The many bands of Sir Horace Gentleman
Next month, the man who
plays bass with the Specials, founder member Horace Panter, brings
his latest project to Birmingham. This is his fourth band. Not sequentially mind – they all run pretty much at the same time.
The trick is: Horace
is now... going Country. That's in addition to a Blues outfit and a
very purist Ska operation. Oh, and the Specials. Not bad going for a
kid who bumped into Jerry Dammers at Art School in Kettering.
He still loves it, all of it.
Horace Panter is great company: courteous and affable. He is hugely knowledgeable about music and musicians, both local and further afield. He plays in three and a bit bands: blues band Blues 2 Go, and straight-up ska outfit Uptown Ska Collective. And he's also working with Champion Doug Veitch, collaborating with Martin Bell, once of The Wonder Stuff.
But the big band is, of course, The Specials, who started in 1977, reformed in 2008, and are now bigger than ever.
