco, Billy Levin formed Dartford Crossing but they were not keen on touring and quickly folded. In 2012 he was lead guitarist/vocalist in the reformed Porridge Country Band but only stayed for a year before leaving to concentrate on his own band Billy Levin and The Twang Daddies and now Billy’s Band; he is still busy writing. Geoff Eatwell hasn’t played since leaving Plain Loco. In 1998 Tony Rouse was back in Starlight Express playing Greasball (1998-99) and Swing (1999-00), He is now working as a soloist on the country circuit.

Stubby

Research by Nick Catford.

John Stubbs, better known to most people as Stubby has had a lifetime in the music industry stretching back to 1970 when, at the age of 16, he formed his first band called Circuit. They were a pop band with an emphasis on soul and Motown and once established they got a contract to work in the US air bases in Germany until Stubby was deported. Having returned to the UK in 1974 he formed a cabaret band called Mayfair and also worked in a couple of duos, guitar and drums but no backing tracks.

Malcolm Mason started his musical career in 1963 when he was a member of Blencathra Dance Band on rhythm guitar and vocals. In 1967 he formed The Country Boys, the first Country band in Cumbria and they were later joined by Mike Wilding. Malcolm and Mike Wilding then went on to work in a band called Bandwagon playing mainly Beatles songs. By the late 1960s they had formed Lemongrass, a four-piece band who were named after a tin of talcum powder spotted in Boots the chemist. Lemongrass didn’t however begin life as a Country band. When three young Cumbrian musicians first put the band together they were a pop band but some Country songs kept finding their way into the repertoire. The band’s line-up was very fluid and following what had been a successful three month tour of West Germany they decided to call it a day and for a while it seemed as though Lemongrass had reached the end of the road.
Their premature retirement was, however, short lived. In 1978 Malcolm teamed up with Jim Henshaw and John Stubbs who was now looking for a new band and they formed Captain Flint. Although primarily a soul band they were all fans of Dr Hook whose material provided the Country influence for the band. The following year saw further changes and Malcolm joined the Cumbria-based Dave Storey Band and by 1982 his interest in the recorded side of the music had taken more than a foothold and he set up a recording studio in Carlisle and engineered recordings for Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp of Steeleye Span, Michael Chapman and Martin Simpson (who recorded the soundtrack for the ITV children’s series Stookie).
After Captain Flint, Stubby formed Topper and Co, which he describes as ‘a really fun band; the rockiest, rolliest, drunkenist band ever’ – apparently they didn’t make much money but did they have a good time! It wasn’t long before Malcolm teamed up with Stubby again as Lemongrass Duo later in 1982 and they used backing tapes to produce the modern Country sounds of Rodney Crowell, Alabama, Willie Nelson, etc. This worked very well because by now Malcolm had seen the potential and had the facility to produce very good tapes so that it was possible to use reel-to-reel on stage rather than the poorer quality cassette.
Malcolm’s heart was however in Country music and it wasn’t to be long before Lemon Grass was revived as a band (note the name became Lemon Grass at this time rather than Lemongrass). Their first Country line-up comprised Malcolm Mason (keyboards, lead guitar and vocals), Mike Wilding (vocals and rhythm guitar) and Geoff Betsworth (pedal steel guitar and acoustic and electric guitars).
Geoff started his music career back in 1967 playing finger-picking style guitar in southern folk clubs and he played in various folk and folk rock bands. During 1967 he picked his guitar non-stop for 12 hours (sponsored) at a local pub which stayed open all day. His friends at the time swore it was because it was his turn at the bar and it was the only way he could think of to get out of it. By 1979 he was playing pedal steel guitar, depping with Campbell Reid and the following year he formed the Georgia Country Band with Dave Porter. After moving to Cumbria in 1982 he joined local band, Harper Valley and then, in 1985, he joined Lemon Grass. It wasn’t long before Mike Wilding was replaced by Terry Mills on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. At this time Lemon Grass worked mainly in the north of England and won Clubland Country act of the year in about 1987. With the revival of Lemon Grass, Stubby started a solo career using backing tapes and this proved popular and carried on until the end of 1989 when he was in demand again.
It soon became clear that Lemon Grass would have to travel further afield and, in particular, to the south of England if they wanted to get more work. Terry had his own business and couldn’t commit to life on the road so Malcolm brought in his old band mate, John Stubbs on lead vocals.
Mick Green’s colourful description of Stubby in British Country Music Roots in October 1991 seems very accurate … ‘If Malcolm is the technician of the band, Stubby must be the minder. Big, hairy and covered in tattoos, he presents a fearsome sight off-stage. Lemon Grass do not feature percussions in their stage line-up but my trusty dictionary describes percuss as to strike sharply and l‘d have a shrewd guess that this big guy could do this to perfection if required. Although within this brash, bold and, at times, outrageous frame is a voice of pure Country gold which is one of the greatest assets that Lemon Grass has – something that no technician in the world can reproduce.’ The line-up was Malcolm Mason (keyboards, lead guitar and vocals), John Stubbs (lead vocals and electric guitar) and Geoff Betsworth (pedal steel guitar and acoustic and electric guitars).
It was with Stubby and Geoff that Lemon Grass really went to the top of the British Country music scene and this is the line-up that most people would remember. For two years running they were voted top British trio in the Country Music Round-Up and they brought out three very successful albums. The first, Lemon Grass, which included Mike Wilding on harmony vocals was only available as a cassette. The other two, Taking It To The Limit (1991) and True Brit (1993), were cassette and cd. Taking It To The Limit had 20 tracks, 10 live and 10 studio. True Brit featured a Geoff Betsworth song – A Breath Is All It Takes – which was also released as a vinyl single. Its beautiful lyrics and heart-string tugging melody made it the number one Country single in the UK. The more humorous side of the band brought them success Stateside when Malcolm’s song, Bingo Cowboy, a rather wry look at those clubs which seem to fit the bands in between the bingo sessions, charted in the US.
In 1994 Stubby left Lemon Grass to pursue a solo career and Terry Mills came back as lead singer for a while. In 1996 Stubby joined Colin Ford in a new duo called Second Chance. Colin Ford was the lead singer and songwriter in Nashville Fever who were formed in Norfolk in the early 1980s. Nashville Fever quickly became one of the busiest bands on the club and festival circuit. In 1990 they shortened their name to Fever because most fans referred to them as The Fever and their style of music was more Texas than Nashville. In 1993 Colin Ford left the band when he needed vocal cord surgery and he was replaced by Jim Kean. After the successful surgery Colin formed a new band, Lost Legends which comprised Colin Ford (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Les Evans (lead guitar). Roger Ottley (bass) and John Hughes (drums). By 1996 Lost Legends had folded and this led to a collaboration between Colin Ford and Stubby.
Second Chance lasted for six years, coming off the road in 2002 when Stubby joined his next band, the Corn Dogs with Cliff Weston. On leaving Medicine Bow, Cliff Weston joined Band Named Sioux, staying for 18 months before leaving to form the Corn Dogs trio alongside Kevin Blake and Shane O’Borne who both played lead guitar. The Corn Dogs were very well respected with three versatile multi-instrumentalists and three good singers, both harmonies and lead vocals. There were several changes in the line-up. Shane was, in time, replaced by Rick McKay and later by Stubby who stayed with The Corn Dogs for two years, eventually leaving to resume his solo career. His place in the Corn Dogs was taken by Nadine Somers which brought a change in name to The Corn Exchange.
Stubby’s next band was Sidewinder trio with Stu Payne and Andy Saphir. Stu Payne had been a member of Peterborough Band Circuit Judge but the band folded in July 2002 following Pat Judge’s sudden death. In August 2003 Stu joined Sidewinder, a trio that had been together for a few years. The line-up at this time was John Stubbs (rhythm guitar and vocals), Andy Saphir (lead guitar) and Stu Payne (keys and vocals). Andy left c.2005/6 and Stu and Stubby carried on as a duo until the end of 2008 when Stubby decided once again to resume his solo career. Following the demise of Sidewinder, Stu formed a duo called Gemeni with Gemma Fairweather and now works with Texas Tornados. Stubby has continued working as a soloist since then apart from a collaboration with Julie Dawn in Country Dawn duo in 2017. They still work together occasionally and are planning to record a cd. John Douglas was born and raised in Jersey where, in 1988, he started working the local Country clubs and hotels during the summer season. He assembled his first Country band there and played regularly at the Wolves Cave Club in St.John.
John lists his Country influences as Garth Brooks, George Strait and Alan Jackson and this is evident both in his singing style and his own compositions.

John Douglas

Research by Nick Catford.

John Douglas was born and raised in Jersey where, in 1988, he started working the local Country clubs and hotels during the summer season. He assembled his first Country band there and played regularly at the Wolves Cave Club in St.John.
John lists his Country influences as Garth Brooks, George Strait and Alan Jackson and this is evident both in his singing style and his own compositions.

After moving to England in 1991 he formed the four-piece band, John Douglas & Southern Star. The line-up was John Douglas (lead vocal and rhythm guitar), Tony Ryan (pedal steel guitar), Graham Ryan – no relation to Tony – (bass) and Doug Lang aka Doug West (drums).
Having a long-standing love of Country music and Country music people, Tony Ryan was at ease playing behind a vocalist or as an instrumental soloist. A well respected player, he appeared each year at the prestigious Festival of Steel Guitar at Newbury. Tony has played previously with Hobo and Wes Cardy, leaving the latter to join Southern Star.
Doug started his musical career early, playing classical piano from the age of six. He later moved effortlessly to drums and by this time was widely accepted as a master of his craft. He had previously been a member of Barry Westbrook’s Mean Business.
The new band quickly made a big impression on Country fans and promoters alike and was booked to appear at numerous festivals, including Basildon, Redbridge and Strumpshaw. As Country performers, the band was an instant success with audiences, especially in the south and by displaying their strong vocal, visual and instrumental talents in putting across energetic performances of modern Country music.
In 1993 they won the BCMA Award for Most Promising Newcomers.
A change of line-up in January 1994 brought Mike Spiller on bass. He was another experienced musician having played all types of music and he was also a talented songwriter. Previous Country bands include Hot Toddy (fronting Irene Leslie) and Jackson Queen and he also played for a short time with Albert Lee.
Later that year Southern Star became a five-piece with the arrival of Rufus Ruffell on lead guitar. Unfortunately Rufus’ time with the band was short. He left after six months due to other work commitments.
By 1995, John was unhappy with the way the band was progressing and when the opportunity arose to front a new five-piece he immediately left his own band and launched the new John Douglas Band.
Southern Star continued with a new front man, Johnny Earle.
The John Douglas Band was, in fact, the redundant Tracy Elsdon Band. With little warning, Tracy decided to retire from the Country scene and this left a ready made experienced band looking for a new frontman and John jumped at the opportunity. The line-up was John Douglas (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Jim Weaver (lead guitar), Scott Newstead (keyboard), Billy Dyer (bass) and Ray Hailey (drums).
By 1997 there were a couple of changes with Jerry Jobson coming in on bass and Dave Unwin on keyboards. By the early 2000s, the John Douglas Band was a trio with John Douglas (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Micky Byrne, formerly with the Julie Byrne Band on pedal steel guitar and Chris Harris on lead guitar.
Chris Harris has been playing guitar since he was 11. He was in a number of school bands around Romford, Essex which gave him a good opportunity to hone his skills as a guitarist. In his early career he was a prolific songwriter and quickly came to the attention of a number of producers and record labels. He set up his own studio where he recorded numerous musicians while working behind the scenes for years as a session player and songwriter. He worked extensively with top Australian record producer David Mackay who has worked with a number of established artists including Dusty Springfield, Bonnie Tyler and Eric Clapton.
Chris was a latecomer to Country music but after he saw a late night Garth Brooks concert on tv he began listening to a lot of different styles of Country music and quickly realised his future as a musician lay in that genre.
In 1996 he collaborated with Sarah Jory. In 1997 he won the international Songwriter of the Year award at the American Country Music Association awards.
Chris Harris first came to the public’s attention in 2002 when he joined the John Douglas band as lead guitarist. He stayed with the band for two years and left to form his own four-piece band, Southern Union.
He was replaced by Martin Donald on lead guitar. Jim Martin sometimes stood in for Micky Byrne on pedal steel guitar and Martin Donald on lead guitar if either of them were unavailable and Jim eventually replaced Micky as a permanent member of the band. Jim had also been a member Tracy Elsdon’s previous band, Ashanti in the early 1990s and had a career in Country music going back to the 1970s.
This line-up lasted for several years but Martin Donald was in demand as a guitarist and was also a guitar teacher and was always having to juggle commitments. Eventually he was forced to leave the band and John Douglas was able to recruit another top class guitarist Roger McKew.
Originally a Country guitarist, Roger was coaxed into the ‘mainstream’ entertainment world and over the years played with such household names as Joe Brown, Lonnie Donegan and Shakin’ Stevens to name but a few. Joining the John Douglas band brought him back to his Country roots.
The line-up lasted until 2007 when the sudden departure of Stig (Rob Tompsett) from Texas Tornados left a vacancy in that very busy band which was filled by Roger. With the demise of Southern Union in 2007, Chris Harris rejoined the John Douglas Band.
Throughout his career, John has always been a consummate entertainer with a charismatic and very visual presentation. A radio mic allowed him to move about the stage and into the audience at will and it was not unknown for him to climb on top of a stack of speakers while still singing.
In 2008 John Douglas decided to take a break from the Country scene and the John Douglas Band folded. Chris and Jim formed Harrison County duo at this time which lasted for three years.
John returned to the circuit as a soloist in about 2015 working clubs within easy reach of his Colchester home and he still gives a highly polished performance which always includes some of his own compositions. Former band member Jim Martin plays on many of his backing tracks.

Kenny Jr

Research by Nick Catford.

Craig Arnold came from a musical family, both his dad Kenny and his uncle Sid were musicians working in the Midlands.
His dad was known as Johnny Rivers and he fronted his own band in the early 60s working mainly in the Midlands. He shouldn’t, of course, be confused with the US singer of the same name who was also working in the 1960s. By the 1980s, Kenny Arnold had revived his career under his own name fronting a four-piece band called Ivory. Still based in the Midlands they won a number of Band of the Year awards playing mainly music from the 50s – 1980s.

