Everyone has their story - here's ours
Reg Kielty
songwriter
Travel back in time to the mid 1970’s and Reg Kielty was fronting an art rock band in the North West of England called Rubi Lazer. The son of Irish immigrant parents, and raised in Preston Lancashire, he was open to a broad of range of musical and cultural influences from the start. From early childhood, traditional Irish Country and Folk was gradually integrated with '60's pop and the early evolution of rock & roll, resulting in a life long love and obsession with great songs and great bands. Like other friends and peers at the time he went to art college which provided a melting pot for everthing rebellious and all those who 'sold their soul for rock and roll' . The emergence of "Glam Rock', heavy rock and blues, prog rock and of course psychedelia and early electronica all played their part in shaping an eclectic musical taste that has lasted a lifetime.
The punk movement of the mid '70's while appealing in its rebellious nature perhaps held only one major interest for him in the shape of 'The Clash' but other major names emerging around that time like Talking Heads and of course Reggae in general and Bob Marley specifically were clear favourites, along with the best R & B band of the time Dr. Feelgood. Ultimately as life went on it was the great story tellers of song that for Reg Kielty encapsulated what it was all about, and this enthusiasm for 'narrative' in song has also remained to the present.
The band Rubi Lazer was active in the mid 1970's and was greeted with some surprise. As a post punk band they were less concerned with anarchy and more interested in being slightly different both from a songs perspective and in their theatrical approach to live work. Cliff Ovenden (see below) added more detail and incisive dynamics musically and both Reg Kielty and he did start to get noticed from a songwriting perspective, along with the overall musicianship and stage presence of the band. However, when Cliff moved on to join the band 'Crossfire' the brief magic seemed to dissipate and that, added to a lack of credible management led to the band folding. Sadly no studio recordings survive. Various attempts to regain the same energy through joining local rock bands failed.
Reg Kielty's best shot came in the late 1980's when he reformed Rubi Lazer in Lancaster UK, and was managed by promoter and entertainment supremo Phil McIntyre ( 'We Will Rock You', 'Phoenix Nights' and erstwhile promoter of major UK rock & indie acts) and the band enjoyed relative local success along with recording in London at Rick Butler's (drummer with The Jam ) Arkantide Studios. A quiet and unassuming feature of the band at that point was Preston born Mark Hunter on keyboards who later went on to great success with Manchester band 'James'. Reg's song 'South Africa' written prior to Nelson Mandela's release was championed by comedian Ben Elton at the time but failed to gain any more traction. Unfortunately, after some brief approaches to EMI & Polydor who passed on the demo's, Reg experienced the all too common theme of being stuck in a contract that was going nowhere and with no power to do much about it. He was left to fall back on his 'proper job' as a mental health professional and after a period of disenchantment with the music industry, departed for Australia working there for a number of years, before returning in the late '90's. Periodically working with old mates Mark Hunter and Cliff Ovenden encouraged a revival of Reg's interest in writing again, but mainly as a part time hobby. Subsequently, his work in the field of mental health in the UK's National Health Service has felt rewarding and he senses has added to his creative sense of purpose. His Masters Thesis was on the importance of songs, their meaning to people and their possible use in psychological help and intervention. He is a qualified Psychotherapist and Counsellor. In 2006 Reg helped to form the band 'Elegantly Wasted', and a co-writing relationship with guitarist Neil Arkwright (see below) has remained. More recently around the time of the Covid pandemic, Reg became the inspiration and finacila backer of the 'True North' project, and with the help of drummer Karl Davies, and former collaborator Cliff Ovenden this started to take shape. A reunion of old friends became possible and was enabled, all in the cause of creating great songs -a round trip of a mere 45 years. Along with musicians Neil Arkwright (guitar), Norm Helm (Bass), and Ian Cross (Keys) they continue to create and craft a vibrant catalogue of quality songs.
Reg Kielty is a member of PRS for Music and PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd)
Cliff Ovenden
musician and producer
Cliff has his origins in Frimley Surrey which apart from being the location of the World Darts Championship and the UK headquarters of Siemans is known for little else (well that's according to him anyway). Now a London based professional musician, Cliff has developed a reputation second to none in terms of playing the guitar and producing the highest level product across a range of musical platforms. His music has been used in advertising and film and along with past appearances on Top of the Pops and The Jools Holland Show, along with his experience in playing across all genres makes him a force to be reckoned with. His association with the North of England goes back to the 1970's when he relocated to Preston Lancashire, joining a band practically as soon as he arrived in the Dog & Partridge pub. Meeting Reg Kielty through a mutual friend led to him joining the art rock band 'Rubi Lazer' and the beginning of a song writing collaboration. He went on to join another Preston outfit 'Crossfire' with Karl Davies and the extremely talented Steve Hesketh, before relocating to Norwich playing with Kangaroo Alley, and then down to London where he became an integral part of 'Spiral Music' as a producer.
