Jam-Pact Guest Artists

The real deal. Having played with James Brown, The Temptations and Funkadelic as well as being one of the best Hendrix acts around, Alix is a true class act delivering a truly authentic blend of funk, soul, blues and classic rock, a rare treat.

Front-man and guitarist respectively of the band Burlesque, Pete and Geoff are very experienced and confident performers with a very broad repertoire covering everything from traditional blues to soul to rock and much more. Geoff was formerly guitarist in the band East Of Eden.

Mandy has been lucky enough to work with many great artists, some of whom were her own musical heroes when she was growing up...including The Moody Blues, Gloria Gaynor, Helen Shapiro, Mike And The Mechanics, INXS, Booker Newberry III, Curiosity Killed The Cat and Pulp. You will have heard her many times on TV and radio too, so don't miss the opportunity to see this great singer in action.

Robin Bibi is one of the UK's top blues/rock guitarists having worked with such names as Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Ben.E.King, The Pretty Things and Helen Shapiro. Blues, funk, soul, rock, reggae and jazz are all rolled together in Robin's exciting and spontaneous playing. Robin is one of the busiest artists on the Southern music venue circuit and has played most of the major Blues festivals in the UK, Ireland, and Europe. (pic:Sharon White)

Gary is known to many as the guitarist and singer from the highly acclaimed blues band Roadhouse, who have achieved international recognition with their latest album, Sea Of Souls. Roadhouse are now in their 20th year of being on the road and gig widely across Europe, including all the top UK Blues festivals. Roadhouse are signed to Blues Matters records and have now released a total of 10 critically acclaimed CD's, and have achieved global radio airplay. Gary has achieved much acclaim as a songwriter/generator of high quality original material, a self taught player he steers very firmly towards the rockier side of the blues.
More info here www.roadhousegb.co.uk.

Richard Clarke is a talented young up and coming singer and guitarist. Still in his teens and currently at music college, Richard already has his own band The Richard Clarke Trio that perform a mixture of original and cover material on the local circuit.

Val Cowell has been toting a guitar, playing her own style of Rock and Blues since she formed Bad Influence with Richard Hayes (her slide playing partner) way back in 1986! Bad Influence are one of the most established bands on the blues and rock circuits, having toured constantly in that time, co-written 6 albums, headlined the infamous Marquee Clubs 17 times and done a number of Radio 2 shows, both live and studio. Val also has numerous credits on other noted artist's albums including Papa George, Roger Cotton, Paul Cox and Alan Glen to name but a few...

Quite simply one of best and most highly respected blues/soul singers in the UK. As well as his own blues & soul band, Paul also heads the excellent band Fire & Water, who perform primarily the music of Led Zeppelin and Free.

Gary Dainty is currently rocking out as lead guitarist with original band Wasted Sinners, one of Londons best rock 'n' roll bands. Those that know Gary will be familiar with his excellent blend of technical ablity and feel, which combined with his great stage presence delivers outstanding performances every time.
He has worked with many great musicians over his career including Stiff Little Fingers, Blue Weaver and Stuart Epps to name a few, and continues to impress everywhere he plays.

Front-man of the band the Brainchild, Chris has a huge repertoire of great songs that never fail to entertain. One of the most experienced performers on the circuit.

Ross is a young and very able guitarist who can be seen playing with his own band as well as with many other artists of repute. Highly accomplished in many styles, Ross always impreses with his playing.

One of Italy's foremost blues/rock guitarists, Emanuele Fizzotti graduated from the "Guitar Institute of Technology" in Los Angeles, where he also worked as a session guitarist at the "Shanghai Recording Studios"  working with Mike Carnevale, sound engineer with Eric Clapton, Greg Allman, Jeff Beck and Keith Richards. Having composed music for TV and film, Emanuele has also appeared on mainstream Italian TV shows and at major European festivals, released four CDs with his own blues band and produced an educational DVD called "Playing in the style of Jimmy Page".

Jules Fothergill has had long associations with top blues bands Roadhouse, Funkydory, Northsyde and the John O'Leary band to name a few, bringing his superlative guitar playing to any project he works with.

One of the UK's top blues guitarists, vocalists and songwriters.

"Papa George, the British-born blues player is highly regarded, both here and in the US, and Europe, for the gritty passion of his voice and his finesse on the blues frets..." Paul Jones BBC Radio 2

"Papa George, a mean axeman who has built up a strong reputation in recent years" THE TIMES

"He (PG) is a superb guitar player, a first-class vocalist and an immensely talented songwriter" Blues In Britain

Described as "one of the finest blues harp players and slide-guitarists of his generation" (Soundcheck Magazine), Alan Glen has worked with many musical greats including Jeff Beck, Slash, Steve Lukather, Steve Vai, John Mayall, Alannah Myles and... Peter Green amongst many others. Having also been a member of both Nine Below Zero and the Yardbirds, recorded over 30 albums and performed at numerous prestigious festivals and venues around the world, we are very excited about having a player of this calibre playing at our events.
Alan can be seen in two great bands at the moment, The Incredible Blues Puppies (website), and The Barcodes (website).

