The Outcast Band

The Outcast Band first got together in 1991. Dave, Paul, Tex and Ryan all new each other and had played in various rock, punk and blues bands together before.
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 our 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 it hadf a great future. 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 first ever show was at the Bird in Hand pub in Bagshot, Surrey on Saturday November 9th 1991. What a show! The pub was filled to capacity with over two hundred people. There hadn't been a local band playing original folk/rock material before, and the reception to the band was overwhelming. This night set the band up for it's 5 year journey with a big smile...
Cutting a long story short (the long story is taking a lot of research to write..)
the years rolled by, the miles rolled away.
The Outcast Band played over 500 shows in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Belgium, and Germany, and sold thousands of copies of it's CD's as they travelled.
Just a few of the band's highlights included:
our intense gigs at The Cube (indie nightclub) in Camberley
Our big hometown gig twice a year at The Farnham Maltings
Playing to 10,000 people at the Portsmouth Heineken Festival
Playing a 55 date University tour of the UK sponsored by Murphy's Irish Stout
Surviving a two week tour across East Germany, from the Polish Border down to the Slovakian border
Every New Year and Christmas eve hometown gigs at The Fighting Cocks (Bagshot) or the Hand and Spear (Weybridge)
Incredible shows at the Old Trout - Windsor
Playing at the Astroria - London, and our regular trips to the New Cross Venue.
The band's last gig of that era was on April 21st 1996 at the Farnham Festival.
Why did the band split up? well the usual reasons really. We had enjoyed some of the best times of our lives and needed to do something else. Try different music, get married, buy houses, travel, have kids. Grow Up? Not quite, but then.....
...... in 2009, it all changed. We're back.