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about us | ||||||||||||||||
Alan Williams Alan
played violin at school in a big class, and unwittingly played by ear for five years (it must have been a big class,
otherwise the teacher would have noticed him playing by ear instead of using his bow). He played without taking too
much notice of the music, so unconsciously tended to ignore the development of learning to read the dots. However, he
found to his cost the error of his ways when, at an audition for the Merseyside Youth Orchestra, he was asked to sight-read!
His formal musical career over, he then started playing mandolin when he was 17. There was an old banjo mandolin at home, which was a family heirloom, and as the tuning was the same as violin, he found the initial transition quite simple, with the main difference being that there were chords that could be played on mandolin. During this time, Alan started to write his first songs, but found it difficult when trying to come up with the music on mandolin. This initiated a move to guitar to develop the writing side and nearly 30 years later the move is still in progress. But mandolin has again started to have some influence, when, after discussions over the musical style of Two For His Heels, Alan decided to purchase a new mandolin, which has now started to feature in some of the songs. From early days Alan's main influences were singer/songwriters such as Lindisfarne's Alan Hull and Ralph McTell. Largely self-taught, Alan's guitar style was greatly influenced by Dave Leach (see below) when Dave taught him the basics of clawhammer.
Dave Leach Dave has been playing
acoustic guitar for over 35 years now. As a teenager, he played rhythm guitar in a jazz band, getting a good grounding
in chord structure and progression, and unlike Alan, he learned to read the dots! After hearing Ralph McTell play an
old ragtime tune by Blind Blake, Dave's musical direction switched to using the acoustic guitar as a lead instrument.
Since then, Dave has studied under Martin Simpson, but lists many other influences that include Leo Kottke, The Rev Gary
Davis, Ry Cooder, Joseph Spence - to name but a few. He can also play the 5-string banjo, but being a gentleman,
doesn't (not often anyway).
Dave's job used to require him to work abroad quite a lot, including a spell of 2 years in Latvia during the early 90s. While there he met Milena and they were soon married. They have two daughters: Victoria and Hannah. Dave's interests (apart from music) include flying - he has a Private Pilot's Licence - and you can see a selection of photos taken around his home city of Liverpool by clicking here.
Band HistoryWhen they were younger (much, much younger) Alan & Dave met up and soon formed a band which they called "Chronicle" to signify that they wanted to pass on a message to the world (they were young!). The band lasted a couple of years and the two went their separate musical ways, but stayed in touch, including the odd guest appearance for each other. The picture gives a simple illustration of the paths they've taken. It's difficult to believe that the arrows span
over 30 years! RecordingsWhile in their separate bands, both of them released albums that are currently deleted. However, Red Jack Music have the masters so if anybody is interested in obtaining a copy of one (or all!) of them, they'll only be too happy to oblige.
So far, one Two For His Heels EP is available. For more details (including how to buy it), please see the Red Jack Music site... However, plans are now in the pipeline for the next. Watch this space.So, to bring you up to date...Two For His Heels are currently playing in the folk circuit around the North West of England, mainly within easy reach of their home town of Liverpool. If you want to know when they next plan to be in your area, ask them (via email) and they'll let you know. Of course, they'll be even more pleased to hear from you if you want to book them to play at your venue! |
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