Craig started his musical career at the age of 12 when he acted as roadie and occasional singer with Ivory. Quite often, as the evening progressed and Kenny began to tire, people would start shouting ‘Time to get Kenny Junior (Kenny’s son Craig) up to sing’.
Craig helped is father with Ivory for two years before joining the army in 1992. He was initially stationed in Germany but spent some time on an exchange posting to Fort Worth, Texas in the US. It is there that he was first introduced to Country music when a friend lent him a Garth Brooks album. Craig loved the way so many Country singers were also story tellers.
On his return to the UK in 1996, he joined a couple of bands as a singer, one of these was a 10-piece Commitments tribute band specialising in Atlantic soul (Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett) covers from the 1960s. Craig was the lead singer but after two years he was forced to give up singing to look after his son who was seriously ill.
After 12 years out of the music business and working as a transport manager for a shipping company, Craig’s wife Joanne knew that he missed singing and persuaded him to revive his musical career promoting his new love of Country music. He auditioned for BBC TV’s The Voice with a Garth Brooks song and made it to the last 50. This encouraged him to invest in the equipment needed to restart his musical career as a Country singer. He adopted the name Kenny Junior in memory of his late father and took to the road in 2016 as a soloist but also occasionally working with Paul Weston of The Westons’ family trio.
Kenny had only ever been a singer and didn’t play an instrument but he quickly found that as a soloist on the Country circuit he really need to so he taught himself to play rhythm guitar. He has a natural talent as a vocalist and he quickly took the circuit by storm and within his first 12 months on the road he received a CCN nomination for Newcomer of the Year in 2017.
Today Kenny works mainly as a soloist but occasionally still works in a duo with Paul Weston.
His wife Joanne runs the monthly Silver Dollar CMC at Bedworth, Warwickshire.

Hayley Oliver

Research by Nick Catford.

The youngest of five girls, Hayley Oliver was born in South London. Her musical influences, growing up, were mainly Country artists, listening to Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette and later Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Lorrie Morgan and other traditional Country music that her parents played. At the age of five, she was asked to sing solo in her school nativity play and went on to represent her school, Linden Lodge, in music festivals throughout the UK. At the age of 11, she was nominated to sing solo at the Royal Albert Hall (at that time, the youngest ever solo performer there) and this led to her making her first single, Saint Of The Orphans, in 1987; it was classed as folk and led to subsequent television appearances on Saturday morning breakfast shows The Wide Awake Club and Going Live and the BBC evening news programme London Plus. Two further early singles followed Andromeda Galaxy which was also classed as folk and Prayer For The World which was classical. With perfect pitch and vocal clarity and an ability to deliver a song in a way that touches the heart of the listener, Hayley’s success at such an early age came as no surprise and she soon knew she wanted a career in music but she first chose to finish her formal education. After leaving Linden Lodge School, she went to the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford, taking diplomas in business administration and then went on to study at the University of Glamorgan, gaining a BA Honours degree in Business & Marketing.

In 2000, Hayley began entering talent competitions and performing in clubs and theatres in and around London. In 2002, she entered and won the Joe Pasquale’s Curtain Call talent showcase, which led to many other concert appearances. In 2006, she released her first self-produced album, Two Hearts with a selection of her favourite classic Country songs. The album got excellent reviews and international radio exposure and led to her winning the DJ Evy of Canada Award for Best New Artist in 2007.
In 2008 she met up with guitarist Lee Ellis who joined her in forming the six-piece Hayley Oliver Band in February 2009 to run alongside her solo career. The band comprised Hayley Oliver (lead vocals), Lee Ellis (lead guitar and vocals), Nigel Nesbitt (bass and vocals), Wayne Lee (keyboards and vocals), Scott Gladman (rhythm guitar) and Julian McLaren (drums). Wayne Lee is Albert Lee’s son.
During 2008 and 2009 she collaborated with Nashville producers, resulting in her second solo album, I Can Still Dream, released in October 2009, with original material provided by various writers from across the world. In February 2010, Another Lonely Night, a single from the album topped the Country Hotdisc Charts which featured on Country Music People and Up Country magazines. It stayed at the top of the British & Irish Independent Chart for six weeks and was also No 1 on the main Top 40 Chart. On 7th February 2010, Hayley was made the Sunday Spotlight artist on BBC Radio 2 and when her song Be Love was featured in Maverick magazine it was described as ‘An authentic Country sound from a fresh and breezy British artist’. During those years Hayley performed regularly with various artists and bands.
In 2010 The Hayley Oliver Band released a cover songs project with the release of the live album, Naturally which was recorded in two days. Hayley needed to showcase her talents on the live circuit and with two albums recorded in quick succession she needed a way to get the music across to her wide and varied audience. This album produced two chart-topping positions on the Country Hotdisc Charts with the release of the singles, Tell Me Why, written by Karla Bonoff, which was a hit for Wynonna Judd, and I’m A Little Bluer Than That, written by Irene Kelley and Mark Irwin which was recorded by Kelley on her album, Simple Path and also by Alan Jackson on his album, Drive. With this third chart No 1 from three releases, the band becomes the most successful British act ever to appear on Hotdisc. No other UK act has managed three number ones.
Hayley and the band were invited to go to Nashville in November 2010, fulfilling one of her long held dreams, and there, they represented the UK, taking part in a WSM Radio event, which put on an international show of six Country acts at the Loveless Café. The show was broadcast live in HD via the internet. They returned to Nashville again in 2011 and played at the Nashville Palace. Several presenters on CMR Nashville praised Hayley and the band. Stuart Cameron said ‘Really sprung onto the scene the last two years. It is predicted by many that Hayley and her talented musicians will be flying the British flag for Country music for many years to come and there are not many who would argue with that’. Jackie Storrar, recording artist and presenter of CMR’s The Country Cafe said ‘A big congratulation to Hayley and her band, what a year 2010 is turning out to be’.
In late 2012, the band released Arbinger Grove, with guest appearances by Albert Lee, Gerry Hogan and John Permenter. The album was critically acclaimed as being of international standard.
The band won two BCMA awards in 2010; the Horizon award for best British Newcomer and Most Successful Single for I’m A Little Bluer Than That. The following year the band lost out to Gary Perkins & The Breeze for Band of the Year , the band were however nominated again in 2012 and in three consecutive years, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Hayley was nominated as female vocalist of the year. In 2013 they picked up another Most Successful Single award, this time for Hand That Rocked The Cradle. By 2014 conflicting commitments led to Hayley and the band members’ decision to disband. After their successful last show at the 2014 Truckstop Festival in Denmark, Hayley decided to focus on a slightly different path involving guitarist, Harley Dave, with a more ‘rootsy’ Americana approach.
The unplugged show proved a success, both in small venues and larger theatres. In 2015 Hayley unveiled her new five-piece band line-up on the main stage at the Americana International Festival, gaining rave reviews and started taking select bookings while continuing to develop the acoustic show. The new band were Hayley Oliver (lead vocals and rhythm acoustic guitar), Harley Dave (electric lead and acoustic guitars), Jim Martin (pedal steel and electric guitar), Chris Dunn (bass) and Jon Keys (drums)
In 2016, after a short spell in Texas with Harley Dave playing acoustic gigs in Austin and being welcomed into the Luckenbach ‘Picker’s Circle’, Hayley returned to the Truckstop Festival, Denmark, with the new band. In 2017, Hayley and Harley guested with The Fabulous Texadillos at Pullman City Harz, Germany and hope to take the band back to Germany, one day.
2018 and early 2019 saw Hayley and the band playing Warners, Pontins and some independent Country music events but also still playing some clubs, either solo or with the band. Then came covid and lockdown which put a halt to all live music.
During lockdown Hayley decided to dust off her guitar and get back into playing it, which resulted in her fronting the band with her guitar when the restrictions were relaxed and live gigs started up again. In July, 2021, the band performed at Studley Castle (Warners). She is also experimenting with duo appearances in clubs with Harley Dave. The first of these was at the Harlow CMC in Essex where Hayley had been booked as a solo but on the night the first set was solo then Harley joined her on stage playing lead guitar while Hayley played rhythm.

Black Steel

Research by Nick Catford.

Black Steel duo was formed in early 2011 although both Bob Schwarz and Jim Martin were already familiar faces to many Country fans.
Jim Martin first started playing electric guitar in 1968 when he was 16. In those days, he was a rock and blues musician quickly joining his first band Premonition who were a 5-piece.

The line-up was Billy Archer (vocals), Jim Martin (lead guitar), Les Whitehead (rhythm guitar), Brian Slow (bass) and Neil Hardy (drums). Within a year, they were playing at London’s prestigious Marquee Club in Oxford Street supporting bands like Slade and Barclay James Harvest.
With the demise of Premonition c1971/2, Jim’s next band was a 5-piece pop/rock band called Sting. They comprised Graham Khan (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Jasper Scott (keyboard and vocals), John Cooper (lead guitar), Jim Martin (bass) and Frog Goddard (drums). The band lasted until 1979 when some band members wanted a change of direction from rock to Country. John, Frog and Jim formed Stampede and brought in Tony Draper on vocals and rhythm guitar. In 1980 Stampede got a record deal with SRT Productions. Jim decided to learn pedal steel guitar for an album. By the time the album was released a few months later he was sufficiently proficient to play on three of the tracks. Various line up changes followed, Robbie Bearns replaced John Cooper on lead guitar and Jim went fully onto pedal steel guitar with Alan Newstead coming in on bass.
With the demise of Stampede in the mid-1980s, Jim joined Tracy Elsdon’s band Ashanti bringing with him Robbie Beams from Stampede. Ashanti comprised Tracy Elsdon (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Robbie Bearns (lead guitar), Jim Martin (pedal steel guitar), Darren Juniper (bass) and Ray Hailey (drums). During this time, Jim was also a regular dep with Steve Mitchell and Shiloh. Although never a member of the band he did spend a lot of time playing with them. He also worked with a re vamped version of Ian Fox’s Highway Shoes, and also with bands Tawny and Gypsy. Gypsy were Sue Hennessey (lead vocals), Terry Worrledge (lead guitar), Jan Woodhouse (keyboard), Karl Garrett (bass), Jim Martin (pedal steel guitar) and Frog Goddard (drums). Gypsy later evolved into Jackson Queen finally bowing out in 2009.
In about 1990, Jim joined his next band Mean Business fronted by Barry Westbrook. There were several changes of personnel over the years but the line up in 1991 was Barry Westbrook (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Jim Martin (pedal steel guitar), Toby Chapman (keyboards and vocals) – Toby has since played with many top bands including Spandau Ballet in 2015 and ABC in 2016, Tony Skey (bass) and Doug Lang (drums) – Doug is now a member of blues band Absolution. In 1995 some session work took Jim to Nashville where he played some shows with the short lived but critically acclaimed Country rock band Union Jack.
Following Jim’s departure from Mean Business in 1998 he had short stints with Longshot fronted by Glyn Long and Marietta Station: Lois Clark (vocals), Jim Martin (pedal steel guitar), Sara Curran (keyboards) and Alan Weight (bass). Between 1999 and 2001 Jim was involved with two successful touring theatre productions, both produced by Mervyn Conn. ‘Stand by Your Man’ (the Tammy Wynette story), and ‘Queens of Country’, a musical portraying the songs of Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, and Patsy Cline.
In the early years of the millennium Jim joined the John Douglas Band (trio) and then spent three years with Chris Harris in the duo Harrison County. Chris and Jim lived three hundred miles apart so when Chris had to take time off for personal reasons it was time for Jim to move on to his next venture Black Steel.
The other half of the story: Southern Breeze was formed in Cambridgeshire in 1978. The original line up comprised. Pete Jeary (lead vocals and acoustic guitar), Tony Kolleng (lead guitar), John Kollop (bass) and Trevor Holland (drums). Tony had previously been in a non-country band called Tramp. Shortly after the band was formed, Tony’s brother Mick (lead guitar) brought the band up to a five-piece. When Southern Breeze decided to record an album in 1978 Pete Jeary commented that he wanted to have steel guitar on the album. While discussing this over a few beers Tony Kolleng told him “you buy it, I’ll play it”. A week later when the band got together for a rehearsal Pete brought along a pedal steel guitar and true to his word Tony agreed to learn how to play it. Despite seeking help from other steelies Tony ended up teaching himself listening continually to the best US steel players like Ralph Mooney. Six weeks later although he had only learnt the basics he felt sufficiently competent to play steel on two of the tracks on the album. As with many bands at that time the line up was somewhat fluid. Lead singer Pete Jeary left and was replaced by Tony Kolleng’s long time friend Bob Schwarz. Bob didn’t (and still doesn’t) play an instrument but he was a good singer and came in to front the band.
John Kollop also left and was replaced by Tony’s other brother Peter. As Mick played lead guitar and was a second lead singer, Tony was able to concentrate on pedal steel guitar. A third line up change some years later saw the departure of drummer Trevor Holland who was replaced by Kevin Smith. Southern Breeze provided backing for Tex Withers when he was in the UK. They worked mainly in East Anglia playing the clubs, festivals, and the many American airbases where they were always well received.
Southern Breeze continued until about 1990 after which Tony Kolleng formed Speed Limit duo with his partner Angie Clark. Tony and Angie are currently still performing as Speed Limit although they are now concentrating on their country holiday business. After the demise of Southern Breeze, Bob Schwarz formed Tennessee Whiskey.
As with many bands there were several changes of personnel over the years but the line-up in 1994 when they played the Colchester Festival on Mersea Island, Essex was Bob Schwarz (lead vocals), Ron Pit (lead guitar), Terry Mayhew (bass and vocals) and Merv Gooding (drums). When Tennessee Whiskey disbanded, Bob and Ron carried on as Double Whiskey duo. Sometimes Double Whiskey worked as a trio reviving Tennessee Whiskey, with Jim Martin coming in as the third member on pedal steel guitar. The duo finally called it a day in 2010 when Jim and Bob formed Black Steel.
Although Black Steel are now in their 11th year and remain busy Jim quite often plays with other acts, as a dep musician, and his work can be heard on several albums by other artists including McKenZie, Darren Busby, Country Company and Rosie Horne and he has recorded backing tracks for John Douglas and Paul Wright Tracks. Lockdown gave him the opportunity to be involved with the Dropbox Cowboys project that through remote recording produced a lovely album of some great songs and also raised a good sum for Captain Tom’s charity
After three years off the road, Chris Harris came back as a soloist and despite living in South Wales he has a very full diary. Before covid he occasionally teamed up with his old friend Jim Martin as Southern Union Duo. Black Steel occasionally work as a trio, usually this is with Alby Parker who comes in as a second guitarist and vocalist, who has also written some great songs, which the trio include in their set.

