ColvinQuarmby

ColvinQuarmby is a five-piece band centred on the songwriting of Gerry Colvin. The group plays acoustic music that draws on folk, country, skiffle and rock, with an emphasis on strong melodies, humour, harmonies and lyrical detail. Their repertoire ranges from acoustic ballads and country rhythms to fuller folk-rock songs.

Background

Gerry Colvin is a former half of the 1980s cow-punk act Terry n Gerry, a band that reaches number ones in the indie charts, tours Britain and Europe with artists including The Pogues and The Men They Couldnt Hang, and appears on television programmes such as The Tube and The Old Grey Whistle Test. After the band splits, he moves to Nashville to work as a professional songwriter, and his songs later appear in the hands of American country performers and Alison Moyet before he returns to form ColvinQuarmby.

The band includes Nick Quarmby on bass, acoustic guitar and vocals, Martin Fitzgibbon on drums, percussion and vocals, Allen Maslen on guitar, accordion and vocals, and Marion Fleetwood on fiddle, cello, mandolin and vocals.

Members

Gerry Colvin

Colvin sings and plays acoustic guitar. His writing is described as covering a wide range of styles, including soul, pop and country. He later works as a songwriter in Nashville after Terry n Gerry ends.

Nick Quarmby

Quarmby plays bass, acoustic guitar and sings. He previously plays bass with the Dockery Boys, who appear at Glastonbury and release two albums. He also forms the Phil Beer Band with Phil Beer and continues to play bass with that group. In addition, he works as a sound engineer, including with Feast Of Fiddles.

Martin Fitzgibbon

Fitzgibbon plays drums, percussion and vocals. He appears in the original London production of The Rocky Horror Show, drums with the Dockery Boys, and becomes an in-demand session musician with hundreds of recordings. He also plays with the Miranda Sykes Band alongside Maart Allcock, Pete Zorn and Gareth Turner.

Allen Maslen

Maslen plays guitar, accordion and vocals. He spends more than 30 years playing in public across styles from pub rock to dinner jazz at the Cannes film festival. He works as a session guitarist on the James Whale Show, becomes an award-winning BBC radio presenter, and later founds the folk-rock band Meet on the Ledge, where he stays as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for 15 years.

Marion Fleetwood

Fleetwood plays fiddle, cello, mandolin and vocals. She performs violin and viola in groups including Meet on the Ledge and the London Festival Orchestra, and she sings classical, jazz and folk music across the country. She also plays cello, mandolin and double bass.

Style and performance

The band is known for spontaneous live shows that can be unpredictable and humorous, but the performances also rest on Colvin’s songwriting and the group’s instrumental strength. Its songs are described as catchy and melodic, with lyrics that are vivid, witty and emotionally direct.