Artist description Solo Artist/Composer of funky beats with a bluesy feel. Dance with your head...Dance with your feet.

Music Style Funk/Dance/Blues

Musical Influences Incognito/Paul Butterfield/Dave Matthews

Similar Artists God Knows...Sorry.

Artist History Here goes: I was given an acoustic guitar at the age of 9. I started to play a blues in 'E' for hours and hours, for no reason, until my fingers had nasty blisters. I did that for 6 years until I took music at 'O' level at 15 and got through the course without knowing any music theory. I got a 'C' (miraculously), and went on to study a BTEC National Diploma in Popular Music at Wakefield College (West Yorkshire, England), and passed with a 'Merit' grade. I then decided to stay at college for a while as I enjoyed it so much, and stayed on to do an 'A' Level in fine art and design, along with 'A' level music technology, this took two extra years but I got a 'B' grade for both courses, which was nice :). At that point (20yrs) I lost my father, who had been a very successful and well-known Blues harmonica player in England. I then 'inherited' his harmonica's and set to getting better, as I had played a little while growing up, and my dad had showed me some tricks ;). I was then turned down from Derby University (England), when I auditioned on acoustic guitar. Not being put-off, I tried again the next year, having used the spare year to learn how to play Bass guitar. Therefore, when I was 21, I was accepted at Derby University (England) having auditioned on my Bass guitar. Then, through 3 years of studying a BA (Honours) in Popular Music with Music Technology, I carried on playing my blues harmonica, and began to compose my own material on the side, whilst increasingly getting more serious about both as a career. During this period, I was asked to perform some harmonica on a friends CD he was recording. I gladly obliged, and the CD was finished, it then travelled to a pub in Wakefield (West Yorkshire, England), which is now one of my regular haunts, O'donahues. There, my dad's bass player from years before (David Elcoate), heard the CD I was on, and recognised my style of playing from my dad's. He then got back in contact with my mother, who in turn, invited me to do a spot with the band he was currently in, 'Dr. Blue'. I obliged again, and I then met my soon to be step-dad, Rod Young, who was playing guitar in this Blues band. We instantly hit-it-off musically, but for some reason, they asked me back. Eventually, the band asked my mum to be the manager, and following that, the guitarist (my step-dad) wedded my mum. (The plot thickens, :) hehe). Currently, I am still playing with the band around West Yorkshire (England), as often as I can, which is not often enough in my opinion. I finished my degree achieving my ultimate dream, a First Class Honours degree in Popular music. I have now had time to finish the album I started three years ago, most songs of which, are on this website.

Group Members Ryan Mitchell-Smith

Instruments Harmonica, Bass Guitar, Electric/Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, and Drum/FX programming

Albums Broken Bridge

Press Reviews I am a big fan of the harmonica and I love the way this starts out. I also like the funky guitar beat. This tune almost sounds like a todays version of city life urban blues with the vocal mix and the funkadelic sound. Hey, anything that gets todays folks listening to the blues is okay with me. Banker

Additional Info I play harmonica in a blues band called Dr. Blue in west yorkshire, England.

Location Derby, Derbyshire - United Kingdom

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