The release of the John Leckie and Stuart Epps produced album , ‘In the Red’ sees the Blue Bishops live backbone energy complemented by a top production team. John and Stuart, having seen the band many times live, set out to capture that distinctive heartbeat that’s been so successful at gigs and bring it out with a clear band signature in the production, allowing each track its own individuality but with a clearly defined Blue Bishop’s style. This is further underlined by the addition of keyboards on a variety of tracks played by welcome guests Rod Argent of the Zombies and John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, of Free – now a long serving member of The Who.
With ten original tracks and three covers delivered with their own special twist, the album marks an important stage in the band’s history. The songwriting covers a broad spectrum from the lighthearted current take on the tough financial times, ‘Credit Card’, to a rocky reflection on the confusing messages of climate change, ‘The Sea will Rise’ and ‘The Black Diamond’, a biographical story of a mining disaster in the North East of England. Underlying all this is a style rooted in rock and rhythm and blues that brings together the influences that come from the musical backgrounds of each individual member as a tight, co-ordinated unit.
The Blue Bishops comprises a bunch of seasoned players who, between them, have worked with household names and global stars galore. They range from Jethro Tull to Joan Armatrading, The Kinks, Thomas Dolby, Blancmange, Bill Wyman, Lene Lovich, Argent, Nina Hagen… The Zombies….and lots more.
This formula means the Blue Bishops music is crafted, exciting, deep-rooted, ballsy and different, with enough early blues and enough late acid rock to turn every gig into an event.
The Line-Up:
- Geoff Grange – Vocals, Harmonica and Guitar
- Simon Burrett – Vocals, Slide and Guitar
- Jim Rodford – Bass guitar, Vocals
- Justin Hildreth – Drums
The History
The 2nd Blue Bishops album DEEP was well thought of, gaining a highly rated 9/10 review from ‘Blues in Britain’ and nominated as one of the best albums of 2002. It featured ex-Wishbone Ash founder and bassist Martin Turner who played with the band for 9 years in all, and who co-produced the album alongside legendary engineer Mark Tucker. Martin Barre from Jethro Tull made a guest appearance too. At this time in the band’s history Bob Sellins, had the lead guitar slot which he occupied for around 10 years. A role that Geoff and Simon now share between them.
An impromptu live album called “Bootleg”, made up of un-mixed tracks recorded “off the desk” in a series of gigs has been a hot favourite with Blue Bishops fans, in the period between ‘deep’ and the release of ‘In the Red.’
The Music
occupies a space in a genre that has a powerful 60s/70s appeal – but with a new take, with original numbers from experienced performers whose energy and freshness gives an encouraging nudge to all those who packed their own gear away years ago and feel they have to listen to old records to get what they want. Or to a younger audience who just want to see the real deal – a live, no-nonsense straight down the line band with new and interesting songs to listen to.



