Virgil And The Accelerators

Virgil And The Accelerators

Virgil And The Accelerators are a UK blues rock power trio led by guitarist Virgil McMahon. The band forms around Virgil on guitar, his younger brother Gabriel on drums, and bassist Jack Timmis. They emerge from Wales, after Virgil spends part of his early musical development in South Africa, where he plays blues at The Radium Beer Hall and helps his father with stage set-up there.

Formation and early development

Virgil begins playing music at five, starting on mandolin before moving to guitar. By the age of nine he is drawing on influences including Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and ZZ Top. At twelve he is invited to jam with blues musician Otis Grand, which earns him his first standing ovation. He then plays local gigs and festivals in and around Wales before forming his own band.

Virgil forms the group with the aim of avoiding a line-up of older professional players. Gabriel joins on drums and a local bass player completes the original version. The band makes its debut at the Robin 2 in Wolverhampton, where it quickly connects with the venue’s audience.

Career and performances

In 2009, a performance at The Anchor in London, a venue associated with promoter Pete Feenstra, leads to a wider breakthrough. The connection brings the band to The Rhino Agency and places them on the “New Generation Blues Tour” with Joanne Shaw Taylor and Oli Brown. They also appear on main stages at major festivals around the UK.

Virgil becomes the youngest person shortlisted in the 2010 British Blues Awards at the age of 18. Over the following period, Virgil and Gabriel tour in the UK and northern Europe, and they perform with Joanne Shaw Taylor in support of Black Country Communion at London Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Jack Timmis later joins on bass, completing the trio. The band is described in performance terms as drawing on strong dynamics, with Virgil’s guitar work and vibrato, Gabriel’s drumming and Jack’s bass lines forming the core of the sound.

Recordings

In 2010 the band signs to Mystic Records and records an all-original debut album titled The Radium.