John Read

My name is John Read and I am musician from the town of Mandurah in Western Australia. My influences are quite broad but mostly from the musicians I listened to from a young age including Jim Croce,Cat Stevens, Neil Young, Jethro Tull, Muddy Waters, Bob Marley and even musicians like Glenn Cambell, Charlie Pride and Dean Martin. Whether it's possible to pick those influences in my music is another question altogether. Of course I have also been influenced by close friends who I admire like Ori Rossi, Adam Cooper, Garry Frost, Michael Burgess and Iota who you may or may not have heard of but they have influenced me just the same.

I started playing guitar at the age of 12 and like most kids wanted to play like Jimi Hendrix but with no one to teach me for better or worse I began focusing on singing and then to song writing. It wasn't’t until years later that I realized that to get the sounds I wanted from the guitar I had to knuckle down and improve those skills.

I played my first pub gig at 21 at The Middle Pub in Willunga S.A and, although petrified at first, realised that I loved playing music to audiences (especially appreciative ones!). I kept playing in S.A for another year and a half after joining with Adam Cooper to form ‘Loose Edges’ when I left for a three year adventure overseas (its amazing how many free meals and drinks you get when you pull out a guitar in South America). On returning to Australia, and in between a few shorter trips overseas, I played mostly solo shows with exception of duets with Michael Brion, Michael Burgess and Iota.

At the age of 28 I formed ‘Broken Neck’ with Garry Frost (a 1st cousin) and Mark Coci which played the South West (Western Australia) and supported Paul Kelly until being disbanded 2 years later to accommodate the birth of my 1st son in S.A. After another year or so playing solo and producing my 1st CD, Sunta The Rock And Roll Dog, with jazz guitarist Michael Burgess in S.A. I returned to W.A and reformed ‘Broken Neck’ ,renamed ‘Lost Dogs’, with new members Ori Rossi and Kym Lloyd (replacing Mark Coci on drums). After about 2 years of playing again around the South West ‘Lost Dogs’ was again disbanded due to the release of son No2. We returned to S.A and I formed ‘Big Shed’ which started off brilliantly but fizzled after internal squabbles started to emerge. It was around this time that Iota, a long time friend asked if I would do some support for him in Adelaide which I accepted nervously (although I’ve always written and performed my own songs this would be my first show of just me and my own songs). As it turned out the shows were a great success and so I decided to play only my own songs and, after 3 years of touring New Zealand and Australia, started The John Read Band with bass player Paul Rhodes, Peter Wilkinson on keyboards and Mike Curran on percussion. It seems I’ve finally found the direction I’ve been searching for and I’m playing some of the best music of my life. I hope that you will enjoy it too. So check out the gig guide or have a listen to some samples on the Discography page and hopefully I’ll see you at a show.

Lots of love John

Mike Curran (-Styx-)

Mike was born in Liverpool U.K. lives in Rockingham and is self taught, he started swinging sticks around in 1974 trying to emulate the drummers he had seen on Countdown. A good friend of his was listening to Deep Purple - Machine Head and once Mike heard this type of music and the drumming he was hooked. After two years of hitting pillows, mums tupperware, chairs, seats, pot and pans and air drums he saved up enough money to buy his first kit - a Rodgers 5 piece. He then started jamming with his older brother and his mates with aspirations of playing live but it wasn't to be, until he joined a 3 piece futuristic band in Rockingham called 'Future Shock'. This band consisted of 2 keyboard players who sang and a sequenced bass line. The first gig was nerve racking as he was to play against a pre-programmed bass line recorded onto a 4 Track. While Future Shock was in the studio recording for WEA Records, one of the members got cold feet and pulled out, the band fell apart as a result.

He then moved on to another Rockingham band called 'The Effex' and whilst in this band, they won a 'Battle of The Bands' competition in front of about 10,000 spectators at a Kanyana Festival in Mandurah. After this he joined many original bands but none of them really were committed as he was. Mike also did some session work in recording studios and home recoding's during this time.

Mike says his drumming influences are from bands like: Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Rush, Earth Wind & Fire, Santana, Alphonso Johnson, George Duke, Billy Cobham, Yes, The Police, Missing Persons.

