The Outcast Band

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The Outcast Band

Origin	Woking, England
Years active	1991–1996
Genres	Alternative rock, Folk-punk
Labels	Art&Soul
Past members	Damien Kay Paul Godfrey Dave Browne Miffy Davies Phil Mills Ryan Daniel Mike Agate Mark Edwards Jake Gosling George Whitfield Dominic Coles Tom Price

[edit] Summary

The Outcast Band were an alternative roots rock band from Surrey, England who notched up over 500 live shows around the UK and Europe across their 5 year lifespan from 1991 to 1996.

The Outcast Band first got together in 1991, in the studio at Paul's parents house in Chobham, Surrey. Dave, Paul, Tex and Ryan all new each other and had played in various rock, punk and blues bands together before. Paul was originally a drummer! Having been out of touch with each other for a year or two, it was a great surprise to learn through friends that Paul had dropped his drumsticks in favour of learning the fiddle, and that Tex(Damien) wasn't concentrating on the Blues anymore but had started listening to the Waterboys, Steve Earl and other 'rootsy' bands. This prompted a jam session between the two of them which went on all night, and half the next day! The energy of these first sessions was immense, and fellow comrades were quickly brought in to form the nucleus of a new band. Local adverts for a drummer yielded Mike Agate, and Miffy and Janet turned up to a session one day, and stayed!

The band started off busking in Guildford and Farnborough - and realised soon that there was a great future for the band. Tex's inspiration for songwriting was unstoppable, and a demo was recorded within the first few months. This consisted of:

The Letters that you wrote me
Country Girl
The Natural Bridge Reel

[edit] Band Line Up

Like most bands, the lineup for The Outcast Band was constantly changing. The original busking band in 1991 consisted of:

Damien Kay - Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin
Ryan Daniel- Electric Guitar, Vocals
Paul Godfrey - Fiddle, Mandolin
Janet Beale - Accordion
Miffy Davies - Flute, Whistles, Recorder
Dave Browne - Bass Guitar, Bousouki
Mike Agate - Drums

Janet left the band towards the end of 1991, and was replaced by Jake Gosling in time for the band's first gig.

The new lineup was: Damien Kay - Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin
Ryan Daniel- Electric Guitar, Vocals
Paul Godfrey - Fiddle, Mandolin
Jake Gosling - Accordion
Miffy Davies - Flute, Whistles, Recorder
Dave Browne - Bass Guitar, Bousouki
Mike Agate - Drums
Christy Pollard - Sound Engineer

After exactly one year with the band, Mike had to leave due to an RSI injury to his wrist. Mark Edwards became the new drummer in November 1992 We also welcomed Pete into the fold as our new dedicated full time sound engineer

Damien Kay - Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin
Ryan Daniel- Electric Guitar, Vocals
Paul Godfrey - Fiddle, Mandolin
Jake Gosling - Accordion
Miffy Davies - Flute, Whistles, Recorder
Dave Browne - Bass Guitar, Bousouki
Mark Edwards - Drums
Pete Catania - Sound Engineer

In March 1993, Ryan Daniel and Jake Gosling decided a life on the road wasn't for them. Soon after we were introduced to the much acclaimed ex Colour Mary Guitarist Phil Mills, who quickly took over the main guitar role. Phil injected a new sound into the band which can be heard on the Face the Rain EP. Phil's melodic mandolin style was also welcomed into the new sound. George Whitfield from PressGang replaced Jake in a part time capacity. A permanent replacement was never found. In 1993 we also welcomed a dedicated merchandiser and a stage assistant to the band - Alan "the sackman" Baxter - seller of all things and Mat 'The Hat' Procter - our driver, stage organiser and lighting engineer The line up for 1993/1994 consisted of:

Damien Kay - Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin
Phil Mills- Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals
Paul Godfrey - Zeta Violin, Mandolin
Miffy Davies - Flute, Whistles, Recorder
Dave Browne - Bass Guitar, Bousouki
Mark Edwards - Drums
George Whitfield - Accordion
Pete Catania - Sound Engineer
Alan Baxter - Merchandiser
Mat Procter - Lighting Engineer

After the Outcast's German Tour, Alan was joined by 'Pink Lynne' Devey (with fantastic pink dreadlocks) and between them they ran the band's merchandising. In the summer of 1994, Phil and Mark left the band to form a new group with John Forrester called Sunspeak. Weeks of auditions were held at AlleyCat in Reading to find replacements, and we were soon joined by Tom Price on Guitar and Dominic Coles on Drums. For the remainder of 1994, and 1995, the lineup was:

Damien Kay - Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin
Tom Price- Electric Guitar, Vocals
Paul Godfrey - Zeta Violin, Mandolin
Miffy Davies - Flute, Whistles, Recorder
Dave Browne - Bass Guitar, Bousouki
Dominic Coles - Drums
George Whitfield - Accordion
Pete Catania - Sound Engineer
Alan Baxter - Merchandiser
Lynne Devey - Merchandiser
Mat Procter - Lighting Engineer

This lineup supported one of the busiest times for the Outcast Band, including 1995's 55 date UK tour sponsored by Murphy's Irish Stout. Things changed again in early 1996, when Dominic left the band and Mark Edwards made a triumphant return for the band's last few gigs.