Roadhouse
www.roadhousegb.co.uk

Roadhouse was formed in 1991 by Gary Boner, ably assisted throughout by the driving bass of Bill Hobley and the the powerful drumming of Roger Hunt. Seizing on an eclectic mix of influences from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Creedence Clearwater Revival, the band has developed a sound all of its own. In the words of a recent Blues Matters review: "They veer towards the rocky side of the Blues, but are clearly Blues based and play in a punchy style with musicianship of the highest quality".

Having played over 1,500 gigs in the years since (more than 800 of which have been on the London circuit) the band have kept their sets consistently thrilling, mainly thanks to prolific songwriting from Boner and a carefully tailored mix of original and cover material. The band's gig diary is peppered with dates at many prestigious venues, such as The Marquee, The Cartoon, The Borderline, The Worcester Park Club - and the band recently enjoyed lengthy residencies at The Bulls Head in Barnes, a renowned Blues and Jazz Club currently celebrating it's 50th year of live music, and The Torrington in North Finchley. Over the last 24 months, Roadhouse have also played at many major Blues festivals, including The Guinness Blues Festival, Castlebar, Ireland; The Merton Abbey Mills Blues Festival, London; The Boogaloo Blues Festival, Bognor; The Isle Of Wight Blues Festival, Norton Grange; The Colne Blues Festival, Lancashire; The Festival of Blues and Rock, Skegness 2004 has seen reappearances by the band at Colne and the MRA Hickling Blues Festival, amongst others.

The band has also built up a successful routine of album releases, having recorded and released six albums independently since 1995. Since signing to the Blues Matters! record label in 2003, a live album Roadhouse & Friends was released in January 2004, followed by the band's latest studio album No Place To Hide in May 2004 - to an overwhelmingly positive reaction. "The whole CD is a wonderful and varied collection of songs played to the highest standard by a group of fine musicians. It deserves to take the band on to a higher level. I strongly recommend it" - Blues Matters! Magazine review.

The previously released albums have all been featured favourably on both National and International radio stations, including Paul Jones' JazzMeBlues show on JazzFM, BBC Radio Lancashire, Resonance FM, KJLU Missouri, KXJZ California, KEGR San Francisco, and others in many countries including Australia, Denmark, Italy, Croatia and Macedonia.

Over the years, the band has toured and supported with several renowned Blues "names" including Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones), Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy), Paul Jones (Manfredd Mann/The Blues Band), Otis Grand, 9 Below Zero, The Pirates, Stan Webb's Chicken Shack, Walter Trout, and The Yardbirds. Having received such good reaction at these and their own gigs, the band now has a computerised mailing list, sending newsletters to over 1,100 recipients spanning 7 different countries.

In October 2005, 4 new musicians joined the Roadhouse family, the latest additions being Canadian guitarist Drew Barron, and vocalists Mandie G, Fiona McElroy, and Suzie Dingle. This band recorded the album "Broken Land" in early 2006 to critical acclaim.

The most recent new members are:

Danny Gwilym – Lead Guitar: Born Lancashire, grew up Fareham (Hampshire) and learned guitar to Peter Green, Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy.  First pro band was "Chinatown" who toured extensively across Britain for 4 years, supporting Budgie and Diamondhead and playing Reading Festival (82).  Then helped to form "Shogun" who toured the UK with Meatloaf (88) and released two albums.  Has now lived in London for 25 years and has worked with various London groups and been a regular attendee of several London jams for the last few years which has led to his eventual appointment with Roadhouse.  Danny has enjoyed moving back to his bluesier roots although still retains a rocky edge to his style.

Kelly Marie Hobbs is 23 years old and has performed on numerous occasions at The Wimbledon Theatre within musical productions. Her first lead role was ‘Star to Be’ in Annie (aged 17) and the following year she played ‘Jenny Lind’ in the production of Barnum. After obtaining a Media Studies Degree at Portsmouth University she then went on to gain qualifications in Performing arts. Recent vocal coaching and development has taken this young talent into the field of blues rock.