About Me
The Why & Wherefores is a dynamic five piece band swinging all the way from roots to rockabilly, taking in some reggae and latin beats along the way.The Why and Wherefores have been gigging all through 2007 and recorded a live gig in Huddersfield in July. They've been in the studio this month recording an album due out at the end of the year . It's a whole album of original songs - a cool mix of beats and grooves, played on guitars, fiddle, drums and percussion, tuba, lap steel.They've just got back from the Bentworth Blues festival and The Small World festival in Lincs.The band was formed at the beginning of 2007 when the duo, Druce + Jones, found itself bursting at the seams. Druce + Jones released "Songs from The Silver Band Room" in 2004 and played live sessions for Paul Jones on BBC radio 2 and Woman’s Hour on Radio 4 .They've toured widely , taking in a range of venues and festivals including Dingwalls, The Borderline, The Great British R&B festival, The Ullapool Guitar festival, Bushy’s Big Wheel Blues festival , Sidmouth festival and Mettmann Blues festival in Germany.About the Band members....Emily Druce has released two solo albums (The Guilt Trip released in 2000 and New Day in 2002) .Both albums received extensive airplay, from the likes of Bob Harris, Mike Harding and Paul Jones. http://www.emilydruce.co.uk
Solo, Emily has opened shows for Odetta, Lonnie Donnegan, Mary Coughlin and The Groundhogs.
She grew up playing musical instruments from the age of five and began song writing and gigging in her teens. She currently also sings with a hot club style jazz band and leads song writing workshops in schools.
She teamed up with Steve Jones in 2001,to form Druce + Jones . She has always been recognised for being more than just a blues woman and The Why and Wherefores sees her using her powerful vocals to drive and float through the boundaries of blues and jazz to somewhere else"Outstanding young blues singer" The Guardian"acoustic blues played to a fantastically high standard" Mike Harding . ...Steve Jones has been making and playing guitars since his teens. He has played in a duo with his twin brother, and in Leeds based roots band “The Pantsâ€. Steve has also worked on music for television, including a highly praised documentary for Channel 4 called 'Love me Tender'.
Steve teamed up with Emily in 2001 to form Druce + Jones. They met at The Burnley blues festival when Emily commissioned Steve to build a resophonic guitar.
Steve’s talents as a songwriter and arranger are evident on Songs from the Silver Band Room and in The Why & Wherefores’ live shows. Steve currently also runs a small company called Jones Kendall , making a range of acoustic guitars.
Since the release of “Songs from the Silver Band Room “ Steve has been compared to Ry Cooder and received many accolades for his guitar playing, which powers it’s way with an ordered chaos through the Why & Wherefores’ new songs."Steve is a gifted guitarist, exceptional on this album" Sunday Journal, Northern Ireland"Steve Jones' guitar playing is very, very impressive and varied" Folk on TapMartin Wydell joined the Why and Wherefores in 2006 (after Druce + Jones searched ebay for a tuba player ) .
He began playing the tuba at school, which involved the character building task of getting it to school in a pushchair !
Martin spent over ten years playing with the Queen’s Lancashire regimental band, and played for several years with Sellar’s Engineering Band in Huddersfield.
He currently also plays with various Dixie bands.Marc Layton-Bennett began playing drums at 7 and began gigging and recording at 12. He studied music technology at Huddersfield technical college, before moving to London to join The Star seeds .
As a session drummer Marc has appeared on the National Lottery show, Channel 4’s The Drop Dead show and various pilots for the BBC. Recent sessions include Darren Brown’s Russian roulette and séance programmes and Monkey Magic.
Recent touring bands include percussionist with Cellorythmics and drummer with blues band Joshua Blue. Pop appearances include Meeker and Bliss and also hip hop/rock band Bushnut.
Mar’s theatre credits include working with Gecko theatre co on The Tailor’s Dummy and with Cartoon De Salvo on Pied Piper of Hamlyn and he is currently performing RamayanaJohn Barker
Since 2004 John has made a number of appearances with Druce + Jones and more recently with The Why and Wherefores.
A blues player in his own right he has appeared at various festivals including Burnley , Colne and Sidmouth .
John also currently plays with the roots, blues and rock band Slider who recently backed US country singer songwriter Tommy Womack on his UK tour.