George McIntosh

Research by Nick Catford.

George McIntosh has been immersed in Country music all his life. He first fell in love with the music when his granddad brought Country records home from America. He had his first guitar when he was 14 and soon found himself singing Country in pubs and clubs in the North East and playing guitar in a dance band in a local club in South Shields.

He formed his own little band which lasted for a couple of years. George then tried his hand at going solo in the workingmen’s clubs and pubs in the North East, which proved a wonderful training ground for what was to come.
In the seventies, George helped to form the South Tyneside Country Music Club which ran for 29 years in South Shields; that’s where he met a banjo player Derek Rogers and they quickly became friends and formed George and Derek duo. With the help of agent Johnny Larkin they ventured out into the folk clubs and country clubs of the North East with a mixture of Country, bluegrass and comedy. They quickly made a name for themselves especially with their comedy routines and were invited to support Boxcar Willie on his first UK tour in the seventies.
George got married and started his family with the arrival of his two sons Glenn and Kris. As time moved on, Glenn was finishing school but, as a lot of young lads found out, jobs were hard to come by. Glenn learnt to play bass guitar and he and his dad formed the Glenn Daniels duo (Daniel was Kris’ middle name) and they turned professional in 1996. After a while, Kris began to show an interest in playing keyboards and it wasn’t long before he too decided to become a professional musician and the Glenn Daniels duo became a trio. In the search for a new name they were listening to a song by British Country singer Alan Westwood which mentioned an ‘Arizona Flame’ – the fledgling trio now had their name. Over the years George has been inspired by many of the top US Country singers like Bobby Bare, Vince Gill and Brad Paisley and he has also been influenced by some of our home grown country artists like Dennis Collier, Texas Gun and Mike Scott Tracey.
Arizona Flame comprised three of the most dedicated musicians from Tyneside, George McIntosh (lead vocals and lead guitar), Glenn McIntosh (bass and vocals) and Kris McIntosh (keyboards and vocals). This new family band quickly proved very popular on the club and festival circuit and by 2006 they had amassed no less than 23 club awards touring the length and breadth of the UK. In time, it was time for Glenn and Kris to settle down to raise their own families which is not easy if you are forever touring. George recruited two new musicians Steve James on lead guitar and Neil Roberts on bass and Arizona Flame continued, remaining as popular as ever.
George moved to Scotland in 2010 which made it difficult to continue touring as Neil lived in Coventry so they decided to come off the road playing their last gig on 22^nd December 2010 in Scotland.
During their 14 years on the road, Arizona Flame recorded four CD albums: ‘Thank God It Worked’, ‘Live’, ‘Complete’ and ‘Still Burning’. They travelled many thousands of miles and met a lot of lovely people whether bands, promoters, or followers of British Country music.
With the demise of Arizona Flame, George continued working as a soloist but after meeting Carol Cooney, a compère at Glasgow’s Grand Ole Opry, the two of them quickly formed a relationship both in life and on the road with the formation of a the new McIntosh duo. Together they recorded one CD album ‘Time Of Your Life’.
When Carol needed to find time to babysit here grandchildren it was time for the McIntosh duo to call it a day and George now only works solo but he stressed that Carol remains very supportive of his decision to remain on the road. He still loves touring and life on the road and still regularly stays with lifelong friends he made while touring with Arizona Flame. I asked him if he would ever retire he replied “They will have to carry me out in a box first!”

Warren Dewitt

Research by Nick Catford.

Warren Dewitt was brought up with a love of Country music. As a child he listened to singers like Hank Williams, Hank Thompson and Patsy Cline and it is these and other giants of traditional Country music that inspired him to become a Country singer.
His father, Warren Reeves, came to England with the US Airforce in the 1950s. In the 1970/80s he was a popular Country singer at clubs and festivals with his band Clarksburg Express.
Warren Jr. first sang with his father when he was 17. In his late teens he left home to spend the next few years travelling Europe and the USA with his dad. On his return he moved to Sheffield and later Nottingham singing in a number of ‘weekend’ bands with friends while working in the motor trade. One of these was the trio, Buffalo County playing around South Yorkshire in 1981/2. Warren turned fully pro in 1996 after moving to Spain and took up a residency as a Country singer in Lanzarote.
In the early 2000s Warren Reeves went back to the USA and settled in Clarksburg, West Virginia with his wife Sheila. There they formed USAUK duo and after fitting out a bus as a home they went to Europe where they sang and toured together for 14 years before retiring to Clarksburg where they still do some local gigs.
Warren returned to the UK in 2011 and since then he has built up a large following across the country winning Best East Midlands Country Music Act in 2012. He remains very busy today.
Unlike many Country artists he loves ‘life on the road’ and is happy to travel anywhere in the UK, which ensures he still has a very full diary.

Texas Tornados

Before forming the Texas Tornados Pete Stothard established his name on the line and western dance scene as a dance instructor. He is known to many as ‘The Cockney Cowboy’ a nickname that comes from his general manner, outlook on life, and his insistence that life is good and although he now lives in Lincolnshire he was brought up in Brixton in south London.

Pete’s dad loved classical music and his mum loved Country music. His mother took him to local Country clubs and festivals regularly and dancing was a natural step forward for him although he started as a rock and roll dancer. He started teaching line dancing in 1998 working with Linedance UK. He never had any aspirations to be a singer and only started singing by accident. While working as a dj, a friend asked him to do karaoke. He took to it and started doing karaoke discos where people convinced him that he could actually sing. His club name was Texas Tornado taken from the 1994 Tracey Lawrence song of the same name.
He soon realised singing Country music for a living could become a reality and he formed his first band, Texas Tornados in late 2004 with two friends Ian Walton and George Plummer. Ian was a guitarist with no previous band experience but George had previously played with Duggie Dee and the Saddletramps. George taught him how to play rhythm guitar. The line up was Pete Stothard (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Ian Walton (lead guitar and harmony vocals) and George Plummer (keys and harmony vocals). With Pete’s pedigree as a line dance instructor, it came as no surprise that the Tornados were an instant success building up an enthusiastic following on the club circuit with Lyn Jones of Chelsea Artists finding plenty of club and festival work for the new band.
By 2006 only Pete Stothard remained from the original line up. Ian Walton later joined Calico, Four Card Trick and now works as a soloist. As replacements for Ian and George, Pete first recruited Scott Newstead from Dominic Kirwan’s band on keys and in July 2006 Stig (Rob Tompsett) came in on lead guitar and vocals. Stig’s time with the band was short and he was replaced by Roger McKew on lead guitar and harmony vocals in 2007. Originally a Country guitarist Roger was coaxed into the ‘mainstream’ entertainment world and over the years played with such household names as Joe Brown, Lonnie Donegan and Shakin’ Stevens to name but a few. Joining Texas Tornados brought him back to his roots. In 2009 the trio won a BCMA Band of the Year award.
Scott Newstead left the Texas Tornados at the start of 2010 to rejoin Dominic Kirwan and knowing Scott was about to leave, Stu Payne who was looking for a new band at that time asked Pete if he could fill the vacancy. Pete jumped at the opportunity to take on such an experienced musician.
Stu has a long history on the Country circuit and has been a member of many Country bands joining the Zeta Hansell Band in early 1992. He stayed with the band until September that year but during his short time with them he also did some depping with Sweet Revenge. His dad had noticed they didn’t seem to have a regular player and he talked them into giving Stu a try! Kevin Jupp from City Limits was at the gig and shortly afterwards Stu started depping with them whenever he was available. He joined City Limits full time September 1992 replacing Wayne Golden who joined New Dawn trio for a year before moving to Ireland where he was a member of Ann Breen’s band for 10 years. The line up of City Limits was Kevin Jupp (lead and harmony vocals and rhythm guitar), Colin Jupp (lead and harmony vocals and bass guitar), Stu Payne (lead guitar and keys) and Steve Willis (lead and harmony vocals and drums). Stu stayed with City Limits until June 1995 when he joined Peterborough trio Circuit Judge. Circuit Judge were one of the most popular bands on the Country circuit from the mid-1980s into the 90s. The band was formed in 1984/5 (nobody can remember for certain); The original line up of the double family band was Pat Judge (rhythm guitar and vocals), Bernie Nicholls (lead guitar and vocals), Ellie Nicholls (bass guitar and vocals) and Craig Judge (drums and vocals). Over the years there were several changes to the line up but in 1993 they became a 3-piece comprising Pat Judge (rhythm guitar and vocals) Andy Sankey (lead guitar and vocals) and Craig Judge (drums and vocals).
Stu Payne replaced Andy in June 1995 giving the band a new vigour that had been lacking for several years. He stayed with the band until Pat’s sudden death in July 2002 at which point the band folded. In August 2003 Stu joined Sidewinder, a trio that had been together for a few years. The line up at this time was John ‘Stubby’ Stubbs (rhythm guitar and vocals), Andy Saphir (lead guitar) and Stu Payne (keys and vocals). Andy left c2005/6 and Stu and Stubby carried on as a duo until the end of 2008 when Stubby decided to go solo. Following the demise of Sidewinder, Stu formed a duo called Gemeni with Gemma Fairweather. Between 2006 – 2010 he was also in a theatre show called Hooked On Country Sold On Sixties with Texas Gun and Country Company.
Despite changes to the line up, the Tornados lost none of their appeal and with Stu on board they won BCMA’s People’s Choice Act of the Year in 2015. Roger McKew retired in 2016 and the trio became a duo but remained as popular as ever. In recent years Stu has won two successive CCN awards for Musician Of The Year in 2018, 2019 and is once again nominated 2021. Texas Tornados won CCN Duo Of The Year in 2017 and Entertainer Of The Year in 2018.
Despite Pete’s background as a line dance teacher, the Texas Tornados have a very wide repertoire and are just at home at a listening club as they are at a line dance club. Pete describes himself as an entertainer rather than a singer and he always throws all of his (considerable) energy into making sure the audience goes home completely and utterly ‘entertained’

PJ (Paul James)

Research by Nick Catford.

Paul James (PJ) is a Country music DJ and dance instructor. He grew up with a mixture of Country and 60s pop music but it wasn’t until introduced to line dancing after a chance social night out at a dance class with friends and family in October 1996 that he realised just how much he loved Country music – he has been hooked on the music and dancing ever since. He started attending classes five nights a week and in August 1997, went to the very first ‘Chance To Dance’ festival hosted by the Dean Brothers at Harrogate, and quickly realised he had a real passion for dancing.

Not only was he enjoying learning the dances and participating in the classes and festivals, he realised he had an aptitude for explaining the dances and teaching them to others. A small number of dancers wanted to learn more up to date dances which were popular at festivals so he started teaching one class a week. Gradually, more people heard of the class and started to come along – that was when he started teaching more seriously. He took exams with the Scottish Western Academy Of Dance (SWAD) in March 1998. The SWAD has since folded so he is now a member of the Best Western Dance Academy.
In 2012 he opened a Country Music & Line Dance club called Redneck CWC at Belmont near Durham city and hosted his own Phoenix country music festival in 2014 (The club is now called Whiskey River CMC). Over the years he has taught many classes in different locations but now only teaches once a week and runs regular live nights and workshops. As well as being a keen line dancer and instructor, he also choreographs his own dances. In May 1999, he entered ‘Limbo Rock’, a dance he choreographed into Ann Napier’s (SWAD) choreography competition up in Dalkeith near Edinburgh. The dance was one of over 60 entries and made it to the last eight. At the final, the choreographers demonstrated their dances and his dance was announced as the winner. It has now been renamed Eruption.
PJ has always enjoyed singing but only ever sung at karaoke and other social events until he started singing on the Country circuit in 2017 so he is still a relative newcomer. He started live streaming from his home towards the end of lockdown and has been nominated for ‘best newcomer’ in the 2021 CCN awards. He has always been solo, but has been invited to perform with a few other artistes including Texas Gun, Badlands, Zenne, and was also privileged to be invited to play with The Breeze at one of the Gary Perkins tribute shows. At a recent festival PJ was approached to front a band at a recent festival and hasn’t ruled it out for the future although he really enjoys performing as solo Country singer. He did however tell me he is looking forward to some exciting new ventures musically!
He has a wide repertoire of Country music spanning the last 50 years and lists his influences as Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Merle Haggard, Gary Allan, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, The Eagles, George Strait and John Denver to name just a few.
He lives in Co. Durham and still work full time during the week, so most of his gigs are in the North of England and he occasionally venture into Scotland but he is limited to the distance he can travel mid-week because of work, though he is trying to break into the south as much as possible, using holiday entitlement to enable putting a few runs together. His ambition is to eventually leave work and go full time on the circuit – this was going to happen in 2020 until Covid scuppered his plans.
As well as gigs and dancing PJ also started presenting programmes on internet radio station UK Country Radio in November 2019 at 12 noon on Saturdays and Sundays. He interviews the weekly Spotlight UK Artist as part of the show.

Dave Anderson

Research by Nick Catford.

Dave Anderson has been playing for 59 years. He was brought up in a very musical family; his dad Alec wasn’t a working musician but he played violin and clarinet in his army days. His uncle Jack was the drummer in the Eric Winstone (big) Band and also played in the BBC orchestra in Wales. His uncle Stan was a hotel lounge piano player in Fiji for many years and his cousin John was a jazz drummer and played on P&O Orient line ships.
With two drummers in the family it is perhaps not surprising that Dave also started his career in music as a drummer while still at school. His first band was Titch & The Taveners (singer Stu ‘Titch’ Edson being under 5 feet tall). His next band was The Detours and then Freddie ‘Fingers’ Lee and the Storm. Freddie had been the piano player with Screaming Lord Sutch.
Dave played some local sessions for Country singer/songwriter/musician Ray Brett. Dave was mesmerised by his intricate guitar playing; thumb pick and fingers, Chet Atkins style. He bought a guitar and tried to emulate him but in his own words ‘never succeeded!’ Having learnt how to play guitar sufficiently well Dave joined his first Country band, Campbell’s Country in 1971. The line up was Campbell Baxter (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Dave Anderson (lead guitar and harmony vocals), Nicky Evans (bass) and Mark ‘Ginge’ Brian (drums and harmony vocals). In 1975 they recorded an album, Campbell’s Country on the Westwood label. The band weren’t happy with the quality of the album and didn’t promote it.

