News

Latest news 09-

First, let me express our deepest codolencies to the family of Billy Powell. The news of Billy's death has left us deeply sadden. Fly Billy!

We have changed the band around again. Papa Ginge is now lead singer having been pursuaded to hand over his bass duties to Ben Atkins. Ben is also helping out on backing vocals. Nel has left the band, and Tom is still flying on lead guitar.

Latest news 08-

We have increased in size again! I have taken Tom off Bass, (he was covering for Papa Ginge who had broken his finger.) and put him on 3rd guitar. So now we have the great 3 guitar Skynyrd sound. Incredibly talented Ben has been brought in to play bass. Papa Ginge and Nel are now on backing vocals.There is good news in our quest to find a piano player. Chris has now joined the band and brings with him a wealth of talent and experience. The addition of piano now brings us closer to that authentic Skynyrd sound. Look forward to seeing you all at some of those gigs!

News 07 -

We say goodbye "Bible Nigel", we wish him every success at college and for the future. Our thanks to Jon, aka "Mr Big" (what he lacks in stature, he more than makes up for in talent, personality... and volume!), who has agreed to help us out on drums. He comes with many years of experiance and is a great asset to the band.

December 06 -

Thank you to all of you who made 2006 such a great year for the band. Thank you for your support, advice and encouragement. It would not have been the same without you! Please check out the dates for next year, we'll see you all there. So from all of us in the band, have a great Christmas and New Year!

November 06 -

October held out many surprises, we had some great gigs, and some cancellations. Basher left the band but we welcome a new very talented drummer called Nigel (see gallery page) We have christened him "Bible" Nigel, because he was heaven sent! He stepped in at short notice and save us having to cancel two of the gigs. The Grapes has changed hands and all music there has been cancelled. The New Inn, Witney has a "crisis" and our gig has been postponed until next year. The Jack Russell has also pulled the plug on live music due lack of support. She hopes to start again sometime in the New Year. But all is not lost; we have a new booking for Saturday 25th Nov at the Royal Standard, High Street, Headington. We will still be playing at the Red Lion in Brackley on the 17th of November, and have a new booking at the General Elliott, South Hinksey on the 16th of December. We still have dates to fill, and are available for Christmas parties and New Year's Eve. Have a great November and hope to see you at one of the gigs.

October 06 -

We had great time in September with Ray joining us on sax for some of the set at the Crown, see gallery page, which added an extra dynamic to and interest to the songs (especially the boogie numbers like Poison Whisky and The Breeze. Hopefully we may hear some more of him in the gigs coming up in October. Thanks also to Joe for helping us out on drums at short notice at the Crown. We had real barnstormin' night at the Bay Tree, in Grove, thanks to a solid turn out of fans and new faces. This month we are at the Grapes, High St, Abingon on the 7th, Killingworth Castle, Wotton, near Woodstock on the 14th, and a special gig at the Kidlington football club,Yarton Rd on the 21st, which is a family friendly event, and is FREE! Let me know if you want to come because places are limited.

May 06 - We're Flying!

Well okay not literally but after an amazing tour with Mike Estes and Skinny Molly, we've decided to put into practice a lot of the things we learnt from playing with him. To this end we are going for a weekend away at an isolated airfield to nail down the riffs and endings and learn some new songs.

Thank you Paul for letting us play in your hanger!

We are looking forward to visiting some old haunts later this month. It's always good to play in front of a "home crowd" and that's the way we feel about these two gigs in Didcot and Abingdon. Tell you friends, bring a posse and lets party!

Photos to follow on the gallery page!

April 06 - Some things take you by surprise; some things take you by surprise and knock you off your feet!

I had this phone call on Thursday night for this chap called Mike, who had this heavy American drawl, saying that he was looking for a drummer and guitarist to play some dates. His had been refused entry in this country due to the lack of work permits. I mentioned that I only really played Skynyrd's music. He replied saying that's why he phoned me. (He got my details from this venue I sent some info to last year).

It turns out that Mike was none other than Mike Estes, ex-member of Lynyrd Skynryd, and leader of a band called Skinny Molly, an American Southern Rock band whose set's include classic Skynyrd and original songs. I said I would have to get back to him which took all of 5 miniutes and said yes!

So Basher and I are now touring round the country, helping out Skinny Molly. We might even play in Dubai on Thursday night at Harley Davidson rally if we can get the work permits in time. Check out their website for tour details.

I had this email from a friend who reckoned that this phone call was just an April fool's joke and was waiting for me to come clean. However it wasn't, we did some dates in this country and then flew out to UAE to play at a HOG rally hosted by the local Harley dealership. We stayed in the 5 star Merridan hotel. The food was exceptional and I even managed to get some sailing in.

And here are the photos!

Contact us

If you would like to hire the Skyny Nyrds email screaminj@skyny-nyrds.co.uk