Medicine Head / John Verity

Name: Medicine Head / John Verity
Start: 2026-03-27T19:00:00+00:00
Location: Cottiers

Schedule

Fri, 27 Mar, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Cottiers | Glasgow, SC

A rare chance to catch two legacy acts with an impressive lineage from 70s blues rock in the spectacular setting of Cottiers Theatre. Headliners Medicine Head is a British blues-rock group formed in Stafford, England in 1968 by John Fiddler and Peter Hope-Evans. Fiddler handled vocals, guitar, and drums, while Hope-Evans added texture with harmonica, Jews harp, and mouth bow. Their sound was raw and stripped-down, blending blues, rock, and folk in a hypnotic, soulful style that embraced minimalism and authenticity. Championed early on by legendary BBC DJ John Peel, who signed them to his Dandelion label at the insistence of John Lennon , their debut single, His Guiding Hand, got their career off to a solid start. The band scored their biggest chart success in 1973 with One and One Is One, which reached No. 3 in the UK charts, following an earlier hit (And The) Pictures in the Sky that climbed to No. 22 in 1971. In all they released six studio albums over their career, before disbanding in 1977. In the early 1980s, Fiddler was asked to front the Yardbirds with remaining members Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, and Jim McCarty, but agreed only on the proviso that the name be changed and Box of Frogs was born. In 1984 the band released their highly-acclaimed debut album, Box of Frogs, which featured Jeff Beck and Rory Gallagher. In recent years, John Fiddler has reignited the Medicine Head legacy with two deeply personal and musically rich albums. Warriors of Love (2021) marks a triumphant return after a decade-long hiatus, blending blues, Americana, and roots-rock with stripped-down arrangements and heartfelt lyrics. Following its success, Heartwork (2024) takes the emotional depth even further. 2025 sees a rejuvenated Medicine Head taking to the road. Still fronted by the timeless John Fiddler, the 5-piece band is now augmented by ex-Bad Co / Humble Pie guitarist, Dave Bucket Colwell, Belinda Campbell on backing vocals, Andre Shapps (Big Audio Dynamite) on bass, and drummer Paul Taff Edwards.
John Verity began his music career in the early 1960's, playing guitar in various local groups around his home town of Bradford. John has supported big names of the 70s including Jimi Hendrix, Mountain, Canned Heat, Savoy Brown, and Janis Joplin. His first solo album 'John Verity Band', was released in 1973. Whilst on tour promoting the album, JV was spotted by Rod Argent who was looking for new lead vocalist for his band following the departure of Russ Ballard. John eventually joined Argent 1973 and there followed a period of intense recording and touring. Thereafter John decided to divide his time between sessions and record production. He worked with Motorhead, Tank, Ringo Starr, Russ Ballard, Colin Blunstone, Brian Connolly, John Parr, BowWowWow amongst many others In 1982, he once again took to the road promoting his new album. He released 2 more albums in the 80s and then joined the newly reformed Zombies. Throughout the 90s he performed more solo shows and 2000 saw a major gigging project with a 32 date UK tour, opening the show on the Jools Holland Sex Jazz and Rock'n'Roll tour at major venues including Manchester Opera House, Birmingham Symphony Hall, and the London Albert Hall. After this, it was back to his regular gigging routine. Festivals across the UK and mainland Europe, recording and writing sessions kept the man busy. JV always said that live work was his first love and that holds as true today as ever. After playing the Cambridge Rock Festival in the summer of 2009 JV and the band went into the studio once more. The resulting recordings were released April 2010: VERITY A Phoenix Still Rising. Back on the road the band worked solidly until mid-2011 when JV went back into the studio. 2012 was to prove a landmark year for JV - first of all a chance meeting with guitar guru Trev Wilkinson during which John impressed Trev with his ideas on guitar design, this led to the development and release of the JV Signature model guitar - the 'Fret King Black Label Corona JV Signature model', and latterly a signature amp model. 2018 & 2019 JV had 2 albums consistently featured in the UK album charts - "Blue to my soul" and an EP, "Where's the love?", with the JV Band touring to promote them pretty much non-stop. 2020 brought a brand new album to celebrate the 50th anniversary of John forming the very first John Verity Band. Since then, John has continued to tour and delight audiences. Not to be missed!!