The band was formed in 2018 and is made up of five highly experienced musicians (well look at our photos). We won’t say what the combined age of the band is but we can confirm that no Botox, face lifts or nose jobs have gone into the making of The Amber Band. Oh, and we have stopped appearing in spandex and sequins if that was worrying anyone (at least in public we have).
These are the instruments we own – er, we mean “play”:
- Kevin Quinlan – electric and acoustic guitars and vocals
- Simon Martin – bass and backing vocals
- Denise Quinlan – keyboards and vocals
- Paul Shirley – saxophone and flute
- Ian Kirk – percussion (congas, bongos, loads of other stuff) and backing vocals
Meet the band:
- KEVIN QUINLAN
Kevin always said he wanted to be a musician when he grew up until he realised you couldn’t do both. At one point a career on the stage looked a distinct possibility when Kevin was auditioned by the popular male dancing troupe, “The Chippendales”. Having oiled his muscles and tastefully dancing through his routine, Kevin thought he had given a particularly winning performance. However, he never heard anything back – which surprised him as the judges said they were going to put him on their “short list”. He still wonders what they meant by that.
Anyway, dancing’s loss was The Amber Band’s gain and Kevin sings and plays the electric and acoustic guitars in the band. He still sometimes allows himself a little gentle swaying onstage. However, we do want to reassure audiences that “You Can Keep Your Hat On” is no longer part of the band’s set list (following a court order after a gig two years ago).
- SIMON MARTIN
After playing in bands at school, including an appearance at the legendary Sunderland Empire theatre in 1974, Simon developed his musical ambitions when he moved to the East Midlands in 2001. He worked with a variety of local bands such as Platypus, Back In Time and Shades of Blue until finally joining up with The Kon-Tikis for two years, playing 60’s covers in pubs and clubs throughout the region. Simon is a multi-instrumentalist and plays guitar, drums and saxophone in addition to bass guitar.
As the bass player in The Amber Band, Simon has the main responsibility for ensuring the band follows the two golden rules of music – (1) you start together and (2) you finish together.
- DENISE QUINLAN
Denise has been playing music since the age of seven when she began taking piano lessons. Much of The Amber Band’s sound comes from Denise’s keyboard playing which adds significantly to the texture of their songs. As a classically trained pianist and flautist, Denise used to think that all the good music had already been written by men wearing powdered wigs in the 17th century. That was until she met Kevin and began playing in bands with him – when she realised that the best music had in fact been written by men in powdered wigs.
- PAUL SHIRLEY
Paul has played saxophone and flute for many years in a variety of bands ranging from big bands, jazz ensembles and function bands. Paul, Kevin and Denise have worked in bands together for the past 25 years. Before the formation of The Amber Band they played in a function band called “Nightshift” and performed at venues as diverse as The Café Royal and Woburn Abbey. Paul knows all the John Coltrane and Charlie “Bird” Parker licks but has his own unique sound – a mixture of Coltrane and Bird!
Apart from The Amber Band recordings he has also appeared on a folk album by Ed Scully and Tom Page entitled “Don’t Let the Music Police Take Us Away”.
- IAN KIRK
Ian plays an amazing range of percussion instruments which adds tremendously to the sound of the band. He provides a versatility that you can’t get with a regular drummer. When Ian knocks on the door you want to tap your feet! Ian has a noteworthy musical pedigree having played with members of the famous 1970s band, Showaddywaddy. He continues to play in a duo with Billy Norman the current bass player in Showaddywaddy. Ian has been fortunate enough to play in some rather exotic locations including yachts in the South of France and in various venues in Singapore. The other members of the band own yachts – but only play in the bath with them.
