http://www.myspace.com/southquay02
Four piece rock / blues band South Quay stunned the crowd at the opening night of Maryport Blues Festival with their powerful opening set, supporting acts such as Gary Moore, Van Morrison and Eric Bibb. Since then, the band has had a very busy schedule, going down a storm with the crowds wherever they play. South Quay’s unique takes on unusual and lesser known rock / blues songs have proved extremely popular, inspiring adjectives such as “amazing” and “awesome” from enthusiastic audience members, with the band being proclaimed “the best live band to play round here for years” after a recent gig in Carlisle. Their distinctive musical style fuses Keri Farish’s powerful, emotive vocals with truly impressive performances from all band members. Songs such as the immensely popular “ Whipping Post” effectively combine innovative guitar work with the fantastic Tom Oldfield on drums, with Paul Williamson providing a solid bass line which moulds the whole sound together perfectly. In contrast, in the emotional “Stay With Me Baby” and the band’s own version of “Summertime”, Keri’s vocals have been said to “make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end”, and have drawn comparisons with Maggie Bell, Sam Brown and Elkie Brooks. Their limited edition debut cd of rehearsal out takes sold out virtually immediately, and demand has been such that further copies of this cd were made available, and are already selling very quickly. Whether you prefer full on rockin’ blues, emotional ballads, funk, good old rock n roll or just a good mixture, South Quay’s set has something for everyone. A couple of impressive surprises are slotted in for good measure, and this is most definitely a band to watch out for in the not too distant future.
With an original ambition to be an opera singer, KERI started singing at a very young age, but only started having lessons at the age of 16, passing her Grade 8 less than a year later with the highest mark in the country . She then went on to study Musical Theatre at Mountview Theatre School in London.She has won many awards and competitions, including a NODA award for Best Actress in a musical in 2003 and fending off competition from 25000 others to win a national contest Pubstars, consequently recording a cd at Tin Pan Alley studios in London. She taught singing for 7 years, and has performed regularly throughout the county and beyond, recently being chosen to sing the part of Lulu in the professional Take That show at the Sands Centre. Keri still loves performing classical music and operatic solos, but believes she has found her niche in the rock/ blues genre, and loves nothing more than to put her whole heart and soul into the performance of a great song.
JAMIE started playing guitar at the age of 9, playing his first gig aged 12. Living in Maryport, he was always surrounded by fantastic blues music and amazing guitarists, and it was this which inspired him to practice so hard and keep trying to improve on the guitar. His efforts have certainly paid off - he passed his Grade 8 at the age of 16, is a prolific song writer, has already played several gigs at Maryport Blues, and has been a member of 3 successful bands. Because of his love for Blues, Jamie was delighted to join South Quay.
TOM started playing the drums at the age of 13, passing his Grade 8 aged 15. He played regularly for the Whitehaven Brass Band, whilst also playing in numerous punk and rock bands. He later left the brass band and played with Wyndham Wind Band, in addition to being a member of jazz band "Disband" and Latin band "Los Huevos Banditos". He tries to fuse most of the styles he has experienced into his playing with South Quay, whilst still trying to remain individual and original. He is currently studying Civil Engineering at the University of Newcastle, so come and talk to him after the gigs before he graduates and becomes an extremely boring engineer with lots of fun facts to tell.........
PAUL's interest in music began when he started playing piano at the age of 5. He then progressed onto playing bass guitar age 11, picking up an electric guitar along the way and still continuing to play piano and keyboard. He began writing and recording songs, sending them off to record companies, and when he was told his songs were good but he needed a band behind him, he formed successful local band Mingo's Locker. He has played for several years in the pit bands for companies in Whitehaven, Maryport, Keswick and Workington, where he first met Keri and Tom, and is looking forward to performing original material with South Quay.
Four piece rock / blues band South Quay stunned the crowd at the opening night of Maryport Blues Festival with their powerful opening set, supporting acts such as Gary Moore, Van Morrison and Eric Bibb. Since then, the band has had a very busy schedule, going down a storm with the crowds wherever they play. South Quay’s unique takes on unusual and lesser known rock / blues songs have proved extremely popular, inspiring adjectives such as “amazing” and “awesome” from enthusiastic audience members, with the band being proclaimed “the best live band to play round here for years” after a recent gig in Carlisle. Their distinctive musical style fuses Keri Farish’s powerful, emotive vocals with truly impressive performances from all band members. Songs such as the immensely popular “ Whipping Post” effectively combine innovative guitar work with the fantastic Tom Oldfield on drums, with Paul Williamson providing a solid bass line which moulds the whole sound together perfectly. In contrast, in the emotional “Stay With Me Baby” and the band’s own version of “Summertime”, Keri’s vocals have been said to “make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end”, and have drawn comparisons with Maggie Bell, Sam Brown and Elkie Brooks. Their limited edition debut cd of rehearsal out takes sold out virtually immediately, and demand has been such that further copies of this cd were made available, and are already selling very quickly. Whether you prefer full on rockin’ blues, emotional ballads, funk, good old rock n roll or just a good mixture, South Quay’s set has something for everyone. A couple of impressive surprises are slotted in for good measure, and this is most definitely a band to watch out for in the not too distant future.
With an original ambition to be an opera singer, KERI started singing at a very young age, but only started having lessons at the age of 16, passing her Grade 8 less than a year later with the highest mark in the country . She then went on to study Musical Theatre at Mountview Theatre School in London.She has won many awards and competitions, including a NODA award for Best Actress in a musical in 2003 and fending off competition from 25000 others to win a national contest Pubstars, consequently recording a cd at Tin Pan Alley studios in London. She taught singing for 7 years, and has performed regularly throughout the county and beyond, recently being chosen to sing the part of Lulu in the professional Take That show at the Sands Centre. Keri still loves performing classical music and operatic solos, but believes she has found her niche in the rock/ blues genre, and loves nothing more than to put her whole heart and soul into the performance of a great song.
JAMIE started playing guitar at the age of 9, playing his first gig aged 12. Living in Maryport, he was always surrounded by fantastic blues music and amazing guitarists, and it was this which inspired him to practice so hard and keep trying to improve on the guitar. His efforts have certainly paid off - he passed his Grade 8 at the age of 16, is a prolific song writer, has already played several gigs at Maryport Blues, and has been a member of 3 successful bands. Because of his love for Blues, Jamie was delighted to join South Quay.
TOM started playing the drums at the age of 13, passing his Grade 8 aged 15. He played regularly for the Whitehaven Brass Band, whilst also playing in numerous punk and rock bands. He later left the brass band and played with Wyndham Wind Band, in addition to being a member of jazz band "Disband" and Latin band "Los Huevos Banditos". He tries to fuse most of the styles he has experienced into his playing with South Quay, whilst still trying to remain individual and original. He is currently studying Civil Engineering at the University of Newcastle, so come and talk to him after the gigs before he graduates and becomes an extremely boring engineer with lots of fun facts to tell.........
PAUL's interest in music began when he started playing piano at the age of 5. He then progressed onto playing bass guitar age 11, picking up an electric guitar along the way and still continuing to play piano and keyboard. He began writing and recording songs, sending them off to record companies, and when he was told his songs were good but he needed a band behind him, he formed successful local band Mingo's Locker. He has played for several years in the pit bands for companies in Whitehaven, Maryport, Keswick and Workington, where he first met Keri and Tom, and is looking forward to performing original material with South Quay.