Red Rose Youth Band
Well known for its immaculate presentation and innovative repertoire. See website for events + news.
The band has its own rehearsal rooms in the heart of Lancaster with thriving learner, beginner and intermediate groups as well as the concert band which performs around 40 engagements a year.
All welcome to join whether virtuoso, keen amateur or complete beginners. Free tuition is given in the various groups by Robert Nelson, a renowned, Morecambe born brass player.

Ruby in the Dust
Five piece all female band based in Lancaster, formed in 2006. Original folk jazz vaudeville sound with country and middle european influences. Band members are Eleanor Levin: piano, guitar and b vox, Rosie Taconglass: vox, Melody Rowe: percussion, Hazel Rowe: cello, Helen Fry: fiddle, guitar, b.vox. Check out their myspace at www.myspace.com/rubyinthedustlancaster

Sadie Hawkins Dance
Web: www.sadiehawkins.co.uk
MySpace: www.myspace.com/sadiehawkinsdance
Reinventing GLAM - GLittery Anthemic Melodic - Rock, Ulverston-based SHD’s recipe is a secret blend no-nonsense pithy lyrics and a plutonic energy, encased in hard metallic icing, with more fret-fireworks than a cold November's eve.

Santeria3.
Voojazfunk septet comprise of double bassist Louis Davy, drummer Dan Williams, guitarist Stuart Metcalfe, keyboardist Ruth Poole, tenor saxophonist Martin Condit, alto saxophonist Dave Mullen and scratch DJ Shaolin Monkey. What do they play? Whatever it is it's got to be funky. Expect an eclectic mix of original material and arrangements of tunes by the likes of Herbie Hancock, Ruben Gonzalez and the Jackson 5. They host 'disfunktional society' the 2nd Saturday of every month (9 - 1am) at the Crypt, Lancaster.
For bookings contact Louis tel: 07765292272 or
Email: friendboris@lycos.co.uk

Scared of Girls

Scout

Slick Serenaders
Smooth, accessible mainstream Jazz quartet / trio with the ubiquitous Chas Ambler (vibes), Paul Guppy (guitar) and Barry Marshall (clarinet). Plus guest bassists. Get back to the 1930's, say hi to Benny Goodman and pick up some cheap booze while you're there......
Email: chas@musical.fslife.co.uk
Tel: 01524 400696

Seven Seals

She Never Sleeps

Shady Jazz Ensemble
This charismatic five-piece band consists of singer, Laura Andrews, and talented fellow musician Gary Taylor. More have since joined this exciting ensemble. Unfortunately Patrick Tansley no longer plays in the band. The
music they play is a wide ranging mixture of less often performed standards including some songs sung with original lyrics in French and Portuguese. Tourist guide Melvyn Dod founded the Shady Jazz Quintet a few years ago. Melvyn is a well-known face in Lancaster for his regular tours around the city's castle, pubs and beerhouses. He has been a keen musician for the best part of 20 years and is also the leader of the brass section for street band Baybeat.

The Soul Company
Dave Sharp, co-founder and guitarist of top British rock band The Alarm, launched this new band at the Bobbin, Lancaster in Dec. 2003 after a chance meeting in Lancaster with one of the UK’s finest bass players, Keith Ashcroft (Chris Farlowe, Hamish Stewart). They're joined by long time associate and master drummer Paul Burgess (10cc, Jethro Tull) to solidify the rhythm section. Ashcroft and Burgess are well known on the NW music scene for their work with Lancaster band Free Parking, and have brought in Carnforth guitarist Moe Witham, whose career includes spells with Micky Jupp and Dr. Feelgood.
Dave left the UK music scene in 1991 and following the trail of American songwriting legend Woody Guthrie he headed to the US in order to grow as a writer and performer. Teaming up with maverick record producer, Bob Johnston, he spent the next few years touring and recording with artists he had long respected and admired, such as Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Larry Crane and Dave Grissolm (The John Cougar Mellencamp band), George Porter (The Neville Brothers), Chris Solberg (Santana). With two excellently received solo albums and an extensive touring itinerary under his belt, he began to look once again to the British music scene for inspiration. “I saw fewer and fewer U.K. rock bands able to make a lasting impact on U.S. audiences,” says Sharp. “There has got to be a serious British rock band capable of taking on the United States. British rock has lost much credibility Stateside. The future of rock and roll is at stake here," he told Virtual-Lancaster, citing corporate mergers and marketing-driven new bands as just part of the problem the British rock scene now faces. Read more in our news archives.

Southgators
Duo comprising Stevie-Boy Doolan and Mike G-String Ferguson. For years Stevie toured with The Bluebird Cajun Band, but he has now settled locally and teamed up with Mike to play the music of the deep south of the USA - the bayous and Appalachian mountains. Using guitars, dobro, harmonica and banjo they perform delta blues, hillbilly, Cajun and other good-time music.

