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FULL BIOG
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in music and I played euphonium in the school orchestra from the age of 7 to the age of 14.
My sister Kate was at art college in Stourbridge around the time John Lennon was assassinated. All the Beatles stuff got re-issued and Kate introduced me to their catalogue which influenced me greatly and still does.
Somehow when you reach 14, euphonium is no longer a ‘cool’ instrument (if it ever was of course). One day a friend and fellow disgruntled brass musician dragged me to an after school’s guitar lesson. He never went again and I never looked back! Soon after picking up a guitar I wrote my first song ‘Together,’ a sentimental ballad, which I performed at the school concert in 1985 at the age of 15. From that moment I knew that I belonged on stage.
One of the first songs I learnt to play on the guitar was Blackbird. A great teacher of mine and amazing ‘plucker’, Mr Pashley (a troll like fiery haired Yorkshire man who had fingers like sausages but who could play the most intricate pieces of ragtime blues, classical and folk) introduced me to a hybrid claw hammer style, using a plectrum. This remains my favoured technique as it allows me to drive a song and form an effective accompaniment to my voice. Whilst all my friends were listening to Duran Duran and Kajagoogoo, I was listening to artists of the 60s and 70s like The Doors, The Monkees, Queen, Ralph McTell, Yes and, of course, the Beatles. I would listen to their vinyl records (this was before the CD revolution) over and over until I got the guitar parts licked perfectly (belated apologies to my long suffering family and neighbours).
I bought myself a Tascam Portastudio One cassette 4 track recorder and released tapes of my own songs with covers designed by me. In 1990 I joined the Halesowen based band SHOWGROUND and forged a lifelong friendship with the bands singer songwriter, Colin Burchill and bassist Richard Smith. After 2 gigs and an embarrassingly indulgent performance at my 21st birthday party at The Court House in Dudley, Showground folded (and quickly reformed again, without me, ha!!). See ZANZIBAR, later.
In 1992, jaded with doing computer operator / admin jobs, I went back into full time education and studied Graphic Design at Wolverhampton University. This was to be an extremely creative time for me, mixing with like minded individuals. I was amazed how many artists were also musicians and during this time I joined a gigging band called LOVE STREET which featured the wonderful Lis Henderson on vocals, the eccentric but brilliant David Mills on drums/keys and Sean Coll on bass. Soon afterwards I formed a band called RICH WITHOUT MONEY with another good friend (and awesomely talented) Andy Turner who later went on to run his own guitar school. The name Rich Without Money came after I visited Dublin for the first time - apparently it was the name of the first play to be staged there, and the music we produced certainly had an folk rock feel. My song ‘Parallel Roads’ crosses celtic barriers in that it was written in a tent in Edinburgh (and inspired by a place called Parallel Roads in Scotland), recorded in a farm in Whitchurch and was made into a video in Snowdonia, Wales. Andy Turner was replaced by Andy Bayliss (aka Chas) who was previously with Stourbridge stalwarts BodyCount and later the progressive rockers Sahara Dark.
It was around this time (1996) that I recorded two solo albums called Ten Tall Tales and Ten Tall Tales 2 (very imaginative, I know!) again on my trusty old 4 track. These two tapes attracted accolades from anyone who heard them. I think this was because by this time I had matured into a more rounded musician and songwriter who wasn’t afraid of writing about real life. ‘Mrs Cartwright’ was a lament to marriage gone wrong; ‘Blow Me Down’ comments on our fascination with the media and the chance of lottery quick fortune; ‘Can’t See the Sun’ was inspired by a Central Weekend TV programme which showed the devastating effect heroin had had on a particular family. This song was reviewed by Simon Bradley (the brother of cellist / guitarist Dan Bradley, who I’ll mention later on) in Guitarist Magazine, who accused me of sniffing Ajax (I take that as a compliment). The opening line to that review was ‘Alex Vann is a very strange man….’ Never a truer word!!
TTT and TTT2 provided most of the material for my next band, LIFT. Lift was: me on guitar and vocals, Andy Bayliss, guitar, Sean Coll, bass and Dan Clark, drums. In 1997 Lift won an Arts Council Grant to record a 4 track EP called Four Storeys. The EP, recorded at Workshop Studios in Redditch, contained a reworking of Can’t See The Sun, along with the sunny pop ‘Brand New Day’, the bouncy folkster ‘Mary’ and driving guitar anthem ‘Magic All Around’. This led to TV and radio appearances, many gigs including Sounds in The Park at Mary Stevens Park, Stourbridge in 1998 and a win in a local ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest. The prize was a free recording session at Ice House studios in Dudley which resulted in another CD, ‘Under Your Skin’. This was a collection of 6 beautiful acoustic numbers accompanied by a string quartet scored by the massively talented Dan Clark. (now bass player with rock band UXL)
‘Falling From Grace’ was the next CD, which again won a glittering review in Guitarist and featured on the cover CD. Another 2 CDs, ‘Everything Within’ (title inspired by the name of a Wolverhampton antiques shop) and ‘Angels and Gargoyles’, were to follow, as were amazing live shows in the Midlands and London.
All good things must come to an end and unfortunately Lift split in March 2000. (We did get together again in 2003 to finish off a recording we started 3 years earlier - the U2esque ‘Endless Street’ b/w ‘I Know You’).
Throughout all this time, I was a regular at the open mike nights at the Mitre in Stourbridge. I had enough new material for my first post Lift album, Stranger Things Have Happened.. I managed to achieve a very full sound with some sampling equipment I got hold of but much to the amazement of Gary O’Dea who interviewed me on WCR (Wolverhampton Campus Radio) it was all done on the trusty old 4 track again!
In 2001 I formed a musical partnership with Liam O’Connell, ex singer songwriter with Shifnal based Leven Creed. We had secretly been admiring each others work from a distance for a number of years prior to this and collaboration proved fruitful. Our CD Vann / O’Connell won critical acclaim and also an invitation to play as part of the Songwriter’s Festival at Ronnie Scott’s in Birmingham for 2 years running. The last Festival gig ended with the song ‘Lost in Love’ with me playing the piano outro whilst Liam and Dan Clark handed out helium filled balloons to the stunned audience. I had been increasingly drawn to piano as a song writing tool and it opened up a whole new world to me.
Our gig at Oakengates Theatre in Telford was a night to remember. I got to play a Steinway concert grand piano and we were supported by Carina Round, Maryholland and the classically trained cellist Dan Bradley. Dan is also a fine guitarist, singer songwriter whose version of ELO’s Mr Blue Sky, backed by cello played on his lap like a guitar and complete with vocoder effects has to be seen to be believed. Dan (Bradley) and Dan (Clark) joined myself and Liam on stage to add flesh to a few of our numbers. Another notable gig was at the Glee Club in Birmingham where we supported the incredible Micky Greaney and his band.
A live Vann / O’Connell CD was recorded at Haughton Hall in Shifnal in 2003. (cont’d)
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