about the musicians

Barry (Badly Drawn Buddhist) began writing songs at the age of 14 and has recorded and performed music in various bands for most of his life. Songwriting is his way of connecting and sharing life experiences with others and his song lyrics often have an edge and a surprise, mostly for him! He also enjoys performing with poets and actors, producing and recording their CD's and voice reels.

Sometime in 2005 he made the decision to finally 'put himself out there' as a songwriter, knowing that if he didn't do it then at the tender age of nearly 55, then he never would! Along the way, he has been really lucky to work with a lot of other wonderful musicians in various 'bands'. Quite a few of these people have become close friends who have believed in him as a songwriter and inspired him in their own ways to write his songs and get outon stage. Here are some biographies and backgrounds of people currently in the band, helping Barry getting his songs 'out there' and some others who have left the band but continue to occasionally play with us and know us as friends.

Ian Hay

Ian hails from County Durham, and in the seventies, He learned and performed with his first band, “the Blintz Band” in the then popular working mens clubs in the North East. The band eventually split and Ian joined a couple of local bands and eventually became a resident ‘weekend’ drummer in a local club, backing the club acts. He found that he was earning more in a weekend than I was in my day job, so goodbye day job!

Drums unfortunately had to be sold to pay a debt, then Forty years passed, He lived his life, moved to Bristol, raised a family and an out of the blue call from my old Blintz Band mate, led to a reunion and they wrote and released an album – “gods golfball” in April 2022. Playing drums again re-ignited Ian's enthusiasm for playing and his fellow band members, whilst also living all over the country preferred the ‘studio’ environment. Ian hankered after live performances again. so he answered an ad in Gumtree and Barry gave him a call. So here he is, proud to be a Fridge Mechanic!

Angel Cleary

Angel is a passionate vocalist from Cornwall who fell in love with singing at school, where she formed a Green Day cover band who performed at school events and to anyone who would listen. Angel spent a lot of her youth working with fellow musician and brother, Jack Cleary. They grew up making music together and he has influenced and encouraged Angel to work towards a career in music.

Angel studied music for several years and recently graduated from BIMM Bristol where she achieved her degree in professional musicianship. Angel is part of The Women's Collective, where they perform and record choral arrangements, and has been a backing singer for artists such as Chrissie Huntley and Anna Anise. Angel aspires to make a career of teaching and performing music of all kinds of genres all over the world.

Kaz

Kaz is a vocalist from Bristol with a lifelong love for music. Starting out with a passion for singing, she was a part of a college band of friends that recently parted ways due to everyone moving away. Although their early focus was on rock covers, Kaz discovered a deep interest in songwriting, finding it to be a meaningful way to express herself and navigate personal challenges and started working on her own solo project.

After recently completing a music performance course at college, Kaz is excited to continue her musical journey by pursuing a degree in performance and songwriting at BIMM Bristol this September. She looks forward to expanding her skills and knowledge while remaining dedicated to both performing and writing music

Ollie

I first started playing guitar when I was a teenager, saw someone on the television doing and thought it looked cool. No idea who that was, and in any case it turned out that guitars don't actually make you cool if you aren't cool already. I do love a good songwriter though, especially the ones that combine rich lyrics and deft, melodic (though not uncomplicated!) music - Kate Bush, was a long time paramour, and I absolutely loved the Decembrists, as a result of whom I started trying to write songs (dreadful, almost to a fault) about history and literary characters. I spent a while trying half heartedly to gestate a sort of prog Bruce Springsteen band. This went nowhere, but then I discovered classical music and started trying to play the piano.

Not terribly sure where the time's gone since then but I certainly wasted a lot of it. Barry appeared quite by magic in my life this year.. He writes songs with mood, hooky sensibility and thoughtful lyrics and, since playing with his group, I've realised that I should have joined a band years ago.

Friends of the Fridges!

One lovely feature of our band is that some long standing band members have wanted to move on, play in other bands, perhaps unable to commit the time to do gigs and rehearsals, or left the country altogether! However, it is also very special that some of these people have been able to continue to contribute along the way, popping up to support gigs when band members cannot make it, or guesting on CD recordings. Our last CD Resilience had 5 guest musicians appearing, who added so much to the music, and the fun.

So, here are a selection of some of those no longer playing full time in the Fridges, but still contributing as musicians and friends. And much valued too!

Evie Rainey - Alas, has chosen to move back to New Zealand in June 2020 after playing in the band for over two years. She brought her warmth, lovely singing and amazing musical dexterity to many of our songs, often taking the lead and delivering the song very powerfully. We will certainly miss her. She was the first member of our family on my wife Sarah's side we have ever played with! We are hoping she can still contribute virtually to our music occasionally - perhaps adding some vocal harmonies and lines when we make our next CD. That would be very special. Travel well Evie!

Celia Duplock has been a good friend and fellow musician for over 35 years, appearing in nearly every band we have formed since the early 90's. Sadly, she found she could not keep up coming to gigs and rehearsals and needed to concentrate on other aspects of her life. She formally left the band at the end of 2019. Her contribution was huge and is much missed, so we are hoping that somehow she can come and guest in the band when she can, perhaps singing on new CD's we do. We really hope so. Ce lives near Cirencester where she works as an artist, teacher of macrobiotics and representing contemporary artists.

James Anderson played with the Fridges for over 10 years, probably longer. He is a much valued friend and one of those acoustic bass players who can play a song almost without having heard it before. Over the years he played with the band at many festival and club gigs, as well as many of our CD's. He left the band a few years ago to explore new territory and is now a member of The Rock and Roll Angels, another Bristol based indie band. But he continues to guest with our band when our bass player cannot make a gig, and also appeared on our last CD, Resilience.

Last updated on 14 October 2024.