Sweet Music Band
Band
Members
Richard: Keyboards
Richard, who lives near Kingsclere, has been playing in locals bands for a number of years. Playing with SweetMusic has given him the chance to play and sing his way through many of his favourite Soul,
R & B and even Madness numbers.
Richard has now perfected the art of jumping up and down at the same time as playing. He can normally be seen doing so at the back of the group. Richard is never happier than seeing people dancing and singing along to SweetMusic songs at gigs, knowing that theyre having as much fun as he is.
Singing at the top of his voice, jumping up and down and with an ear to ear grin as the horn section kick into a SweetMusic song, Richard is a great example of the success of the governments care in the community programme.
Brian Throup:
Bass
Like many musicians, Brian learnt to play at school, where he played in the school's swing band and the Stockport Youth Orchestra. After leaving school Brian joined Kaspa, a successful cabaret band touring the north west and recording a Eurovision song contest entry.
Now living in Newbury, via Bristol, Brian has played Soul&Funk, Blues, Rock, Jazz, Swing and Classical music with many bands and orchestras and has several CDs to his name. Keen to encourage younger musicians Brian can be regularly found supporting the local jazz forums and open mic sessions in his spare time.
Simon:
Saxes &
Brass arrangements
Simon is a regular sax player in a number of bands and sax ensembles. He does the arrangements for our brass section, making sure that Andy on trumpet has an interesting time! He is also a pianist, and in 2006 gave an 8 hour recital in aid of Children In Need. He teaches piano and sax in Ramsbury, Wiltshire.
Jenine: Sax
Jenine Mudge born in Guernsey, is a graduate of the Colchester School of Music and Performing Arts. She performs regularly both as a clarinettist and saxophonist. Recent concert venues have included the Royal Albert & Festival Halls, the Barbican and Buckingham Palace.
When not performing, she is a full time instrumental music teacher and can be regularly found in the recording studio working on films and commercials.
Andy: Trumpet
Andy started playing cornet at age of six, under the guidance of his father Bill, a brilliant trumpet/cornet player, and constant encouragement from his mother [which Andy refers to as nagging] to practice for ten minutes a day (something for which he is now eternally grateful).
A long and illustrious career in music has followed, being fortunate enough to perform at such venues as The Royal Albert Hall, Festival Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, as well as making numerous recordings along the way.
Andy has played with The Royal Green Jackets Band, Morris Motors Band, Aldbourne Band, Flowers Band and the world famous Men of Brass.
A brewer by trade, currently Head Brewer at the renowned , he lives with his long suffering childhood sweetheart Sally and stepson Freddie.
"I love entertaining people and along with my fellow Sweeties intend to make Sweet Music the premiere party band in the south of England... "
Ramsbury Brewery
Kis: (Paul Kissaun)
Singer
During the 80s & 90s Paul was a member of The Flying Pickets appearing alongside stars such as Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Blur, The Pretenders, Art Garfunkle, The Gypsy Kings and Joan Baez. His records include Evita, with Madonna and Vox Pop and Politics of Need with The Flying Pickets. In Summer 2008 he sung the male vocals for a Northern Soul stage play, Once Upon a Time in Wigan.
Since leaving The Flying Pickets, Paul has concentrated on writing music for theatre and television.
He is also very active with The Watermill Theatre in Newbury and in conjunction with it runs Gigscool, which is a ten week programme which seeks to put together bands in order to get people from all walks of life making music in the Berkshire area.
As an actor Paul has appeared in The Bill, Coronation St on TV and his theatrical work as actor and composer include Alan Bennet's Wind In The Willows for the National Theatre, Alice In Wonderland at the RSC and Simply Heavenly at the Young Vic.
Hilary: Singer
Hilary began singing at an early age and has performed as a soprano soloist at a variety of concerts and weddings throughout and since her school years. She recorded a song for a BBC radio childrens programme and has made a couple of brief appearances on TV.
She has performed classical choral works with various choirs, the highlight being Carmina Burana and Chichester Psalms at the Royal Albert Hall. In recent years she has been singing jazz with smaller groups and is having a blast at backing vocals with Sweet Music.
Gilly - Singer
Gilly started her vocal training at the age of 14 with international opera singer Carol Andrews and has always had the desire to get on a stage whenever possible!
As well as being a flight attendent she has written music and recorded vocals for dance producers, showcasing the music in various clubs in London's West end.
Before joining Sweet Music Band she sang in various bands covering rock, pop, disco soul and funk. Her claim to fame is that she has even sang to Simon
Cowell and he said YES!! Gilly is also a trained dancer so once she gets on the stage its hard to get her off!
Dan:
Drums
Dan started playing guitar at the age of 10, after some gentle persuasion from his farther. When he reached secondary school Dan joined his first band playing lead guitar along to Nirvana and Metallica.
His father, also a drummer, then taught Dan to play side drum so that he could join the marching band of the 1st Newbury Boys' Brigade. It soon became apparent that he enjoyed drumming and he rapidly progressed to playing a drum kit, featuring in concerts and productions throughout his final years at school. By the time Dan was 18 he had joined a local rock band, playing in venues across Berkshire.
More recently his exploits include playing drums for singer/songwriter Alex Toye, with whom he toured the London club scene, playing venues such as The Rock Garden, Covent Garden City and Storm, Leicester Square.
Keen on recording and music production youll find a very happy Dan making the most of his ability to play drums and both bass & treble guitars by laying down his own music tracks.
Tiernan:
Guitarist & Singer
Tiernan loves playing the guitar, singing and generally entertaining the masses. Coming from a musical & performing family, Tiernan never really had a chance to escape music.
As a child he played piano and trumpet. Picking up various instruments found around the home he was soon playing mandolin, banjo and penny whistles. (He recently had a go at playing the violin but is not sure his family can take it!)
It wasn't until he broke a leg as a teenager that the guitar was picked up during his convalescence. It didn't take long before he was playing in bands with dubious names such as BEERGUT 100 and, our favorite, BROTHER TOBOGGON AND THE EXPLODING TRIFFLES. With some guidance from a family friend, who happened to be the original Queen guitarist, he was well on his way.
Most recently he has been performing with many bands around the south east, sharing the stage with musicians who have played with the likes of Gary Numan and Jools Holland.
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