After a few years, Campbell left and took a break from Country music after an extensive tour with Patsy Montana and Judy Rose. Before leaving, the band recorded an album with Patsy and Judy (Patsy Montana’s daughter) called Mum And I Visit Campbell’s Country, this was Judy’s first ever recording session. Sleeve notes for the album were co-written by Gene Autry and fiddle supremo Billy Armstrong. Billy, talking about Judy Rose said “It goes without saying that Patsy and Campbell’s Country are also great” It was recorded at Look Studios in Yorkshire and was released on the Look label in 1976. After Campbell left his own band, Dave Anderson also left and the band resurfaced as Colorado. In about 1978 Dave decided to make Country music his full time career having learnt how to play pedal steel guitar and he gave up his day job as a manager. He joined another 4-piece band called County Class. Dave wasn’t impressed with the name and suggested something with a bit more punch, Barbary Coast was agreed. The line up at that time was John ‘Robbo’ Robinson (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Dave Anderson (lead guitar, pedal steel guitar and harmony vocals), John ‘Bugsy’ Moloney (bass and harmony vocals) and Warren ‘Wally’ Greaves (drums). The band was signed to Allen Productions and were very busy. Dave recorded two albums with Frank Ifield and Barbary Coast. The first was Frank Ifield With Barbary Coast in 1978 and the second was Sweet Vibrations in 1980 after he had left the band.
After leaving Barbary Coast in 1979 he joined a five-piece close harmony band called Conspiracy. They played quality pop music and harmony based Country (Eagles, Poco, Little River Band etc) and the line up was Dave Anderson (lead guitar, pedal steel guitar and vocals), Dave Clemo (guitar, mandolin and vocals), Andy (lead guitar and harmony vocals), Phil (bass and vocals) and Mark Bryan (ex- Campbell’s Country, drums). After leaving Conspiracy, Dave joined the Alan Howard Band, a local function band, for a short time. The band didn’t suit him and he was quickly sacked after suggesting the band should rehearse songs!
After a short break from playing, Dave formed a duo Lock Stock & Barrel with John Fellows, the bass player with the function band. At around this time Dave decided to form an artist booking agency which he called Barrel Promotions. The duo was getting a good amount of work and having to turn work away. Dave started the agency to find work for other acts for a small commission. Many years later the agency was renamed Black Cat Promotions.
After a while Dave had a phone call from Peterborough band Burnt Ash who was a summer season band and Pontins. They had been asked to be the resident band for the first Pontins Country festival. They didn’t have enough of a Country repertoire or knowledge of the music to take on the role and Dave was asked to join the band. It didn’t suit him at that time and he recommended Campbell Baxter who was looking for a new band after his short break from Country music, Campbell stayed with them for two years after which he decided to re-form Campbell’s Country. Mickey Bembridge, keyboardist and lead guitarist with Burnt Ash went with him and Dave Anderson and John Fellows also joined the reformed band. The line up was Campbell Baxter (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Dave Anderson (lead guitar. pedal steel guitar and harmony vocals), Mickey Bembridge (keyboards, lead guitar, lead and harmony vocals), John Fellows (bass, lead and harmony vocals) and Chris Page (drums) Dave spent four years with Campbell’s Country leaving in 1985 to form Vegas. He took bass player John Fellows with him and the line up was Dave Anderson (lead guitar, pedal steel guitar and vocals), John Fellows (bass and vocals), Julie Clements (fiddle, keyboards and harmony vocals) and Stu Peters (drums and vocals). The band recorded a cassette album, Vegas before they even started gigging. Vegas turned out to be very short lived, barely lasting a year.
In 1985 George Moody’s lead guitarist Terry Clifford moved on to the Western Rodeo Band teaming up with Brian Mann. With the demise of Vegas, Dave was looking for a new band and he was pleased to accept George Moody’s offer of a job with the Country Squires. The line up was George Moody (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Dave Anderson (lead guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo and harmony vocals, Robbie Hawkes (bass) and Steve Patchett (drums). In 1986 George’s For All Those Years album was released; this was to be his and Dave Anderson’s last vinyl album. Steve Patchett left shortly after Dave joined and moved to Wales and he was replaced by Rich Butcher on drums. A cassette album New Favourites followed in 1987 and another cassette album Thats The Way Love Goes, followed. During Dave’s time with the band, Bobby Wilkinson (from Burnt Ash) also played on drums for a while and a young pedal steel player, Lynn Ansell, regularly played with the band bringing them up to a 5-piece. Very few musicians stayed in the Country Squires for long and Dave Anderson was no exception leaving after a little over two years primarily because of the amount of travelling involved. The Essex based Country Squires were extremely busy sometimes working seven nights a week and it eventually proved to be very wearing for Dave travelling from Northants to Essex. He left the band in 1990 and was replaced by Terry Clifford returning after his stint with the Western Rodeo Band.
Dave went immediately into his next band Jon Derek & Country Fever. Guitarist Albert’s Lee’s career as a country musician probably began when he joined the Jon Derek Band in early 1968. Albert had been introduced to Jon Derek two years earlier by a good friend, Chas Hodges (later to become half of Chas & Dave). The Jon Derek band were formed as a backing band for Clodagh Rodgers but Jon and Albert later went on to form Country Fever one of the best respected and most successful British country bands in the 1970s and 80s. Dave recorded two cassette albums with Jon Derek and Country Fever, a studio album Moving On and a live album Live At The Venue. By the time Dave Anderson joined, Jon Derek was nearing the end of his career. The line up was Jon Derek (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Dave Anderson (lead guitar, guitar synth, pedal steel guitar and harmony vocals), Dave (Lofty) Pycroft (bass and harmony vocals) and Tony (Pekker) Peck (drums and harmony vocals). George Moody and The Country Squires released another cassette album That’s The Way Love Goes which included Dave Anderson as it was recorded before he left.
Jon Derek went into semi-retirement at the end of 1991 and Country Fever was reborn as Wishbone with Dave fronting a band for the first time as one of three lead singers, but with most of the presentation falling on Dave’s shoulders. Until then he had always considered himself a guitarist who could sing. Fifteen year old Stuart Lee joined the band as the third lead singer and featured on Wishbone’s first album First Wish. Stuart was an exceptional singer but as he was still a teenager it didn’t work out and he was soon replaced by Bob Common on lead guitar.
Bob started playing in 1967 and in the early years played all types of music before joining the Dundee based Silver Dollar band where he stayed for many years playing only local gigs. He joined a touring band, Rhodes County, in the 1980s and then moved on to Rufus Stone before joining Wishbone. During the 1990s Wishbone were considered to be one of the best bands on the British Country circuit. Instrumentally and vocally they were very tight and always had more than a touch of lunacy thanks to drummer Anthony Arthur John Peck. Dave, David Pycroft and Bob Common shared the lead vocal duties and Tony Peck also sung lead vocals from time to time. Wishbone released three other CD albums Second Wish. Live 95 and Yesterday’s Wishes.
As well as recording with his own bands there were many other recording sessions over the years. These including working with 1975 Opportunity Knocks winner Tammy Jones and with The Fortunes on their 1999 album Some Bridges.
Following the demise of Wishbone at the Millennium, Dave formed the Thrillbillies duo with Neil Lusk almost immediately. Neil left the duo after less than two years and in 2001 Dave recruited Ed Cox to fill a vacancy. Ed had been working as a soloist in pubs and clubs in Northamptonshire. Although he was brought up with a love of Elvis and included some Country material in his act he knew little about the British Country music scene at that time. In the following 19 years the Thrillbillies established themselves as one of the best country duos with two good singers, good vocal harmonies and good playing. In 2019 Dave and Ed decided to go their own way as solo artists but then came Covid. Having caught Covid himself shortly after lockdown ended Dave is now working hard as a soloist and already has a decent diary of gigs for 2022. He can perform a full country show, including line dance friendly songs, and a full show of 60s/70s music or a mix of the two. Although working primarily as a soloist he is also available as Freeway duo with J.D.Bullitt with traditional country music and Freeline duo with Cliff Weston for country/line dance and as Freeway trio with both. Dave’s Black Cat Promotions agency is still operating but Dave has now taken a back seat with Darren Binns running the agency.

Nikki Jo Brown

Research by Nick Catford.

Nikki Jo Brown comes from Washington, Tyne & Wear and grew up surrounded by music with her nan being one of her earliest influences.
She has fond memories of first performing when she was a child and went on to achieve a degree in music. She became an accomplished pianist and launched her singing career 24 years ago as a soloist working in cabaret mainly in the north east of England. At that time she sung current hits and oldies but always included a little Country.
Over the years, many people told her voice really suited Country music which she had always had a passion for and so eventually decided to relaunch herself as a Country singer in the summer of 2019 when she was quick to impress everyone with her powerful vocals and bubbly stage presence, receiving standing ovations at both the Towerfest and Rockridge festivals.
Her diary was already filling before lockdown as she built up a reputation as a dedicated line dance artist with a very wide repertoire of modern and traditional Country music to suit all tastes and all clubs.
Nikki Jo is fully pro and although now a Country singer she is still working in cabaret which currently makes up 50 percent of her work.
Although for now, she is still working with backing tracks, she has been learning guitar which will be included in her Country gigs at some time in the future.
She has always worked solo and has no aspirations of working with a band or other musicians in the future and is happy to concentrate on building her career as a solo Country singer.

John Doherty

Research by Nick Catford.

Although John Doherty has only been on the Country scene for five years, he has very quickly established himself as one of the best newcomers we have seen for a long time.
He first started singing at home when he was 16/17 and bought himself a guitar and started learning a few chords. When his father heard him singing he was very impressed and encouraged him to continue. His father bought a banjo and formed an Irish band with some friends. They played in local social clubs and invited John to sing during the breaks; this was his first experience of singing in public. He started singing traditional Irish ballads, many acapella, during his annual family visits to the Clormany Festival

in Donegal which was not far from his ancestral home. It is Ireland’s longest running and best known family festival.
In 1996 he entered a talent contest at the festival and came second singing Fields Of Athenry. He won 50 Punts (Old Irish currency) and a Donegal pottery vase.
He later formed Well Strung duo singing Irish, folk and a little Country; John was the singer and Steve was the bass player from his dad’s band. Steve introduced him to artists like the Eagles and Gordon Lightfoot which he enjoyed.
The duo was short lived and he was soon working solo in pubs and clubs with a mix of 60’s and current songs which he didn’t enjoy at all. He persevered for five years but by this time he was engaged to be married and decided to end his solo career and settle down to family life and a normal day job.
Although now off the road, John didn’t stop singing and after borrowing some copies of New Country magazine from a friend, each of which came with a cd, he began learning some of the songs and soon made a tentative step back into the public eye, initially performing at open mic nights.
He formed another duo, The Backwater Boys, at this time with Andy Ratcliffe, a member of the 70’s band Candlewick Green. After a chance meeting with Country singer and producer Steve Chase, Steve gave the duo a Country gig. Although this duo was also short lived they were very well received and John was bitten by the bug once again, relaunching his career as a solo Country singer in July 2016 after encouragement from his friends and family.
John has a rich bass baritone voice, ideally suited to Country music and as word got around bookings were soon flooding in. He won the CNN Newcomer of the Year award in 2017 and the following year won the CNN Solo Act of the Year.
Following covid he now has a very full diary until the end of 2022. John has no aspirations of working with a band and is happy to concentrate on his career as a soloist but he would consider occasionally working with other musicians if required.

Ray Peters

Research by Nick Catford.

Ray Peters joined is first Country band in c1987 when he was 34. He was the bass player in The Mavericks (this was 2 years before Raul Malo’s Mavericks were launched in the US!). a 4-piece band based in Gravesend, Kent. The band recorded some tracks at Maida Vale studios in London. Ray left after two years when he was offered a lucrative job in Saudi Arabia. The Mavericks continued with a new bass player. On his return to England, Ray played in various rocky covers bands working in mainly pubs and social clubs in Kent.
In 1994 he moved his family to the Costa Del Sol in Spain where he started singing MOR as a soloist switching from bass to rhythm guitar. A neighbour, who worked as a comedian on the coast and also played bass in a covers band wanted to leave the band and offered Ray the job. Ray played with The Banned for two years until one of their resident venues wanted to switch to Country music. The Banned changed their name to Live and Kickin’ and Ray took a lot more of the lead vocals as he had by now realised just how much he loved Country music.
Ray returned to the UK in 1999 and promptly put together another Country band, Before The Storm. They were only a weekend band as the members were all working during the week. Ray was keen to get more work so, in 2000, he formed The Ray Peters Band. He recruited Shaun Murray, whose band Shameless had recently split. They were then introduced to pedal steel guitarist Tony Ryan who was looking for a new band after leaving Rick McKay and Freeway and a new trio was formed.
Shaun Murray has always loved Country music and, as teenager, saved his pocket money to buy Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell and John Denver records which he then wore out trying to learn the guitar parts! Tony Ryan had played pedal steel guitar in many established country bands since the 1980s, including Alberta, Wes Cardy Band, John Douglas & Southern Star and Johnny Earle and Southern Star before joining Freeway. The new band played their first gig at Basildon’s Silverado CMC in November that year. Audiences really took to Ray’s rich, warm Country voice, and with strong instrumental support from Tony and Shaun, the band acquired a reputation for providing excellent, authentic Country music for both dancers and listeners on the UK club and festival scene.
In 2004 Tony Ryan left to play banjo in a bluegrass band but before leaving he suggested his replacement, Dave Hayward one of the finest, most stylish steelies in the UK. The band went from strength to strength playing clubs, festivals and tours nationwide. Dave Hayward had played with several Country bands, such as Al Barrett’s Linemen, Frank Jennings Syndicate, Little Ginny, Marietta Station and the Henry Smith Band. Such was his standing as a player; he had performed at Steel Guitar festivals in the USA, Holland and Ireland; and in the UK at every British Steel Guitar festival at Newbury. Two CD albums were released in this period, Burn ‘Em Up and Choices. Eventually the band became a victim of their own success. With Shaun and Ray holding down day jobs life on the road became a little too much, resulting sadly, but perhaps inevitably, in the band calling it a day at the end of 2005. Ray did continue playing solo gigs for a time but he found he missed the band camaraderie.
By 2008 Shaun was missing playing in a Country band. Since the demise of the Ray Peters Band he had been involved in other non-Country projects and was doing

