The Old Country Crows have their roots way back in 1988 when Gary Virtue and Mark Griffiths first crossed paths. At this time Gary moved to the same Kent village as Mark and, upon meeting, they realised immediately that they had the same musical tastes which were mainly routed in the classic sounds of the 1960’s. By then Gary had moved on from playing drums and was stepping up on guitar while Mark was in the early stages of playing guitar. Their first performances together were around 1993 culminating in the formation of Big Stick – a duo playing covers. A show in 1995 covered the Beatles’ Hamburg years, Beatlemania and Sergeant Pepper complete with outfits and wigs! A show in 1999 contained the first original song performed by Gary and Mark, entitled Lights.

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The coming of the new millennium saw Gary and Mark depart village life and head their separate ways. However, they regrouped in September 2010 when the seeds of The Old Country Crows were planted. Gary had driven the 2448 miles of Mother Road, namely Route 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles in the summer of 2007 experiencing along the way the music, motels and magic of the iconic route dating from 1926. On his return home the experience of the road trip inspired Gary to compose some new songs and Out In The Sun was quickly penned followed by A Different Angle and A Little History. Further songs emerged and following a couple of studio sessions where demos of some of these songs were recorded Gary perceived that the time was right to get them played out on the road.

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A demo of Writing On The Wall was recorded with Ollie Seager in 2009. Ollie was to record the Behind The Rain album and songs for the Listen To Me EP in 2019. Demos of Out In The Sun and A Little History were recorded at Quantum Leap Studios in 2010. The songs sounded good and were ready for the road. Gary’s obvious first point of contact regarding live performance was Mark and following a get-together in September 2010 the story of The Old Country Crows commenced.

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The band released their self-titled debut album in 2013, an album recorded and produced by the late, great Bernie Torme at his studio in Kent. Their Another Christmas Song EP was issued in 2017 and the Behind The Rain album in 2020. The 5-track Listen To Me EP, was recorded at the Behind The Rain sessions in 2019 and was released in June 2021.

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Craig Wild has been the band’s drummer since 2016 and Tim Geer replaced the band’s stalwart bass player, Ian Bottle, following Ian’s retirement in 2020. Mark Griffiths departed the band in 2021 to be replaced by Chris Pike.

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The new line-up went on the road in the spring of 2022 and following a couple of successful years performing at some prominent festivals and venues the band believed the time was right for a return to the studio. Recording commenced for the band’s latest album, Invisible Highway, in October 2023 and was released on 8th May 2024. Proceeding the release of the album a first-ever single, Walls Come Down, was issued on 1st April 2024. A successful Invisible Highway album launch show at the prestigious music venue, The Lighthouse in Walmer, Kent on 17th May 2024 was the springboard for a busy live summer schedule promoting the new album. However, by the end of the run of shows band member changes were once more on the horizon with Josh Hayward joining the band on bass guitar duties and the band’s recording keyboard player, Bryan Orwell, joining on a full-time basis to elevate the sound to a higher level and to assist in recreating the recorded versions in a live environment.

 

With the new line-up of Gary Virtue, Chris Pike, Craig Wild, Bryan Orwell and Josh Hayward heading out on the road in 2025 there is a strong feeling within the ranks that this new line-up could be the strongest so far.