Hackett Live

Current line up for 2023:
Steve Hackett - Guitar & vocals
Nad Sylvan - Vocals
Roger King - Keyboards
Rob Townsend - Sax, flute, percussion & keys & vocals
Jonas Reingold - Bass guitar, twelve string & vocals
Craig Blundell - Drums & vocals

Roger King - keyboards

Roger King

Roger King - Keyboards
(Photo by Ben Fenner)

Roger spent the first twenty years of his professional life basking in the anonymity of the recording studio, making records with Gary Moore, Snoop Doggie Dog, Jamelia, Peter André, and a number of more obscure artists. He's worked on enough pop and house remixes to drive a lesser chap to despair and programmed, recorded and mixed soundtracks for movies (Cliffhanger, In The Name Of The Father, etc.). We fondly imagined that he had not, like every other musician on the planet, contributed wallpaper music to a series of horrible satellite channel documentaries, but a brief perusal of the Discovery catalogue dashed our hopes.

Largely through an accident of West London geography, Roger first worked with Steve in 1995, recording and mixing much of the original Genesis Revisited album. Four albums later, and with tenure apparently secured, he elbowed his way onto stage in 2001 and has remained behind the keys ever since. We've given up counting the albums, DVDs and concerts that Roger has contributed to over the years - too many for anyone's sanity, we're sure, but he and Steve remain on talking terms and he still seems to be enjoying himself. It's not easy to tell, of course - he's a taciturn cove...

Equipment :
Studiologic, Novation and Alesis Keyboards
Apple's Mainstage Software
MOTU Audio Interface

Rob Townsend - sax, flute and percussion

Rob Townsend

Rob Townsend
Photo © Kenny Mathieson

Despite a propensity for hitting things in a broadly rhythmic fashion, Rob Townsend started playing the sax when he got fed up with carting drums around and has never looked back. He's played nearly everywhere with nearly everybody but he's particularly made his mark in jazz, having worked with, amongst others, Sam Rivers, Eddie Henderson, Bill Bruford, Django Bates, Tim Garland, Laurence Cottle and James Taylor of JTQ fame. Using complicated algorithms and powerful computing, we can reveal that he has played more than 100,000,000,000,000 notes in his career to date, some of them more than once. Rob also likes to don a powdered wig and scowl like Beethoven whilst he writes and records reams of music for TV, film, computer games and other media. You can read more about these activities, and gain some insight into his peculiar sense of humour at www.voodookazoo.com

Rob joined Steve's band in 2001 deploying his barrage of woodwind on 23723.716 gigs and can be heard on most live albums and DVDs since. His unique talents also grace To Watch The Storms, Wild Orchids, Out of the Tunnel's Mouth, Beyond the Shrouded Horizon and Genesis Revisited II. As a hobby, Rob collects dust.

Equipment:
Selmer Super 80 Series 3 Soprano Sax with Selmer S80 H Mouthpiece
Selmer Mark 6 Tenor Sax with Aizen LS mouthpiece
Rico Jazz Select Reeds
Altus Flute with Miguel Headjoint
Trevor James Masters Series Alto Flute
TC M2000 & G Major Effects Processors
AMT microphones

Nad Sylvan - vocals

Nad Sylvan

Nad Sylvan
Photo © Jaak Geebelen

Nad was born in the USA but raised in Sweden by his grand parents. He began playing the piano at the age of four and started composing almost immediately. His first performance at age eight ended very suddenly with Nad fainting over the keys from sheer nervousness... a great way to start!

Having worked with ABBA's Michael B.Tretow, Rednex (remember Cotton Eye Joe?), being in and out of various bands, trying to write "hit songs" but never being in sync with time, Nad's dreams of success had almost come to an end when he was accidentally lured back into the prog rock scene...

In 2008 Nad was involved with the highly acclaimed Unifaun album; a project of original music paying homage to the 70's era Genesis.

The Unifaun album, and in particular Nad's voice (often described as a mix of Gabriel and Collins) caught the attention of Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings and Transatlantic. Together they formed Agents Of Mercy in 2009 and have released three albums to date; The Fading Ghosts of Twilight (2009), Dramarama (2010) and The Black Forest (2011) as well as touring extensively.

Then one day an email arrived in Nad's inbox: "Hi Nad, this is Steve Hackett..."

More at:
www.nadsylvan.com
 


Jonas Reingold - Bass guitar & twelve string

Jonas Reingold

Jonas Reingold
Photo © Joel Barrios

Jonas Reingold is a 48-year-old international bass player, composer and producer originating from Sweden. He started his musical career in the early 80ies. After his studies at the Music University of Malmoe, Sweden, he begun taking on freelance jobs, doing several session gigs, everything from Top-40 to musical/theater. Those early years he dedicated to expanding his professionalism, he was involved in many recordings and took on the musical lead of the highly acclaimed Sweden Bass Orchestra, a 6 bass - 1 drummer jazz piece. They released a CD with jazz-legend Niels-Henning Örstedt Pedersen as a prominent guest in 1995.

