Pictures (All)
Live and Event Reports
Photoshoots
Candids
Neil with Fans
Interviews
Articles
Quotes
Audio
Videos
Gif animations
Fanart
with Suede
with the Penguin Cafe
with Barry o'Neil
Soundtracks
with Brett anderson
with Natalie Imbruglia
with the Toques
Theme by nostrich.
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Cam Docherty (lead singer of The Toques / Friends of the Stars ) - Okaloosa Boy
Recorded with and produced by Neil Codling.
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About The Toques
The Toques were formerly known as
Buick 6. The Toques have got the harmonies, melodies and songs that will be sure to capture the wide open spaces of your heart. Whether as an acoustic foursome, or as a full-on electric band, The Toques captivate audiences with their heartfelt and beautiful sounds.
Their debut single through Winnebago Records under the guise of Buick 6 was just the first in a long line of material that the band plan to unleash on the public…..next up is their long-awaited debut LP “Me vs The Tiny Nail”, an acoustic recording produced by the band themselves and chock full of songs of lost love, redemption, passion, drinking and more. But it’s been a while in coming…… …..From the ashes of a previous incarnation of Buick 6, Craig Hamilton (vocals, guitar, harmonica) and Jez Ince (bass, mandolin, vocals) sought out new musicians to help create a band that could flesh out the country-tinged material they were writing.
On the very first day of searching Craig spotted an advert placed by J Bill Summerfield (guitars, vocals, harmonica), himself looking for like-minded musicians. From their first rehearsal the three knew they were onto something. J Bill’s fine guitar playing and songs cut from a similar cloth augmented the sound, and when the three-part harmonies they came up with worked immediately they decided to become a band. For a few months they gigged as an acoustic three-piece, writing and recording over 30 songs together and establishing their name on the Birmingham circuit.
In summer of 1999, Anna Russell (vocals, piano, Hammond) agreed to join the band, adding her fine voice to the mix of harmonies, and also becoming the fourth songwriter in the band. Competition for a place in the set list became ever more fierce and the band spent a few months honing their material and creating a better and better collection of songs.
They were joined by ex-Novac drummer Phil Robinson (drums) and began to gig as a five-piece to great acclaim. Regular live favourite “Drunk on my Porch” became the obvious choice for the band’s debut single, which was released by Winnebago in the August of that year as a double a-side with “Southern Trail”. The band then set about expanding their sound and recruited a variety of musicians in order to bring out hidden aspects and melodies in the material.
Though never becoming permanent members of the band (the players come and go in a revolving door policy due to other commitments and the needs of the Toques), they do help The Toques fulfill their strong potential with instruments such as the dobro, violin, cello and you can expect to see one or more of these extras at any Toques show.
The Toques changed their name to Friends of the Stars in 2004 and they released their album “Lightining and Electrical” with Commerically Inviable Records in 2006.
