In addition to the core band, there are a number of people who have made guest appearances in different venues.
Beth Dunstan: Beth played bass guitar for the Vicar at the Hunsdon School head teacher’s farewell concert. She is most happy standing out of sight at the back of the stage, and the Vicar is sad he’s not been able to persuade her to play again. She’s currently learning to play drums: maybe these will hide her enough …
Bob Jenkins: Bob is a long-time collaborator of some of the core band. We were delighted he could join us on stage at Wareside 2019 to play the lead lines of the guitar and drum classic, Wipeout.
Cymbeline Gaynor: Cymbeline joined the Vicar for the first time in 2018, but has been performing for years with some of the other core band members. Listen to those sweet harmonies and great solo performances…
Don Clark: Don’s soft voice and his crisp, clean guitar have become something of a regular fixture at events in Widford Village Hall in recent years since he sang with the Vicar at one of the village’s Harvest Suppers. It’s great to have him play officially as one of the Friends.
Gary Preston: Gary blew us all away with his fantastic precision bass playing in Widford in 2012.
Graham Palmer: Graham has played and sung for many years as part of a trio with Don Clark (and Don’s wife, Marion). He joined them in Widford for the Harvest Supper in 2014 and the Vicar is pleased to count him as a Friend too.
Heather Poole: Heather is the secretary of Hunsdon School and first sang with the Vicar at the farewell concert to her boss. She brought her vocal talent, honed by years of singing with Ware’s Rock Choir, back to the stage for the beginning of the “Round Two” Tour. We look forward to another guest appearance in the future.
Jamie Kruppa: Jamie stepped in at the last minute before the Vicar and Friends’ first concert back in 2012. A student of what was the Playsomething Music Academy (now Hertfordshire College of Music), Jamie’s bass-playing was remarkable. A great talent indeed.
Josh and Mason Parrott: Brothers and former pupils at Hunsdon School, Josh (electric guitar) and Mason (vocals) helped the Vicar to wish the head teacher a happy retirement with a fine rendition of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and Alice Cooper’s “School’s out for Summer”. You can catch them in their own band, too.
Max Robinson: This young man will surely go far. After a brilliant and astonishingly confident vocal and ukulele performance at the Vicar’s 1940s night, Max has been booked for other Widford entertainment and is very definitely a star in the making… see his Facebook page.
Mario Abrami: Mario is a professional musician playing guitar in pubs and clubs all around Hertfordshire and further afield. However, before he “went pro”, he did a spot for the Vicar, singing “Wonderful Tonight” in Hunsdon in 2012. After a welcome return to the band in 2018, he joined us on stage once more in 2019 – can’t wait to hear that guitar sing again…
Nicholas Buxton: Nicholas is a member of Ware Choral Society, but he joined with the Vicar and Paul Goodman in 2013 to sing the a cappella version of the song “Only You” popularised by the Flying Pickets in the 1980s. He’ll be back…
Oliver Gambles: Words cannot describe what a gifted flautist he is… Ian Anderson watch out!
Paddy Findlay: Paddy is a gifted folk-musician, writing and performing his own music as well as presenting his own interpretations of other people’s material. You can expect to see Paddy’s name up in lights in the future. Check out his website.
Peer Towers: Peer is best known locally as an artist who holds a paintbrush rather than a microphone, or as an actor in the Quintessence dramatic group’s pantos, plays and murder-mysteries. But he sings beautifully too.
Richard Holder: Richard is from Widford and performed at the Widford concerts in 2012 and 2015. He has a wide repertoire of [mainly] sixties hits which he sings, accompanying himself with his acoustic guitar.
Second Bite: A duo with a proper band name, Second Bite performed at Watersplace in 2015 to a good reception and a repeat performance in 2019. Two guitars and two vocals with some sweet harmonies and careful arrangements of 1990’s Brit-pop as well as some self-penned tunes; this is quality. Follow them on Facebook.
Symone Venables: Symone hails from Hunsdon, and first appeared on the scene at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert in 2012 singing Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” to a karaoke track. Since then, she’s sung live with the band twice to a great reception.
Tom Hollylee: Tom has played guitar with the Vicar since the first concert. In fact, they first performed together as part of a trio at a Widford event in 2010. Now a guitar teacher, Tom’s electric guitar playing has given the band a rockier edge for some songs.
Tony Forni: Tony is another long-standing friend of Paul and David Goodman. He plays a sweet electric guitar a la Hank Marvin.
Could you be another Friend? Feel free to get in touch …