THE REFRAINS

Tara was a professional actress for many years before moving onto the field of Coaching, and hypnosis. She has been in many musicals and reviews. She sung at The Edinburgh Festival in the famous News Revue and the infamous  Naff Sex Guide. She formed an all girl acappella band called The Angri-lahs famed for their verion of Spiderman and Debussy's Claire da lune! She sang in the female trio The Bluebirds with  two of her sisters! She has always dreamed of being in a band with four goodlooking men and now her dream has come true!

She is very glad that she is allowed to play tambourine  as well as sing  and is thrilled to have learnt to play the triangle recently!

"I've always loved to sing; at age 14 I was performing in London folk clubs and coffee houses, doing songs by Donovan, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, and suchlike. But my friends and I were really into bands like The Beach boys - that style of vocals was like mother's milk to us, and we used to practice harmonies in each other's parents' homes after school. Ever since then, I've always insisted on being in bands with a prominent vocal presence. Hitting a strong vocal chord with other singers, making the air in the room vibrate with it...well, I nearly said it's better than sex!.

I played in such bands during the 70's, most notably the country rock band 'Palomino' doing the pub and college circuit. Three of Palamino my oldest friend Chris Bradford who is a brilliant singer/songwriter (as well as being my fly fishin guru!) Mark Hankins, who now sings and plays lead guitar with the New Seekers and myself used to go out as backing singers on recording sessions, very lucrative back then.

The 80's found me pretty much right in the middle of the music business, as PA to the record producer Pip Williams. This saw me involved in a great many studio projects alongside artists such as Kiki Dee, Barclay James Harvest and The Moody Blues, and meant me being brought in frequently to perform backing vocals. My big regret (apart from all the chunks of money I have blown away over the years!) is having narrowly missed doing a recording session with Dusty Springfield, back then in the days with Chris and Mark. We'd booked for a session at the old Utopia studios in Primrose Hill, for Nona Hendricks (of Labelle) Dusty was due to be involved, but on the day she couldn't make it. The session went ahead (very well I recall), but working in the studio alongside fabulous Dusty would have been a memory to treasure. The 90's apart from a long stint in TV scenery and props became a bit of a 'Lost Weekend'. Nevertheless, here I am now, (post rehab!) in lovely Dorset, with the sea, the Purbeck Hills, my fly fishing and the music. Just keeping it simple, really."

 Mike was once principal clarinettist in the Birkenhead Youth Orchestra. He added drums, bass and backup vocals to his repertoire and co-founded The Rhinestone Rentboys in Nottingham, playing new country and old classics to discerning pub audiences in the 90’s. He keeps his hand in playing the drums for Wasted Youth, a London covers band, when their regular drummer gets tired. He learnt to wear a fedora for the first time with The Refrains and is proud of his ability to do this and play bass simultaneously.

Rob has been playing the drums since he was a teenager. He has played with a number of bands through the 70's and 80's including The Satellites and The Passengers.