About the band

A few words about the fabulous musicians who appear on this recording

Ally Lee

Studio owner, Producer, musician, mentor and teacher A big part of the NE music scene for eons. Previous bands include The Hillbillys from Outer Space, Morgan Le Fay and many more. Currently plays with Fickle Lilly and King Size Voodoo Traveller. Can play anything, absolutely anything but his real strength is his fantastic ear for an arrangement which added to his technological skill makes Mill Studios THE place for anyone with a good idea. Thanks to George for introducing us.

Sophie Armstrong

Singer Songwriter, Shepherdess and mother A London Girl who came north and never went back. Sings currently in a duo, Summerland. Reviewed in the Newcastle Chronicle, their music was described as “Flock and Roll”. If that means intelligent, melodic, beautifully sung and played I will accept that! Her versatility is well displayed here and I’m proud to have been able to work with her.

George Waters

Drummer, percussionist and all round good guy Has played with anyone and everyone since the beginning of time. George and Ally have played together in innumerable North East bands and George has demonstrated power, taste and versatility everywhere he has played. That’s exactly how I’d describe his contribution here. It has been a privilege to have him helping with this.

Gordon Hall

Keyboards

Gordon currently plays Keyboards and sings a little with Fickle Lilly, and counts himself fortunate to have made music with some very talented musicians for over 35 years. His musical interests are many and varied having played every style from heavy metal to disco! He spent a very happy 15 years writing and recording music, sound effects and dialogue for computer games, but lately has returned to playing live a little more.

Michael Bailey

Bass

A native of South-East Northumberland, Michael has held down the low end for many regional and national artists, including: The Lindisfarne Story, The Caffreys, The Junco Partners, Steve Daggett, The Peter Donegan Band, Mark Knopfler & Ruby Turner. Recently a TV star with the Caffrey brothers, with whom he plays bass and has taken on the daunting task of harmony vocals!

Gary Young

Trumpet, trombone

Conductor, composer, arranger and music educator for over 45 years, having started playing horn at the age of 11, Gary, now 64, played with the National Youth Band of Great Britain back in 1967. After formal music studies he became a peripatetic brass teacher, and runs his own music publishing business ‘THE CROTCHET FACTORY’ specialising in music for young bands. Gary now has 4 grandsons who also play brass – and a VERY understanding wife!

Steve Martin

Bass

Over many decades as a working musician, Steve has played bass in Tip to Motion, Caught in the act, McCallum and Steve Dagget’s Silverdirt, to name but a few – along with depping for many bass players who couldn’t make their gig and playing in too many Club and Country bands to mention here! When he’s not playing Bass, Steve frequently finds himself in the balmy waters of the North Sea trying not to fall off a surfboard or flying big nasty kites… Fast.

Les Young

Harmonica

Les is regarded as one of the best vocalists in the North East, having sung and played a mean harmonica with The Medicine Men, The VIPs, Martin Fletcher’s Usual Suspects, Twango Bango Deluxe… A big fan of bands like Little Feat and the Neville Brothers, and basically all things soul and blues, which shines through in his singing.

More recently Les has started to write and perform some excellent self-penned numbers (watch this space for more on that) and has become something of an artist, producing very good portraits of many musical greats.

Steve Cunningham

Bass

Steven has played for years around the Newcastle music scene, notably for many years with Lindisfarne. Currently he has his studio in Fenham in which he records and mentors local musicians, and promotes many of them through both his Boomchang record labels, Boomchang.mu and his TV station “Cooking in the Kitchen”.

Kev Charlton

Bass

Where to start?. Kev first hit the headlines in the 1980s as part of Hellenbach who garnered a 5 star review in Sounds magazine for their first album. He is well known around the North East as part of the legendary Bessie and the Zinc Buckets who have twice filled the Newcastle City Hall with tickets changing hand on the FTSE 100 (up market touts!) and he can be seen around Europe at any given time as part of a duo with his beautifully talented Fiancée Charlotte Yani. They play as Frog on the Tyne and at any gig anything can, and does happen. Superb musician, Kev is known as a frontman but is one of the best bass players around. Ever!

Tony Schofield

Guitars, backing vox, arrangements

As for myself, I have had many tunes I’ve assembled over the years and decided to do my own album. As it says on the liner notes, George Waters and I got together and enlisted the help of some of the best musicians in the north east. I’m very grateful to all of them for their contribution!

Secured By miniOrange