some Country gigs as a dep with Texas Tornados; but Country was what he loved most and he wanted to be back on the circuit. Shaun had met Phil Bennett a few years earlier, and had done some work with him in the classical field. Phil was also part of the long-standing barn dance band, Easy Street. Shaun considered Phil to be fiddler extraordinaire and he knew the Country circuit deserved him, and would love him! The search for a vocalist to complete the line-up led, of course, straight back to Ray Peters who was equally keen to get back to gigging and they decided to get back on the road as quickly as possible. The new line-up played their first club in September 2009 and soon re-established the popularity of the Ray Peters band. They always included some fiddle instrumentals like Orange Blossom Special to show off Phil’s virtuosity.
The CD album Singin’, Pickin’, Fiddlin’ was released in 2011, by which time Ray was developing his own reputation as a songwriter. The album included four original compositions, The Goodbye Song in particular enjoying much success in the British Country Music charts. Ray also released a solo CD album Something Different at this time. Phil Bennett retired from playing in April 2014 but Dave Hayward came back into the trio. Three more original songs featured on the band’s Sour Mash CD album released in 2014. The album featured both Dave and Phil.
Shaun Murray retired from the trio in April 2015 and Ray recruited another excellent guitarist, Dean Barnes, who came with an impressive pedigree. He had been playing guitar since the age of 6 and started performing as a professional lead guitarist in 1982 aged 11. He started working with his father’s band and continued for 18 years. He had played lead guitar in differing genres including Country, blues, rock and jazz; pretty much any style that had been required. Dean had worked with such artists as George Hamilton IV, Billy Jo Spears, Philomena Begley, Sandy Newman (Marmalade), Gary Brooker (Procal Harem), Richard Hudson (The Strawbs), and Ali MacKenzie (The Birds – Brit band not The Byrds). He had a vast experience working as a session player on numerous albums with various artists over the previous 33 years.
Shortly after recruiting Dean Barnes for the trio, Ray decided to expand, forming the 5-piece Smokey Turtle Band in 2015. The band comprised Ray Peters (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) Dean Barnes (lead guitar) Dave Hayward (pedal steel guitar) Hannah Cope (bass) and Pete Hedley (drums)
Hannah Cope was passionate about Country, blues and jazz. For almost 20 years she has performed all over the UK, Ireland and the US, acquiring a rich and diverse musical background. She performed with the house band at The Golf Links, Isle of Man, backing entertainers like Bill Tarmey and Norman Wisdom; and followed her love of Country music with a duo touring the Republic Of Ireland. Hannah had toured with girl band ‘Girlz World’ and had made her mark on the UK Blues scene with outfits including The Sam Kelly Band and Rik Martin. Pete Hedley had been drumming for over 25 years, maintaining a busy session and freelance career throughout the UK and Europe. He was also a drum teacher and a faculty member at Herts College of Music. Pete had over 15 years of professional playing and gigging experience in genres including Country, blues, pop, and funk
The new band promptly produced a CD album, Ray Peters & The Smokey Turtle Band which was a live studio recording of the rehearsal for their appearance at the C2C festival at the 02 Arena London in March 2016.
Dean Barnes passed away suddenly in May 2017 and Ray was able to recruit another top guitarist, Andy ‘Twang’ Kingston who was no stranger to the British Country scene. Not only was he an excellent guitarist but he also played keyboard and provided good harmony vocals. At the age of 12 he was given his first guitar and his Dad taught him how to play. Two years later he made his first appearance on TV when he performed the instrumental Ghost Riders In The Sky. Not long after that he joined his first Country Band, whilst still at school. Andy travelled the UK playing his guitar and met many different artists and performers; and quickly realised he wanted to be a Country musician. Since then he has been in many British Country bands including Clovis, Medicine Bow, Diamond T Band, Dusty Rhodes Band, Band Named Sioux and more recently Ridgeway Country and the Henry Smith Band. He has also backed visiting American artists including Billy Yates and Heather Myles.
In the summer of 2018, Dave Hayward left the fold and Ray was quickly able to recruit another top class steelie. Ray Phillips was well known on the Country circuit, his career began in 1983 when he joined Essex band Country Echoes. Ray played steel and lead guitar as well as doing some lead vocals. After 8 years, Ray moved on to various bands including Freddie Jameson & Convoy, Trevor Kelly & The Lonestar Flyers, Alberta and The Tony Goodacre Band. He eventually joined Kevin Stewart & First Chapter playing lead guitar and singing lead and harmony vocals. In 2006 he took over as frontman of the band when Kevin moved to Ireland. He continued with the band until the end of 2014 and then joined the Jeff Gallant Band staying until early 2018.
In January 2019 Ray decided to fold the Smokey Turtle Band after less than four years as it was almost impossible to retain a settled line-up. He continued as a trio/duo with Andy Kingston and Ray Philips but with Andy retiring and Ray joining Ridgeway Country full time he decided, reluctantly, to go solo after fulfilling any existing duo bookings using Ray if he was available and deps.

Billy Curtis

Research by Nick Catford.

Billy Curtis is a self-taught musician who started playing guitar at the age of five. He first played Country music when he was lead guitarist in a band he was in with his school friends. At 19 he turned his back on a promising career in computer programming to become a professional musician. He spent six years as a soloist, ‘learning his trade’ on the road, where the experiences were invaluable. In this period he worked a lot of cabaret and holiday parks, including the Exeter Police Club with Shane Ritchie and Lilly Savage where the three of them shared a changing room!
At 25, Billy joined his first Country band. Stringband was a west country based double family band. They were a fully pro band and the line up was John Forsey (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Deena Forsey (lead vocals). Raymond Hill (pedal steel guitar and vocals), Glyn Evans (bass guitar and lead vocals), Bryn Evans (keys and lead vocals) and Tony Bale (drums and vocals). In about 1993 Billy Curtis came in on lead guitar and lead vocals replacing Raymond Hill. At around the same time Stringband did away with drums so they now had a completely different sound as a 5-piece but remained as popular as ever as they continued touring around the country.
Realising that being in a band gave a new dimension to his music Billy left Stringband to form his own band, B.J. Curtis & Nashville Express with his two brothers in 1994. Before they even performed in public they recorded a cassette album All In A Day which comprised 11 covers all recorded in one day. The album was intended for selling at gigs and as a demo for their close harmonies as demonstrated on the track Seven Bridges Road. The line up was BJ Curtis (lead vocals, lead guitar, dobro and piano. Jim Curtis (rhythm guitar, vocals and blues harmonica), Tim Curtis (bass guitar and vocals) and Paul Sayers (drums and harmony vocals). Billy was music arranger and the three Curtis brothers were all songwriters.
The band was immediately very popular on the Country circuit. In 1996 they released their first CD album, Nashville Bound consisting of all original songs with each song written by one or more of the three brothers.
The extensive touring and playing the UK Country Club scene took its toll and Tim Curtis and Paul Sayers decided

to leave so Billy recruited Bryn Evans from Stringband on keyboards and vocals and the band carried on as a trio. In 1997 they achieved major recognition by winning the British Country Music Association’s award for ‘Rising Star of 1997’ and Southern Country Magazine’s ‘Best Newcomers’ award. The band also appeared on BBC TV’s Pebble Mill at 1. In time Jim and Paul returned to the band and they carried on as a 5-piece. During this time a third album was recorded and Billy recorded his first solo video which was shown on Sky TV‘s CMT Europe, an original song co-written with Ron and Bo Walton called Maybe We Can Fall In Love which was recorded in the style of Buddy Holly who was one of Billy’s influences.
January 1998 marked a significant change; the band was dissolved with Billy deciding to take timeout to concentrate on his song writing and his recording career. His music was heard by Graham Sclater the MD of music publishers, Tabitha Music and he signed with them before producing some new original material. Within weeks Billy signed with a new management company and went back out on the Country music circuit as a solo artist.
His popularity as a line dance artist grew and in January 2002 he featured on the front cover of Linedancer magazine, heralding his acceptance on the British line dance scene. At that time he was working at line dance festivals and events with top choreographers. In 2007 and 2008 Billy co-starred in the UK stage shows ‘Route 66’ and ‘Superstars of Country’, touring all over the UK.
In 2009 he formed The Billy Curtis Band. The line up was Billy Curtis (lead vocals and lead guitar) and his two sons, Daniel on bass and Billy-Joe on drums. Billy also asked Lee J Hodgson, former lead guitarist with Memphis Roots, to stand in with the band to give them two lead guitars. Jim also returned for some of the European gigs to add acoustic guitar and harmonies.
The band was very popular in Europe especially in France where they appeared on Billy Bob’s Saloon stage at the Disney Country & Line Dance Festival, at The West Rennes Country Days and at the Calais Country Festival. In 2010 they were back in France at Mirande Country Music Festival, one of the major international Country events in Europe. The band did some festivals and a few clubs in the UK and lasted until 2012.
After time touring with the band, Billy formed a new event company in 2012 focusing on Country music and line dance holidays; this grew very quickly with sell out events. Whilst still maintaining his music passion he also formed a duo Curtis & Lee in 2016 with his long term partner Sammi Lee Bassey; a successful solo singer in her own right. The duo performed many special events in Denmark, Netherlands, Spain and the UK where they also played a few clubs.
Billy continued with a limited solo career while concentrating on his events business and a new line dance project, Everything Line Dance (ELD) which remains very successful and popular.
With the lockdown in 2020 everything stopped but this didn’t stop Billy being creative! From this unprecedented time came one of the most creative projects he has worked on. The Virtual Playboys is a totally unique concept of forming a virtual band with different characters, harmonies and great Country music. This project started on YouTube in the early part of 2021 and as covid restrictions lifted, quickly moved away from YouTube into a live show concept. Using screens and technology the Virtual Playboys are preparing to tour with the live show in 2022 with their first European tour in Denmark, Sweden and Germany starting in April.
During his career Billy has appeared with many established artists including The Mavericks, Martina McBride, Ty England, Carlene Carter, Tank Sherman, Acker Bilk, Matchbox, and many others.

Bob Keeley

Research by Nick Catford.

I first saw Bob Keeley in 1992 shortly after he joined Glen Mitchell’s band, The Troubleshooters. This was his first experience in a Country band, having started his musical career in 1986 playing the 1950’s and 60’s classics that he loves, fronting a five-piece rock ‘n’ roll band called The Rockafellas.
After three years when Glen Mitchell moved on to other things, Bob stepped up front and the Troubleshooters were re-named Blackjack with the addition of Andy Saphir on lead guitar. They quickly became one of the top modern Country bands on the circuit. Blackjack lasted three years, eventually folding due to family commitments following extensive touring, after which Bob was offered a place with the Nadine Somers Band alongside Rob Childs and Nadine. The three of them enjoyed great success all over the country and abroad.
After four years, Nadine decided to part company with the boys to concentrate on her family but Rob and Bob stayed together as a duo called Vegas. The pair of them quickly established a new fanbase with their relaxed and often humorous rapport with the audience.
After five years, in 2008, Bob went solo to allow more time with his family. His quieter life wasn’t to last long because he is now one of the busiest soloists on the circuit, winning many awards including BCMA Solo Artist of the Year in 2011, CNN Entertainer of the Year in 2016, CNN Solo Artist of the Year in 2017, CNN Male Vocalist of the Year in 2018 and CNN Solo Artist of the Year in 2019.
When lockdown came in March last year Bob soon found himself streaming from his home but it was very clear tonight that he was glad to be back entertaining a live audience.

Stonecold Country

Research by Nick Catford.

Stonecold Country are a father and son duo, Ray and Steve Kedge. Ray has had a lifetime in Country music, joining his first Country Band, Strange Blend, in 1971. The line-up was Ray Kedge (vocals, pedal steel guitar, electric and acoustic guitar, banjo and dobro), Sam Thomas (bass guitar and vocals), Byron Giles (lead guitar and vocals) and Mel Jones (drums). Prior to forming Strange Blend, Ray didn’t play any instruments well and it was suggested that he should learn pedal steel guitar which he did. He is completely self taught but has never read music. Strange Blend were a Country rock band playing in the style of the Eagles and Poco. They released an album, Up Against The Wall in 1976.
John Derek (of Country Fever and member of the British Country Music Hall of Fame) said of the band: ‘Their extensive talents both vocal and instrumental, together with a good sense of humour and personality, ensure their position amongst the top Country bands both in Britain and on the Continent.’
While still a member of Strange Blend, Ray later joined Country Fever and played with them between 1975 and 1978. The line-up was John Derek (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Graham Walker (lead guitar), Rod Clark (bass) and Malcolm Hammerston (drums).

By 1978 Strange Blend had folded and after leaving Country Fever (who went on to become Wishbone in late 1991 when John Derek retired), Ray joined The Muskrats a five-piece Country rock band. The band featured five singers with good vocal harmonies. The line-up was Vic Jones (vocals and acoustic guitar), John Smith (vocals, lead guitar and acoustic guitar), Derek Twig Minton (vocals and bass), Ray Kedge (vocals, pedal steel guitar and dobro) and Jeff Vanweenan (vocals and drums). The band had already released four albums by the time Ray joined. Their fifth and final album Insight was released in 1978 – they also released a single in 1981 called Half A Chance.
After leaving The Muskrats when they folded in 1984, Ray and Graham Walker joined Hickory Lake in the same year. Hickory Lake’s line up was Vic Woodhouse (vocals and rhythm guitar and member of the British Country Music Hall of Fame), Graham Walker (lead guitar), Lindsey St John (vocals and bass), Ray Kedge (vocals and pedal steel guitar and dobro) and Andy Richards (drum and vocals). Roger Brown later replaced Graham Walker and the band’s final lead guitarist was Colin Medlock. Their album (vinyl and cassette) The End Is Not In Sight was released in 1987. Ray left Hickory Lake in 1987 after the band had a bad crash on the M1.
Ray gave up working as a full time musician at this time and joined the Royal Mail but, although no longer playing full time he did join Badger, a semi-pro covers band. Over the years their gigs became more Country and eventually their name was changed to Nashville Sounds.
Ray has also played on a number of other Country albums including Firewater’s Brand New Vintage in 1986 and Campbell’s Country’s cassette album Cajun Explosion in 1988. He has also played with a number of visiting American Country singers, the most notable being the 1989 Billie Jo Spears tour with Hank Thompson. Ray was the only British musician on the tour – Billie Jo brought her own band apart from her steel player Terry Bethel who was tied up doing studio work so Ray got the gig. He also toured with Nat Stucky, David Houston, Billy Walker, Freddy Fender, Tex Williams, Barbara Fairchild, Margo Smith and Vernon Oxford. He was also a member of Lonnie Donegan’s band for a while. Lonnie came to a Muskrats gig and asked guitarist John Smith and Ray to join for a tour.
Ray retired from the Post Office in 2007 and formed Nashville Rose with his son Steve and Steve’s girlfriend Rachel Thomason. When Steve and Rachel split up in 2012 Nashville Rose became Stonecold Country duo who are still going strong today. Badger are also still together as a covers band working mainly in social clubs but they occasionally still get Country gigs. For these, Ray and Steve join them and the go out as Nashville Sounds.
In 2016 Steve Kedge won Musician of the Year in the inaugural CCN awards. He has been nominated in the same category every year since.

