A&E & The Big C - A&E And The Big C (2022)

The debut album by A&E and the Big C. Ten tracks of powerful modern electric blues sparked into life by Geb's experiences with A&E departments (and the Big C).

BILL THORNDYCRAFT and GEB RING are 2 Twickenham guys with a deep love of the blues. Bill is lead vocalist, harmonica and guitar player with 60s blues rock legends Killing Floor. Geb is a friend, neighbour and accomplished bass player. The duo have brought years of experience in British blues together to create a unique album combining standards and original compositions.
Forced into confronting a life-threatening health condition, Geb had taken stock:
“After I had major surgery for bowel cancer in 2018, I realised that I needed to make changes. Foremost amongst these was the need for distractions and so I resolved to return to a youthful passion - being a bass player. I called on Bill to add his vocals, blues harp and rhythm guitar”.
Bill takes up the story:
“I told Geb I’d love to start playing with him, jamming old Blues and Rock songs that punctuated our youth, but said we’d need to play all the songs in A and E. Geb thought this was in rather bad taste. “Bugger that” he said (or words to the same effect) “I’ve already spent far too much time in A and E”. I explained that my very limited guitar skills mean I can basically, only play in the keys of A and E But that muddled exchange led us to the highly appropriate name for our band. We added ‘The big C’ as the triggering factor just in as the other ‘Big C’Covid emerged!”
Jamming together led Bill and Geb to recording their efforts and then to Dwayne Hamilton, a renowned producer at Twickenham’s Heatham House youth centre.
“What started as a casual distraction for me developed into a full-blown project involving many local people and resources. Making this album was a real pleasure which we hope will bring some pleasure with listeners in Twickenham and beyond” says Geb.
Additional contributions came from Killing Floor guitarist Mick Clarke, Pete Buckland and Nick Nixon on guitars and keyboards, Sassafrass drummer Chris Sharley, and other musician neighbours, John Huggins (saxophones) and Matt Wedgewood (guitar).