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Singer Songwriter Allan Broad returned from
the United States in January 1990. He'd spent 6 months in the Southern
States and had performed his music on Nashville TV. But unable to secure a
definite contract with either of three record companies he was forced to
return to the UK.
He returned to his hometown of Guildford in
Surrey, deep in debt, no job, and unsure of the next step! The songs though,
kept coming and the desire to get out there and play was undeniable. So he
turned to who he knew in order to get the ball rolling again.
The first step toward Eat The Sofa was his
reuniting with his musical buddy Nick Walsh. They began recording Allan's
songs in Nick's lodgings in Stoughton and began looking for a bass player
and drummer.
Enter Richard Steer, troubled genius of the
acoustic kind. Allan met up with him at Shalford Park after a football match
and the two talked about the old days
when Richard's band, His Wooden Fish had
played with Allan and Nick
for ITV's Telethon appeal.
With His Wooden Fish lead singer, Graham
Firth, having left the band due to his studies, Richard was keen to get out
and play again. Richard and Allan had much in musical common. Richard added
a vibrant bass line to Allan's country tinged tunes and
The Hometown Boys were unknowingly launched.
Allan then made the very tough decision to
pursue this new musical adventure
without the more Rock and blues influenced
Nick. It was a brave decision as it
turns out and one that opened many unexplored
avenues as Richard and Allan
learned 30 songs in less than a month and
began gigging as a duo. They played
at The Hare and Hounds in Woodstreet each
week for 12 weeks and founded
a nice sized following which led to them
being invited to play in other
venues across Guildford.
They were also spotted by the Country Music
fraternity and invited to play at a
CMC club in Woking. Thus was born The
Hometown Boys and western shirts and
even on occasion, a Stetson were donned!
Richard particularly took to the scene
like a Clint Eastwood possessed!
With the music now flourishing they attempted
to find a drummer and former
George Abbot school friend Neil Blunden tried
out for the band. With him not
able to commit his time due to a Formula One
racing career the search continued.
Richard contacted Dee Coley, the other His
Wooden Fish star to see if he was
interested in trying out. Richard and Allan
had originally thought he was in
another band so were delighted when he turned
up to have a go. In fact he
was brought along by Graham Firth that day!
Dee had been Allan's hero at School. A couple
of years older than Allan, Dee
had been in punk bands and had played in a
band one evening for Allan's
football teams end of season awards. They
were the coolest thing he'd ever
seen and now... Dee Coley was in the Hometown
Boys!
As a trio the band excelled and gigs kept on
coming. They were into the country
scene and no other band were playing so much
original country music. Even
the few covers they played were unusual and
yet continually meeting resistance
from the old guard the good reviews kept
coming and the music evolved.
With their first band van bought and with
gigs at Country festivals lined up
the trio desired to become four and the
search went out for a Lead Guitarist.
A very large step toward Eat The Sofa was
made when Duncan Siggers, a mate
of Dee's turned up at Burpham Village Hall
with his White Jimi Hendrix Strat
and a home made amp!
Sigg recalls, "I remember Dee ringing me up
and saying did I fancy a pint at my local
on a Sunday lunch time. He got the train over
and I remember thinking it was all
a bit odd as he seemed really keen to meet
up, anyway over a few beers he asked
me if I would come down and play some rhythm
guitar for you his band and I said yes!
I hadn't played properly for about a year, so
I was bricking it!!"
A self taught and instinctive guitarist,
Duncan set out like a man possessed to learn
the set and week by week he made longer and
longer appearances. Now knowing
what a B7 was, he began to exert his own
influence into the songs and
The Hometown Boys sound began to change...
Sigg comments, "I remember joining the
hometown boy's as a rhythm guitarist
and then after a rehearsal at Burpham the
boys decided to promote me to lead
and Allan and then got together for about six
weeks for me to learn about
forty songs!! In my little flat in Woking!!".
With four now in the band, the dynamics had
changed. Richard became
increasingly unhappy with the way things were
developing and he parted with
the band as they were just about to go into
the studio to make their first demo.
Duncan, Dee and Allan continued with the
recording despite not knowing
what was going to happen to the band. Allan
played Richard's bass lines and
four songs were cut.
There was a strong feeling of something new
coming and the passion for the band
was strong enough to start effecting
relationships! Allan recalls: "We wanted to
ditch the Country tag and I knew in Sigg, we
had a lead guitarist that could give
us a different edge, in fact it was time to
unleash him!"
With Dee able to play bass or drums, the boys
had a little flexibility in looking for
the new man. In fact, Stand in bassist, Paul
Goodhand-Tait introduced the
band to the drummer Jamie Legg.
Allan comments, "He told us he was a little
rusty but would be the man we
are looking for. He was right on one count.
He was certainly the one
we were looking for, but not rusty!"
The sound was transformed as the drums were
played a little harder, the bass
with more feel and the guitars with more
freedom.... Eat The Sofa was born!
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