Band Biographies
Tony - Lead Vocals
An accomplished rock vocalist, but from a jazz family Tony was always destined to go into the music business, so after a brief stint as an underwater basket weaver, he went straight into a career in IT.
However he has paid his dues over the years with shedloads of bands, (until he found one that would let him stay) singing with people as diverse as Tight Fit to Loose Ends. Known as the king of croon by virtually no-one ever, Tony has always been a rock man through and through.
Having tried both disco and post doom sludge grindcore, it was with some relief (mainly from his family) that he found his niche and musically he’s come home with the Copperhead Jacks singing what he loves.
Demonstrating opposite his ‘up close and personal’ technique, it’s easy to see that Tony is in fact distantly related to John Belushi from the Blues Brothers….. Probably.
When asked what the hardest thing about gigging was, Tony replied ‘coiling and uncoiling the cable from the microphone stand…’.
Andrzej - Guitars
Andrzej came in to replace Ken who moved on to pastures new. A classically trained guitarist – in that he learnt the classic way by getting a £10 guitar and then spent many years in his bedroom developing his chops and…. doing whatever else boys do in their bedroom! However the result is that he can really push out some songs and awesome solos and can turn his hand to any genre.
He owns more guitars than…. someone who doesn’t own as many guitars as him and he’ll tailor the guitar to the occasion. Seen here with a Palletwood special at a Sister Sledge recycling festival. (Not really, obviously!)
A little known fact was that Andrzej was the winner of the 2014 World Indoor Shirt Championship and here he is wearing the winning shirt. First prize was a bottle of something but unfortunately the shirt was so loud, it melted the label off so he never found out what it was.
Still drank it though, now that is rock and roll!
Stuart - Bass guitar
Stuart provides the low down rumbling and grumbling – and the bass and also sings backing vocals. Having played in bands over many years both in the UK and abroad (we’ll let him have Ireland as abroad) Stuart has also finally found his musical niche, though to be fair he thought he was signing up for the Sister Sledge tribute band.
Stuart’s musical tastes are in keeping with the rest of the band (fortunately) and likes reading, going to the cinema, country walks and…. sorry, wrong website.
He currently plays a guitar he built himself out of bits of string, sticky back plastic and an old mantlepiece, through a MarkBass amp. Shades of Brian May, though it’s fair to say the hair style (and quantity) are a little different.
Seen here he hasn’t quite mastered the rather disinterested bass player’s look, but he’ll definitely get there.
John - Drums
Our new drummer is John. An absolute legend in the drumming world, having been the core of many stadium rock outfits over the years (none of which strangely enough, he’s been able to name) we are lucky to have him aboard.
John started his percussive journey the traditional way, by hitting pots and pans until his parents, having got completely fed up with buying new kitchenware every year, splashed out… and bought him a keyboard. Fortunately, being very adaptable he can turn his hand to both, though not necessarily at the same gig.
John plays both a vintage Premier Resonator kit as well as a hi spec Roland kit (again, not necessarily at the same gig) which really complements the Copperhead Jacks’ sound.
Another band member that works in IT (you’d think that this website would be better than it is) and the only band member with proper ‘ROCK’ long hair down his back (none on his head, just down his back).
John states that his musical influence was Sister Sledge. Hmmm, not sure we totally believe him.