Well, by now, you might know that we're an acoustic duo, that we're based here in Leicestershire, that we've reformed in 2008, and that we have a CD due this summer and gigs on the way. What you probably don't know though is how we reached that point, so our individual biogs are to the side and here is the story of Evangeline (the first time!).
Pete & Ian first met and became friends in 1995 - a friendship that has continued outside of music, with them being 'best man' at each others' weddings. In the autumn of that year, with Ian performing as a solo artist and Pete as one half of a duo with brother Rob they became the two resident acts at a weekly acoustic session in The Barley Mow pub on Granby Street in Leicester city centre. Paid a wage of £20 each and all the beer they could drink it was a deal they couldn't turn down !! However, in the December Rob had to cease performing and so the lads got together to keep the session going.
It quickly became apparent that there was a musical chemistry between the two and with Ian's original material to draw on, and a list of covers, they quickly built up a set of material that meant they were soon playing further afield than just the Barley Mow.
1996 was the big year. Writing for a duo gave Ian a new impetus, and songs like Judy Swings, Come Home & Chocolate, plus the support and encouragement of producer/engineer Simon Squire, allowed Evangeline to release an eponymous EP that summer which sold out via gig sales alone. The gig list expanded - including one wild one at The Royal Mail on the day England beat Spain in Euro 96 - and in August the band 'warmed up' for local legends Diesel Park West at the city's Abbey Park Festival. September saw a trip to London, playing at Bunjies folk cellar in Soho, and October brought a headline gig at The Mitre in Stourbridge ( a special one for Wonder Stuff fan Ian!). In November 96 the diary shows the duo performing 13 gigs as the diary filled up, and the impetus took us to a headline spot at the city's esteemed Bayou Club in late January 1997.
In the spring of 1997 the duo expanded to a four piece as drummer Mark 'Morph' Yates, and bass player Andy Denny joined Evangeline. The gigs continued, and some of them were very special, but the band sound only ever fitted some not all of the writing, and the politics of band life meant that - slowly but surely - Evangeline fell apart. Nobody's fault, just the way of things. Pete, as you will read, went on to join several bands (most successfully in The Mile) and Ian took a few years out before reappearing as a solo artist in 2005.
Well - now we're back ! If you can come along to the gigs please do - as comments on Evangeline's myspace already reveal the old ones were classics, and there will be new songs as well as old. If you can't get to see us, you can still get to hear us - recordings are imminent, and CDs will be available through this site
Thanks a million for your interest - see you soon,
Pete & Ian - Leicester, April '08