Band Of The Month

Think back to an era when Rubber Soul and Revolver by The Beatles were high in the charts, the Mini was the car to have – as was the skirt – and great music, filled with guitars and harmonies, could be heard from most radios.

Now come back to the present day – The Mini car has just celebrated its 50th birthday and is still going strong; The Beatles’ albums have just been re-released and The Dukes Jetty is producing great music, filled with guitars and harmonies – and is being played on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Introducing.

The four-piece band are creating exciting music, which wouldn’t feel out of place in 1966, and is equally at home in 2009.

We caught up with bassist Dave Hambridge to find out how the band was born.

He said: “Myself, Lee and Steve all went to school together and formed our first band in 1999. We went our separate ways and then reformed in 2006. Chris came on board in January 2008 and from then on we have gone from strength to strength.

“We are influenced by all sorts of artists from The Beatles to The Coral and also bands like The Kinks, The La's and many more.”

A modern classic band

Fine and Dandy

The band released their debut album, Fine and Dandy, last month and also held a sold-out launch party to coincide. We asked Dave about the inspiration behind the album.

He said: “We wanted to write songs that were very bright and quirky because it’s been a year of recession and bad news for the country, so our aim was to record an album that makes you feel good. That was our main inspiration.”

And their album certainly does have that feel good factor and guitar riffs that you can’t help but hum along to. Stand out tracks include You’ve Lost Your Head and the single Oh Girl.

Chas 'n' Dave

They have already been noticed by the likes of BBC Radio 2 and have played at various venues around the country – including the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and the Cavern Club in Liverpool. Earlier this year, they also supported Chas ‘n’ Dave at the 100 Club in London. 

Dave concluded: “We are very proud of what we have already achieved this year and we just want to continue taking steps in a positive direction and see where it could eventually take us.”

To find out more about The Dukes Jetty, visit their MySpace page by clicking on the link below:

How to get featured?

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire's Band of the Month feature aims to showcase the best local musical talent.

If you think you and/or your band are worthy enough of a feature then get in contact with us.

Email the details to us here at BBC Coventry & Warwickshire - coventry@bbc.co.uk

Or use the postal address:

Martin Winch, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, Priory Place, CV1 5SQ.

All we require is a short biography, a couple of decent quality colour images (in jpeg format) and a copy of your music.