Keyboards
I started playing the piano when I was eight eventually achieving the Grade 5 standard. When I was 14, the attractions of the electric guitar temporarily consigned the piano to history. I formed my first band when I was 15, graduating onto bass and playing heavy rock in some of the more dubious venues in South Wales.
In 1995 I came to my senses, rediscovered the piano, and soon after joined a Rock and Soul band, playing to packed audiences in entertainment starved Congleton!
I used to watch the Commitments Too at the Limelight Club and discovered Stax and Atlantic soul. I also got to know some of the band after meeting them in the bar and, with tongue firmly in cheek, said that if they ever needed a new piano player, just give me a call.
Out of the blue in 2006 - I got that call. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I was invited to join the band. I must have done something good in a previous life.
What do I like about this music? Well - I love playing deep, rhythmic piano riffs most of all. The piano is as much a rhythm instrument as a melodic one. I also enjoy the full bodied synth and orchestral sounds that accompanies 70's disco music, and if I get a chance, the funky electric piano sounds that Stevie Wonder has got off to a tee.
What do my fellow bandies think of me? Well, they would probably comment about the amount of clothes I bring to gigs. Its true - I'm always changing my shirt! I'm not superstitious in the slightest, but I can't go on stage without my trusty Soul Devotion towel and my Welsh Frog. Oh ... and not forgetting my cans of Pepsi.
Playing in this band makes the working week fly by, I cant wait to gig at the weekend. We are all very different characters, but we are the best of friends and when we come together to make music, we become greater than the sum of our parts - As if by magic.
My gear :
Yamaha S80 88 key weighted piano
Roland Fantom G7 synthesizer
Roland VR76 organ
Yamaha StagePas 300 stereo amplifier system