“Wob performs songs of rare imagination and substance in a way that engages audiences of all sizes, ages and musical tastes”.
He’s back !!!
“A little guy with just a guitar and an extra long pair of vocal chords, UK’s Wob began the show by kicking ass… Humorous and passionate, the combination of his clever acoustic style and his perky stage presence was definitely worth seeing, the crowd vouched for that” Beat Magazine
Travelling extensively with a trusty acoustic guitar, the “astonishingly bouncy talent machine” was spotted at venues all over England, gaining ecstatic audience reactions from crowds more used to punk rock than acoustic music. At the end of 1990 he joined the ranks of agit-folk-rockers Blyth Power, a band described by Folk Roots, as “a national treasure”. After four years of touring and recording the critically acclaimed Guns of Castle Cary and Pastor Skull albums, Wob decided to concentrate on his own music. This path has led him to festivals, rock venues, folk clubs and a host of weird and wonderful places in Britain, Europe, Australia and the US.
In 1995 Cycle Records released Wob’s debut album I Can’t Stay Long. “Despite the albums title, this looks set to be a story that will run and run” (Rock ‘n’ Reel). Since then there has been Friends In The Night which according to Folk Roots, “captures energy on a coiled spring”. March 1996 saw Wob travelling to Australia to tour with the Killjoys, a band often heard on Neighbours and Home & Away. During this tour he won “Best Newcomer” award at the Port Fairy Festival, the prize was a brand new Maton guitar.
In August 1997 a charity tour of Romania was undertaken, playing in children’s homes and culture houses. This was followed a few months later with the recording of Straight on till morning which saw a new element to the Wob sound. The album was recorded in Wales with Matt Cooper on bass and Wig on drums. The production was by Wiggy, the once right hand man of Billy Bragg, he encouraged and was encouraged to bring out a much more band orientated sound which has continued and being continually honed to this day.
Early 1999 found Wob recording his first solo album, proper. Gather brings together moments from the Straight on till Morning sessions, a new set of recordings done at Lighthouse Studios, Weymouth and live tracks from Germany and Austria.This album was released in time for his second solo tour of Australia in March 1999.
At the end of 2000 it was decided to utilise the powerful recordings that were made on this tour and release the live, Shouting from the shore which really does show Wob and his audience interaction at it’s best. Listening to Legacy on this record will have the hairs standing up on the back of your neck, just about every time.
After returning from touring the Live album Wob found himself performing at a friends wedding in Vienna with Matt Cooper. Here they met up with John Rutherford and Robbie Davies and after a very brief rehearsal around a coffee table performed at the Szene supporting festival favourites, Kangaroo Moon. It was organised at the last minute and nobody knew if it would work but from this performance came the birth of Silverleaf. The Silverleaf project lasted a couple of years, they played up and down the UK and Austria a couple of times but due to geographical problems it was short lived, half the band were in Edinburgh and the other half in southern England and the distance took it’s toll.
During the demise however, Wob was busy recording and in 2003 released With just one step. The advent of this album and honouring booked Silverleaf gigs meant that Wob reformed the trio with previous cohorts John Forrester and Wig. The gigs rolled in and once again saw them off to Europe for some well received gigs in Germany, part of one of these you can hear on the Mp3 page.
During the summer of 2006 whilst rehearsing new drummer Jon Edon, Wob recorded A month of Sundays which has been called, “The best and most well produced Wob album to date”. He played everything on it and it shows a versitilty and growth in his song writing. This was then mixed and mastered in September at Audrey Studios, Melbourne by Craig Pilkington whilst Wob did a short tour of South Australia. This was released in 2007 and was toured through out the year. Kerri Stapleton joined the band on bass when John Forrester left.
“A unique, intelligent and witty, performance”