Familiar to many as the main guitarist with Never The Bride, Murray has a long list of top artist credits having worked with Eric Clapton, Elton John, Shirley Bassey & Trevor Horn to name a few. A seasoned professional, Murray has performed at numerous high profile venues including Glastonbury (main stage), V-Fest, The Albert Hall, O2 Arena, Wembley Arena, Manchester Arena and the Birmingham NEC. Murray has also played at the prestigious Sunflower Jam charity event in 07, 08 and 2011 backing artists including Joe Bonamassa, Newton Falkner, Rick Wakeman, Gary Brooker, Sam Brown and Bruce Dickinson alongside John Lord of Deep Purple (see pic) and Micky Moody of Whitesnake. Murray's latest appointment is with The Wanted, as well as working with The Saturdays, Sugababes and appearing at the 2010 MOBO Awards with Nelly. 'Nuff said!

Tim is a closet Freddie King freak who who was once hired to back visiting reggae stars, and went on to blend the two styles into what Blues In Britain describes as a "breathtaking, highly entertaining fusion of blues and reggae." Imagine Jimi and Bob having a jam in Heaven and you're in the ball-park. Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman describes his album as "The best I've heard for some time." A vibrant performer, singer and guitarist, Tim also writes much of his material. He has worked with many of those on these pages, including Alan Glen, Robin Bibi and Papa George.

Familiar to many as the virtuoso guitarist with the band Georgie Pie that made an impression on the UK circuit a few years ago, and toured Japan and the US, Masashi has five albums to his credit. Masashi's playing style is very dynamic, being both explosive and subtle, he is undoubtably one of the most gifted exponents of the Hendrix/Gallagher/SRV genre as well as more traditional blues styles and of course, his own!

Many will be familiar with Ed from the bands Bad II the Bone and Three State Blues, and of course The Ed Hudson Band. Ed has a great repertoire of classic rock songs to dip into so you can always expect some less common but never-the-less old favourites.

Whist on holiday in London John met former Yardbirds' guitarist Top Topham and drummer Jim McCarty and soon after moved to Britain to become the singer and lead guitarist of their blues band. Playing several nights a week in and around London, John soon became known as 'Detroit' John Idan on the blues scene.
In 1992 he left the McCarty Band to pursue his own musical interest and founded his band 'Realfire'.
Throughout the same time the Yardbirds were reforming and John was asked to become their lead vocalist and bassist, which meant for the premature break-up of Realfire after only a handful of live performances.
Since then Idan has toured the world numerous times with them and has played sold out shows on a variety of world class stages such as The Royal Albert Hall in London9 The Royal Festival Hall, The House of Blues in LA (guesting: Steve Vai), South by South West (guesting: Slash) the list goes on. He has recorded two main albums with the Yardbirds, the star-studded Birdland in 2003 and Live at B.B. King's in 2006.
After having been in the band for longer than the original outfit existed, Idan announced his departure in summer of 2008 stating an urge for more creativity and his desire to become a lead guitarist again.
In 2008 he released his debut solo album 'The Folly' on which he plays all the instruments with exception of a string quartet. In the same year he formed his own outfit 'The John Idan Group'.
He has since been recording for his 2nd album and worked on various musical projects playing in the UK, Europe and the USA.

Highly respected singer-guitarist working in a number of great bands including Sam Kelly's Station House, Bold As Love - a top Hendix tribute band and Miscarriage Of Justice. TJ has a wealth of experience and a great command of many musical styles including funk, soul, blues, reggae, ska, latin, jazz and rock, so you never know what you're going to get, but whatever he plays you know it will be superb.

A young up and coming guitarist is already making an impression on the jam circuit. Alex is not performing with a band at the moment, so don't miss this chance to see what this great young player can do at the jam sessions.

As the 20 year old guitarist for the Jimmy Castor Bunch LeBurn got 'schooled' performing on shows with the likes of Kool & the Gang, Chaka Khan, Debbie Harry & Blondie, Patty LaBelle, Mr John Lee Hooker and far too many other great artists to list here. LeBurn is a highly experienced, world class entertainer, who fuses a heady mix of Soul, Funk, Blues, Rock and Reggae into his own unique and engaging style.

