Earl Gray's musical  influences start with The Beatles and end with The Beatles but in between, there are many other bands that bring the bass guitar out for a good musical interlude including Rush, The Jam,  Police, Who, Yes, The Kinks, The Shadows, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Blondie, Sweet, Led Zeppelin and many more.

Earl Gray started his "music career" at the ripe old age of  7 when, at school, he was given a choice of instruments to play. The choice was a small one, violin or violin so, unsurprisingly, he opted for the violin. After 2 years of attempting to master this instrument, Earl asked for a change and moved on to the trumpet which he picked up in very short order. He carried on with the trumpet for the next 3 years, his crowning achievement being to play with the Leeds Schools Orchestra. Ask him about a concert at Leeds Town Hall where he managed to shower half of the orchestra with an exploding coke can! Okay, so it wasn't half the orchestra but it was a good number. He still smiles about it to this day.

Moving on a few years, Earl was walking past Kitchen's Music Shop in Leeds when he spotted a violin bass in the window, very similar to the one used by Paul McCartney although it was in fact a Japanese copy. Earl persuaded his parents to let him buy this bass on hire purchase, paying the weekly instalments with the wages from his paper round. The music bug had come home to roost.

The usual round of bands then began starting with Roxana and going on to include bands such as Slider, Ice 9, The Cass Cunnane Band (who won the Yorkshire heat of the Melody Maker Rock/Folk Competition) and Middle 8 whose keyboard player went on to find fame and a gold record with Jive Bunny. Earl played on a TV soundtrack for a programme about the RAC Rally but unfortunately, due to contractual problems, was never aired. This was a shame as the band had done it for the credits on TV rather than payment!

After this, work and eventually family commitments prevented Earl from gigging so he effectively retired from the live music scene although he continued to play and record at home on guitar and keyboards as well as bass guitar.

Fast forward to 2010 when Earl decided that he now had the time to start gigging again. First off was a short spell with Time Machine and then came the opportunity to join GLAM.

Earl has settled in nicely with the GLAM team and has already made a significant impact with the band including designing their new logo. Long may it continue.

You can find out more about Earl Gray by visiting his website: www.thebassguitarist.com