Jed & Georgie were quite content with playing classical guitar in front of the fire for many years, but having finally ventured out to a few acoustic and open-mic nights, they decided to extend their repertoire. With personal tastes covering blues, folk, rock and world music, picking a few of their favourites provided quite an interesting mix! Applying classical finger-picking techniques to the fairly basic chord sequences behind the songs, they found that with Jed focussing on the bass and Georgie working in the higher octaves, the two guitars harmonised beautifully. The second major discovery was that Georgie could sing, even without the aid of bathroom acoustics and a shower curtain for modesty! They got the leg up to a larger audience from Chris Carr of Left Hand Drive – then organiser of “The Moo” at The Fishpond in Matlock Bath. It was awesome blues harmonica player Bryan Lea, however, who provided the missing ingredients – soul-wrenching leads and confidence. They decided that if he wanted to play with them, they must be doing something right!  Bryan Lea, Georgie & Jed
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| Rhys attempting to hide in a corner during an early practice |
They experimented for a while, playing both as a duo and as a trio with Bryan – there is a clip on the Music page from this period (Aint No Sunshine) on which you can hear Bryan 's haunting sound. Living together however, it was easier for Jed & Georgie to progress as a duo, with original material starting to come together and a growing desire to move away from what was a heavily blues-influenced set.
It was during this time that good friend Rhys Jones brought his harmonica out of the closet. Following a 20 year ‘rest ‘ period (!) after an early venture onto the music scene touring and recording with folk band ‘The Shrug', his tonsils were once more tickled by musical vibrations and he joined Jed and Georgie for a few jammin' sessions. The results were very interesting!
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With the Eranim material now including many more self-penned songs of an indeterminate style (though probably somewhere between folk and blues), a third musician had to be a versatile player. Rhys applied his talents in a very sensitive manner, emphasizing rather than over-shadowing the guitar harmonies, by using the theory of “less is more”. Whilst able to really let rip on some of the livelier covers such as “Rockin In The Free World” and “Magic Carpet Ride”, he also enhances more ‘delicate' tunes with subtle fills and gentle complimentary notes, as on Eranim's Oil Burns. Rhys' solo performances are also a rare treat. From Russian-styled table-slapping instrumentals to soulful blues (with an occasional excursion into warped interpretations of well known songs – check out “Away In A Manger” on the Music page!!!) he'll have you stomping your feet or crying with laughter! Jed & Georgie will still perform as a duo on occasion, but the current “threesome” works so well that it will certainly be the format on the forthcoming studio album (details on the “News” page!) and most future Eranim performances. |