James & Wood

Research by Nick Catford.

James & Wood was formed five years ago. Prior to getting together Steve James had been playing Country music since the early 90s. After fronting his own Steve James Band for 19 years he then played with Arizona Flame for three years and Smoking Guns for another two years.
Martin Wood moved to Scotland from South Africa six years ago. He had been a producer for 20 years before playing in various bands and working as a solo artist playing all genres of music for another 15 years.
Having arrived in Glasgow, Martin was introduced to Steve James by a mutual friend who told them that they sounded great together and should start their own band. As well as being introduced to Steve James this was also Martin Wood’s introduction to Country music – luckily he loved it. James & Wood duo was formed and they soon proved very popular on the Country circuit.
James & Wood made their first visit to Hickory Lake on 15th August and judging by the loud applause for this fun loving and often cheeky Glaswegian pair it won’t be too long before they are back at Feering.
Steve and Martin are both good singers and harmonise well together with good instrumentation and their humour ensures good fun.

Memphis Roots

Research by Nick Catford.

Memphis Roots were formed by Jon Keys and Barry Westbrook in 1987, the first line-up was Barry Westbrook (vocals), Lee Hodgson (lead guitar), Frank Boswell (bass guitar) and Jon Keys (drums).
Barry knew Lee and Jon knew Frank. All were experienced musicians and, with the exception of Frank Boswell, had played in other Country bands. Barry Westbrook had been a member of Cody and he had played with a number of other Country bands including, on one occasion, singing lead with Spellbound when Jenney Speller was unavailable.
Lee Hodgson has played guitar in many bands, both Country and other genres since 1976, turning fully professional in 1979 when he began working up to six nights a week with George Moody & The Country Squires. During the day he began teaching guitar to people of all ages, including one member of Radiohead.
Jon Keys’ career as a Country drummer started with the Jonny Young 4 in 1969. He joined Deadwood in 1970 and was a member of Whisky, which was fronted by Roger Humphries, from 1971-1974. Between 1979-1982 he was drummer in the Ned Porridge Band with Ed Pearson.
Frank Boswell had previously played in a Kent-based function band called High Society.
The band’s first cassette album featuring the four founding members was called Highway To Heaven.
Barry Westbrook was the first to leave in June 1989 when he formed Mean Business and he was replaced as lead singer by Ed Pearson. Ed was older than the others, being born in 1937 and his musical career stretched back to the late 1950s when he started playing skiffle at the legendary 2 i’s coffee bar at 59 Old Compton Street in London’s Soho. Through the 60s he played the London East End clubs in the evening whilst working at the London docks during the day. He joined his first Country band, Country Cousins, in the 1970s and at the end of 1975 he formed his own Ned Porridge Band, quickly establishing the band in clubs in London and the south-east. They supported Billy Jo Spears on tour in 1979. Their popularity quickly grew as they made new friends wherever they performed in the UK and further afield in France, Germany and Holland.
After the demise of the Ned Porridge Band, Ed joined Spellbound as a replacement for Jenny Speller; reforming the Porridge Band briefly in 1987 before joining Memphis Roots in 1989.
After four years, Frank left the band in May 1991 to concentrate on running his hairdressing business and he continued as a semi pro-musician with the Kent based Peter Elligate Band, another function band.
Frank was replaced by another experienced musician Clive Grant who began his musical career playing lead guitar in Beatles/Rolling Stones cover bands in the 1960s. In the 1970s and early 1980s he was a member of Freeride, a six-piece jazz funk band. He joined his first Country band playing bass in Spellbound with Ed Pearson, Glyn Long and Tony Caldwell. When they disbanded in 1986, he and Glyn Long joined Rio which was fronted by Steve Scott.
This is probably Memphis Roots’ definitive line-up, remaining stable for the next seven years. During this period they played at every major UK and European festival, including Wembley Arena, The Royal Albert Hall and Notts Americana. They toured backing American artists including Joe Sun, Judy Lindsey, Pinto Bennett and John Permenter and shared the bill with Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris and David Allan Coe. They also signed recording contracts with Ritz Records and Carlton Sounds. Their well respected Best Of Memphis Roots 20-track album (cd and cassette) was released by Ritz in 1993.

Between 1996 & 1998 they made three line dance albums for Carlton, two with other artists and the third, Good Noise – The Best Of Western Line Dancing.
Ed Pearson left Memphis Roots in 1998. By that time he was becoming disillusioned with the club scene following the upsurge of line dancing. He felt the music was becoming more important than the artist and he was finding it more and more difficult to strike up a rapport with his audience. After leaving Memphis Roots, he spent the next 10 years as a soloist working in listening venues. In 2009 Ed was the 20th inductee into the British Country Music Hall of Fame. Two years later he passed away from liver cancer on 26 February 2011.
After the departure of Ed Pearson, Memphis Roots continued as a trio until August 1999 when Jon was forced to retire following a heart attack. His replacement was Wol Webster another musician with an impressive pedigree. Wol has been a professional drummer since the 1970s and was staff drummer with Pye Records for 15 years; there he played on many records from Jeff Beck to Max Bygraves. In the 1990s he had periodic engagements and depping jobs with various popular Country bands including Steve Scott & Rio, Barry Westbrook & Mean Business and A Band Named Sioux.
After 14 years of touring, Memphis Roots finally came off the road in 2001. Lee wanted to concentrate on guitar teaching; he has been teaching at London’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance since 1990 and Clive and Wol felt it was time for them to move on to other things.
Barry Westbrook & Mean Business continued as a 5/6-piece band until 1996, they then went out as a trio until 1998 after which Barry decided to do some solo work. He did, for a while, do some work with Ed Pearson as Porridge & The Bear (his nickname was The Bear) but didn’t do much work after 2000. Sadly Barry Westbrook passed away after a long illness on 13th November 2018.
Since the demise of Memphis Roots, Jon, Lee, Clive and Wol have remained busy. Jon went on to work with Roger Humphries & Bite The Bullet, Too Country, 8 Seconds and as a member of 4 Card Trick with Glenn Rogers (2009 – 2013). He was also entertainments manager for the Phil Mac Country shows weekends (2012 – 2016) as well as promoting his own Country weekends at Pontins and Warners from 1997 to date. He has also been a member of the five-piece Ian Highland Band since August 2016.
As well as teaching and writing, over the past 10 years Lee has been singing lead and harmony vocals, as well as playing guitar with Country acts such as Longshot – when booked as a band (2002 – 2008), the Billy Curtis Band (2009 – 2012), Kentucky Cousins, Jim Worton, Boney Fingers (2010 – 2013) and the Steve Cherelle Band (2007 – 2013) and Henry Smith Band (2017 – 2018) at clubs and festivals around the UK and on the continent. He also has irons in many other musical fires, some Country but other genres as well. These include the Lee J Duo sharing lead vocals with Ian Geast/Rita B, whilst playing guitar, performing Country, 60s/70s and oldies at clubs. He also fronts Lee Hodgson’s Infinities, a 4-piece contemporary jazz band.
Clive spent nine years as bass player and singer with the Henry Smith Band but left due to the demanding touring schedule both in the UK and Holland. He now has a less exhausting schedule as bass player with the Jeff Gallant Band or duo and with Carl Haylett’s Nashville Numbers. He also regularly deps (either bass or lead) with Boxcar Kelly & The Railroaders and Stu Edwards & Gone Country Band.
Wol Webster works as a percussion teacher and is currently drumming in a 5-piece band, The Tennessee Allstars, which is part of the Country Superstars Experience, an award winning Country multi-tribute show hosted by Sarah Jayne who has been performing as Dolly Parton for over 25 years.
Jon, Lee and Clive last played together in 2008 but as they were still fondly remembered by so many people Jon Keys promoted a Memphis Roots reunion at Pontins Holiday Park, Pakefield on 14th October 2018 and despite minimal advertising the event was quickly sold out with many Country fans keen to see Memphis Roots back in action again. Following the success of the reunion Memphis Roots are now back on the road and available for club and festival bookings. Jon and Lee are also part of John Permenter’s band.

Cliff Weston

Research by Nick Catford.

Cliff Weston was born into a musical family and it was probably inevitable that he would end up with a career in the music industry.
He formed his first band, Questionnaire with members of his family, including his father, in 1971.

They were a pop band but he soon realised he wanted to play Country music, forming another family band, The Silver Dollar Band, by the end of the decade.
He has been a member of a number of very popular Country bands, most notably Medicine Bow from 1992 – 1996. Medicine Bow were formed in the 1960s. The original line-up was Dave Cawse (lead vocal and drums), John Pearson (lead vocal and rhythm guitar), Mike Barnshaw (lead guitar and pedal steel), Peter Orgill (fiddle) and Dave Cook (bass).
When I first saw them in the early 1990s only Dave Cawse remained from the original line up. The rest of the band comprised Cliff Weston (pedal steel and keyboard), Alan Underwood (bass) Mike Manion (guitar) and John Vickers (fiddle).
On leaving Medicine Bow, Cliff joined Band Named Sioux, staying for 18 months before leaving to form the Corn Dogs trio alongside Kevin Blake and Shane O’Borne who both played lead guitar. The Corn Dogs were very well respected with three versatile multi-instrumentalists and three good singers, both harmonies and lead vocals. There were several changes in the line-up. Shane was, in time, replaced by Rick McKay and later by John (Stubby) Stubbs and finally by Nadine Somers which brought a change in name to The Corn Exchange.
By this time, bands were generally in decline and eventually the trio folded. After a short break from playing, Cliff joined Calico Trio with Nikki Napier and Brian ‘Shanks’ Bennett c.2006. Cliff played pedal steel guitar and keyboard in each of the bands.
After leaving Calico in 2010 Cliff formed The Westons family trio with his younger brother Paul and Paul’s wife Debbie, who is an excellent Country singer and formerly one half of Livewire.
In 2016 he decided to continue his Country career as a soloist with an emphasis on strong instrumentation and good vocals although from time to time he still performs with Paul and Debbie as The Westons.
He produces all his backing tracks in his own studio to ensure a high quality sound that is different to other solo artists.
As it is difficult for a soloist to play pedal steel unless sitting down Cliff now plays lead guitar and dobro on which he has quickly become a past master. The technique is very similar to pedal steel he told me. This is an instrument we see too infrequently these days.

Julie Dawn

Research by Nick Catford.

Julie Dawn is another British Country singer I have known for 30 years. I think she sings as well now as when I first saw here in 1991 in the newly formed New Dawn Trio.
Julie was born in Norwich, Norfolk in 1967 and has lived in Norfolk all her life. From an early age she enjoyed singing and it quickly became her ambition to be a singer. She started learning to play guitar when she was 12 and having mastered it, she entered and won a talent contest in a local pub. She went on to reach the regional finals at the Talk of East Anglia cabaret club in 1982 where she came third. ‘The Talk’, as it became known, was one of the most popular music venues in Norfolk and attracted some of biggest names in the business. This contest launched Julie’s singing career and with more guitar practice she soon had bookings in local pubs, clubs and hotels singing a mixture of middle of the road songs including 60’s,rock ‘n’ roll and some Country. At this time Julie was still only 13 so had to rely on her parents to drive her to gigs.
In 1987 Julie had a major career change when she teamed up with her younger sister Linda in a duo. Julie played guitar and was the lead singer while Linda played bass and, being siblings, their beautiful harmonies quickly became their strength and they won many friends in the local pub scene.

The following year they moved onto the Country music circuit where they proved to be an immediate success. The local radio station, Radio Broadland’s Country music presenter Bob Morgan got them a booking for the summer season at the Winter Gardens, Great Yarmouth where they supported acts that included Mary Duff, Raymond Froggatt and Mud.
Their first cassette album, Breaking It was sponsored by Bob Morgan’s company Houndog Music and they also chose the name, New Dawn for the new duo. Houndog Music also managed them for a while.
Bookings came in quickly for New Dawn, or New Dawn Sisters as they were sometimes known, including some prestigious gigs like the Best of British talent show at the Wembley Conference Centre, part of the Wembley Country Music Festival.
A second cassette album, Songbird quickly followed. In 1991 the sisters were joined by Kevin Tonks a fine singer, guitar and banjo player and former member of the Down County Boys and New Dawn became New Dawn Trio. Kevin joining the girls enabled them to get many more bookings at Country music clubs, theatres and festivals all over the UK.
They picked up a number of different Country music awards, one of which was the Country Music Round Up Award for Best Newcomers, which was presented to them by George Hamilton IV.
The trio toured extensively until the mid-1990s. Kevin and Linda married and Linda decided to leave the trio to concentrate on starting a family. The trio continued with other musicians including guitarist Wayne Golden who went on to play with Dominic Kirwin and, later, Mickey Bembridge on keyboards; he used to play with Campbell’s Country.
In 2003 Julie and Kevin decided to continue as a duo retaining the name New Dawn. In 2006 Julie and her husband Chris celebrated the birth of their son Jed, which prompted Julie to want to play more locally again to spend more time with her family. At the end of 2008 New Dawn disbanded after more than 18 years on the road together.
Julie and Kevin both launched solo careers working mainly in East Anglia and they are both very much in demand today. Kevin uses the name Kevin Barry; Barry being his dad’s middle name.
In 2011 Julie teamed up with Lindsey Ball (Lindsey St John) and Victoria Hydon to form the Moonglow Sisters, a swing and boogie-woogie close harmony trio (in the style of the Andrews Sisters) singing with the Jonathan Wyatt Big Band.
Julie was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2021 CCN Awards and it was quickly apparent why she has been proving so popular even though she rarely travels far from East Anglia. The thing that stands Julie out from many other singers is her bubbly and infectious personality.

John Permenter

Research by Nick Catford.

