New Essex Bluegrass Band: MembersHome Music Contact History New gigs Past gigs Single mic BG memories Links Paul Brewer Paul sings the lead on most
of the songs, and occasionally baritone, and plays rhythm guitar.
He first heard bluegrass music in the 1960s, fell in love with
it, and has remained devoted to its traditional form ever since.
On meeting Terry Hymers in 1989 the two of them formed the
Chelmer Valley Bluegrass Band with Phill Morley, the founder of
British Bluegrass News, on banjo and later Ivor Ottley on fiddle
and Alan Saxby on bass. When this band folded Paul and Terry
continued to sing and play together until they joined with Greg
Wright to create the New Essex Bluegrass Band.
Paul loves all the bluegrass instruments, and has a collection
of Martin guitars as well as a mandolin, Dobro and double bass,
but holds steadfastly to the belief that singing is the key to
the music. He has attended every Sore Fingers Summer School
since it started in 1996, usually joining the singing class, and
is thrilled to have met and sung with nearly all his favourite
bluegrass singers, including Jody Stecher, Kate Brislin, Keith
Little, Kathy Kallick and Lynn Morriss. He shares his extensive
knowledge of bluegrass with others at SFSS by acting as tutor to
the student bands. Terry Hymers Terry got into Bluegrass at
the early age of about 10 due to his father being a banjo picker
who styled himself on Earl Scruggs. After hearing a Bill Monroe
album on the record player one night, Terry was so taken by
Bill's style of playing that he got the 'bug'.... then he got a
mandolin! Completely self-taught by ear, playing along to
bluegrass albums from the likes of Jim & Jesse, Country
Gazette, The Osborne Brothers and obviously Bill Monroe, he made
his first public appearance playing with his father at a pub in
Essex. Since then Terry has played in a number of bands
throughout the Essex region until meeting Paul Brewer at a
picking session one evening in 1989 which ultimately led to the
forming of The New Essex Bluegrass Band.
Terry plays mandolin and sings tenor harmonies with Paul, and
together they reproduce many of the closest brother duet
harmonies to be found in bluegrass. Terry is also considered by
many as the ideal bluegrass mandolin player, and was described by
Frank Wakefield as having a ‘perfect right hand’
during Frank’s last UK tour. Mike Stanhope Not long
after moving to NW Essex from London in the mid nineties, Mike
saw the band at a local festival and became an avid fan. He then
served a demanding apprenticeship as a hanger-on before being
asked to try playing bass and singing harmony. So Mike joined his
first band, making a nervous debut at Didmarton in 2000. He now
provides the rock-solid and tasteful bass, which is the foundation
of the band sound, is the baritone in the trios and sings the occasional lead.
A long-time
lover of hard-core bluegrass, Mike has also controversially been
known to listen to other kinds of music: mainly these days some
50's & 60's jazz (all those double basses), and as usual, his
favourite artist - Bob Dylan.
He also now plays bass with the Saffron Walden
based acoustic duo The Hoxton Hobos. Grahame Turner Grahame joined the band in
2008 after Dixon left and despite a past (and possibly a present) that includes
large motorcycles and the desire to dress as a garden gnome, plays a tasteful
and sensitive banjo. He has promised several times to send me some
appropriate biographical details, but as these are yet to arrive, we will have to make
do with idle ramblings. I do know that in his day job he makes exquisite invitation
cards of such beauty that refined ladies cry and only gentlemen who own oil wells
can afford to order enough of
them to have more than two or three friends round.
Grahame's first attempt at band uniform (picture, left) was generally considered a good start, incorporating, as it does, a hat, a shirt, trousers and footwear. We did eventually get him to wear our standard kit. He was worried that his friends would poke fun at him until we pointed out that none of his friends would recognise him. Greg Smith
Greg started out as a classical violinist, but got separated from
that path at Cambridge University where he became interested in
fiddling and was part of several bands including Cobblers Last,
the Cambridge Crofters and Camus. To help pay his way through
college, Greg played in several Ceilidh bands and took up calling
dances. His interest in bluegrass was sparked when he was
introduced to Pete Sayers and the Radio Cowboys in the 90s. He
joined The New Essex Bluegrass Band in 2005 on the fiddle and is
sometimes allowed to sing bass in the gospel numbers. In his spare time
from bluegrass, Greg also plays with the Great Eastern Ceilidh
Company . If you can ever persuade the band to remove their hats,
Greg is easily recognisable as the only one with his own head of hair.Last updated: Saturday, 16th August, 2008, GPS |