The Old Country Crows are pleased to announce that Chris Pike has joined the band. Following rehearsals with Chris this past month it was clear that Gary, Tim and Craig were excited about the prospect of Chris joining the crow bandwagon. And the festive season has delivered the goods ! Chris will inherit guitar, mandolin and harmonica duties along with a large dose of vocals thrown in the pot.
Chris started playing at 13 when his dad brought home an acoustic guitar made by a local carpenter. The music of The Shadows, Peter Green, and Eric Clapton soon filled the house.
By 15, as a member of bands The Sermon and Forbidden Fruit, he was playing opening spots at local venues in West London, using the very decent equipment owned by the evening’s main attraction.
Since moving to Kent in the 1990s, Chris has performed locally as a singer and guitarist with Retrospective, The Temple Jazz Band, Brewhaha, DNA, ‘60s Vibes, and John Doggerel and the Bad Poets. Chris has also featured as guitarist in several amateur musicals including ‘We Will Rock You,’ ‘Bugsy Malone,’ and ‘Return to the Forbidden Planet.’
In recent times Chris has played mainly acoustic guitar on the live circuit and he comments on joining the band by stating that "now with The Old Country Crows, i am looking forward to playing not only the electric guitar, but some mandolin, harmonica, and maybe even the ukulele too!"
The band are already getting down to the hard work required and the hope to announce their first shows of 2022 very soon. The early signs in rehearsal are that the Crows will soon be back to their best following a 2-year hiatus from the live stage despite releasing the Behind The Rain album in 2020 and Listen to Me EP in 2021.
Good luck to Chris and welcome to Crowsville !