When I first started visiting Country music clubs in 1990 there were many good bands on the circuit and some included a fiddler. Thirty years on, everything has changed, bands are only occasionally seen in clubs, being replaced by solos and duos and a fiddle is rarley seen. This is a great shame because it always was a traditional Country instrument along with the pedal steel guitar and banjo.
Luckily, Texan fiddler, John Permenter is still on the club circuit and is even available with his band for festivals and larger venues.
John got his passion for Country music from his father. He first took up the fiddle in 1973 and by 1977 he knew his future career was as a Country musician. He quit his job in the construction industry to make a living out of singing and fiddling, learning his trade in dance halls and honky tonks across Texas. In 1987 he joined Clint Black’s band and went on to work with many established Country artists.
In the mid-1990s he began travelling to Europe, building up a strong fanbase in the UK, where he played his first gig in 1996. He was backed by a number of top British Country bands including Memphis Roots and Little Rock. In 2008 he moved to England and after getting married he became a UK citizen. In September 2016 John settled in Ireland where he joined Mike Denver’s band. John relocated back to England in September 2018 and as well as doing solo gigs he now has his own John Permenter Band with Lee J Hodgson and Jon Keys from Memphis Roots and Glenn Rogers. They have been nominated for Band of the Year in the forthcoming CCN awards and will be headlining on the final day.

Kay D

Research by Nick Catford.

Unlike many British Country artists, Kayleigh Dawn Larter (now Shaw) wasn’t influenced by her parent’s choice of music. Instead she discovered Country music by chance after watching the Judds life story film, Love Can Build A Bridge, when she was 13.
Having got hooked on Country music she listened to other artists and started singing some of the songs and quickly realised how much she enjoyed the way you could tell a life story through song.She performed on a few showcases, the first being at Stradsett Country Music Festival in 2006 and it wasn’t long before Kay D was launched onto the Country circuit as a solo artist in 2007.The Judds film also inspired her to start writing songs. Club and festival organisers were quick to discover this new talent with a passion for Country music and her diary for 2008 began filling. It was also suggested that she would be even more successful, especially at festivals if she fronted her own band. Within weeks, Kay D & The Redneck Rodeo were launched comprising five top class musicians; Kay D on vocals and rhythm guitar with Harley Dave (lead guitar), David Ord (bass), Chris Senner (pedal steel guitar) and Frankie (drums).She recorded her first cd, One For The Rodeo, in 2007. It was originally intended as a promotional demo but she eventually opted for a full length album and included one of her own songs, Love Left Me A Long Time Ago. The band was unfortunately short-lived but Kay was quickly able recruit four more top class musicians and the new line-up was Kay D (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Andy Green (lead guitar), Jamie Lennon (pedal steel guitar), Steve Heffernan (bass) and Pat McGrath (drums).In 2009 Kay D was nominated for female artist of the year and won the award for New Rising Star. She continued to work solo in clubs and fronting the band at festivals and large venues.A second album, Let It Rip followed in 2010. Sadly the new band line was also short lived and these days Kay-D only takes solo bookings.
She was voted Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2016 CCN Awards.

G Force

Research by Nick Catford.

The G Force members, Glenn Rogers and Glyn Long will be well known to everyone.
Glyn Long has a very long history in Country music having been singing since the age of 11. He joined a beat group in the late 1960s and by the 1970s he was earning a living on the cabaret circuit; he wasn’t singing Country but always included some Country songs.
In 1979 he was asked to deputise for the drummer in popular Essex Country band, Hickory Lake and at the end of his stint with the band Vic Woodhouse offered him the job full time. When Vic decided to go fully professional with Hickory Lake around 1983 it was time for Glyn to move on.
Following the demise of the Ned Porridge Band, Ed Pearson joined Spellbound to replace Jeannie Spiller, Glyn also joined Spellbound which included, at that time, Tony Caldwell on lead guitar and Clive Grant on bass. In 1986 with the end of Spellbound, Glyn and Clive Grant joined Rio which was fronted by Steve Scott. Glyn only lasted with Rio for a few years, launching his own band, Longshot, in 1990. Longshot have been playing continuously for 31 years and are now generally seen as a duo.
Glenn Rogers has been surrounded by music all his life; much of it was Country music although he didn’t realise that’s what it was at the time. He was brought up in London’s East End where he developed his passion for entertaining, singing cockney songs around the piano in local pubs from the age of four. In the 1970s, he obtained music and technical theatre degrees from Brooks College, Oxford.
Glenn has been a professional entertainer for over 40 years, initially as a session musician before progressing to cabaret as a singer and comedian earning the nickname The Outrageous Glenn Rogers. He formed his first band, The Glenn Rogers Experience in 1985 playing middle of the road music but as he began to sing more Country the band became the Glenn Rogers Country Experience.
Having been depping with Longshot since 2016 it made sense to form a new duo, hence the launch of G Force who played their first gig at the Lazy K CMC on 25th July.

Rob Childs

Research by Nick Catford.

Rob Childs’ first band was Max Headroom & The Car Parks which he joined in 1978; they played a mix of r&b and Country rock.
In 1985 Rob was a founding member of Country band Greta & The Strayshots as a rhythm guitarist and singer. The band members were in their early 20s and all lived in Hutton, a part of Brentwood, Essex after becoming friends at local youth clubs. Greta Granger asked her friends if they would join her in some of the local pubs where she was singing and it wasn’t long before these musical friends evolved into Greta & The Strayshots; they were soon gigging and earning real money. In its early years, the band line up was quite fluid. In 1988 Rob Childs started to play pedal steel guitar as well as rhythm guitar and following the departure of their lead guitarist Glen Mitchell and a tour about to start it was decided that Rob should step up to lead guitar and pedal steel guitar.
In 1994 Rob joined Nadine Summers and Glen Mitchell in a trio working three nights mid week as the house Country band at the Heathrow Sheraton hotel.
With bookings for Greta & The Strayshots in decline Rob started looking for other work to augment his weekday commitment at the Sheraton. He was offered the chance to join The Coal Porters, fronted by one of his big country rock/Americana influences,, Kentuckyan Sid Griffin who had relocated to the UK following the demise of his US band The Long Ryders
In 1998 Nadine gave up the residency and the Nadine Somers Band was launched full time on the Country circuit. The trio featured Nadine, Rob and Geoff Hall who was soon replaced by Bob Keeley following the demise of his own band, Blackjack. For three years the band did very well, winning numerous awards. They split in 2000 when Nadine wanted to start a family and Rob Childs and Bob Keeley carried on as a Vegas duo. Alongside the Nadine Somers Band, Rob remained a member of The Coal Porters but he left in 2000 following their change in direction from Country rock to psychedelic folk.
Shortly after leaving, US comedian Rich Hall was making a tv special and asked his fellow American, Sid Griffin if he knew of any steel players in the UK; Sid recommended Rob Childs. After working with Rich on what he thought was a one-off dvd appearance he has now been Rich’s musical right hand man for the past 20 years, playing in prestigious venues all over the world. Working with Rich Hall always takes priority over his County bookings.
Alongside other commitments Rob remained a member of Vegas duo with Bob Keeley until 2008. In 2009 Nadine rejoined Rob and Vegas became Lass Vegas, Nadine was in time replaced by Maria Saunders.
Rob has always had irons in many fires and since 2014 he has become one of the busiest soloists on the circuit but he also still does occasional duo gigs with Nadine (as Rob and Nadine) and is once again working with Nadine and Bob Keeley as the Nadine Somers Band.
I have known Rob Childs for over 30 years and it was good to catch up with him at the Manston CMC in Kent, a club I last visited in 1993.
During lockdown Rob has been busy streaming Country music on two days a week and during the last year his Cactus Club, a sort of online Country magazine with plenty of good music and chit chat and some wacky antics from his partner Izzy Archer, has been winning many new friends. He even produced Cactus Club t-shirts and it was good to see a number of t-shirted people in the club; it was clear before Rob even started that we were in for a good time.

Kevin Barry

Research by Nick Catford.

Kevin Tonks (Barry) was born and grew up in Coventry in the West Midlands and started playing classical guitar at the age of seven. During his school years he began playing other instruments too, including violin and trumpet and was often taking parts in the school orchestra and shows. He was also listening to Country music, continually, due to his parents’ musical taste and eventually learned a few tunes on the banjo.
At the age of 14, he was invited to join Country Life, a local bluegrass trio, which was when he sang solo for the first time. The trio’s line-up was Keith Colven (acoustic guitar and bass), Derek Thompson (mandolin) and Kevin Tonks (banjo and acoustic guitar). The trio later became a four-piece with the addition of Jim Irvine (banjo, acoustic guitar and fiddle). It was Jim who taught Kevin to play banjo. All four were singers.
It was during his time with the four-piece band that Kevin made his first tv appearance on 5th November 1978. They recorded a song for a programme called Star Town, hosted by Terry Wogan on BBC1. It was a talent show where eight towns (one of which was Coventry) would compete against each other. It was a rehash of the 1950’s radio talent show, Top Town.
After spending many years in mainly Country bands as a bass/banjo player, Kevin was eventually asked to play with the West Midlands based Down County Boys, the UK’s longest established bluegrass band who first formed in 1964. When the band needed a new bass player Kevin was suggested by Jim Irvine who, by that time, was a member of the band. Kevin had admired the

band for many years, having been taken to see them a number of times by his dad and uncle when he was a teenager. When Kevin joined them, the line-up was Jim Irvine (banjo) Ian Worthington (mandolin), Kevin Tonks (bass), Jim Hirons (acoustic guitar) and Peter Parker (fiddle). None of them were original members of the band from 1964.
Kevin enjoyed his time with this band very much. They toured all around Britain and spent a month touring the States where he met Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs and many more Country/bluegrass performers.
At the same time as playing with The Down County Boys, Kevin also worked with Jim Hirons in The Harmony Duo playing the clubs around the West Midlands. Jim played acoustic guitar and Kevin played bass and banjo. The duo played mainly 50/60/70’s music with lots of Country and a little sprinkling of bluegrass if requested.
The time came to move on and in 1988 Kevin left the Down County Boys and moved to East Anglia where he promptly joined an established Country band called Stealer. The line-up was Mike Leveridge (vocals, acoustic and bass guitar), Alan Cannell (lead and pedal steel guitar), Dick Hewitt (vocals and drums) and Kevin Tonks (vocals, bass and banjo).
Whilst playing the clubs, theatres and festivals Kevin met New Dawn duo who were Julie and Linda Dawn. Julie Dawn first teamed up with her younger sister Linda in 1987. Julie played guitar and was the lead singer while Linda played bass and being siblings their beautiful harmonies quickly became their strength and they won many friends in the local pub scene. They switched to Country music and moved onto the Country club scene in 1988 and were an immediate success. Kevin joined the sisters as lead guitarist and singer in 1991 and New Dawn Trio were launched. Kevin joining the girls enabled them to get many more bookings at Country music clubs, theatres and festivals, touring extensively all over the UK. They picked up a number of Country music awards, one of which was the Country Music Round Up Award for Best Newcomers, which was presented to them by George Hamilton IV.
Kevin and Linda married in September 1991 and in December 1992 Linda decided to leave the trio to concentrate on starting a family. The trio continued with two other musicians, first came guitarist Wayne Golden who stayed with the band for a few years and later went on to play with Dominic Kirwin. Wayne was replaced by Mickey Bembridge on keyboards; he previously played with Campbell’s Country. In 1996 Kevin played a couple of local gigs as a solo act adopting the name Kevin Barry; Barry being his father’s middle name. The solo gigs were well received so Kevin started taking solo bookings alongside New Dawn.
In 2003 Julie and Kevin decided to continue as a duo, retaining the name New Dawn. In 2006 Julie and her husband Chris celebrated the birth of their son, Jed, which prompted Julie to want to play more locally, again to spend more time with her family. At the end of 2008 New Dawn disbanded after more than 18 years on the road together and they launched solo careers, rarely travelling out of East Anglia.

Chris Harris

Research by Nick Catford.

Chris Harris has been playing guitar since he was 11 but it wasn’t initially Country music, he played a mixture of folk, rock and blues with some country rock. He was in a number of school bands around Romford, Essex which gave him a good opportunity to hone his skills as a guitarist.
In his early career, he was a prolific songwriter and quickly came to the

attention of a number of producers and record labels. He set up his own studio where he recorded numerous musicians while working behind the scenes for years as a session player and songwriter. He worked extensively with top Australian record producer David Mackay who has worked with a number of established artists including Dusty Springfield, Bonnie Tyler and Eric Clapton. They collaborated on a number of projects together the most unusual being playing acoustic guitar (alongside Procol Harum’s Geoff Whitehorn on lead) on an album by Dame Edna Everedge.
Chris was a latecomer to Country music but after he saw a late night Garth Brooks concert on TV he began listening to a lot of different styles of Country music and quickly realised his future as a musician lay in that genre. In 1996 he collaborated with Sarah Jory. Sarah was originally going to record Chris’ song I Think I’m Falling In Love but instead they worked on two other songs one of which, Something’s Changed, appeared on The Sarah Jory Band Live album.
In 1997 he won the lntenational Songwriter of the Year Award at the American Country Music Association awards. At one time Garth Brooks’ manager had one of Chris’ songs in his hands but it was never recorded after Garth Brooks announced his retirement from recording and performing in October 2000.
Chris Harris first came to the public’s attention in 2002 when he joined the John Douglas Band as lead guitarist. He stayed with the band for two years but left to form his own four-piece band Southern Union. The band worked mainly in northern clubs and festivals and the original line-up was Chris Harris (lead vocals and lead guitar), Davy Adams (pedal steel guitar), Clive Grant (bass) and Nigel Slater (drums).
In 2006 Chris won the Hot Disc Track Of The Year award at the UK Country Radio Awards, spending eleven week: at No. l in the British Independent Country Music chart. Chris’ song I Think I ’m Falling In Love was nominated for the Song of the Year category in the Southern Country awards show at Frimley in February 2007. Southern Union disbanded in 2007 due to pressure of touring and Chris teamed up with former Southern Union bass player Clive Grant to form the duo Harris ‘n’ Grant. Although working primarily as a duo they also worked as required as a trio with Bob Haskell on pedal steel guitar or as a 4-piece with Justin Ware on drums. Chris also later worked in a second duo Harrison County with Jim Martin. He had previously worked with Jim in the John Douglas band.
Following a break from the circuit between 2010 – 2013, Chris is now a solo artist although he still takes occasional duo bookings with Jim Martin as Southern Union duo. Chris always has a good section of songs old and new to suit any audience.

Billy Bubba King

Research by Nick Catford.

