The Band
The nucleus of the group is Lucy Ray (vocals and
mandolin) and Mo Jackson (vocals and banjo),
who met one rainy afternoon at a FOAOTMAD (Friends of American Old-Time
Music and Dance) summer camp in August 2005. The harmonious union of their
voices began to draw crowds from the get-go, and next time they met — the
following February at the Gainsborough Old-Time Music Festival — they decided
to work together on their musical passion.
A short promotional CD, "Angel Band", was put together over a two day session in Lucy's living room. After a well-received performance in the student concert at Sore Fingers Summer School (a bluegrass course held in the heart of the Cotswolds) in April 2006, Lucy and Mo were joined by Muddy John (guitar), Moira Fraser (bass) and John Boston (fiddle) — the first line-up of their new stringband, which they named The KittyHawks.
In June 2006 they were invited by Carol Chant to perform live on Resonance Radio FM in London (and on the internet). In September that year, impressed by their performance of Mo's song "Banjo Road" at the Didmarton Bluegrass Festival, Richard Partridge agreed to take over fiddle duties, and made his debut with the band in October at the next Sore Fingers.
2007 began with the recording of a four-track demo CD at the studio in Bath
of banjo master Leon Hunt. This demo, which can be heard at www.myspace.com/thekittyhawks,
immediately began receiving attention, as a result of which, the band were
invited to play at the Boet'n Deure Festival in Odoorn, the Netherlands,
and at Priddy Folk Festival. For these two gigs the fiddle section was ably
executed by Christine Cooper, as Richard had a prior commitment (he was
getting married!).
In the audience at Priddy were members of the Newport Folk Club (south Wales), who were so impressed that they insisted the band were to be booked at the club in August. Another appearance at Didmarton, followed by dates in Bristol and at the Islington Folk Club in London, rounded of the KittyHawks's first full year together, leaving the band eager to capitalise on their growing reputation.
To this end, 2008 has got off to a flying start, with a full-scale CD project underway and a series of performances lined up for February. It looks set to be a good year for the KittyHawks.