COUNTRY CATTIN': Bio

COUNTRY CATTIN'

Country Cattin' are-
Dave Brown - Vocals / Rhythm Guitar (Hicksville Bombers)
Mandy Stroud - Double Bass (Smokey Mountain Boys)
Johnny Vee - Lead Guitar (Cat Scratch Fever)
Chris Cummings - Lap-Steel (The Riverside Trio)

The Name- Country Cattin' was chosen as a name after one of the bands favourite songs 'Country Cattin' by Jimmy Swan a great sounding song with clever lyrics.

Country Cattin' was formed about 1999 with original members Dave Brown - Vocals/Rhythm Guitar, Paul Chambers - Double Bass, Nathan Young - Lead Guitar
Dave has always had a passion for the pure clean foot tapping sound of Country Rockabilly. The early Elvis, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, Buddy Holly, Hank Snow, Hank Williams to name just a few, he also loved the sound of a Double bass, when it's slapped it can replace the sound of a drum, so a project was born to recreate that type of sound. Dave's other passion is song writing which is why he loves country music because of the story telling within the songs. So he tries to combine these with Country Cattin'. With this line up two albums where released on Vampirella records- ' It's Saturday Night', and 'Talk of the town' both albums are played regularly on radio stations But with 'Talk of the town' the title track 'Talk of the town' got some airplay in Nashville, also the track 'A Tree In The Park' got played on radio 2 a few times both tracks where self-written. In 2004 a change in bass player Guy Trigg replaced Paul and another album was recorded, as it was Elvis' 70th Birthday coming up, also 50 years since Elvis' first recordings they where asked to play an early Elvis set at the Royal Concert Hall with some big stars as a tribute to Elvis, so with this in mind they recorded an album of early Elvis 'Sun' tracks in a vintage studio using the same instruments and recording techniques, 'Sun Worship' was released and has had some good reviews as well as a booking in Evain France for an festival.
2005 has seen a big change in the line-up with the original members getting tired of travelling and Nathan going to Live in Spain with his parents things looked bleak for Country Cattin'.
Dave was determined to carry on his passion and so for a while used stand-in musicians until one day, Dave was let down at the last minute with a Bass player, so he rung up everyone he knew and finally found Mandy Stroud who is an excellent Double bass player and must be the best looking female bass player in the country. Mandy has had some great success playing with the popular 'Smokey Mountain Boys' she agreed to help out with the gig which proved a great success and has joined as a permanent Double bass player. Through the bands web-site Dave had advertised for a guitarist with the same passion and although had received quite a few enquires he eventually got Johnny Vagianos who's enthusiasm impressed Dave before even meeting him, The three did a gig together and got on like a house on fire, Johnny was just what the band was looking for and a little bit more, His playing ability doing Merle Travis / Chet Atkins / Scotty Moore is breath taking. So with the trio on full steam again they practised and arranged a recording session at the Riverside recording studios in Blackpool, The Studio is owned by Chris Cummings who also has a passion for the same style of music, playing and recording it. They recorded some tracks with Chris playing Lap-steel on most of the tracks as well, the results where much better than they had hoped for with Chris being just as excited as the band. Dave having seen Chris's enthusiasm asked if he'd like to guest with them at the top gig of the year 'The Americana' he eagerly accepted, the gig was a success and Chris has been to every gig since, Chris's Steel has greatly improved the Country Cattin' sound and has been going down great at gigs playing both Country and Rock'n'Roll shows.

The sound has changed slightly in the sense that we are playing more demanding songs, Johnny Vee can play Merle Travis to perfection and so some songs are chosen to compliment this, also Chris and John have been learning some licks in the style of Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant and it really does sound excellent.

The new album 'Movin' On' has now been released and has been receiving some great Magazine reviews. 2005 has seen them play the Americana, South will rise again, Rhythm Riot, Wild In The Country, Country meets rock'n'roll festivals with bookings coming in fast and cd's selling well things have finally got together for Country Cattin'. 2006 has a new album being recorded with some additional musicians being used, The band have just been booked for the ultimate pure Rockabilly festival the Rockabilly Rave. When you see Country Cattin' you'll see a band that really enjoy what there doing, they all have a passion for the music and love performing, giving covers there own style and filling in with a lot of self-written material. So check them out when you can, you won't be dissapointed.

Dave Brown - Vocals & Rhythm guitar

Dave started playing guitar at 14 and within' 6 months was doing a paid gig as lead guitarist vocalist with a band called 'The Rockin' Imps' he then went into a 50's/60's club band called 'Sweet memories' then a Rockin' Blues outfit called 'Urban Clearway' then the popular wild rockabilly band called 'The Hicksville Bombers' that he still plays for. Dave has always had a passion for the Raw Hillbilly sound that the early Elvis did before D.J Fontana joined, Johnny Horton, Hank Willaims etc noticing that the slap of the double bass was used instead of the drums was always a fascination, so Country Cattin' was formed to recreate the same kind of sound with favourite covers and original songs as well.

Mandy Stroud - Double Bass

Mandy has always had a passion for playing the Double bass and it really shows when you see her on stage, a very talented lady that made herself well known with the Smokey Mountain Boys, she loves the Rock'n'roll and the Country Hillbilly music, and so is a great addition to Country Cattin' adding a great player as well as a little sparkle on stage. Mandy can also sometimes be seen playing with another top band The Skiprats.

Johnny Vee - Lead Guitar

Johnny Vee guitarist from the north west has mastered
The finger pickin' styles of Merle Travis, Chet Atkins
and Scotty Moore perfectly and so is a perfect addition
to Country Cattin'.
He has been involved with many of the north wests top
rock n roll and country acts for the past 15 years,
he has supported and backed many international acts
in liverpools cavern club and has toured europe several
times with a number of acts including carl terry and the
cruisers liverpools best loved rocknroll veteran. He has
been involved in theatre productions both as a musician
and musical director but his main talent lies in his
love for recreating the sounds ,style and licks of
his guitar idol Merle Travis and has devoted the
majority of his playing carear to mastering this
style. This has now been put to good use with Country
Cattin' with there already authentic sound and looks.

Chris Cummings - Lap & Pedal Steel Guitar

Chris is well known and respected for his involvement in the music industry for quite a long time from playing in various bands 'Riverside trio, Ian Calford etc he plays Guitar, Harmonica and Lap/Pedal -steel guitar. Chris also owns the great Riverside recording studio.
It was at the Riverside studios that Country Cattin' had booked in for a session with Daves new line up featuring Mandy and John that Chris was really taken by the new sound amerging, and it was seeing Chris's enthusiasm that Dave asked him if he'd like to play Lap-steel with them at there favourite gig of the year The Americana, this came about and has seen Chris playing all of Country Cattin's gigs since. Chris is a big fan of early Hillbilly rockabilly with his idols such as Johnny Cash/Luther Perkins, Charlie Feathers, Carl Perkins, Sam Phillips, Hank Williams etc.