Meet 'The English Country Gentlemen'

Now and again, there's a band that takes the Wedding Band Scene by storm! This year, it's been 'The English Country Gentlemen', a young band that have it all; energy, quality, professionalism, looks, the complete package!

Adam Roberts caught up with their frontman Michael Newcombe to find out more about this fantastic band and what the future holds for them.

AR: So it's been a crazy year since you joined the band and started to play weddings. What's been the highlight for you?

MN: We've played at some amazing places and for some amazing people. Our best gig was probably one we did at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. We ended up playing for nearly three hours and we loved every minute of it. At some point in the night I think half the audience had been on stage and got involved. There were over 300 there and at one point, not one person was sat down. That was a pretty special night for us. That said, we played a working mens club in Lincolnshire in February, when we were still finding our feet and getting a reputation and that was a brilliant gig too! We had eight emails from guests thanking us for such a good night too which was lovely. It makes it worthwhile.

AR: Most bands your age are looking to be the next big thing in the charts. How come you've decided to concentrate on being a wedding band?

MN: We'd love to be 'The next big thing' (laughs) and who knows, we might be. That'd be ace! Seriously though, there's some brilliant bands out there who write amazing songs. It's so hard to make it in originals music and luck plays such a big part. We're all involved in other projects at churches, original bands, college but we all love playing great songs and entertaining people and that's why we've taken 'English Country Gentlemen' in the wedding direction. We love doing corporate functions too and played 20+ last year but Weddings are what we love doing.

AR: 'The English Country Gentlemen' have been around on the corporate circuit for a while now, three years in fact, but the current lineup is fairly new and without sounding offensive or patronising, very young looking. Has that ever been a problem?

MN: I think it's worked both ways. We get told loads that we're like 'McFly' which is definitely a compliment! (Laughs) I think we've grown up a hell of a lot in the last year in a sense that we've matured as entertainers. You can't learn how to read an audience at college but after 100 gigs, you've got a pretty good idea. Having partnered with Ben has really helped as well as he's been doing this for years with his band so the lessons that he's learned, he's able to pass on to us and steer us in the right direction. What matters to us is that our clients have an awesome night and touch wood, they always do. We absolutely love what we do, we've got loads of energy to give and once people see that they're always with us! I think early on, people were sceptical about booking us because we looked so young and if it weren't for the fact that we were exclusively through an agent at the time, nobody would have booked us. The agent was the barrier, the security but now, you look at our client list and where we've played and I don't think age is a problem, perhaps it's even an advantage.

AR: You mentioned your partnership with your manager, Ben Marshall. How did that come about?

MN: Ben's got his own band that are pretty much the 'Daddy' of the wedding band world and he's kind of player manager for them. He actually approached us after we won the Best Newcomer Award at the WBRA's and asked if we'd like him to represent us and manage the band. The band had been with an agent since day one but all they're bothered about is money. Having a manager is different. We specifically wanted to go down the wedding route and instil some longevity into what we're doing and Ben's experience and professionalism was always going to do that for us. We've learnt loads from him and our clients always comment on how easy the booking and communication has been when we arrive at the venue. Agents aren't bothered once the fee has been paid but managers are and that's why we went with it.

AR: So what does 2014 hold for the band?

MN: Lots of gigs (Laughs). We've already got 40 weddings in the diary and we're getting enquiries daily. We're working on some new songs from Olly Murs, Bruno Mars, Bon Jovi and The Killers and we're upgrading some of the gear to make our setup time a bit quicker. Other than that, just playing weddings. Which suits us fine!