Sorrows Fall
Web links: www.sorrowsfall.com and www.myspace.com/sorrowsfallband
Risen from the ashes of Lancaster heavy metal outfit Desolate (reformed in 2005), Sorrows Fall have developed their own unique blend of harmonious female lead vocals and crunching and catchy heavy driven riffs. A five-piece metal band from Lancaster, and winners of the 2006 Bobbin Battle of the Bands (which was only their 3rd gig together), SF elegantly mix the hard crunching edge of doom metal with melodious lyrical eloquence. Featuring prominent former members of Skyclad, D.A.M, Phobophilia, Seraphim Xero, Sprockett Launcher and Merichane, they are adept heavy metal musicians who will impress and capture you with their engaging and energetic live performances. SF have recently recorded their first demo - 'Desolate’, and are already planning a follow up release for later this year. If you like rock and metal music then you’ll love these dark yet uplifting sounds.

Sprockett Launcher
Lively 4 piece funk rock band, inspired by a mixture of modern rock and classic funk with heavy lead bass lines, loud guitars and strong female vocals. Their CD 'Honey Truck' is now available from gigs.
Email: littletrishthefish@hotmail.com

Stalked by Scarlet
A young Lancaster based progressive metal quartet characterised by their bringing together of varying influences into powerful melodic songs featuring both the raw energy of thrash and the considered composition of progressive rock. Having been together for almost two years they have played with bands such as From the Ashes, Reluctant to Speak, Silence Broken and events such as Freestage Festival, Parklife and Nice 'n' Sleazy Punk Festival.

Niamh Starky
One Lancaster lass and her loop station. Niamh has been playing local gigs since she was 16, playing ambient experimental electric music. Her music has been described as both hypnotic and charming. Live shows also feature Electric Free Time Machine's Harvey Lord on drums.

Strumammy
Strumammy is folk duo John Rigby and Peter Quinn. Check out the site for the link to their MP3 music excerpts.
Email: info@strumammy.com

Sub-Harmonic

The Sun Street Stompers
A traditional jazz band who've been playing every Sunday lunchtime at the John O'Gaunt pub in Market Street, Lancaster for about the last 10 years. Word was spread that any musician, no matter how inexperienced, would be welcome to sit in with them. This works well and they often have many guests turning up. If any musicians visiting Lancaster go along to the John O'Gaunt on Market Street on a Sunday lunch, they will get to play. If you get there before 1.30pm you will GET A FREE SAUSAGE!
The Line-up is: Barrie Marshall - Clarinet, AlanDuckles - Cornet, Gerry Duckles - Banjo, Michael Howard - Guitar, James Swinnerton - Double Bass.

Superkings
Web Links: www.superkings.org and www.myspace.com/superkingstheband
The Superkings are a North West five-piece (including piano, strings and guitar) with influences ranging from Nick Cave and Paul Simon to Pavement and Neutral Milk Hotel. Over the three years of the band's existence they have tried to simply capture what excites them about songwriting and performance and use it to create songs that range from the raucous to the melancholy.
They have become live favourites in their hometowns playing prestigious support slots with Jeffrey Lewis, Okkervil River, Isobel Campbell and The Great Lake Swimmers. They have been described as an intricate and bitter piano-pop outfit, taking in slow, melodic love songs as well as upbeat jazz-inbued punk music.
The Superkings' lyrics tend to come straight from a scarred heart or humorous mind, hinting at mainstream influences from The Beatles and The Smiths. The band has a powerful, moving sound, with some beautifully penned songs. Little Hope, Hit The Ground Running and Good To Have You Home are already classics in their own world.

The Swing Commanders
A relatively new band, The Swing Commanders is a three-piece outfit from East Lancashire. Pete O’Reilly plays guitar and sings, Jessie Winter plays lead and steel guitars and The Great Raymondo plays bass. The band has emerged from the debris of The Winchesters, and they play western swing music with incredible virtuosity.

Bronek Szerszynski
Bronek had a career as a guitarist in the 1970s and 1980s, spanning styles as diverse as art rock, jazz fusion, new wave, free improvisation and systems music. The last group he played in before coming to study in Lancaster in
1986 was the minimalist ensemble Regular Music, whose collaboration with the theatre company Lumière and Son in Kew Gardens was reportedly one of the inspirations
for the Dukes Theatre's Promenades in Williamson Park. During the past year he has been concentrating on song writing. "The kind of songs I'm aiming for are like short
stories", he says. "I try to get each one to conjure up a self-contained world, with characters that behave in ways that seem strange but make sense in the world they're in. But it's all metaphorical, ways of exploring the complexity
of the human heart." Expect to hear influences from Scott Walker, Jacques Brel, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake, with well-crafted lyrics underlain by beautiful, intricate acoustic guitar playing with a Spanish tinge.

Tony Taffinder
An exceptionally talented folk multi-instrumentalist and a great singer of melody and harmony with a rare capacity for interpreting both traditional and contemporary folk songs with sensitivity.
Frequently accompanied by accomplished fellow Yorkshireman Bruce Baillie (vocals, guitar, mandola, harmonica et al).

