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The Leigh Highwood Band was initially formed in the early 2000’s or noughties as it has now become known. Following on from the ‘Leigh Highwood Blues’ band and a stint with the 'Brothers Grimm’, Leigh decided he needed some rock’n’roll back in his life. Enlisting on drums, Richard Kent and on Bass Guitar, Gareth Hobley, the three piece rock trio started off by covering classics by Free, Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Tom Petty and various others.
The band was received favourably in local pubs and clubs around Kent. Rick’s love of John Bonham, Leigh’s love of Paul Kossoff and Pete Townshend along with Gareth‘s love of rock music in general meant that the band performed enthusiastically if maybe a little too loud at times! A few original songs were intertwined amongst the rock classics and also appeared to be received favourably.
In 2008, the band were asked to perform at a friends wedding. The song the couple had requested for their first dance, ‘Iris’ by the ‘Goo Goo Dolls’ has a very prevalent acoustic guitar running through it. This was going to be tricky to achieve whilst retaining the electric guitar required for the song. Enter Michael Linton.
Michael was a fan of the band and was always at gigs. Consequently, he and the band had become friends. Michael was also invited to the wedding and Leigh was aware that he played a bit of guitar. It was suggested he play the opening number on acoustic and then join the party. However at the end of the first dance there was one of those awkward moments and Leigh said to him, “well you’re here now so you may as well stay and play the rest of the gig”. He did and they still haven’t managed to get rid of him! All joking aside, Michael has become are pivotal member of the group adding acoustic guitar, second electric guitar and a third vocal.
Into the 2010s and Rick decided he wanted to give up his day job, turn professional and play with other bands. Enter Tyrone Nash
Gareth and Leigh had been playing with Tyrone for many years in their other band ,The Erics. He was offered the post as the LHB drummer and thankfully accepted the position. The band are now a solid unit, are good friends and continue to drive forward creatively.
In 2015, Leigh was persuaded by his wife to drag himself into the 21st-century and record some music using modern technology. After reluctantly selling a couple of old amplifiers to finance the transition, Leigh purchased a suitable computer and set about learning how to record the modern way (whilst retaining his old school grounding it must be said!). This in turn triggered a new found desire to write new music.
The creative juices started flowing and new material began pouring out. The band embraced the new material and set about playing some of it live whilst all the time Leigh, along with assistance from the other members, was assembling what was to become the first LHB album, ‘Lost in the wind’. The band continues to play live, performing a more eclectic mix of music than previously and more self penned music than ever before.
The second album is almost complete and a more mellow acoustic solo album is also on the way from Leigh. Watch this space