He joined the Swedish prog group The Flower Kings in 1999 and started to record and tour with the band. Their output to this date accounts to seven studio albums and many live recordings. A few years later he started his own progressive rock project Karmakanic. The debut release "Entering the Spectra" was a success and laid the foundation for the band that has until today put out five full studio albums and has been touring the world since 2004. Moreover, he is a long-standing member of UK-based "The Tangent", having contributed to seven studio albums and live tours. If that weren't enough, he is part of the legendary Swedish progressive outfit Kaipa with eight recordings since their comeback in 2002. Other prolific appearances include the 2016 release of Anderson/Stolt "Invention of Knowledge" featuring prog-god and YES vocalist Jon Anderson.

Jonas has been involved in over 130 CD recordings and done thousands of gigs over the years and is probably the most recorded musician on the leading German progressive record label Inside Out.

More at:
www.jonasreingold.se
 


Craig Blundell - Drums

Craig Blundell

Craig Blundell
Photo © Bruno Zampalione

Craig has been playing drums since the age of 3 and is now recognized in the top handful of "Progressive" drummers, educators and clinicians in the world. Over his decades of playing and studying, he's dedicated hour upon hour studying his trade and gradually built up his profile and reputation over the last few years as a true ambassador for British drumming on the international scene. Millions of people a day listen to his recording and programming work on television and radio globally every day.

More at:
www.craigblundell.com/home.html
 


Nick Beggs - bass and related paraphernalia

Nick Beggs

Nick Beggs

Though Nick was originally schooled as an illustrator, at the age of 18 he chose an escape route through music after... yes you guessed it, dropping out of art school.

He signed his first record deal with EMI in 1982 as a founder member of Kajagoogoo, co-writing and co-producing the multi million-selling hit Too Shy along with the rest of the band's three album back catalogue. By 1987 he'd moved onto his second project, Ellis Beggs & Howard (RCA records), co-writing the hit single Big Bubbles No Troubles, and three years later he joined progressive folk band Iona, recording two albums and touring extensively.

Enough of a career for one man, you might think, but no: Nick has lectured on music at the The Academy Of Contemporary Music, The Guitar, Bass and Drum Tech, and The Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts, enjoyed a stint as A&R manager for Polygram Records, and toured and sessioned for John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Steve Howe (Yes), Kim Wilde, Howard Jones, ABC, Midge Ure, Right Said Fred, Belinda Carlisle, Englebert Humperdink and Cliff Richard. As a noted exponent of the Chapman Stick, he has also recorded two solo albums, Stick Insect and The Maverick Helmsman, which he continues to perform live throughout Europe.

Still a keen draftsman, Nick never takes to the road without a slew of sketchbooks to chronicle his travels. He also enjoys secreting himself in small places. Possibly to sketch - we just don't know...

More (steel yourself) at www.nickbeggs.co.uk and www.kajagoogoo.com


Amanda Lehmann - guitar and vocals

Amanda Lehmann

Amanda Lehmann
Photo © Peter Tomkinson

After a musical career spanning over three decades, singer/songwriter/guitarist Amanda released her debut solo album Innocence and Illusion in 2021.

Originally classically trained on the piano, as a teenager Amanda fell in love with the power of the overdriven guitar. Self-taught, she went ahead and learnt tricks and tips from experienced players, all the time creating a style combining influences of rock, blues and folk.

Amanda's career has incorporated thousands of live shows, performing extensively around the UK with her own band in the 80s and 90s and latterly touring with Steve Hackett between 2009 - to date. She has previously released a solo EP 'Shadow' in 2010, and a duo album 'Wazzoon - Through the Haze' in 1994 (remastered 2021). In 2022, Amanda released a single 'One Last Spin' which she wrote to highlight the harms from gambling, then followed by a Christmas single 'An Old Christmas Day'.

www.amandalehmann.co.uk


Gary O'Toole - drums, percussion and vocals

Gary O'Toole

Gary O'Toole
(Photo by Ben Fenner)

Drummer, singer, guitarist, teacher, and veritable polymath; Gary has been a top professional musician for over thirty years.

In addition to worldwide live appearances with Bucks Fizz, China Crisis and blues maestro Stephen Dale Petit he has a studio CV as long as your arm, drumming for top producers Marius De Vries and Richard Niles, and for a staggeringly diverse range of artists from Mel C to Kylie Minogue to Chrissie Hynde.

Not content to keep all this talent to himself, he's also found time to set up his own music school, teaching Steve Sidelynk (Madonna) and Coldplay's Will Champion, to name but two.

