Dave Jones
Dave has been playing the bass guitar for a long time! His first band played the music of The Shadows (including the steps) where he played alongside Peter Clarke, later to find fame as Budgie in Siouxsie & the Banshees. For his first gig aged 15 at Biddulph Band Club in Stoke on Trent, he played bass on an electric guitar having removed the top two strings! He then bought a Hofner bass as Paul McCartney had one, but it kept going out of tune so he switched to a Gibson SG because Andy Fraser out of Free had one. In the 1980’s he moved on to an Aria after watching Trevor Horn and then finally he decided it was time to try to be Chris Squire and got a Rickenbacker!
Strong Prog Influence
Over the years he has worked with many cover bands including Darker Than Amber and One Way Traffic, playing anything from blues, soul, pop & rock music and a Beatles tribute band The Blue Cafe Beatles, whose performances included one at the Cavern Club. He has been a member of a variety of original bands including A Better Mousetrap, who reformed in 2022 as The Mousetrap Factory and released the album “The Beauty of Routine” and Plenty with Tim Bowness, who reformed in 2018 and have released two albums ”It Could Be Home” in 2018 and “Enough” in 2021.
He has a wide taste in music, liking everything from Abba to Zappa! He loves prog rock especially Camel, Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes and of course Genesis!
Shot, but still alive!
Dave first discovered Genesis when he heard the Selling England by the Pound album and fell in love with the music. He has seen Genesis live several times including the Seconds Out tour and the Six of the Best Milton Keynes reunion, which was the day his trench coat finally died (it rained from the start of the day to the end)! His main claim to fame is that he was in the second row to see Kate Bush on tour in 1979 at the Liverpool Empire and when she sang James and the Cold Gun, she shot him!
By day he was a maths teacher but outside of work his main focus has always been music. If he isn’t listening to music at home or attending concerts then he is writing, recording or performing.
Favourite Genesis tracks:
Impossible to choose but the list includes The Eleventh Earl of Mar, I know What I Like, Driving the Last Spike, Home by the Sea, Turn it on Again, Fountain of Salmacis, Ripples and of course Mama (no really, it is!)
Favourite bands:
Beatles, Kate Bush, Camel, Curved Air, Genesis, Home, King Crimson, Jaco Pastorious, Pink Floyd, Rush, Spocks Beard, Supertramp, 10cc, Wishbone Ash, XTC, Yes
Equipment used:
Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar, custom built double neck guitar, Roland bass pedals, Boss FX pedals and Harke amplification