The Classic Rock Show is rolling into Edinburgh

Hello James – can you tell us where are you from & where are you living today?
I am originally from Southport, I moved to Liverpool in 2007 when I went to LIPA and I’ve been here ever since.

What are your first musical memories?
My early memories of music are of going with my dad to concerts he was promoting in the mid ‘90s. I particularly remember a Nils Lofgren concert at the Milton Keynes Stables & The Crazy World of Arthur Brown at Southport Art Centre.

What instruments do you play?
I mainly play electric and acoustic guitar. If someone’s desperate, I can jump on the piano (but we try and avoid that!)

You’ve got three famous rockers from history coming round for dinner. Who would they be & what would you cook; starters, mains & dessert?
Starter – Little Richard a Tutti Frutti
Main – Don Mclean an American Pie
Dessert – Led Zeppelin a Custard Pie

You’re currently a part of THE CLASSIC ROCK SHOW – how did your involvement begin?
The Classic Rock Show was created alongside CMP’s other shows, Brit Floyd and Rumours of Fleetwood Mac. We wanted to create a show which celebrated a vast array of music – almost as if the audience are coming into our home and having a look through our record collection.

The show has developed over eight years now and we believe every year it just gets better and better. The musical talent on stage this year is just amazing, the best yet.

Who else is in the band?
Tim Brown – Drums
Wayne Banks – Bass
Pete Thorn – Electric Guitar
Henry Burnett – Keys
Rudy Cardenas – Lead Vocal
Jesse Smith – Lead Vocal
Jess Harwood – Lead Vocal

How do you select the songs for the repertoire?
A dictated democracy!

Which are your favourite songs in the set?
It genuinely changes each night, depending how the audience reacts to a song. As you would expect the guitar heavy songs are great for me as they are a challenge. My catchphrase is… if in doubt play Quo (Status Quo) – an instant crowd pleaser.

You are currently ploughing through your 39-date tour – how is at all going so far?
Genuinely fantastic – audiences have been amazing, each night has a different feel and no two nights are ever the same. The set-list is ever evolving so we can’t wait to see how the shows continue to develop as the tour progresses.

You’re playing some pretty big venues along the way – the popularity of what you’re doing is without question – what are the keys to the show’s success do you think?
Credibility, detail, passion, love of the music. You can’t fake that and the audience would know if we all didn’t enjoy what we were doing. We are all fans of the music, like the audiences. We just want to come together and celebrate this music.

We’re gonna try & catch you guys in Edinburgh – have you played here before, & if so what do you think of the city?
We have been to Edinburgh a few times and played the Queens Hall (which is a fantastic venue). We are so happy to be moving to the bigger venue this time – the Usher Hall. I guess that’s a good sign for us that everyone is enjoying what we are doing.