In the early nineties, from a tiny village in deepest darkest Wiltshire, UK, there came a band with fire in its belly and blues in its heart, and that band was called The Hoax. Their high-energy stage performances gave the UK blues scene a much-needed shot in the arm, and with a string of highly-acclaimed albums, the band went on to dominate the Blues world in the UK and Europe. In 1991, former school friends Hugh Coltman, Jesse Davey, Robin Davey and Jon Amor discovered a shared love of the American Blues greats like Albert King, BB King, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and formed The Hoax.
After gigging solidly around the UK for two years with drummer Dave Raeburn, establishing a reputation as one of the most exciting live acts on the circuit, they signed to Code Blue Records in 1994 and released their debut album Sound Like This to rave reviews:
The last time Englishmen played blues-rock with such flre and conviction, they had names like The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones - Q Magazine ****
Following the success of this album, the band embarked on a worldwide tour, including an extensive tour of the United States, where they opened shows for Blues legend Buddy Guy. In 1995, the British Blues Connection presented them with the award for Blues Band Of The Year and Blues Album Of The Year. A second album, Unpossible , was released on Code Blue in 1996, before the band founded their own record label, Credible Records, and released arguably their finest album Humdinger in 1998 with new drummer Mark Barrett. As this album rode a wave of critical acclaim and commercial success, the band hit the peak of their powers on stage too, performing sell-out shows all over Europe, and opening for the great BB King, among others.
With the blues world at their feet, The Hoax disbanded at the end of 1999 to pursue their own individual projects, but this year they are reuniting to play a handful of live shows around Europe.
The Hoax are:
Hugh Coltman (vocals and harmonica)
Jesse Davey (lead and rhythm guitar)
Jon Amor (lead and rhythm guitar)
Robin Davey (bass)
Mark Barrett (drums)
