Agenda van muziekcafé Scooter’S Drachten

Nige Bray Singer Songwriter from Manchester England!

From the dark streets of Manchester to the tranquility of the New Forest, the rooftops of Harlem to the underground clubs of Hamburg, Nige’s journey through life is reflected in his songwriting. With a rare display of raw energy and passion, Nige draws the audience into his world where they are confronted by honesty, wit, and even occasional anger. A great singer songwriter in the best rock tradition, Nige can be found trading his wares across Europe, through England, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, USA and Luxemburg.

Van de donkere straten van Manchester naar de rust van het New Forest, de daken van Harlem naar de underground clubs van Hamburg, Nige's reis door het leven wordt weerspiegeld in zijn songwriting. Met een zeldzaam vertoon van ruwe energie en passie, Nige trekt het publiek mee in zijn wereld waar zij worden geconfronteerd met eerlijkheid, humor, woede en passie voor muziek. Een geweldige singer-songwriter in de beste rock traditie, Nige heeft zijn weg gevonden in heel Europa, via Engeland, België, Duitsland, Nederland, Noorwegen, Zweden, Denemarken, Frankrijk, de VS en Luxemburg.

http://nigebray.com/

Nige was born in Manchester. One of his earliest recollections was when he was six, watching Elvis on TV and getting his first fix of Rock ‘n Roll. On his own admission, this was a defining moment - the music bug had well and truly bitten. Through his early years Nige found himself listening to more and more music with certain acts coming to the forefront of his attention; The Faces, The Doors, T-Rex, Bowie, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and the Stranglers to name but a few. All these would show their influence as Nige’s musical style began to define itself. At sixteen Nige joined the Royal Navy and learned to play guitar and sing on the flight deck of one of Her Majesty’s frigates - entertaining billions of fishes along the way! Before leaving the Navy at twenty one, Nige had traveled around the far East and down to Australia. Back in civvy street, Nige started writing songs on the beach and pretty well ended up living as a beach-bum for the summer. By now it was the eighties and the then current ‘Coaster’ magazine gave Nige’s first demo a five star rating - a sign of things to come! Next on the agenda was putting a band together but this proved hard as few musicians at the time had the courage to commit to a band that would be playing totally original material. Nige put this on the ‘back boiler’ and concentrated on recording in various studios in London and the South. Eventually the time seemed right and Eko Fisk were formed with Benny England on Guitar, Martin Dunford on bass and Mike Blackburn on Drums. The band recorded ‘Just another boy’, but life conspired to delay their first live gig for a further ten years! Next step was to join the well established Rock ‘n Roll band Late Again where Nige took the role of lead vocalist and recorded the CD ‘Just Killing Time’. After three years with Late Again, it was time for a change and Nige formed his own working band The Moneymakers. This was Nige really putting his money where his mouth was - the band was going to perform 100% original material and only time would tell if it would pay off. The Moneymakers became an immensely popular band and frequently headlined at the famous Marquee club in London - Nige’s gamble had paid off. The band went on to record ‘Throwing Stones at the Puppets’ which rapidly sold out. Nige’s next target was the USA, but owing to other commitments the band couldn’t make it, so Nige went to New York alone and spent three months playing the clubs and bars of Manhattan, Harlem and the Village. Whilst in the States Nige made a now very rare live recording - the original does still exist though! Between the heyday of the Moneymakers and the time in New York, Nige did some work as a duo under the name of ‘The Rainmen’. Nige’s partner in the duo alternated between two virtuoso guitar players; Mike Miller from Nemesis and Darren Hodson, who’s current band ‘Stunt Monkey’ contain majority of the classic Moneymakers line-up. Having experienced the more liberal attitudes to live music in the States, Nige found himself “totally disillusioned with old Albion” and left for Hamburg. He soon found himself touring Germany and Scandinavia and once again decided to form a band. Every time they rehearsed it rained, so Jurgen Tanzer (guitar and violin) thought to call the band ‘The Rainmen’ - strange how some things go in circles isn’t it! The band became very popular among the bars on the Reeperbahn, with the song ‘Wounded’ being a firm favourite with the fans. This song gave it’s name to the superb live album ‘Wounded’ which is possibly one of the most technically demanding recordings Nige has been involved with to date. Sadly the band didn’t last too long as once again Nige’s ambition outweighed that of the other members, with the exception of Jurgen, who played alongside him for a while and to this day remains a firm friend. The next two years were spent on the road touring Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France and the Czech republic. There were also return trips to the USA - all this being done whilst Nige was still based in Hamburg. The next album was also to come out of Hamburg - ‘Nige Bray and the Resident Aliens’ was recorded live at Hamburg’s Academy and proved highly popular right across Europe, quickly selling out. Bringing us up to date, Nige left Hamburg and lived on the road for the next ten years. In his own words - “It was amazing when I realised how little I needed. A bag for clothes and CD’s and guitar. I didn’t have a home as I was constantly on the move, city to city, country to country staying in hotels and with friends. I must have clothes all over the place!”. Nige is still based in Europe. Writing new songs for future releases. If you see him playing in a bar, you should buy him a Guiness. You wont be disapointed.