KARL Davies
drums & percussion
Affectionally know as KD - Karls experience behind the kit goes back to the mid 1970's. In 1976 he joined 'Old Tennis Shoes' with veteran muso's Kev Chapman & Nick Walker now Amsterdam based. A year later he was a founder member of 'The John Bevan Band' with the late John Bevan & Greg Slater, before forming the multi talented 'Crossfire' with the late virtuoso guitarist Steve Hesketh and his brother Jim on bass. Complimenting this rated band later that year was the talent of guitarist Cliff Ovenden, signalling the beginning of a musical and personal friendship which has lasted 45 years. In 1978 Karl relocated to Norwich UK to join 'Kangaroo Alley' later renamed 'Feet First', before again being joined by Cliff Ovenden. The band got signed with their first single "Masquerader" making the Australian charts along with numerous countries in the Far East.The second single “Yesterday’s News” also achieved chart status in Australia. After recording & touring with numerous artistes from Chas and Dave, The Strawbs and Cheap Trick the band disbanded and KD returned to his hometown in 1981.
In 1982, he again rendezvoused with old mate Cliff Ovenden, this time in France playing in popular jazz rock outfit 'Fleur de Lune' - an experience he describes as probably his biggest learning curve musically.
Back in the UK an opportunity arose to join 'Images' a 7 piece jazz funk band with Ian Kirkham of “Simply Red” fame on sax, Mick Greenwood, Dave Brindley, Sid Eccles, Lee Johns and Mathew David. After winning the LEP (Lancashire Evening Post) Rock and Pop competition in January 1983, a name change to 'Dance Factory' and the addition of guitarist Steve “kidder” Lee, the band went on to widespread popularity touring extensively around the UK, Europe & the Far East before disbanding in 1987.
In 1992 Karl was honoured to be offered the drum stool for popular North Western outfit 'Bob Johnson & the Bobcats' - something of a fortuitous reunion as he explains - "I’d known Bob for as long as I could remember. He told me he used to babysit for my mother when I was a baby so we went back along way".
In 1995 KD had something of a sabbatical moving to Carlisle then to Ipswich and as he says "playing more golf than drums at that stage". However, it wasn't long before the magnetic draw of playing again became too difficult to ignore and he returned to playing behind the kit. In more recent times Karl has been the focusing on playing live heading up the rhythm section in Chorley based popular country band “Red Moon Joe”. Just prior to the infamous 'lock down' of 2020/21, Karl and old mates Cliff Ovenden and Reg Kielty came together in the 'True North' project with the major objective of creating well produced quality cross genre songs.
JOHN WATKINS
Guitar
back in 1973 in Preston Lancashire the local music scene was alive and buzzing. There were music shops you could hang out in for the afternoon looking wistfully at the guitar wall, dreaming that one day you might even own of them, watching bands at the many small venues around town with places to meet and talk about music – the Schooner, the Jolly Farmer and the Cedarwood coffee bar. It was in the Cedarwood that John and Reg first met. John was in a student band ‘Orchid’ who were looking for a lead vocalist, Reg - the art college boy and aspiring artist with ambitions of being in a band and John who finally got one of those guitars on the guitar wall collaborated for the first time. Although Orchid were short lived it was a start. Fast forward a couple of years and Reg was putting a band together featuring among others John on guitar and his brother Nigel on bass. This was the locally renowned "art rock" band Rubi Lazer. John remained in the band during it’s early formative years and the band went on to have various line ups over the years involving many local talented musicians until things came to a natural end.
In the mid 1980’s, John was itching to play again applying to an ad in the local paper for a guitarist. He got the job and proceeded to hone his talents in the world of clubland, playing regular gigs and a diverse range of material. In the late 80’s, early 90’s, John teamed up with Greg Slater, (ex Dennis Delight who had also played with Rubi Lazer), in his band ‘Cold Feet’ playing mainly blues based original material – very intricate stuff, rewarding to play but the lack of gigs and the constant rehearsing led to John going back to clubland with a 60’s band called ‘Oh Boy!’
Oh Boy! were a very busy popular local band and played venues across the north of England. This led to meeting and supporting various sixties legends and in 2003, the band were able to acquire the name of ‘The Fourmost’, a Merseybeat band who had charted in the early 60’s. With 'The Fourmost', John would travel all over the country and abroad doing 60’s packages, holiday camps and theatre shows, even playing with 60’s legend Mike Pender in his Searchers band and as one of Dave Berry’s Cruisers. John left The Fourmost in the late 2000’s and went back to clubland.
In 2015 John teamed up with a female vocalist looking to put an acoustic duo together this eventually developing into The Helen May Band becoming a well-respected outfit around the Preston area.
And round full circle to the present where John is again working in collaboration with Reg Kielty becoming part of the "true North collective" adding his considerable expereince to an existing pool of talented and creative musicians.