John Idan (Yardbirds)

There's more to this than we know... I'm listening to whispers from the Garden of Idan, -it's pretty transportative, somehow I get echoes of temple Krishna and columns of 10 mile willows that no longer sway in the orthodox neighborhood but serenely stand in the shadows of our shared dreams where we all belong. And then there's definitely Anthony Kaedis or maybe it's closer to the source, could be George Clinton himself sneaking through the Kali Yuga. Man, there's a strong strain of the Isleys running thru this too along with the other George in the temple. And as for the long time we've been on this road, don't hold your breath, we've only just begun...
Steve Goodale about 'The Folly'
The John Idan Group
John Idan - Vocals and Guitar
John was born in Royal Oak, Michigan just a few miles from the edge of Detroit. Being interested in music from a very young age, he soon discovered the guitar as his favourite instrument and started having lessons at the age of 7.
Throughout the next years, he developed his musical craft and played in several bands in Detroit. When John’s band “The Natural Blues Band” broke up, he went on a holiday to England where he met former Yardbirds Top Topham and Jim McCarty and became the singer and guitarist in their blues band. Playing four to five times a week all around London, John soon became known as “Detroit” John Idan. .
In 1994 John left the McCarty Band and formed “Realfire” and started writing songs. When the Yardbirds reformed John was asked to be their lead vocalist and bass player, so he left Realfire, laid down his lead guitar and joined the Yardbirds. Since then, he has recorded two albums, Birdland and Live at BB King’s, with them and toured the world several times..
“Graduating from pop to blues” when he was about 15 years old, John, over the years developed a great interest in other kinds of music such as soul, folk and country..
He finally started recording his own songs some years ago and is now able to show off his great musical talent in his new, completely self-produced and played debut solo album “The Folly”, in which he combines all the music he is “into”..
Toby Drummond - Drums
Did you ever go to see a West End musical and felt how your feet slowly started moving with the beat of the drums – be assured Toby Drummond was your man.
Toby was born in Vancouver, Canada and later moved to the UK where he studied drums with Bob Armstrong at Masterclass Studios and then went on to Long Island, New York, where he worked with Dom Famularo and Jim Chapin.
Over the past years he has played in several musicals such as The Rocky Horror Show, Dancing in the Streets, Cats, Grease, Wicked and many more. He has also played with numerous pop artists such as Shaun Ryder, Russell Watson and The Seahorses and appeared on television shows like TFI Friday, Top of the Pops and Jim Davidson Presents.
With a track record like this, he steadily built up a reputation as one of the best drummers around, who is often referred to as ‘having the gift of being able to play music like he wrote it’.
Fox - Bass
Fox (just the one name, he doesn’t carry spares) was born so long ago even his own mother cannot remember, but while still a tender youth he briefly played the trombone before discovering a bass guitar ‘lying around’ at school. A band of chums soon formed under the title Ophelia and they supported a few headliners including, Lindisfarne, Manfred Man and Bad Company. Indeed, he claims that for a time he even had Paul Rogers as his ‘personal’ cab driver!
Some years later Fox was persuaded out of retirement by one John Wicks of The Records who exclaimed, “I didn’t know you could play bass!” and promptly seconded him into his new line-up. Fame and fortune of course did not follow but, back in the swing of things, opportunity did, allowing Fox to rub shoulders with a host of pros from the likes of Charlie Whitney and Sam Kelly to Memphis Slim and Snake-Boy Johnson.
His range of musical style has ranged from pure blues through country to prog and heavy rock with the usual chart pop and Rock‘n’Roll thrown into the mix and he will cite many of the great bands of the 60’s and 70’s as his major influences. He seen the back of quite a few lead singers on the London circuit playing both originals and covers and has even managed a couple of British TV appearances.
His connection with John Idan was made through an audition with the Yardbirds and the blues jam circuit in west London, where most people were heard to exclaim, “I didn’t know you could play bass!”…
Andy Waterson - Guitar
Andy had received his first guitar as a Christmas present at the age of eleven and soon afterwards took some classical guitar lessons, which paid out: Within 18 month he was gigging constantly, performing his repertoire in local restaurants and at weddings. At the age of fifteen he bought his first electric guitar and a load of old Cream records at a local record fair, Sgt. Pepper and Hendrix soon followed and the Electric guitar took its place as Andy’s main Instrument.
After completing a degree in Chemistry, and for the past decade, Andy has worked as a professional musician. Based in London, he has toured extensively both nationally and internationally and in many musical environments. In addition to his electric, acoustic and classical guitar work he has been called upon for his skills on ethnic instruments such as the Oude, Mandolin, Banjo and Bouzouki.
Over the years Andy has shown his versatility working as a composer, performer and session player, he is as at home at the R.S.C or R.N.T and as a sideman at the Jazz cafe. Andy currently works in the West End and Lectures in guitar Performance at Guildford’s renowned Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM).