Band profile/history and discography
The Frontliners are a function band who play weddings, Birthday's, party's, Pubs, Clubs and any other events.
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A brief history
The Frontliners are a 4 piece Hampshire based Classic rock/ Rock/ Prog Rock/Folk/Indie band who play cover songs to their own material.The Band have built up a bit of a rep around the south for the past 20 years and play many local music venues around the South.
Formed in September 1998 The Frontliners have come along way since they began over 20 years ago, with many different member changes and venues to play in.
The Frontliners have had various "guises" in the past. The current line-up started out with founder members, Rich & Phil and as time went by, Chris & then Ailwyn joined them. they were very raw and primitive in those days, often playing the wrong stuff to audiences. For example, heavy metal music for a 70th B'Day bash! All they can say is that they learnt from their mistakes! The band have had 2 rhythm guitarists fall by the wayside - one through an argument and one to pursue his career in the Police Force.
Drummer Chris took a sabbatical for a few months, and when the guys were all back together they started gigging on a fairly regular basis, before recording.
The rest is history........
What we play!
We play a mixture of classic rock cover songs from the 60s onwards and also play our own compositions. Here are some of the bands and artists that we cover..
The Beatles, The Who, ELO, Queen, Free, Bad Company, Pink Floyd, Eagles, The Small faces, The Rolling Stones, T rex, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Undertones, Status Quo, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath,Seppenwolf, ZZ Top, David Bowie, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Bob Dylan, Van Morison, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry and many more.
*Please note, we do not play the nowadays crap in the charts as we are a classic rock covers band. If you want that rubbish, we suggest you look elsewhere!* As we have had people book us expecting the latest music in the charts today. Cheers!*
Band names:
Thunder box - 98 - 2000
Treason - 2000 - 2001
High Treason - 2001
Nemesis - 2001 - 2002
The Frontliners 2002 - present
Passed members:
Barry Treacher - Rhythm Guitar 99 to 2000
Robbie Robinson - Bass Guitar 98 to 99
Andy Walker - Rhythm Guitar 2000 to 2002
Dave Gladders - Drums 2001 - 2002
Session keyboard players in jam sessions:
Jamie Harrison
Rod Court
Band profiles
Rich Thomas - Lead vocals, Acoustic guitar, Harmonica & Tambourine
Rich is one of the founder members of the Frontliners and Formed the band way back in 1998 with Phil. He wanted to do something a bit diffrent to what he had done before with his solo projects. as time passed Rich had many ideas to form a good gigging band. As time went by Rich & Phil needed a drummer & Bassist and did a few auditions with different musicians and had no luck but Chris, Rich's son could play drums and so it made sense for Chris to join. Phil decided to get him into the band. After Chris, joined the band they started to work on some songs, at this stage it was just covers but as time went by both Rich & Phil decided to write their own songs which were very basic back in those days. The guys then took on a bassist and another and another until one day a rather tall and confussed looking guy came to the door called Ailwyn Rees, the guys were very inpressed with the gear he had and as a bonus he was also a friend of Phils so the boys set off to start work on many covers and their own songs and now have come along way since they started off. Rich also joined another band that he was with for just over two & half years called Cold turkey, in which he has just departed from and wishes the guys all the best for the future.
Other stuff
Favorite Band - The Beatles. Second favorite band - Queen
Favorite Artist - Bob Dylan
Favorite Drink - Jd on the rocks
Best gig to date - The Marchwood one June 2012
Other hobbies - Art & watching Horror movies
Phil Treacher - Lead guitars, Rhythm guitars & Backing Vocals
Phil had much experience in playing for other bands before he meet Rich, he played for a band called Dirty river a 7 piece band from southampton who played many pubs round and about, this would have been around 1995/6. During Phil's time with The Frontliners he also left the band for a bit to join a band called the Nod which didn't last very long so Phil decided to return to the band and has enjoyed every moment of it since.
Other stuff
Favorite Band - The Who. Second favorite band, Led zep
Favorite Artist - Paul Rogers
Favorite Drink - Cider
Best gig to date - The Marchwood one June 2012
Other hobbies - Drawing, and watching bands on Sky Arts
Chris Thomas - Drums, percussion & Backing vocals (Keyboards on studio albums)
Chris, started playing Drums at school when he was about 12 years old, he joined the band not long after it was formed in 1998, since then he has done much work on the music scene by playing for other artist/bands such as, Spytfyre, The Word, Mista messy, Snakeheart and Metal rejects to name a few. Also, recently joining The 45s as of late 2021 and playing regular gigs across the south coast. Chris also shows a keen interest in sound engineering and playing other instruments such as Keyboards and Bass guitar and is a keen backing vocalist. He says he will continue to play for other bands when ever they need a Drummer but still says that The Frontliners come first.
Other Stuff
Favorite Band - Toto. Second favorite band Blur
Favorite Artist - Steven Wilson
Favorite Drink - Lager shandy
Best gig to date - The Marchwood one June 2012
Other hobbies - Photography & Collecting action figures
Ailwyn Rees – Bass guitars, Bass pedals & Backing Vocals
I’m the latest recruit to The Frontliners, although that was a over 20 years or so ago now. I’m the miserable git who stands expressionless at the back, and only laughs at his fellow musicians’ gross mistakes! It basically covers my own deficiencies! Sadly, it’s very difficult for me to go unnoticed, as my head sits about 9ft 6 up in the air, and I like to wear pink t - shirts when playing live.
I happily live with Nicky, 4 boys, and 2 of their (expecting 3 between them) girlfriends, and 2 dogs, and they all often sit around the house looking very glum when I am pounding out inane bass lines to myself.
Apart from music, I enjoy drinking copious amounts of coffee to keep my caffeine levels up, and watching meaningless programmes on cable TV.!
My musical influences are diverse and many! They include such superstars as Queen, The Beatles, Mott the Hoople, Mark King, Saddam Hussein (who co-wrote the Stranglers classic, Hanging Around), The Rolling Stones, Napoleon Bonaparte (without whom the 1812 Overture wouldn’t have been written), Roy Wood, The Sex Pistols (without whom there would be no sex), and, finally, our illustrious and cosmopolitan singer, Richard Thomas.
A message for all of you – keep on the Frontline, and may all your gods be with you!
Other stuff
Favorite Band - Queen. Second favorite band, The Beatles
Favorite Artist - John Deacon
Favorite Drink - Coffee
Best gig to date - The Marchwood one June 2012
Other Hobbies - Ailwyn spends a lot of his spare time watching bands on Sky Arts & Looking after his two cats
Discography :
(Album releases)
Cover story - 1999
Treason - 2000
Changing times - 2001
Live on circuit - 2001
Homegrown Heroes - 2005
Building bridges - 2007
Holding Back Tomorrow - 2009
Cliches - 2014
18 and over the hill - 2017
Strange - 2019
Finishing Touches - 2023
Associated acts
Cold Turkey
Dirty River
Void
The Nod
Rite tracks
Steeler
The Word
Spytfyre
Metal Rejects
Mista Messy
Snake Heart
The 45s
Jamie Harrison
Rod Court
Band profiles
Rich Thomas - Lead vocals, Acoustic guitar, Harmonica & Tambourine
Rich is one of the founder members of the Frontliners and Formed the band way back in 1998 with Phil. He wanted to do something a bit diffrent to what he had done before with his solo projects. as time passed Rich had many ideas to form a good gigging band. As time went by Rich & Phil needed a drummer & Bassist and did a few auditions with different musicians and had no luck but Chris, Rich's son could play drums and so it made sense for Chris to join. Phil decided to get him into the band. After Chris, joined the band they started to work on some songs, at this stage it was just covers but as time went by both Rich & Phil decided to write their own songs which were very basic back in those days. The guys then took on a bassist and another and another until one day a rather tall and confussed looking guy came to the door called Ailwyn Rees, the guys were very inpressed with the gear he had and as a bonus he was also a friend of Phils so the boys set off to start work on many covers and their own songs and now have come along way since they started off. Rich also joined another band that he was with for just over two & half years called Cold turkey, in which he has just departed from and wishes the guys all the best for the future.
