RICHARD COLLINS (banjo and lead vocals) is the band leader and a founder member. He is one of the top two or three bluegrass banjo players in the UK, and a good strong lead singer. He joined his parents' bluegrass band Fingers and Co in his early teens, and later played in Grassfire before forming ABLA. He earns part of his living as a bass player in various bands, and on mandolin in Simon Mayor's Mandolinquents. Among numerous other projects and involvements he was recently invited to play banjo on the latest CD recorded in Nashville by US bluegrass artist Sharon Cort. He has a number of private pupils on various instruments, regularly runs workshops at festivals etc., and has published a series of instructional DVDs. When not playing music he tunes pianos for a living. His wife Claire recently gave birth to their first child, Monty.

GARY PAYNE (guitar and vocals) received his grounding on the guitar and in folk and country music from his father Don, who ran music clubs in Surrey for many years. Gary  played mandolin and fiddle, and sang lead and tenor in Fingers and Co for most of its existence, and in the Orange Blossom Sound for a period. He later joined Grassfire on guitar and then became a founder member of ABLA. A total bluegrass devotee, he runs two or three regular local music sessions and currently plays with the band Home Territory as well as ABLA. Many regard him as the outstanding British lead and high tenor singer, and his authentic bluegrass backup guitar is exemplary. Gary and his wife Sherryl run a very busy piano tuning business when not playing music.

SHERRYL PAYNE (bass and vocals) was already an experienced singer and guitarist before being quickly drawn into bluegrass by Gary, whom she married in 1998. She played bass and sang lead and tenor with Blackjack and the Lynne Butler Band before joining ABLA, with whom she sings (very) high baritone and tenor parts, and as a featured soloist. Sherryl is a seriously accomplished seamstress, and expert in both the garden and the allotment. Through extensive research she has traced her family back through many generations: between them she and Gary have three children and two grandchildren. When not doing any of the above, Sherryl works as an office manager, and anchors Gary's piano tuning work.

ALAN WARD  (mandolin) played mandolin and fiddle in both the original Bluegrass Ramblers in Liverpool and in the later version in London. He led the bluegrass/Tex-Mex "fusion" band The Armadilloes in the mid 1980s, and has also played English, Irish and American dance music in various bands on fiddle (and cello), including a long stint in the English traditional band Webb's Wonders. For many years he has also played cornet in the Titanic Syncopators, a 1920s-style London jazz band . He replaced the original mandolinist in ABLA, Brad Johnson, in 1997. Alan's background is in history and archives, but he became involved in recording and documenting traditional music, and later joined the British Library where he was head of curatorial work in the Sound Archive until recently. Currently he remains a vice-president of the Oral History Society. Alan and his wife Susan have three children and at present one grandchild.

BOB WINQUIST  (fiddle and vocals), the third remaining founder member of ABLA, is the leading bluegrass fiddle player in the UK. Originally from Vancouver Island, he played bass and fiddle in his brother's country music band, which toured extensively and was chosen by Wilf Carter (aka Montana Slim - Canada's most celebrated country singer) as his backing band when he performed "west of the Rockies". Bob later left college to concentrate on his career as a classical violin and viola player, moving to London where he became a member of what is now the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. He now earns most of his living as a freelance classical viola player in orchestras and string quartets. For many years he has been the main organiser of the annual London Fiddle Festival, and has recently increased his teaching workload.

Bob has played and recorded with most of the noteworthy British bluegrass bands over the last 25 years, including the Bluegrass Ramblers with Alan and Grassfire with Gary and Richard. He sings baritone harmony with ABLA, a new departure for him.

A Band Like Alice is international (the original members came from Surrey (2), Worcester, the US and Canada), but we have no particular connection with Alice Springs or Australia, the setting for Nevil Shute's novel A Town Like Alice. Our name derives from Alice Coleman, the band's original bass player. She was briefly replaced by Sam Nesbit, then by Beth Holland, who appeared with us on our first CD Not before Time. They are all great musicians; Alice and Beth remain stalwarts of British bluegrass.

A BAND LIKE ALICE is a bluegrass band originally formed in 1995. We aim to play "pure product" bluegrass music. We are regularly booked by all the major bluegrass festivals and clubs, but we have also played at arts centres, country music festivals, folk clubs, weddings, churches, restaurants...

We like the music of Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers and the others who invented bluegrass in the 1940s and 50s, and more recent bands which play hard-driving bluegrass. We write some of our material, and play songs and tunes from many other sources.

We now have two published albums: Not Before Time and Down to the Wire. You can order either or both immediately (see Music page on our website). The British Bluegrass Music Association assisted us with both projects and we are grateful for this.

Website:  

www.abandlikealice.com

E-Mail:  

Richardcollins66@btopenworld.com

Tel:  

01276 609954

A Band Like Alice performing   ‘Blood From A Stone’