blues @ temperance | John Verity Band

JOHN VERITY

John Verity is the man and musician who is ‘blue to his soul’ and one of the most consistent performers on the blues rock circuit.

Born in West Yorkshire he played in many bands in the area and beyond before moving to Florida. Whilst there he opened for Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and others, then taking a somewhat different direction with time as front man with Argent. When Argent disbanded John spent time primarily in the studio, producing, recording and guesting with, among others, Ringo Starr, The Zombies and Saxon.

Jump forward a few years and John is now consistently back out on the road with his own band and experiencing a musical renaissance.

The John Verity Band currently features: -

Guitar/vocals-John Verity, Drums-Chris Mansbridge and bass, Roger Inniss.

But don’t take our word for it-here are comments and praise from audiences across the country.

‘Best experience was John Verity’s set in Reds afternoon.

The sound quality and music were superb. A real wow factor.

Based on that performance that day my friend has bought every album of his.’

‘The minute John started his set with a great soulful intro of the Sonny Boy Williamson ‘Help me’, at HRH Blues at Sheffield O2 you knew this was going to be something very special. And then John started to sing with probably the best blues voice heard over this weekend’s festival. After playing a mixture of original material and covers, but in his own inimitable style, we were treated to ‘Hold your head up’ and ‘God gave rock and roll to you’ from his days in Argent and this had an explosive reaction from the crowd all singing along. This was the performance of the event, in my opinion, and John and the band smashed it out of the park!’

‘John Verity is still in mighty fine voice with strong deliveries and deceptively high upper range, and his prowess with his Fret-King Corona ‘JV’ signature guitar truly does the talking. Bang on about Joe Bonamassa all you want but in the rich arena of festivals and theatres then John Verity, for tone and touch is your player of choice.’

‘And it would always have been difficult to follow the next act, the triumphant John Verity Band. Verity is best known for his stint as the frontman of Argent in the 1970s, but that was only a brief interruption in a 50-year solo career.

If anyone in the audience was expecting to find Verity in decline, he very quickly proved them wrong. He still has the mane of prog-rock hair, still finds the high notes, and still plays both blues and rock guitar with effortless panache, inserting a soaring lead break or three into every song he plays. The title of his own song, “This Old Dog Ain’t Done Yet”, says it all.’ (Review from Tenby Blues Festival).

‘Nothing compares to seeing JV live, at theatres and festivals, as John's guitar playing and singing are a joy to behold. What marks him out from others is his timing and feel which are close to perfection. Great songs and performances, John not only has a great voice for his material but his exceptional guitar playing almost segues voice and guitar into one.’

‘You are left under no illusion that you are in the hands of a proper musician and vocalist who would have no problem filling a stadium, packing out any club and bringing a festival audience to their feet. Go see him!’

‘A hugely talented guitarist, genuine rock legend, engaging stage personality with a nice line in self-deprecation and a really, really tight and together band, it is well worth catching John Verity on one of his frequent tours’.

‘Then comes another cracking original, featuring a Muddy Waters beat, a killer riff and a great lyric and vocal from John. When it comes to blues guitarists, vocals can sometimes be almost an afterthought, just something vaguely melodic to connect the guitar solos. This is absolutely not the case with John Verity. He has a genuinely great blues and rock voice, totally losing himself in the music.’

‘Watching The John Verity Band. Without doubt the very best blues trio I have ever heard. Can’t wait to see them again real soon. Blues Rock as it should be’.

And in conclusion from John: - ‘Whatever I do is always going to have a blues edge and I feel that this is the thread which ties it all together’.

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