If you cut each member in half they would probably bleed black and white such is their devotion to like minded bands that have gone before them! We give you Special Brew, December's band of the month. In less than a year ... The group are fairly new having formed in February of 2004. But it’s been a non-stop rocket-of-a-ride as the Brew have been packing in venues ever since.  | | Darrell Johnson |
They’ve had the honour to play with former Specials star Neville Staple as well as The Selecter’s Gappa Hendrickson. And members of the band have also contributed to a television documentary about 2-Tone. Not bad considering they’ve only been around for less than a year! Introducing the band Vocalist Simon Kelly explains why the band got together. He said: “We formed Special Brew after watching one of the original Specials play live and felt that Coventry desperately needed an authentic ska band in keeping with the bands that put Coventry firmly on the musical map. “It was soon apparent from the reaction we got that we were right and word soon spread about what we were doing and there has been a fabulous buzz at every one of our gigs”.  | | 2-Tone in monochrome, by Joe Kerrigan |
The full line up of those charged with creating this buzz are: Simon Kelly (vocals), Darrell Johnson (guitar), Simon Ward (bass), Mark Patrick (keyboard), Darren Webb (drummer), Jason Webb (trumpet and trombone), Andy Smith (saxophone) and Gemma Brown (saxophone). The band play a mixture of classic ska songs, but are keen to stress they’re much more than just an average covers band. Kelly added: “Whilst it’s true that most of our set contains covers by bands like the Specials, Selecter, Madness and Bad Manners, a significant proportion of their recordings were in turn covers of original ska classics by the likes of Prince Buster, the Maytals, the Pioneers, etc. | "It was soon apparent from the reaction we got that we were right and word soon spread about what we were doing ." | | Special Brew vocalist, Simon Kelly |
“Just like those bands, eventually we’re gonna be mixing our own songs with those that people know from the 2 tone era. Right now, we’re just having a ball playing the songs we love”. It seems so simple really! Catch the band live If you want to catch Special Brew live in December then you’ll need to go to the band’s website. They’re due to play at The Jailhouse in Coventry on Wednesday, 29 December. It’s the Brew’s only gig of the month, is in aid of the Myton Hospice charity and is an advance tickets only show. How to get featured  | | Singer Simon Kelly. Picture by Joe Kerrigan |
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire's Band of the Month feature aims to showcase the best local musical talent. If you think you and/or your band are worthy enough of a feature then email us at: coventry@bbc.co.uk or by using the address on the right. You can use the same address to contact us with any gig details. All pictures of Special Brew courtesy of Joe Kerrigan.
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