The lead singer of the band "A Band & A Banjo" discusses their recent successful tour of several UK cities. Originally starting as a four-piece band playing small pub gigs, they are now a trio who have released a CD, gained radio play, and toured extensively. The singer recounts how the band formed casually among old school friends looking to pursue their musical dreams. Their big break came when they were offered a month-long tour of the UK last year, which they eagerly accepted. Though the tour destinations were sold out, their first London gig involved a rushed radio interview and shopping trip where one band member was lost, making for a hectic lead-up to showtime.

1. &
A BandA BanjoAn Interview With The Lead Member
“ “
A
fter their recent success in their sell out tour in Bristol, Cardiff, London, Birmingham,
Newcastle and Liverpool ‘A Band & A Banjo’ have given us all of the inside info about their
tour and what they get up to along the way, they have also given us the lowdown on how
they came together, from meeting in a small pub in Kent, to their sell out tour success.
“A Band & A Banjo didn’t always have three members, at first they were a four part band,” explains
the lead singer, “in fact they used to have four members however the fourth member pulled out at
the last minute, however the rumour that he is to re-join is not true but he will perform with us at an
exclusive gig next year. ‘The Old Barn’ pubis where I used to meet up with some old friends from
school; we were all about twenty-three by now, in a full time job, however I was the only one still
pursuing my dream of singing. I used to do small gigs in ‘The old Barn’, only a few people used to
turn up though and I never made enough money, so I gave it up and started looking for a job too. To
my surprise my friends wanted to join me and make a band, ‘A band & A Banjo’ were born.”
“ We started off in small bars and clubs, as our profile expanded we were performing in some of the
more well-known clubs, after a hard struggle we were performing in the major academy’s, and we
had our first CD out, ‘An Unknown Journey’. To our delight our music was now on Zane Lows radio
show we even had a BBC Radio One Extra Live Lounge appearance. We even had a manager, he
would organise everything, we would just have to turn up; we were offered last year a one month
tour around the country, we took it as being a wild road trip, well we were all single, we had no
commitments, we couldn’t say no.”
“Bristol, Cardiff, London, Birmingham, Newcastle and Liverpool, were our destinations, the date was
30/09/2012 and our first gig started the next day, only the essentials in my suitcase and our tour bus
was kited out with the latest gadgets. We were on the road; our first gig was in London and our
manager had already planned an early morning radio chat show interview to promote the London
gig, even though the gig was sold out, that was half of the day shortened already, and the gig would
be in a few hours, we decided to go shopping, it turned into being more eventful than we expected,
we lost Aaron in the shopping precinct and I left my shopping in the café’. We found Aaron and my
shopping and the gig was to start in an hour,