Band History
2001
Through their mutual membership of Lowlands Club, Eastcote, Stan (guitar, backing vocals) and Leigh (bass, lead vocals) met up
and put a duo together to play occassional slots at the club (a) just for the fun of it; and (b) in order to boost
membership attendance on Saturday evenings when there was not normally anything else happening at the club. Stan
had hardly seen his guitar in about 25 years and was keen to play again, and Leigh, experienced in gigging
with The Phoenix Blues Band over the previous 20 years or more, was kind enough to collaborate. For their
first appearance at Lowlands the duo was called 'Net Chord'. As it happened,
because of the way things panned out this was the duo's only appearance at Lowlands as a duo until 24 October, 2009.
Following the 2001 Lowlands show Stan discovered a local Wednesday night jam
at The Woodman, Eastcote in Eastcote and began going there on a regular basis. However, Leigh had other things going on
and couldn't attend this at the time. The way things panned out, though, The Phoenix Blues Band ended up hosting a
Wednesday night jam of their own at The Mermaid in St. Albans, so Stan started visiting this from time
to time as well.
2002 When Phoenix's Wednesday jams came to an end Leigh started accompanying Stan to The Woodman, Eastcote, where the duo appeared under the imaginative name of 'StanLeigh'. Apart from that, they had their first serious outing at The Sportsman Blues Jam in December, 2002, but it was at The Woodman where things really shaped up and they became a regular feature.
Eventually, Phoenix's multi-talented front-man, Ray (vocals, sax, harmonica, banjo, mandolin), started sitting in whenever he could make it, adding several new dimensions to both the music and the act. After this, events seemed to take on a life of their own, with Ray becoming part of the act and drummer Keith joining at about the same time. The band started going under the name of 'The Rhythm Roosters', which swiftly became 'The Rhythm Ratz' and then finally evolved into 'The Eastcote Flyers'. With the passage of time the 'Eastcote' has dropped into disuse and the band is now known as just 'The Flyers', with some people using the alternative spelling of 'Fliers'.
2010 As things have developed the relationship between The Flyers and The Phoenix Blues Band has become very close and interwoven. Ray appears in all Phoenix gigs and Stan and Leigh share the honours playing bass with them, with Stan now playing most of their gigs. If Ray can't make it to a Flyers gig, Leigh, Keith and Stan play as a 3-piece, sometimes with help from Leigh's daughter, Amy. Keith sometimes deps on drums when The Phoenix Blues Band's drummer, Ben, can't make it to a gig and Pete, The Phoenix Blues Band's guitarist, plays guitar with The Flyers when Liegh can't make and Stan plays bass. When Keith can't make it to a Flyers gig Ben sometimes deps for him on drums. This versatility, flexibility and and adaptability means that neither The Flyers nor The Phoenix Blues Band ever need to turn down a gig any more if someone can't be there on the night.
The Flyers would like to give a very special thanks to Alan George, landlord of The Woodman, Eastcote, for all the support he has given us over the years. Alan gave us our first gig as a working band at his pub in Aylesbury on Halloween Night, 2004, and was good enough to give us a regular bi-monthly slot at The Woodman, Eastcote until February of 2009, when he had to leave The Woodman, Eastcote for pastures new. As of February, 2010, Alan is back at The Woodman, Eastcote and we're pleased to announce that The Flyers are once again scheduled there as a regular act.
Last, but not least, the band would like to thank all you loyal supporters out there who come to enjoy our gigs whenever you can (those of you we have photos of are featured on the 'Picture Gallery' page of this site). It's your support that keeps us going, and we are grateful to you.