They say that fact is stranger
than fiction and who would we be to dispute that in the case of BAND OF TWO
The story begins
with a chance meeting at the 1992 Hastings Beer Festival between folk
musicians PETE FYFE and GARRY BLAKELEY.
Both had been established on parallel paths within the British folk
circuit for the best part of twenty years working in various bands such as
Eavesdropper, Collaboration, Brian Boru and Better Days. The coincidence
continued as both had appeared as support acts to Steeleye Span and Christy
Moore. Having been
formally introduced, both Pete and Garry found themselves discussing the
possibilities of making a living from music as Pete was about to leave his
job as an operator for British Telecom and Garry, disenchanted with his job
as a carpet fitter was looking for a new career. Unfortunately, they
wouldn’t be able to sustain themselves on the folk circuit as many clubs
could only offer minimum remuneration. Ironically at this time, the Celtic
music scene had just had a healthy boost with ‘Riverdance’ that in turn
paved the way for the introduction of many Irish theme bars throughout the
country. But not everything was
going to be as cut and dried as all that. Band Of Two’s baptism of fire
began at The Blarney Stone pub in Croydon where the publican had confirmed
with Pete that he would like to book the duo on the strength of a demo
tape. When the duo arrived, their trepidation turned to fear when the
landlord welcomed them with the immortal words “You’ll be fine so long as
you don’t play any of that Irish rubbish!”
(and this from a Donegal man). Things could only get better – and
they did. Within three months, the diary was full with gigs as diverse as
pubs and folk clubs to festivals and even the occasional cabaret spot. In addition, a folk club appearance was
witnessed by a German entrepreneur who invited the duo to perform for the
first of many corporate functions throughout Europe. They even wound up at
one of these gigs playing support for an International Darts player! In 1995
they teamed up with several Hastings based musicians to form the Celtic
rock band CHASER and were immediately booked for Trowbridge and the Black
Horse Festivals. The band was sadly
short lived and in 1996, Garry and Pete started work with Roger
Flack, Phil Flack and Dave Pellett to form THE TABS. That same year, the pair found just
enough time to record their debut CD “What You See…” a recording featuring
the duo’s most requested live songs and tunes and in the process gained
many favourable reviews from the folk press. A solo album by Garry “Out Of
The Shadows” was also released highlighting his talents as a
songwriter. 1997 saw the duo
supporting ex-Neighbours and Grease star Craig McLachlan and, although an
unusual combination, this proved to be a major success with an audience
comprising mainly of screaming youngsters aged about fourteen! 1998
was an extremely busy year, which saw both Pete and Garry putting their
multi-instrumental skills to a variety of recording projects including
contributions to singer songwriter CHRIS SHIELDS CD “In A Melody” and on
the JOHN TOWNSEND album “Will You Waltz?” they played on nearly every
track! 2002 saw Pete completing one of his solo projects with
ex-EAVESDROPPER associate Rob Erselius and another “Flying Tonight” with
LES ELVIN. Band Of Two released their second album titled “Decade” and they
completed a recording in conjunction with ex sailor SHEP WOOLLEY under the
banner of the ‘ANDSOME CABIN BUOYS titled ‘Hands To Dance And Skylark’ (a
nautical term!).
Recording projects
aside, the duo teamed up for many gigs with their good mate Shep and
several outstanding gigs ensued including appearances on the P&O cruise
liner The Pride Of Bilbao and the Tall Ships Race in Portsmouth where the
attendance figures were in excess of 500,000. Another special gig saw Pete
and Garry providing the music for Dawn French and Lenny Henry – and yes,
they did dance! Throughout 2003/2004
they continued to plough the festival circuit throughout Britain and were
increasingly booked for folk club appearances. The trend continued in 2005 and garnered many accolades
from the music press whilst on the festival circuit Pete & Garry
perform at the Cheltenham Gold Cup meeting where the attendance figures
topped 200,000. The popularity of
the music performed by the Irish band in the film ‘Titanic’ captured the
imagination of a whole new generation of enthusiasts and even the use of
this music in films as diverse as ‘Lord Of The Rings’ and ‘Master &
Commander’ has re-awakened an interest in all things Celtic. Both Pete and
Garry are only too aware of this and hope that the trend for goodtime
traditional Celtic music will continue for a while yet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~