Hicksville Bombers

Hicksville Bombers are a rockin' trio from Lincoln, England, who play rockabilly, rockin' blues country and rock'n'roll music in a wild and energetic 50's style.Since forming in 1992, they have released two EPs one 10" vinyl and 11 CD albums. They have played with a number of bands/musicians including rhythm and blues star Ruth Brown, Charlie Gracie, Lord Sutch, BR5-49, Kieran Kane, Dead Rekoning, Mike Henderson, Jack Scott, Jets, Matchbox, Dr Hook, Hayseed Dixie, Bill Wyman, Hayden Thompson, Sonny Burgess, BR5-49, Chas & Dave, plus loads more. The Bombers have performed at Hemsby Rock'n'Roll Weekenders, country shows, The Americana at Newark and toured Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Italy, Finland, Holland, Germany, Spain, and New York U.S.A.. In 1997, they were booked to support and Carl Perkins (one of the bands' biggest idols). Their first CD was voted most requested CD in December 1996 on a Seattle radio station. As a result of this they were booked to play a festival in Seattle, USA in September 1997. 2018 has seen the latest line-up with Landon Filer on bass and Paul Saunders on drums (both ex-Jack Rabbit Slim members) their recording of 'Danger Road' hit the number one spot in the UK Rock indie chart and is selling well all over.

The Hicksville Bombers have had a revamp once again- The present Hicksville Bombers line up- Lead guitar - Dave Brown Double Bass - Landon Filer Drums - Paul Saunders, many will know Landon and Paul from playing with Jack Rabbit Slim. They have both contributed a great passion and energy into the band whicjh is reflecting on their album sales and bookings.

David (Guitar/Vocals) started playing guitar at the age of fourteen; within six months he was playing a paid gig with a rockabilly outfit called 'The Rockin' Imps'. However, they didn't stay together long and soon split up. He then joined a more club orientated act 'Sweet Memories' that did a tour of England and The United Arab Emirates. When they split up, he played pubs and clubs in a blues/rock group 'Urban Clearway'. Things seemed increasingly stale and he became more anxious to get on the rockin' side of things again, although there didn’t seem to be much of a scene at the time. He talked to some local musicians and put together a rock'n'roll/rockabilly band playing early Elvis, Dean Martin, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, etc. Although the band went very well the other musicians were a lot older (forty to fifty age group) and he felt he wanted a younger band.

Pete O'Brien (Geordie) had been playing Double Bass since learning his first riff from Lee Rocker (Stray Cats), and was soon playing in various rockabilly and skiffle groups up in Newcastle, but due to joining the Forces he was posted to Lincolnshire where he met up with a few boys one day and started messing about and jamming rockabilly. The newly formed band started playing some pubs and clubs, and soon built up a good following. Bryn Jones Bryn and his wife at the time (he is now with Jules) lived the desperate rock'n'roll lifestyle to the full in Lincolnshire. Bryn had never been in a band before; he got talking to Pete one night and soon borrowed a snare drum and jammed with a guitarist called Andy James. Things went well and they soon formed a band 'The Amboy Dukes' where they played in and around Lincoln. However, things went sour when Pete and Andy developed an ego problem that led to the band splitting up. Dave was in the local job centre when he saw an advert to join 'Cottie and the Alleycats', but when he rang up the job had already been given to another guitarist. A couple of days later Pete was talking to Andy Turner (drummer with Cottie) who told him about Dave. Pete then rang Dave and they arranged a practice session, which went brilliantly, so they decided to form a trio. The name 'Hicksville Bombers' was chosen because Hicksville is the American name for a country town whilst Lincolnshire was renowned for its bombers during the war. In September 1992, they did a live interview on BBC Radio and played a cover of 'Red Hot'. By Christmas, bookings were up to three or four a week and they were approached by the 'The Theatre Royal' to back the pantomine stars singing Christmas carols one Saturday afternoon. 'We played a rockabilly version of every carol we could with the pantomime singers as backing vocalists'. This earned them a lot of publicity and a talent scout asked them to perform in 'Buddy' at the Victoria Palace, London. Although this seemed very exciting they would only have been a backing band to the Buddy Holly look-alike, as they are all front men in their own way they would soon tire of this. As things got more popular they were asked to play Lincolnshire’s top nightclub 'Ritzy' on a Saturday night. The theme was Independence Day. They played straight rockabilly which resulted in a brilliant gig ... especially when two girls came out to the front and started licking their lips and rubbing their features...!!! This resulted in Pete forgetting his words and Bryn dropping his drum sticks! As a result of playing the Lace Webb club, they were asked to play Skegness Rock'n'Roll Festival. Even though this fell on Dave (and future wife Stacey's) honeymoon, they played it anyway. When the date came it was the biggest crowd they had ever appeared before and they went down really well. After the gig they sold out of tapes and had given away loads of promotional cards. Since Skegness, they have played all the main Rock 'n' Roll / rockabilly clubs in the UK including the ultimate venue Hemsby, the top country festival 'The Americana', toured Europe played the U.S.A. and released five albums to date.