JON CLARE BIOGRAPHY


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Jon Clare I was 14 when I played my first gig and within less than a year I was playing piano in a proper working band, which, for one so young, was a real ‘eye-opener’!

However, the experience gained through playing all those clubs and bars gave me a priceless education. I recall arriving at one of my first paid gigs to find that both the Police and an ambulance where already in attendance. It was just like the ’Wild West’ and barely 6.30 in the evening!

Things have changed however as 20 years later I was on stage with The Fabulous Dough Boys entertaining several thousand guests at the EUFA Champions League Cup Final at Old Trafford.

My later teenaged years were spent playing quite big gigs with The Sidewinders. We were quite unorthodox with a bass guitar-less line up, just vocals, drums and me. It fell on me to make as big a noise as possible ... a trick that still comes in handy!

1987 saw me taking a big musical step by fronting The Late Shift. This was my own band and I had to sing lead for the whole show plus remember to introduce the tunes, talk to the audience and say ‘Thank You’ when they applauded. I remember being really nervous on our first gig and hoping that there would be no one in the audience that knew me as, if it was going to be a failure, it would be easier in a room full of strangers. As it was, when I looked out from behind my piano, my family and friends made up pretty much the entire audience and were shouting “go on Jon!”

A few years later I met bassist Gary Bacon and with Andy Potter on drums began gigging around Bristol as The Dough Boys. Alan Eden soon replaced Andy and we became The Fabulous Dough Boys! The policy was to play live at every opportunity and so we gigged solidly throughout the South West for several years, turning nothing down, sometimes playing two shows a day and becoming a really tight outfit as the gigs also got bigger and better. As a bonus for all the hard work we also built up a sizeable and very loyal following.

By the end of the 90’s the band had fully established itself as a mainstream live act but nothing lasts forever and Paul Brown was recruited to replace the departing Gary Bacon. The addition of Paul’s experience allowed the band to broaden its’ musical horizons and we have since gone from strength to strength and we still see some of those loyal faces from the early days!

When not fronting The Fabulous Dough Boys I am kept busy performing my own solo show which allows me to play a wider variety of music and gives me a great deal of satisfaction.

When I’m not on stage I spend some time writing my own songs. These differ greatly from the material played solo or with the band. My next project really should be to record an album of my original songs ... watch this space!

Memorable gigs for me :

  • Shows at The Colston Hall ( my home town’s main venue )
  • Shows at The Bristol Balloon Fiesta
  • Ashton Court Festivals
  • N.I.A. ( National Indoor Arena ), Birmingham
  • EUFA Champions League Cup Final, Old Trafford, Manchester : 2003
  • The Moonwalk, Hyde Park, London : 2006 : 17,000 audience, Walk the Walk Breast Cancer Fundraiser
  • Shows with Linda Gail Lewis ( Jerry Lee’s ‘Little Sister”)
  • Back-to-back pianos belting out Jerry Lee Lewis songs backed by my good friends The Firebirds!
Jon Clare
Wick
December 2006 back to top