Greta & The Strayshots was formed in Essex in 1985. The line-up was Greta Granger (vocals), Colin Baxter (lead guitar), Rob Childs (rhythm guitar and vocals), Tom Kemp (bass and vocals) and Mark Hewitt (drums). The band members were in their early 20s and all lived in Hutton, a part of Brentwood, becoming friends at local youth clubs. With the exception of Greta, they had all played in local rock bands since their teens. Rob’s first band was Max Headroom and the Car Parks which he joined in 1978; they played mix of R&B and country rock. Also a member of the band was Steve Curtis who, many years later, would later work with Greta and The Strayshots.
In its early years, the band line up was quite fluid. Tom Kemp gave up playing and moved to Bristol to work as a carpenter; his replacement was Simon Kemp (no relation). After a couple of years, Colin Baxter left and became a guitar teacher. He was replaced by firstly Steve Crispe (1987-88) and subsequently Tommy Levin (1988-9) both from Kent. Steve had previously played for Roger Humphries and Tommy and his brother Billy had previously been in the Jailhouse Band with Peter ‘Pedro’ Barlow. Tommy Levin was a guitarist with a great voice and Albert Lee styling. After Tommy left due to family commitments, he was replaced by 17 year old Glen Mitchell in 1990. Glen was the son of Steve Mitchell whose band Shiloh was very popular on the country circuit. Glen stayed with the Strayshots for a year eventually leaving to join The Tracy Elsdon who had just got a contract with Ritz Records. Next came a young guitarist called Steve Phillips. He lived in Wiltshire and although he was an excellent guitarist, inspired by Jerry Donahue, working with the band involved too much travelling; he left in 1991 just before the start of an extensive your of the north-east.
From 1988 Rob Childs started to play pedal steel guitar as well as rhythm guitar and Greta had started playing rhythm guitar. With the tour about to start and no lead guitarist available it was decided that Rob should step up to lead guitar with the band becoming a four piece comprising Greta Granger (vocals and rhythm guitar), Rob Childs (lead guitar, pedal steel guitar and vocals), Simon Kemp (bass guitar and vocals) and Mark Hewitt (drums). This is probably the best known line up. At this time the Strayshots were fully pro with a busy diary that took them all over the country and abroad. During the 90s the band played on the same bills as Johnny Cash, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Billy Jo Spears and other touring American acts.
In 1994 Rob Childs joined Nadine Summers and Glen Mitchell in a trio working three nights mid week as the house Country band at the Heathrow Sheraton hotel. By this time line dancing had taken a hold in many of the Country clubs and bookings for Greta & The Strayshots were in decline. As a result, 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. Sid is a Kentuckian who formed a band in California called The Long Ryders in the mid 80’s. They had recently split due to a disastrous deal with Island Records and Sid had relocated to the UK to live with his new wife Kate St John who was playing sax for Van Morrison. It was not possible for Greta to manage with Rob committed to other acts so she recruited an excellent new guitarist, another Essex man called Ray Evans. Ray fitted in well with the Strayshots who by now were only working part time. All the band members had other jobs, Greta taught guitar, Mark worked as a gardener at a local stately home and Simon worked as a van driver. After a couple of years Ray was soon forced to leave the band due to ill health and his place was taken by Steve ‘Tiny’ Curtis, an excellent guitarist and singer who started his career with his dad Joe Curtis at the age of 15. He had also established himself on the country circuit playing with both Homer and Barry Westbrook and Mean Business.
Although the band still had a strong line up, bookings continued to dwindle as Greta’s programme was not suited to line dancing and she felt her heart was no longer in the band. She stopped taking bookings in 2005; all country gigs had stopped by then leaving a handful of corporate bookings; once they had been fulfilled the band folded after 20 years on the road.
All the band members carried on in the business. Greta started a local pub duo with Steve Curtis called Gibson & Hart. They eventually got together as a couple and moved to France, where the duo was renamed Steve and Greta. They made a living there for a couple of years, also working in Cape Verde for 8 months, before relocating back to East Anglia where they continue to work as a duo in local pubs. In the mid 2010s the formed a 4-piece band called STiGMa covering popular hits from the last 50 years with a mixture of rock, pop, country and blues. STiGMa have now folded but Steve & Greta continue working as a duo in Essex & Suffolk.
Having been away from the Country scene since 2005, Steve & Greta took one CMC booking on 3 November 2019 which was booked as a double header with Dave Paisley; Steve had previously been a member of Dave’s band Homer. On the night, Dave’s car broke down on his way to the club so Steve and Greta sung Country songs all evening. The unexpected return to the Country circuit hasn’t inspired them to take any more Country bookings. Steve is now also working as a guitarist and composer, specialising in the composition and recording of Americana, Blues and Rock music, he also works as a soloist.
Simon Kemp (Bass) moved back to his native Yorkshire and now lives in Derby and since 2010 he plays in a 4-piece bluegrass/folk band called Acoustic Union.
Rob Childs remains one of the busiest artists on the country circuit. As previously mentioned in 1994 he began working with Nadine Somers and Glen Mitchell at the Sheraton Hotel. Glen was also working with his own band, The Troubleshooters and he was about to embark on a career in Nashville so his place in the trio was taken by Geoff Hall on bass; Geoff had previously played some gigs with The Strayshots. 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 from Blackjack who were The Troubleshooters after the departure of Glen Mitchell. 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 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. It soon proved difficult to juggle work with bringing up a family and running her own beauty business and Nadine was eventually replaced by Maria Saunders. Nadine still does occasional gigs with both Rob Childs and Bob Keeley with very occasional reunions of the Nadine Somers Band. Rob also started taking solo bookings in 2014.
Rob left the Coal Porters in 2000 following the bands change in direction from country rock to psychadelic 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 last 23 years, playing in prestigious venues all over the world. Working with Rich Hall always takes priority over his County bookings.
Mark Hewitt, the Strayshots drummer also joined Rich Hall for a while tour managing his comedy country band act ‘Otis Lee Crenshaw and The Honky Tonk Assholes’. He then worked as tour manager for comedian Andy Parsons and now plays drums for Rich Hall’s Hoedown band on his UK tour. He also plays in a rockabilly band Johnny Gunner and The Raiders and a pub covers band Rant ‘n’ Rave. He also still has his job as gardener at a stately home.
Of some of the earlier members of the Strayshots, Colin Baxter passed away in the mid 2000’s. Tommy Levin ended up forming a band with his brother Billy called The Hollywood Cowboys. Both the Levin boys have always been professional plumbers. Billy now fronts his own Billy Levin Band. Steve Crispe plays in a Kent pub band called The Brothers Grimm and also is the host of a blues jam every Monday night at the Lower Bell pub near Bluebell Hill, Kent where a lot of Kent country musicians congregate. After leaving The Strayshots, Steve Phillips went to Bath University and graduated in electronic and electrical engineering. He now plays for fun in jazz bands in the Bristol area.
I would like to thank Rob Childs and Greta Granger for their help in compiling this feature. Rob has and amazing recollection of his time with the band.
You can see Greta & the Stray Shots at The Harrier CMC in Hatfield in 1992 on the video below.
Research by Nick Catford.
