A Blues band that Rocks - One of the best R&B Bands in Hants/Dorset Rich: I reckon I was about 17 when I first picked up a guitar – an old six string acoustic that my brother used to play. Evenings were spent listening to records and trying to copy guitar rifts by my favorite bands. However, having no concept of chords or notes I just copied the bass lines. One
day my brother, Phil, said to me “Rich, have you ever thought
about playing the bass”? With my 18th birthday not that far away, I decided to take him up on the idea. Phil was at Coventry University and had access to an array of guitar shops and Mum and Dad had the cash! So, on my 18th Birthday I was presented with a Kay Fender Precision Bass copy and a baby 12 watt Marshal bass amp. My first bass guitar and amp, but not my last…….... For the next 12 years or so I honed my bass playing skills. Learning by ear all the rifts and bass lines by people such as Mark King of Level 42 and JJ Burnel of The Stranglers, all the way through to the likes of Phil Lynot of Thin Lizzy and that crazy man called Prince! In 1999, I got a phone call from my brother in law, Keith. It was a Sunday afternoon and the phone call went something like “Hi Rich, do you still play bass? Would you like to join a band?” With some trepidation and a certain amount of excitement, I drove round to his mate’s house, not knowing quite what to expect. After a few minutes of meeting and chatting with the guys – Ian, Keith, Simon and Steve – I found my self in my very first band - RISK. Initially, rehearsals took place in an old school hall in West End but we soon upgraded to Ian’s front living room, which had free coffee (thanks, Penny) and comfy chairs and the occasional bottle of beer thrown in for good measure. We’ve now moved on again to proper rehearsal rooms. Between those initial days of the band and now, we’ve been through quite a few line-up changes. Steve was the first to leave followed by Keith and then Simon. When Simon left, Ian and I had to act fast – we had a gig lined up but no lead guitarist. A few weeks later, after a bit of nifty advertising by Ian, we not only had our new lead guitarist, Iain, but we also had a much-needed drummer, Dave. Iain turned out to be much more than just a brilliant guitarist he was a catalyst providing new ideas and an injection of energy. Over the next couple of years the four of us played several gigs but eventually Dave decided to give up drumming and left the band, which was now called RSi. Another advert later, and our new drummer, Charlie, joined us. Sadly, after only a few weeks, Charlie left us due to ill health. A few weeks later, in July 2005, Rob joined us. With the addition of Rob’s excellent drumming we were now back to full strength; our music taking on a more focused and dynamic approach. We had always been meaning to rename the band and this seemed like the ideal time, so we became Shoestring Blues. Iain: I started playing in about 1970 mainly self-taught by listening to records and buying sheet music. My main influences were progressive rock and blues from bands such as Jethro Tull, ELP, Deep Purple, Groundhogs and Rory Gallagher, although my tastes now are a lot more diverse. I have played in a variety of bands through the years including Earthworks, Einstein’s Younger Bears, Human, Damaged Goods and now Shoestring Blues My current set up, Bogner Shiva 112 Combo w/Reverb comb; My main guitars are a Fender Stratocaster Relic, Gibson Les Paul and a Gibson 345 stereo. I
also have various other guitars such as a 1960 Gibson Melody Maker,
Larivee and Yamaha Rob: Drums some backing Vocals. He started life playing in a Poole based pro band called “Peoples People” back in the mid sixties, the band soon found themselves on a slow boat to the island of Jersey. The band was about to start a summer season at the then famous Tropicana night Club, St Owens Bay, Jersey (members of the band - Bob Frampton, Rhythm guitar/lead vocals, Colin Alner Lead guitar/backing vocals, Graham Lumm bass guitar/backing vocals (known as Lummy) & Rob On coming back to uk, Rob then found himself playing in a heavy rock band called “Mad Apple” spent a couple of years playing drums for them. The band had several offers to turn pro but for one reason or another it never happened. Shortly after Mad Apple split up, Rob was asked to join one of Bournemouth’s leading show bands “Sugar and Spice” playing premier night spots in Bournemouth such as the Mason Royal, Bmth Pavilion The Roof Top and other popular venues. From then Rob has worked his way through various bands including The Pine Mountain Five, The Bunch and other such bands. Rob's background was a varied catalogue of support bands, supporting 60's bands, the likes of, The Tremolos , The Sweet, Jerry and the Pacemakers and most recently Darius. Former founder member of a successful R&B band “Stone cold Sober” left them and after a short R&R he joined “Ocean Drive” a very successful MOR band. After leaving Ocean Drive along with the lead vocalist H. Rob answering an ad on the Ad-Traders website, Rob is now in his latest venture with Shoestring Blues. Influences: Joe Morello of Dave Brubeck, Nick Mason - Pink Floyd, John Bonham - Led Zeppelin, and Pick Withers - Dire Straits. Steve: I joined my first band when I was 16 years old as a singer. My brother was in the same band, I use to practice my vocals through his Vox AC 30 which I have to say was not the best amp for that type of thing. It was good fun but like a lot of bands it was short lived and folded after about 12 months. I thought that was that and was surprised to be approached by a popular local band called the Sierras, which I joined. I would describe the music we played as pop and rhythm and blues (old type rhythm and blues) we played the local pubs clubs and had a good following. After two years I left the band and due to personal reasons took a break from music. I did dabble with various bands but none amounted to much. About 4 years past before I again became involved in music this time with a band s called Copper Coin started by drummer Ray Penny .(You can see where the name came from). We performed together for many years playing local holiday camps and clubs. Years after the band folded myself and x Copper Coin lead player Kenny Nash formed the band Behind the Mask. I had in the past only performed as a vocalist but having taken to playing the guitar, with this band I played rhythm guitar as well as singing. We played a variety of pop and rock music and even a couple of blues numbers. Most of are bookings were in pubs in and around Southampton and Bournemouth as well as some local hostelries. Unfortunately due to illness the band came to a sudden end. Having
answered an advert for a rhythm player I found myself in a completely
different type of band consisting of husband and wife (Leigh and
Sally) and another girl (Hazel) and a drum machine, playing light
pop music in social clubs. The band was called Smart Remark and I
think it did what it did very well. The bands strengths were in the
vocals, Leigh the lead vocalist was very competent and along with
Hazel, another first rate singer produced some great harmonies. I
played rhythm and did a bit of backing vocals Shoestring are a great bunch and I’m pleased to be joining them. They have an interesting set list and I look forward to adding my own bit to the mix. They are all good musicians and this makes a lot of difference when you join a new band. Home
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