Through a close friend Mike auditioned for a 6 piece Fremantle cover band called 'The Reporters' which he scored and played 4 nights a week in Perth and country areas during the 80's and 90's pulling crowds of 600+ people per night, Notable gigs were The Beac (Beaconsfield), Appealathon Shows, The Bindoon Rock Festivals and some B & S Balls. He met a his future wife during a gig with the Reporters, then happily marriage and a family took centre stage for a few years.

Mike bought a Yamaha Recording Custom kit and a Brady 14" x 8" Jarrah Snare. Coincidently he also found a band looking for a drummer within days - It seemed that destiny was at work. Mike was offered the job with The John Read Band and was playing on stage within 6 weeks - 11th of August 2007 @ The Civic was his first on stage gig with JRB and has played many more since. "Even tho' we're still getting to know each others playing styles, the music is getting better and better the more we play - I'm looking forward to the future with The John Read Band."

Rock N Roll

-Styx-

Paul Rhodes (Roadsy)

Paul arrived in Perth by ship from England in 1968 with his family at a tiny age of 3.

There was always music being played in the house on records and at one stage Paul, Julie and Keith were practicing a song called Ben to possibly go on young talent time but it never eventuated. It was at this time that music got embedded into Paul's mind but there was a lull in any type of music happenings until primary school when he entered a contest to win violin lessons. This contest consisted of listening to music notes, one at a time played over the classroom PA and then writing down what he thought the music note was. As it turned out, Paul won and received lessons but did not pursue the violin. He now wishes that he had seen how good a musical ear he had and furthered it, but it wasn't to be.

It wasn't until he was about 16 that his brother Derek bought an electric guitar that he took interest in and wanted to play guitar as well. Being unfinancial at the time, Derek offered to lend the money to Paul so he could buy a bass guitar. Paul and Derek jammed together for quite some time playing old Slim Dusty (Pub With No Beer etc.) and other classics that were easy to play. Paul then bought teaching books and cd's and self taught for a while. Then after some time he decided to have lessons with Ori Rossi as Derek was too. After a while with Ori's lessons and meeting other musicians, Paul was asked to play bass in a band with Ori and Sean Hape (now iOTA) and Barry Elverd on drums. After some long sessions with drinks etc., the band decided on the name Loose Goose and their first gig together was at Kalbarri. This gig went off and from then on Loose Goose traveled West Oz for about 8 years or so. The band then traveled to Sydney to take up residence there and to try and further the Loose Goose popularity. They recorded an EP called Storm and continued gigging around the east coast selling the EP. After about 2 years the band broke up and Paul went back to WA to settle down with his new wife Amanda. The bass was shelved for about 5 years while family commitments took centre stage and then Paul and his wife sadly separated.

It was after this that Paul took a renewed interest in his bass and after some time formed the band Entropy with old friends Ted King and Scott Scharfe and found drummer Matt Potter. They had some success at the Players Bar in Mandurah and other gigs and entered a band comp and came second but after some time lost the drummer and found it hard to find a new one with the same talent as Matt. It was during this time that John Read called Paul and asked if he wanted to form a band and Paul jumped at the chance as he felt it was his calling....

Although this is different music from Paul's past music experiences he has enjoyed every minute in the John Read Band and loves the music that John has to offer. In a nutshell, Paul says he feels JRB is what he has been looking for all his life.

GET THE BASS IN YOUR FACE!

ROADSY

Peter Wilkinson

Peter has had a lifelong love of music and has been gigging with bands in one form or another for his entire adult life. His interest in music was first stimulated after his parents bought him an acoustic guitar when he was five years old. Although he has always had a fondness for the guitar and still plays regularly, Peter became interested in drums as a teenager and spent many years during the 1970's and 1980's drumming with bands in England. However, Peter's attention turned to keyboard playing during the early 1980's after hearing such luminaries as Bob James and Keith Jarrett.

Peter says "When John invited me to play keyboards in his band, I didn't think twice. He has a superb voice and I love the simplicity and honesty of his songs".

For live performance, Peter currently uses a Roland RD600 and a Hammond XK-1 through a Peavey KB 300 Watt combo. When he’s not playing music, Peter is working on a Ph.D studying the possible calming effect of certain types of music on people with advanced Alzheimer’s Disease.