The Celia Bryce Band
CELIA BRYCE is an award winning playwright and children's author as well as a supremely talented singer-songwriter. Her musical career started in Gilbert & Sullivan at the age of 10 and has progressed through traditional folk, Irish music, soul and country in various bands.
All these influences come to bear in Celia's writing. She plays guitar and accordion and both her voice and song-writing is feted by many well-known and influential musicians as diverse as Al Perkins, Jez Lowe & Ray Laidlaw.
Keeping company with Celia are.....
Tony Schofield:
Tony plays guitar and provided the tunes for many of the songs on the second album. He appears to have an endless supply of melodies and can sometimes just drop something as good as "Corporal Morris" into the frame with no warning. On the album, he plays electric, acoustic, twelve-string and bottleneck guitars, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. For live work, much to his chagrin, we limit him somewhat.
Colin Bradshaw:
Colin plays bass, various acoustic guitars & sings harmony with both the live & recording band. He also contributes to the song-writing process often by finding a 'hook' to add to the songs. He doubles as the band cook & driver.
Eddie Harris:
Eddie 'looks like a devil but sings like an angel'. He has been the drummer and high harmony singer with Celia in the Katy Freeway for more years than either would care to remember. He played on some tracks on the album and is our main live drummer.
Doug Morgan:
Doug has been the main drummer on both Celia's albums. Somehow, through our collective incompetence, he never got a credit on the original CD cover but we'll make sure he gets it on the 2nd one. Due to a hectic life as a pro drummer Doug rarely gets the chance to play live with us.
Tony Davis:
Engineer, co-producer, keyboard player & harmony singer, Tony has been an integral part of the Celia Bryce recording band. Young children & a bad back means he is unlikely to go on the road with us
Gary Young:
Gary arranged the brass parts, managing to fend off some of Colin's more outlandish suggestions and played trombone, tenor horn, euphonium and explained all about brass band drumming.
Lee Cramman:
When just a callow youth, Lee played keyboards with Celia & Colin in the Bill Stickers Band and later the Katy Freeway. Escaping the responsibilities of fatherhood, he has rejoined them in the Celia Bryce Band.
Emma Bartch:
Emma played ensemble and solo cornet.
Elliot Gray:
The third generation of the Young family, Elliott played trombone.
Lucy Stadward & Barbara Nortyn:
Lucy & Barbara added backing vocals and handclaps to the album
Martin Eccles:
Recorded the sounds of the crowds.
John France:
John Played pedal steel guitar on St Cloud
The band's album "Links" was released in the summer of 2014 and has attracted the following reviews...
"It's a beautiful thing... Celia has a restrained power in her performance, reminiscent of Karen Carpenter in her power. I don't know anyone who has quite that relaxed depth to their voice at the moment.", Rob Ellen, UKCountryRadio.com presenter and music promoter.
"Just fabulous... raunchy, sexy, bluesy - every ingredient needed to drag British country kickin' and screamin' into the 21st Century" Country Routes.
In October 2016, the band released the four-track EP "May Day 1916" to raise money for the Royal British Legion. The title track decribes one woman's letter to her husband at the Front in the Great War, but it could be every woman's letter during wartime.
Buy the album Links from our Online Music Store
Visit the band's Facebook page