I have known Billy Bubba King for 30 years so it was good to catch up with him at his first Country gig since lockdown at the Snodland CMC in Kent on 8th August.
The John C King Family Band were firm favourites at clubs and festivals through the 1980s and early 1990s. The band comprised John C King (lead vocals and guitar), Angie King (lead and harmony vocals and guitar), John King Jr (bass) and Billy King (drums and vocals).
Although a man of few words, John was a real showman with a deep rich baritone voice delivering a traditional programme which always included a good selection of train and hobo songs. I saw Billy many times with the family band in the early 90s. At that time I got to know the family well and would often sit in the tour bus chatting with them into the early hours after a gig. Angie left the band in 1993 to concentrate on bringing up her family. The band continued for three or four years as a trio but eventually John and Billy decided to go solo. Today at 76 years old, John was still touring, until lockdown but has now moved back to Scotland.
Billy launched his solo career using the name Billy Bubba King and, in over 20 years, he has built up an excellent reputation as a modern Country singer. He has embraced the line dance culture; and always keeps up to date with the latest trends.He is married to line dance instructor Sara King.

Pete Brazil

Research by Nick Catford.

Pete Brazil moved to England from County Clare in Ireland in 1962. Initially he lived with his father Tom, at his sister’s pub, The Cornish Arms in Woolwich, south east London. Tom Brazil was a musician and played accordion and he and Pete put a band together with two friends from Dartford and they played in the pub and in a hall in Dartford every weekend. Pete would have been nine or 10 at the time.
Pete had been playing chromatic accordion from a young age and he became All English Junior Champion at the age of 10 and for three years in succession in 1964, 1965 and 1966. Pete learnt to play guitar when he was 14.
Pete moved to Birmingham in 1966 where he lived with his mother, Sheila who was a singer. Pete’s mother and father were separated at this time.
They formed an Irish music band called Eileen & The Irish Rovers and they opened at the Birmingham Centre in 1966. They carried on for 10 years but Pete left to join Vengeace who were later renamed The Midnight Showband, a five–piece showband which also included his brother Tommy and his uncle Jimmy Blake. He stayed with the Midnight Showband until 1975 when he joined Patsy Powell & The Goodtimers for 18 months. Patsy Powell was a popular Coventry based Country singer who launched her first Country band, The Playboys in the late 1960s and appeared on New Faces with her band in 1973.
Pete’s next band was a Country rock band called Reno who were signed to MCA records. They had one single released in 1980 called Who’s Gonna Love You which was written by Pete. For contractual reasons the single was credited to Brazil rather than Reno. The ‘B’ side, Head On, was co-written by Pete.
In 1988 Pete joined the popular West Midlands Country band, Cotton Gin. He stayed with them for 18 months before forming his own Brazil Band (initially called the Brazil Brothers). In its short existence the Brazil Band had two line-ups.

The original line-up was Pete Brazil (lead vocals, lead guitar and accordion), Tom Brazil (violin), Keith Buck (pedal steel guitar) and Damian Cullen (drums). The later line-up was Pete Brazil (lead vocals, lead guitar and accordion), Tom Brazil (violin), John Mcintaggart (keys), Keith Slater (drums and violin) and Karl Brazil (drums). Karl was Pete’s 11 year old son. Most weekends and school holidays Karl would play drums while the band’s regular drummer, Keith Slater, played violin. There was one final change to the line-up in 1991 when Tony Kelsey on bass and mandolin replaced Tommy. The Brazil Band released three cassette albums. Their first cassette was Introducing the Brazil’s by Brazil Brothers, the second cassette was Brazil Band Live and the third cassette was Pressed For Time. They very quickly made a name for themselves with their superb instrumentation winning BCMA Band of the Year after which they promptly split up in 1991.After the demise of the Brazil Band, Pete then worked abroad for a few years including working in the Canary Islands. He was in a duo with Jack Robinson called Double Vision. Jack was a Roy Orbison impersonator. Following throat surgery Pete didn’t sing so the duo was initially a Roy Orbison tribute but as he got his voice back a lot more Country was added.
On his return to the UK, Pete put the Bob Brolly Band together. The band included his son Karl on drums. Bob came from Derry in Northern Ireland and began singing as a boy in the Waterside Chapel Choir. He moved with his family to England when he was 15. He became a radio presenter in the West Midlands in the mid-90s when he first presented his Irish music show on Sunday afternoons. In 1998 Pete joined Charlie Landsborough’s Band and was soon touring worldwide with the band. He stayed with Charlie until 2010. While still a member of Charlie’s band Pete did some duo work with his uncle Jimmy Blake whenever Charlie didn’t need him. Pete was also in the Pete Brazil Band trio with Tony and Pete Ariss while still touring with Charlie. Jimmy Blake had been in Spotlights Trio with Pete’s mother Sheila and his brother Steve and later Jimmy and Sheila were in a duo. When Sheila passed away Pete had recently left Charlie Landsborough’s band so he and Jimmy teamed up again as Blake and Brazil duo. The Pete Brazil Band folded at this time.
Blake & Brazil soon became very popular on the Country and Irish scene working in clubs, festivals, holiday camps in the UK and in Spain. Blake & Brazil were due to retire from playing at the end of 2018 but very sadly Jim Blake passed away after an accident at home in 2017. Although devastated by the passing of his longterm partner and uncle, Pete agreed to honour the duo’s bookings as a soloist and eventually decided to carry on as a soloist but with a reduced number of bookings. He had intended to retire at the end of 2020 but then came covid. Pete has now decided to continue playing but gradually reducing the number of gigs.
A clearly very proud dad told me that Karl is now the drummer in both Robbie Williams’ and James Blunt’s bands. Pete played in Robbie’s band on his Christmas Present album released in November 2019. He was on one track, Fairytales, which was a duet with Rod Stewart. Pete’s 11 year old grandson Finlay also sang on the album. Graham Norton asked Robbie Williams to sing Fairytales on his tv show on 20th December 2019 and Pete played with the band on this as well. Robbie Williams also invited Pete to play at two concerts at the Wembley Arena in December 2019. Pete told me that his wife Jane has been behind him since he was with Vengeance and has supported him through everything he has done and now she doesn’t miss a gig. He added, he probably wouldn’t still be playing if she wasn’t around.

Rancher

Research by Nick Catford.

Steve Lovett first played guitar when he was nine, joining his father’s band, The Convoys, in 1978 when he was 11. In 1983 the lead singer left the band and Steve stepped up front as lead vocalist and, at the same time, the band’s name was changed to The Ramblers.
After the demise of The Ramblers Steve and his father Michael formed Southern Comfort duo. Although he loved playing Country and rock ‘n’ roll he also had a passion for rockabilly so while still working with his father he formed a rockabilly band, The Niteshift Trio with a couple of school mates;

Steve was lead singer and guitarist. They became very popular around the clubs and one evening after a gig they met Dell Richardson from Fury Records who asked them to do some recordings for a couple of compilation albums. This was followed by their own vinyl album, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, in 1989. The line-up was Steve Lovett (vocals and lead guitar), Gary Venn (double bass) and Keith Bailey (drums). The album gave them the opportunity to work abroad, especially in Germany where they toured with other top Rockabilly bands.
Despite this success, Steve had been married since 1986 and he decided to quit the band to become a solo artist and spend more time with his family. He was soon playing the major holiday venues all over the country and performing various types of music, although his love of Country music never went away and he eventually settled down as a Country singer.
With the advent of CMT (Country Music Television) and the increasing popularity of line dancing he was running three line dance clubs in the Berkshire area by the mid-1990s. Steve was a line dance dj and singer and his wife Debbie was a dance instructor.
John Hallett first met Steve at one of his line dance clubs while he was on stage doing his solo act for the dancers. John too has had a lifetime in music and has played bass and guitar since he was a child. In fact he can turn his hand to virtually any instrument. His house is like every musicians’ dream and is full of all kinds of instruments, including a drumkit, saxophone, clarinet, mandolin and even a ukulele!
He has been in numerous bands, one of which was called White Lines but none of them played Country music. Steve and John quickly became good friends and found they had much in common when it came to music. So, with the popularity of line dance acts like the Dean Brothers and the Cheap Seats, they decided to form Rancher in 2002 but initially they only played around their local area of Berkshire. Since then, they have become increasingly popular and due to such high demand they are now going further afield and are quite often travelling up and down the country for a gig.
They received a CCN nomination for Duo of the Year 2018, 2019 and again in 2021.
Steve Lovett, who has now been in the business for 43 years, is also still available as a solo artist.
During lockdown, Steve Lovett has been has been streaming every Thursday evening from 8 – 10pm and this has been proving very popular. Sometimes it was a family affair with Steve being joined by his son Craig Lovett and his daughter Kerry Knight.

Joe Keeley

Research by Nick Catford.

After being raised on classic Country music and heavily influenced by his musician father Bob Keeley, it is no surprise to anyone that Joe Keeley is now following in his father’s footsteps. As he was growing up, he would often join his father on tours while he was fronting the popular Country rock band Blackjack in the 1990s.
Having experienced life on the road where he was surrounded by this type of music he quickly fell in love with, artists like Steve Earle, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, all considered ‘outlaws’ of Country music. As much to the dismay of his mother, Joe found artists like these to be of a huge inspiration to him and his music.
Joe left school at 17 and although he initially got a normal day job it was his ambition that he would eventually be able pursue a career in music. Joe is a prolific songwriter and I had the pleasure of seeing him solo supporting the visiting American Country trio, Royal South at Basildon in November 2018. Royal South includes Essex guitarist Glen Mitchell (now a resident of Nashville) who fronted his own band, The Troubleshooters, in the early 1990s; they were Bob Keeley’s first experience of playing in a Country band.
Joe’s Basildon set comprised all original thought provoking songs drawing on his own life experiences and it was quickly apparent to me and many others there that he was a very talented songwriter. That was the night that Joe told his parents that he intended to give up his day job to pursue a career as a musician.
Joe has played in many bars around the country and has also earned a good living busking in Ipswich, Suffolk and networking with many other people in the music industry, having collaborated with other musicians on social media platforms.
In 2017 Joe joined his father on stage for the first time and in 2018 The Keeleys Duo was launched onto the Country circuit and have been proving very popular ever since. They were nominated as CCN newcomer of the year in 2018 and in 2019, 2020 and in 2021 they were nominated as duo of the year.
Having grown up being somewhat of a misfit with a stubborn passion for a very niche genre of music, writing songs that are authentic and from truth is very important to Joe.
He began performing solo on the Country circuit in the summer of 2019 and he has now teamed up with three other Suffolk musicians to form the The Joe Keeley Band. He has managed to create a sound that draws from both Xountry and rock influences.
Joe’s music is very lyric driven, with inspiration from his love of outlaw Country stars creating a unique style which can be appreciated by Country music fans of all ages. His debut album, Headstrong was released February 2019 and was a top 10 selling UK Country album. His follow up album, Blackwood, which was released in June 2020, topped the charts as the UK’s number one Country album.

Nadine Somers

Research by Nick Catford.

Nadine Somers began her musical career when she was just six years old playing keyboards in London clubs. By her early teens she had started singing Country songs mainly at comedy clubs working on stage alongside comedy legends including Ted Rogers, Paul Melba, Dave Evans (Lee Evans’ dad) and Bobby Davro and entertaining theatre audiences as part of the Ted Rogers Show. She eventually became a dance music session singer and was signed to Pete Waterman’s record label and she had two hit singles as a member of the dance band Marradona. One was called Out Of My Head released in 1994.
At the age of 24 it was time for a shift in direction. Nadine became a Country singer and by late 1994 she was working in a trio as the house Country band at the Heathrow Sheraton Hotel where she had a residency working three nights a week. The other members of the band were Rob Childs (formerly with Greta & The Strayshots) and Glen Mitchell who had just left his own short lived Troubleshooters band. The Troubleshooters carried on as Blackjack fronted by Bob Keeley with Andy Saphir replacing Glen on lead guitar. At this time Glen Mitchell was about to embark on a career in Nashville so his place in the trio was taken by Geoff Hall on bass.
Rob Childs started looking for other work to augment his week day commitment at the Sheraton. He was offered the chance to join The Coal Porters, fronted by one of his big country rock/Americana influences, Sid Griffin. Kentuckian Sid had relocated to Britain after his band The Long Ryders had split up. In 1998 Nadine gave up the residency and the Nadine Somers Band was launched fulltime on the country circuit. Geoff Hall was soon replaced by Bob Keeley as Blackjack also turned out to be short lived. For three years the band did very well winning numerous awards.
They split in late 2000 when Nadine wanted to start a family and Rob Childs and Bob Keeley carried on as Vegas duo until 2008. Bob then quit the duo to pursue a solo career and he was replaced by Andy Saphir. In 2009 Nadine rejoined Rob, replacing Andy Saphir and Vegas became Lass Vegas but she continued to take solo bookings as well. In 2011 Nadine was voted Female Vocalist of the Year and she started working in France with a French backing band called The Jackson McKay Band. It eventually proved difficult to juggle work with bringing up a family and running her own beauty business and Nadine was eventually replaced by Maria Saunders in Lass Vegas.
Returning from France after seven years Nadine resumed regular live gigging in 2018 as a soloist but she also did occasional duo gigs with both Rob Childs (as Rob & Nadine) and Bob Keeley and the three of them are now once again working together as the Nadine Somers Band. Nadine has also worked with Lee J Hodgson and Steve Cherelle as Beauty & The Beats.

Tony Rouse

Research by Nick Catford.

Tony Rouse has American roots; his father was a Cajun resident of Golden Meadows, Louisiana. He has spent much of his life in the UK although he often returned to the States and still does. He formed his first country band in the mid-1980s getting a recording contract in 1987. At that time, he wrote much of his own material reaching the final of a national US song writing competition in Baton Rouge in 1989/90; he lost out to the Little River Band. In 1990 his five piece Circle-T Band was proving very popular on the British festival circuit playing the prestigious International Festival of Country Music at Wembley Arena as The Tony Rouse Band on 31 March 1991. This was the last Wembley Festival after 23 years.
He was spotted by a talent scout and, after an audition in 1993, and was offered a part on the West End stage in Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre, where he played Jean Prouvaire and later Marius. In 1994 he joined the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria playing Greasball until 1996. I first saw Tony Rouse in 1994 when he was in Starlight. He left the company in 1996 to return to his roots teaming up with popular country band Plain Loco. Sadly, the collaboration didn’t last long and he went back to Greaseball and Starlight in 1998. By the early years of the 20th century he had left the West End for good and was back on the country circuit as a soloist where he is still very popular today.