Gerry Coyle

Hi guy's, I'm Gerry Coyle from Northern Ireland. I first got into music around the age of 10, just around the time my mother passed away. I was brought up as an only child but had a close bond with all my cousins as I grew up. My father was a fantastic country guitar player & he always wanted me to be a player but at around 10 or 11 I just wanted to run about out in the sun & play with my friends ha, ha!!
Just shortly after my father past away when I just turned 12, I heard a band called 10cc & as soon as I heard THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE, & that beautiful bass line by GREAME GOULDMAN, I knew then & there I wanted to be a bass player. I didn't really know what bass was or why it sounded so different to a normal 6 string guitar but I had to find out.& the guy that explained it to me was my cousin PAUL FORD. PAUL was more like a brother to me than a cousin & him & his brother JIMBO went out of they're way to get me a HOFNER semi acoustic bass. I couldn't believe it!
I started working out songs like ART FOR ART SAKE-10CC & WALKING ON THE MOON-THE POLICE & was just loving every minute of it. Within about a year or so I got my first chance to play in a real band. It was unreal, I was getting to do something I really loved & get paid for it. It was just a small country band & my 1st bass note was a bummer ha,ha!! I was still at school at the time & most of my class mates couldn't believe I was out gigging & getting money as well.
I used to visit my cousin PAUL'S house steady to learn bits & pieces about playing & 1 day I landed in & he said "check these guys out". It was STEELY DAN & the album was AJA. I'll NEVER forget hearing that album for the 1st time, it just blew me away. My whole outlook on music changed that day when I heard JOSIE, HOME AT LAST, I GOT THE NEWS....etc I knew then what type of music I needed to listen to & play.
From then on I kept playing in different bands & bringing in a few bob for My aunt GRACIE "G" who I looked after as she didn't keep so well. GRACIE loved music as well, & had a great ear for music even though she never played an instrument herself, & one night as she was watching THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST on telly she nearly broke her walking stick trying to knock downstairs to get me to check out a guy on bass who was just new on the scene. It was MARK KING of LEVEL 42. The guy just knocked me for six when I saw him, & the band was unreal. As the years past I played in a band doing covers & our guitar player left, so we needed someone that could sing & play as we had a lot of work on, but we just couldn't get anyone & I took the bull by the horns & decided to give guitar playing a bit of a go.
I really ended up enjoying it, but I didn't think I would because my heart was in bass playing, but I didn't have a choice at the time. I still play mostly guitar today but I just love bass at heart. Unfortunatly Gracie passed away in March 1990, I'll forever miss her.
I'm working on my own songs at home now on CUBASE & having great fun doing it. I hope you guys out there like some of the stuff I do. I'm sure my Dad would be proud of how I came on through the years, after all it was him that wanted me to be a musician, so I dedicate this site to My Mum, Dad & Gracie "G". Hope you guys like the music, God Bless, Gerry