The Line Up

Quite a long time ago I remember my Dad getting well and truly fucked off with the crap music I used to listen to as a young lad. I was listening to some real shit at the time that will not get mentioned here on these pages!! This led to him either buying or recommending Thin Lizzy's Adventures Of which is a greatest hits album and was a great turning point in my life as I finally found the stuff I wanted to listen to. I still have the album today on vinyl and if anyone ever finds a copy on c.d I will gladly take it off their hands!!

This was just the start of course, as my record collection soon started to heave with albums by Nazareth, U.F.O, Van Halen, Magnum, M.S.G, Scorpions, just about any NWOBHM album that got released and of course, every Thin Lizzy item I could possibly get my hands on. All the shit soon got thrown away and was replaced by the finest material of the time along with some crap as well; OK, I bought a Manowar album (we all make mistakes don't we?) Then came gigs, 1st one, I think, was the afore-mentioned Manowar which was an experience I shall never forget and this started the ball rolling. Kiss, Judas Priest, Scorpions, F.M., Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Gary Moore, Black Sabbath, Badlands, Ugly Kid Joe, The Darkness, Queen, Grand Slam soon followed along with of course my beloved Thin Lizzy.

As anyone who has been bitten by the ‘rock bug' will tell you, once you've got it you'll never lose it and the path has finally led me to point where I've teamed up with the rowdy bunch of vagabonds commonly known as Sour Mash. To be honest I could not have a better group to front and I am the luckiest guy around, I hope the others don't read this they'll piss 'emselves!!

Anyway that's about it really, before I finish I'd just like to say that we have the greatest bunch of people who follow us and without you lot there would be no Mash. So, it's a big, big thank to you to all the Mashmen and Mashette's and remember: Keep it live, keep it loud or the karaoke man will get you! Till the next time … and there's always a next time.

P.S. I prefer dinosaurs to space.

Rich doesn't do biographies.

The first record Nix bought was Ernie by Benny Hill....... Luckily his reputation was saved with the 2nd record he bought, Blockbuster by Sweet.

Nix started playing drums at age 13 as he fancied a lass doing drum lessons, drummed for five years and then realised that he needed to put a lot more time in to get any good at it, so he bought his first guitar off his best mate in March '78 for £10, and joined his first band in April '78.

A year later Nix joined Johnny Mercury & The Quicksilvers and did 2 years on the pub/club circuit - they wore out 5 drummers.

Through the 80's Nix formed numerous loud, original rock bands (Valhalla, Haalem and Schaeffer) until the dark years took over - Clubland! Nix got through many bands of various degrees of embarrassment, his final stint with a club band ended on New Year's Eve in a fight with the drummer (he won!).

Nix' fave bands are Van Halen, UFO, Thin Lizzy and, currently, The Darkness. His fave guitarists are Jimi Hendrix, Michael Katon and Dave Gilmor.

Nix fave food are kebabs and his fave drink is Newcastle Brown ale.

So you know what to get him!

Now of an age where the word ‘veteran’ can be applied to his CV, Joolz has worked with all the greats, including Sooty and Orville the Duck. Sheffield City Hall, Birmingham NEC and Wembley Arena are just some of the places he hasn't played, and probably never will.

He joined Sour Mash as part of his Community Service (it was either that or a fine); a penance for the crime of chicken bothering and owning a Busted album (it's his daughter's; honest).

He has no hobbies to speak of but he quite likes biting his nails and scratching his scrotum (though not at the same time).

As a child growing up Shaun was fed a healthy dose of all things country by his good ole ma n pa! Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Garth Brooks, to name a few. But it was while at home with leg in plaster age 15, watching an old Mavericks video that he decided to take up drums. ("Paul Deakin, their drummer, was the coolest mo fo I'd ever seen!!")

Since then he's been bashing his way through country, rock, indie, pop, dance and everything in between (except jazz!!)

When not drumming, Shaun can be found cheering on the mighty whites (LUFC), skipping around the park and holding hands with the missus and the dog, drinking anywhere (pubs, clubs, front rooms, bus shelters, park benches, etc, etc), or hugging 8ft speakers at raves!!