Other stuff
Favorite Band - The Beatles. Second favorite band - Queen
Favorite Artist - Bob Dylan
Favorite Drink - Jd on the rocks
Best gig to date - The Marchwood one June 2012
Other hobbies - Art & watching Horror movies
Phil Treacher - Lead guitars, Rhythm guitars & Backing Vocals
Phil had much experience in playing for other bands before he meet Rich, he played for a band called Dirty river a 7 piece band from southampton who played many pubs round and about, this would have been around 1995/6. During Phil's time with The Frontliners he also left the band for a bit to join a band called the Nod which didn't last very long so Phil decided to return to the band and has enjoyed every moment of it since.
Other stuff
Favorite Band - The Who. Second favorite band, Led zep
Favorite Artist - Paul Rogers
Favorite Drink - Cider
Best gig to date - The Marchwood one June 2012
Other hobbies - Drawing, and watching bands on Sky Arts
Chris Thomas - Drums, percussion & Backing vocals (Keyboards on studio albums)
Chris, started playing Drums at school when he was about 12 years old, he joined the band not long after it was formed in 1998, since then he has done much work on the music scene by playing for other artist/bands such as, Spytfyre, The Word, Mista messy, Snakeheart and Metal rejects to name a few. Also, recently joining The 45s as of late 2021 and playing regular gigs across the south coast. Chris also shows a keen interest in sound engineering and playing other instruments such as Keyboards and Bass guitar and is a keen backing vocalist. He says he will continue to play for other bands when ever they need a Drummer but still says that The Frontliners come first.
Other Stuff
Favorite Band - Toto. Second favorite band Blur
Favorite Artist - Steven Wilson
Favorite Drink - Lager shandy
Best gig to date - The Marchwood one June 2012
Other hobbies - Photography & Collecting action figures
Ailwyn Rees – Bass guitars, Bass pedals & Backing Vocals
I’m the latest recruit to The Frontliners, although that was a over 20 years or so ago now. I’m the miserable git who stands expressionless at the back, and only laughs at his fellow musicians’ gross mistakes! It basically covers my own deficiencies! Sadly, it’s very difficult for me to go unnoticed, as my head sits about 9ft 6 up in the air, and I like to wear pink t - shirts when playing live.
I happily live with Nicky, 4 boys, and 2 of their (expecting 3 between them) girlfriends, and 2 dogs, and they all often sit around the house looking very glum when I am pounding out inane bass lines to myself.
Apart from music, I enjoy drinking copious amounts of coffee to keep my caffeine levels up, and watching meaningless programmes on cable TV.!
My musical influences are diverse and many! They include such superstars as Queen, The Beatles, Mott the Hoople, Mark King, Saddam Hussein (who co-wrote the Stranglers classic, Hanging Around), The Rolling Stones, Napoleon Bonaparte (without whom the 1812 Overture wouldn’t have been written), Roy Wood, The Sex Pistols (without whom there would be no sex), and, finally, our illustrious and cosmopolitan singer, Richard Thomas.
A message for all of you – keep on the Frontline, and may all your gods be with you!
Other stuff
Favorite Band - Queen. Second favorite band, The Beatles
Favorite Artist - John Deacon
Favorite Drink - Coffee
Best gig to date - The Marchwood one June 2012
Other Hobbies - Ailwyn spends a lot of his spare time watching bands on Sky Arts & Looking after his two cats
Discography :
(Album releases)
Cover story - 1999
Treason - 2000
Changing times - 2001
Live on circuit - 2001
Homegrown Heroes - 2005
Building bridges - 2007
Holding Back Tomorrow - 2009
Cliches - 2014
18 and over the hill - 2017
Strange - 2019
Finishing Touches - 2023
Associated acts
Cold Turkey
Dirty River
Void
The Nod
Rite tracks
Steeler
The Word
Spytfyre
Metal Rejects
Mista Messy
Snake Heart
The 45s