Tantrum
Popular young 4-piece with many regular local bookings playing mainly covers of blues / classic old school rock numbers - Hendrix, Young etc.
Tel: 01524 770076
Cecilia (15/9/07): Caught the Band today at the Appleby Blues Festival thought they were fantastic (no Hendrix which was a shame) the music was dynamic/exciting and I could not get over how young they were! Their sound is very mature and worldly and belies their age!! They were a very together Band with plenty of soul (in a Bluesy kind of way).
Read a review of this band by VL's Reza Mills

10000 Things
A Leeds-based rock and roll band with strong Lancaster connections and featuring the not infrequent John o' Gaunt performer, Will Newman and members of his erstwhile blues band Little Sister. 10,000 Things tell us (16/8/02) they have just signed a publishing deal with an enormous music publisher and will soon be so famous that you'll be proud to say that you knew (of) them just before they were. The band has another web site at www.10000things.info

13 Ways

The 3 Ages of Elvis
Lancaster based three-piece band comprised of: Pete Rawlinson - bass & vocals (formerly with 50 Heads Wide & Phobophilia plus he also performs as a solo artist under the moniker Little Hero); Mark Morgan - drums and backing vocals (formerly with Krill & Syc Duck); Jon Carter - guitar& vocals
(formerly with Limebirds, No1 Dolphin, Natch & The Headsmen). They play a mixture of punkrockabilly countrygrunge and pride themselves on providing only the most basic elements in entertainment - noise, fun and, to a lesser degree, competence without excellence.
Available to buy on CD is the debut 4-track 'One For The Money' with the due for release in late March the second EP 'Two For The Show' featuring 4 more songs.
The band will also have showcase 2 tracks on the forthcoming 'Godspunk III' compilation CD (due for release on Pumf Records in April 2005 - for details visit www.pumf.net)
Email: threeagesofelvis@yahoo.co.uk

Trio Rat
Comprising Tony Cooke (guitar and song, who has the dubious distinction of being one of the musicians who kicked off folk sessions in the Brown Cow in the 1970s), Richard Robinson (clarinet) Andy Hornby (mandolin, octave mandolin, whistles).

Ulcat Row
Reza Mills reviewed this band for Virtual Lancaster on 2/9/04.
Read his review

Underground Ballroom
Play live at the Bobbin, Lancaster 1st sunday night every month.
There's a distinct whiff of 1969 about Lancaster's Underground Ballroom - several tons of Hammond organ and Leslie speaker on the stage, and a valve guitar stack enrobed in lilac snakeskin leatherette - albeit with a distinctly modern sensibility. Amongst their album collection (all vinyl, of course) you will find plenty of Muscle Shoals, Deep Purple and Ornette Coleman. Not a little Lee Perry, no shortage of Traffic and more than a modicum of the Green Manalishi. And the Coral. And Jack Bruce, Miles Davis, various Allmans and Wailers - and Elvis in his Vegas period. What this all adds up to is a live performance of dripping viscerality: original material, spontaneous apple creation and a magnolia caboose vying for precedence with clarifoil gatefold sleeves and the RIAA curve, until the whole morphs into a chaotic melange of boogaloo funk, reggae and 'out' jazz.
Tel. 01524 39034

The Video Nasties
Julian Dicken (Guitar, Vocals), Aiden Burgess (Bass) and Michael Waller (Drums). "We grace Lancaster and Morecambe with sound of our screeching guitars and heavy bass lines. We blend a sound of grunge and blues to form, technically, a mess."
Email: thevideonastiessuck@hotmail.co.uk

Janine Wells
A talented singer and guitar player, Janine has returned recently to the Lancaster area. If you have heard her before, you will not have forgotton that wonderful voice. For those who haven’t heard her – her voice is a mixture of the best country, blues, jazz and folk techniques, delivering songs with amazing sensitivity and passion. She accompanies herself on guitar performing traditional and modern music … you really have to hear her!
Email: janine.wells@btinternet.com

The Wisemen
Web:www.myspace.com/thewisemenukband
Four-piece band, who, when playing electrically, are more than capable of rocking out, with hints of psychedelia and soul. When playing as an acoustic group, the instruments include guitar, mandolin, banjo, autoharp, fiddle, and harmonica. Obviously, these instruments encourage the music to lean more towards folk-bluegrass-country-blues stylings, albeit with an "alt" stuck in front of it. They have played numerous local gigs, and since 2004, have played several gigs across the UK, including London, Liverpool and Glasgow. The Wisemen have received many favourable reviews in the local press and beyond. In the Lancaster Guardian, Holly Ross wrote: "the band were truly wonderful.with a set as colourful, wide and impressive as a peacock's tail!" They are now one of the artists on Liverpool's Regular Beat Recordings. See www.regularbeat.com for more info. They have an album of 8 numbers available for a mere £4 from Email: thewisemen@easy.com

Your Dad
String vest with attitude. Chas Ambler plays, Ian Marchant sings, strips and makes fat look sexy, edgy, heroic and very, very, funny. You have to see them if you get the chance. More info from chas@musical.fslife.co.uk