Keith Pearson's COUP DE GRASS
Many moons ago, well OK then, 1978, Mike and I first met at the Wheatsheaf Folk Club in Cliftonville, Margate in Kent. What were we doing there you ask ? Well, I'd gone along to see a singer, Keith Pearson, and ended up becoming a member, helping to sell raffle tickets for the club. Unknown to me, Mike was spending a fortune on tickets trying to get me to notice him .... I didn't ! However, one Sunday night, my friend Linda and I had gone to a Keith Pearson's Right Hand Band gig in Minster Village Hall. Mike was there too, and when he realised that we had no way to get back to Ramsgate he offered us a lift in his car. The rest as they say is history. We married in 1979.... Keith has a lot to answer for !
We lost touch with him after he moved away from Thanet to the Cambridge area, but caught up with him again a few years back thanks to the wonder that is the Internet.
Anyway, since those early days,
Keith has carried on writing and playing music, heading up a variety of
different bands including the Cross Country Flyers, the Hitkickers and
the infamous Treacle Line with Dave and Paul Craswell, who now live in
Australia. Once a year Keith flies over for a month to keep the line up
going, playing to appreciative audiences at the Tamworth Festival and
surrounding area.
In the UK, the current band, Coup De Grass, consists of Keith, James (
Big Boy ) Darby, Phil ( Tarzan Stripes ) Milner and new boy Andrew Noyes
( aka Nancy 3 ...don't ask ! ) This is not your standard Bluegrass band,
their style, it has to be said, is somewhat eccentric, with Keith's
brand of dead pan humour featuring high on the agenda. The music itself,
is first class, combining three part harmonies, with guitar, banjo,
harmonica and bass.
On 27th June 2006, Coup De Grass made their annual pilgrimage to Kent, to play for the good folks at Dartford Folk Club. Pictures from the night can be found by clicking on the Dartford link on the left of this page.
To find out more about Keith Pearson's Coup De Grass, and see if they are playing near you, why not visit Keith's site, available via the links page.
Page last updated 15/07/06
All photos on this
website © copyright Sue Holton 2006 unless otherwise stated
and may not be reproduced without my permission