Mac’s Bio
Mac still wonders what it was that led to his interest and enthusiasm for music and learning to play an instrument, as he came from a totally non-musical family.
He was very young when his drumming passion started, using his Mum's pots with pan lids hanging on strings. Using money from his 10th birthday, he bought a red glitter snare and stand, a single cymbal with an ‘L’ stand, a pair of sticks and had the cheek to ask the Music Shop for a discount! Hence, the musical spark was ignited!
As time went by, using pocket money from his paper-round, car cleaning, and dish-washing job in a local cafe, Mac bought a second hand guitar for 30 bob. He stripped and sanded it down, revarnished it, and fitted new strings. His older brother had a Dansette record player and when he got the opportunity - and his brother was out - Mac would listen to his records (everything from The Shadows - Apache and Wonderful Land; The Beatles - She Loves You; The Searchers - Sweets For My Sweet; The Rolling Stones - The Last Time; The Kinks - You Really Got Me …. ) and gradually taught himself to play.
However, having been inspired when he heard Ginger Baker’s drum solo on the Cream track ‘Toad’, the drums became his instrument of choice, and by begging and borrowing from friends he was able to put together a ‘hotchpotch’ kit.
Having been in a few bands as a teenager (including a group called The Sound made up of school friends), marriage, becoming a young dad, and a high profile career that took him around the world put drumming on the back-burner for some 4 decades. Latterly, with more time available following early retirement he has thrown himself into Rock and Jazz drumming lessons, taking his music Grades, and spending hours on his kit practicing. As a result, his skills have been in demand, and he has worked with numerous groups including Sixth Finger, Free Ascent, fSpirit, Symbolic, 50 Shades, Still Going Strong, and The Mystery Machine over the last 18 years - often supporting two or three bands at the same time.
If he had to single out a couple of special moments, it would be supporting Wishbone Ash at The Cheese & Grain and the 60s Welsh group ‘Man’ in 2018.
A couple of years ago, an idea started to gel to form a new band to play those classic rock tracks everyone loves. So, together with his very good friends and really talented musicians Alex and Jim the seeds of the band were sown. A few Vocalists later, with Nikki now firmly ensconced, CRB are ready to make their breakthrough.
Alex’s Bio
At school Alex was impressed by a friend who could play the guitar. After being shown a few basic guitar chords and learning to play some songs, he was hooked. Having classical guitar lessons and playing in school and college bands helped him to improve technically on the instrument and gave him dreams of becoming a session musician.
Unfortunately these dreams didn’t pay the bills so he ended up taking a job as a Telecom engineer but still continued his musical interests.
Over the following years, Alex has played in many bands performing in the South West and London areas of the UK playing covers and original music. He has worked with many local musicians including John Parish (P J Harvey) and enjoys recording and writing music. In the lockdown he was asked by an events company to provide the live music section of an online quiz for businesses and companies with the aim of helping their employees to keep team spirits up during difficult times. This was a great success with sometimes hundreds of people online from all around the world joining the team quiz.
Alex has been the A team Captain of a local Bath tennis club for over 20 years and is sport mad, watching and playing whenever he can. In recent years he teaches and plays in a local function band performing at Private Parties, Weddings and Festivals with drummer Mac. Together, we came up with the idea of playing classic rock music that we all love. Now, we can't wait to get out gigging and performing this music ‘live’.
Jim’s ‘Bio’
Sitting in the basement of a squat the low ceiling offered just enough head height to sit at the drums. The power had been jury rigged and tripped occasionally, with posters covering missing plaster and holes in the walls. As a roadie for the Sub Humans, the band’s guitarist 'Bruce' showed Jim how to restring his prized strat, letting him play it to bed them in.....at first quite awkwardly fingering the chord shapes to Girl on the Run by the then punk goddess Honey Bane. A blues and major scale soon followed before, in the heart of London, their hippy tour coach was vandalised and sprayed with graffiti by raging skinheads who also tried to slash the tyres, thankfully with little success.
Several bands later a lay-off followed, until washing his car one fateful summers day a van skidded to a halt and the driver jumped out rudely shouting “you can play guitar, I want you to come and play bass in my band”.......and he wouldn't leave until he was given the answer he wanted. From that point on the switch was made from guitar to bass. The rock covers band was rough around the edges although oddly enough having a vocalist closely related to the 60s icon, actor and singer Anthony Newley. Many many more outfits were to follow over the years that included, Head On, Switch, Project X, Posh Ape, Lille Rode and The Unelected to name but a few.
Nikki’s Bio’
Nikki was primed from birth for her musical upbringing by her opera-singing mother and show tune-loving father. During the early years at home she was frequently exposed to the power of her mother's soprano vocal range as she rehearsed arias in many strange, foreign languages. She also sat in the audience through repeated live rehearsals of what felt like the entire A-Z of operas throughout her mum's stage career.
Nikki quickly became all too familiar with the world of performing arts & showbiz dramatics and was possibly already a 'diva' in the making! Yet all she really wanted to do was sit listening intently to the beats & rhythms of popular 7” singles on her Fidelity portable record player in her big sister’s bedroom. Joe Cocker's 'Little Help From My Friends' & Staple Singers ‘I'll Take You There' were 2 of her favourites amongst the Beatles, Byrds, Kinks, Stones and Supremes.
Whilst on their family travels in Italy, Nikki (aged 8) insisted her parents fork out money for a simple small guitar from a street vendor and had soon taught herself the basic chords. Within a few years, she did progress to a full-size Morris guitar, and was then encouraged to entertain at local suburban venues, where she muddled through a selection of 70's folk/pop songs once the nerves had subsided!
During the adolescent years, it soon became clear to her as she gazed longingly at the Marc Bolan & David Bowie posters on her bedroom wall, that this was not the kind of music that really 'moved' or inspired her! No matter how many times she listened to 'Dark Side of the Moon' on an 8 track cassette in the boy next door's Ford Prefect - or how passionately she felt about Led Zeppelin - she knew she was not destined to become a professional rock guitarist!
Fast-forward to the millennium when Nikki took 'time-out’ to focus her attentions on becoming a successful songwriter, recording her own lyrics with a music producer & sound engineer. She came close to landing a LA song contract but S-Club 7 scuppered her chances!
After a year she decided there was no room at the top for individual artistry while all those boy- and girl-bands were ruling the hit parade!
A couple more decades of London life were spent focused on travelling; playing sports; practicing yoga; building her business & hanging out with her beloved partner and rescue dog until a 2020 move to glorious Wiltshire - where she reconnected with her SW countryside 'roots' and magically found her rock/blues/soul voice, thanks to the many talented musicians she continues to interact with!