The Ugly Guys

We Black Frog Presents are thrilled to be putting the Ugly Guys back on at the Hot Box this band is superb and we reckon it is a not to missed act the doors open at 2pm and the show will start at 4pm so don't be late. With Craig Joiner opening this makes it for me as you may have seen playing guitar for Rhino's Revenge before and he is also the guitarist and founder of Romeo's Daughter. The founder members of ?The Ugly Guys? ? Paul Shuttleworth and Vic Collins ? have been making music together since 1969, when they founded one of England?s first country rock bands Cow Pie. ?Cow Pie? was heavily influenced by American country rock acts like The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Byrds circa Sweetheart of the Rodeo),? observed Craig Chaligne for Louder Than War, who saw them as ?an early version of The Kursaals.? Paul and Vic went on to form The Kursaal Flyers in 1972. The Kursaal Flyers formed an integral part of the ?Pub Rock? scene that was flourishing in London and elsewhere around the UK at that time. The Kursaals were one of the few bands to break out of the pub scene when in 1977 they enjoyed a UK Top 20-hit single with their Phil Spectoresque pastiche ?Little Does She Know?. The rest as they say is history. The Kusrsaals may well be best-known for their charting pop hit, but (as Craig Chaligne so perceptively observes) ?deep down the band was a country rock outfit.? Fast forward to 2003, when a chance meeting led Paul and Vic to explore the prospect of forming a new band to play the cosmic country music they both loved. A call to guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Steve Oliver from Ipsissimus (which later became Jerry The Ferret: another part of pub rock?s backbone) quickly formed the nucleus of the new band, which they named The Ugly Guys, taking the moniker from a much-loved Kursaal Flyers song. Southend stalwart Bob Clouter (who had played with Mickey Jupp in both The Oriels and Legend, with the Lew Lewis Band and Stan Webb?s Chicken Shack) became the drummer. The bass guitar position was initially held by Mike Steed, then Andy Farrell until 2018 when Nevil Kiddier (formerly of bassist hit makers The Pinkees and Glyder) took up the mantle. The band?s current line-up fields: Paul Shuttleworth ? Vocals; Vic Collins ? Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Dobro and Vocals; Steve Oliver ? Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Keyboards and Vocals; Bob Clouter ? Drums; Nevil Kiddier ? Bass and Vocals.