Thunderbridge Bluegrass Boys

Five years on and full steam ahead!

The Thunderbridge Bluegrass Boys: Nick Girone-Maddocks (vocals, mandolin and guitar), Martin Schofield (vocals, Dobro and guitar), Brian Schofield (vocals, banjo and guitar) and Jules Bushell (double bass, harmony vocals and occasional mandolin) are probably very familiar to many Maverick readers as an exceptionally energetic, exciting and innovative band on the British and European bluegrass circuit. All local to Wellington, Somerset, I caught up with them in Bristol as they were preparing to headline the evening concert at the 2nd Bristol Bluegrass Day.
Congratulations were in order as I had heard that they were celebrating their fifth anniversary this month. I asked them how they would describe themselves? “Well, probably the nearest you could get would be a non-conformist bluegrass band containing elements of tradition but with a rocking aggression!”
Five years is a good time for a band to stay together, how did they form and where was their first gig? The answer came from Brian, who remembered that their first gig was just over five years ago in 2005 when they performed all the tunes they knew at the Wellington Music Day—all six of them! The band had formed following a trip to Nashville by brothers Martin and Brian in 2004. They were both blown away listening to some very good bluegrass being played live at the Station Inn and felt it was something that they could do. It was there also that they saw how effective a single-microphone was with an all acoustic instrument line up.
I asked the band why they had chosen to go down that route of using a single microphone at their concerts and the reply was “That was the way it was originally done on radio and in the concert halls. We’ve gone through phases of trying additional mics on the one stand, Christmas tree style, but we’ve come back to the single one because it now works best—provided you don’t mind exchanging fluids with each other on stage! You got to know when to back off or move in, otherwise there will be a few clashes. If you want to see this done to perfection watch videos of Del McCoury and Steve Earle.”