Gary has been a fixture in Steve's band since 2000, underpinning countless gigs from Stockholm to Santiago. He also caressed, cajoled and battered drums on, and lent his inimitable vocal talents to, the studio albums To Watch The Storms, Wild Orchids, Beyond The Shrouded Horizon and, of course, the latest release Genesis Revisited II.

To find out more about Gary's music school, please visit: www.gotomusicschool.co.uk

More at: www.gotomusicschool.co.uk

Equipment :
Mapex Acoustic Drums
Roland V-Drums
Sabian Cymbals
Evans Drumheads

Lee Pomeroy - Bass

Lee Pomeroy

Lee Pomeroy

Lee is an award winning composer and producer. Alongside writing partner Martin Price, Lee has composed music which can regularly be heard on television and other media.

Lee is also a sought after session musician and has performed around the world with a diverse roster of high profile artists including Take That, Rick Wakeman, Three Friends (with former Gentle Giant members) and It Bites.

He also has his own progressive rock band Headspace (also featuring Adam Wakeman) who were nominated in the Best New Blood category of the 2012 Prog Rock Awards.

Lee first performed with Steve's band in 2010 for a Japanese tour. He returned again for the UK tour in 2012, played on seven tracks on the Genesis Revisited II album and is now a member of the band for the Genesis Revisited live shows.

A lifelong fan of both Steve & Genesis he feels "Absolutely honoured, chuffed and excited to be involved in the album and tour. It's quite literally a dream come true for me to share the stage with Steve playing a set of Genesis songs; they've been my favourite band for over 30 years and I've been rehearsing for this tour since I was 14 years old!"

He recently sold his precious Mellotron but remains upbeat!

Equipment:
Fender Jazz & Rickenbacker 4003 Bass Guitars
Shergold/Richards Double-neck Guitar (12 String Guitar/4 String Bass Ð build by Chris Richards)
Line6 Variax Guitar
Roland Midi Bass Pedals
EBS Amplification
Ernie Ball Strings

More at www.leepomeroy.co.uk

Phil Mulford - bass guitar

Phil Mulford

Phil Mulford

Phil Mulford-Bass-The Final Frontier...

Phil returns to the fold in the autumn of 2011 after playing on the 2000 Tour of Italy with Steve.

He has been one of the UK's busiest Session players over the past 10 years. Chaka Khan, Alexandra Burke, Kylie Minogue, Lemar, Mica Paris, Nik Kershaw, T'Pau, Rick Astley, Ruby Turner, Beyonce, Lionel Ritchie, Leona Lewis, JLS, Annie Lennox, Ronan Keating, Westlife, Beverley Knight, Take That, Will Young, The Bee Gees, Paul Young, Lewis Taylor, Leo Sayer, Atomic Kitten, Tom Jones, Donna Summer and many others have had Phil make a low, wobbly sound with them.

He has a few group CD's out, two with the great Scottish guitarist Malcolm Macfarlane as the Mulford/Macfarlane Group, Jamming Frequency (1996) and Bright Lights, Big City (1999) and an album with fusion group First Light titled Field Day from 2007, which features guitarist Ronnie Johnson.

In his spare time of which he has none, Phil likes swimming, cycling and motorsport.

More at www.philmulford.co.uk

Dik Cadbury - bass and vocals

Dik Cadbury

Dik Cadbury

Multi-instrumentalist Dik began his professional music career in 1971 with University Jug-Folk band Totem and went on to tour and record with Decameron from 1973, initally as bassist, vocalist and fiddle player and then as guitarist. When the band split in 1976 he opened Millstream Recording Studio in Cheltenham, installed John Acock as engineer and sought more live action. He joined Pekoe Orange in 1978 and shortly after that auditioned for Steve Hackett's new touring band. He joined John Hackett, Magnus, Hicks and Shearer in what Steve has referred to as his 'dream team', recording the much loved studio albums 'Spectral Mornings' and 'Defector'. In 1980 Dik and Decameron lyricist Dave Bell formed the jingle company Orijingles and a retro pub band The Teenage Idols to showcase their songwriting talents, and in 1983 Dik teamed up with former Manfred Mann singer Mike D'Abo to form society party band Mike D'Abo's Mighty Quintet, still performing today. Dik also joined international party band Top Catz as guitarist and MD. Following Millstream’s closure in 1989, Dik branched out into voiceover work (www.voiceatility.net), photographic modelling and acting, famously dying in an episode of the BBC's Dalziel and Pascoe. A solo album 'About Time', co-produced by John Acock, was released in 1999 (more at www.dikcadbury.com) and he continues to write with Pete Hicks and Dave Bell as well as in his own right, occasionally performing solo. He has recorded and performed with numerous artists, including The Manfreds, Steve Ashley, Marcus Foster and many others. Twenty-nine years on from 'Defector' Dik is delighted to be back in the Hackett fold.

Dik played bass with Steve in Las Palmas and Lugano 2009.