SPOTLIGHT ON KEITH THOMPSON

Biography: Keith Thompson, is a professional musician with many years performing experience. He has worked in several bands, and as a solo artist. He has traveled extensively in the UK. and in European countries susch as, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Holland, Poland and Norway. Keith and his band Strange Brew now have four albums on release in Europe on the Swiss label "Brambus". They started touring after signing to the label back in 1998.

Keith’s musical journey began way before however. He first started playing guitar aged 5! By the time he was 8 he won first prize at a Butlin’s holiday camp talent show playing Beatle tunes. The British blues boom of the 60's produced great guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Peter Green. It was this music alongside popular songwriters like The Beatles, The Stones, and John Martyn and later the British Blues/Rock pioneers Free, Led Zeppelin etc. that Keith grew up listening to. He was 14 when he first started working the pubs and clubs playing mostly covers of these great artists. Soaking in the experience and further influences like, Rory Gallagher & Gary Moore, Keith started to develop his own material. His band, “Poacher Brown” while still teenagers in pre punk 70’s toured Germany, playing 6 nights a week, playing 5, 45 minute sets a night! That was Keith’s first full-time professional stint and it changed his life. This was the same Hamburg culture on which the Beatles cut their musical teeth. He came back in 1978 and joined forces with another local guitarist Mick (Wurzel) Burston (later of Motorhead). This band, “Bunter” started receiving glowing reviews in the national music press.
Keith carried on writing and recording. Working as a session guitarist he has added his skills to various projects including, work on the soundtrack for the best selling computer games. He has released a lot of incidental music for television programs and soundtrack projects and he has sold over 100,000 albums.  As a songwriter he has also gained recognition. A few years ago he was voted “Songwriter Of The Year” in Six Counties. He has added his skills on stage or in recordings to projects by Spooky Tooth, Mike D’Abo, Steve Winwood, Ruby Turner, Larry Burton (Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker) Dave Markee and Henry Spinetti (Eric Clapton Band and Tina Turner) Greg Ridley of Humble Pie, Robbie Blunt (Robert Plant) Luther Grosvenor of Mott The Hoople and many others.

The band has been consistently performing in mainland Europe where they are well known to the large blues following as an exciting live band. They have headlined several European Festivals and last year they headlined the British stage of Colne’s “Great British R&B Festival”.

Between the members of the band they have played with the likes of Mick Jagger, Roy Wood, Steve Winwood, Ruby Turner, Peter Green and others. Check out the web-site for details.

Instrumentation: Keith Thompson - Lead Vocals - Guitar
Neil Simpson - Bass Guitar
Roy Adams - Drums
Discography: 1) Independence
2) Strange Brew
3) Out Of The Smoke
4) Steel Strings & Bruised Reed
Links

http://www.densitymusic.com