Rik Martin is an accomplished and fiery singer-guitarist, currently fronting his own band, The Rik Martin Band, who have become a well established and very popular act on the quality music pub circuit.

Needless to say Micky is a highly respected guitarist of great stature with a long and illustrious history in the music industry. Micky has been a member of many highly acclaimed bands including Juicy Lucy, Snafu, Whitesnake and The Moody Marsden Band. He has also recorded and/or written on over 100 albums (!!!) in a hugely diverse range of styles with numerous respected artists including Mike Oldfield, David Coverdale, Chris Farlowe, Adam Faith, Gene Pitney and Jimmy Copley amongst many, many others.
Find out more at Micky's website here.

Top blues singer and harp player John is a familiar sight at blues festivals and venues throughout the UK and Europe. John has worked with many great and familiar players in numerous respected bands and projects over the years.

Lawrence is young and growing talent with bucket-loads of expression and passion in his playing. In spite of his youth, Lawrence is establishing himself as a popular and respected player on the circuit. Influences of Hendrix, SRV, John Mayer and many other classic blues guitarists and singers can be heard in his developing style.

Respected in the industry as one of the best in business, Mick is known primarily for his role in Manfred Mann's Earth Band. But his long and illustrious career as a guitarist, singer, writer and producer has also seen him working with many other household names including Jeff Beck, Joan Armatrading and Steve Lukather to name but a small few. To get an idea of just how good Mick is, take a look at Mick performing here: Manfred Mann - Father of day, Father of night

Paul Rose is a truely unique and immensely talented guitarist. Fundamentally a rock guitarist, his extraordinary playing style touches on blues, country, jazz and folk, blended together into a style that is entirely his own. Paul was chosen by Rory Gallagher as best young guitarist in 1991, won the prestigious Guitarist Magazine's Guitarist of the Year in 1995 and has appeared with many top artists including Brian May, Yngwie Malmstein, Hank Marvin and Peter Green amongst many others.
Check out this version of Elenor Rigby and you'll see why!

Paul is an international endorsee for Framus Amplifiers.

At 19, Annie-Grace is a remarkable young singer with strong and soulful voice. Determined to make it in the industry, Annie-Grace is a rare natural talent - definitely one to watch!
Annie-Grace attends the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) and is in the final year of her degree. A 'Live and Unsigned' finalist at just 15, she is already a busy working musician, with a growing following. She fronts her Soul & Motown outfit Annie-Grace & The Mosos and gigs regularly with Jam-Pact, covers/function bands and acoustically. She writes her own material as well as having a broad repertoire of Soul, Blues, Jazz & contemporary songs - she can turn her hand to any style. Learn more about Annie-Grace at myspace.com/anniegracesmithuk and hear her acoustic version of People Get Ready.

Giging in pubs, clubs, festivals and open air events, Dave's style presents a range of guitar influences. Having spent time working in various studios, and having played and jamed with a number of noted seasoned musicians, Dave has only recently added vocals to his performance.
Learn more at Dave's MySpace page and YouTube channel.

Born in Tokyo and living in Surrey, Saiichi Sugiyama is the best known Japanese blues guitarist in Britain today and one of the most recognisable performers. With his obsession with the revival of the vintage tone and having worked closely with the lyricist of the multi-platinum band Cream, Pete Brown, he has become an unlikely champion of the British Blues Guitar. Appearing with Saiichi is the vocalist of Saiichi Sugiyama Band, Stella Luczkowski, a soulful singer in the mould of Etta James with an extensive touring experience in the US. Expect some fireworks!
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Young and very talented singer/guitarist/keyboard player Jay Tamkin has been making a big impression on the blues scene both in the UK and Europe with his debut album "Sorted" and numerous radio apperances, not to mention his band's busy gigging schedule, having played with/opened for numerous top blues artists including Aynsley Lister, Pat Travers, Stan Webb's Chicken Shack, Sherman Robertson, Nine Below Zero, Ian Parker, Ian Siegal, Wilko Johnson and Danny Bryant.

Internationally renowned Texan blues guitarist and singer Buddy Whittington is most known for his fifteen year stint as guitarist with with the legendary John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, having recorded no less that eight albums with them from 1993 to 2008. Now with his own band, Buddy has released a debut self-named CD with a second in the pipe-line and tours regularly.
Buddy's Myspace page
Website

One of The Mersey's top guitarists, Steve Wright is also a well known composer of TV themes with shows including Hollyoaks, Brookside and Grange Hill to his credit. Steve also has his own band The Blues Gang.
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Familiar to many by now, Joe is a versatile blues & rock guitarist from Italy who skillfully blends traditional blues styles with a bit of Hendrix and a bit of funk for good measure.
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