Forty4

In The Beginning…

Once upon a time in the North-West of England, there were five working musicians, sick and tired of playing music to entertain the binge-drinking masses on their local entertainment circuit. Necessity being the Mother of invention, 2007 became the birth year for a new project to play music to satisfy the soul rather than the wallet and thus, ‘Forty4′ were born.

Into the Melting Pot…

With a mix of five individual musical backgrounds, no one was really sure what was going to come out in the wash. Throwing in sounds from Funk, Pure Blues, Soul, Americana, Jazz, Rock, Roots and New Orleans, it was never going to be a British sounding affair. Songs were pulled in from sources as far from each other as Eric Clapton and The Meters and after two years of fine tuning, the band created what they describe as, ‘Rhythm & Groove’.

A Hard Road…

Not being a standard-issue sound on the live circuit, gigs were difficult (though not impossible) to nail at first. Ignored by the usual Simon Cowell worshipping fraternity, ‘Forty4′ managed to gain interest from within the North-West UK Blues circuit, notably at ‘BJ’s Blues Club’ in Lancashire.  A major breakthrough for the band came in 2010 when they were invited to open the Great British R&B Festival at Colne on the British stage, broadcast live on BBC radio.

The Journey Continues…

With an established sound augmented by rich, vintage vocals, tasteful guitars, understated keyboards and one of the tightest rhythm sections in the UK, delivering some of the strongest, American-feel grooves this side of the Atlantic, it was only a matter of time before the bands unique identity would spill into their own songs. Whilst still paying homage to the past Masters, ‘Forty4′ continue to seamlessly weave their self-penned material into a show that begs to be taken beyond the shores of the UK; maybe even back to the spiritual musical locations that inspired them to ditch the day-job music in the first place…