I have wanted to be a performer since I can remember.
Memories include, being part of a Bananarama cover group at junior school performing for an elite audience
of dinner ladies, devising drama/dance productions with my cousins to be performed in front of the family
and honing my singing skills in my bedroom at the age of 9. With hairbrush in hand and mirror on cue,
I could be found dancing along to anything from Bob Dylan, Iron Maiden or Kylie Minogue
(the 1st time round) – Don’t ask! I started writing my own songs at around the same time and continue
to do so
I grew up in a ‘loud’ house in the middle of no-where.
Music was always blasting out of someone’s room – I especially loved Sunday mornings when my dad would
put on my favourite Eagles album which could be heard from one end of the house to the other, vibrating
with the words …. ‘take it easy’.
Childhood, music related highlights include: falling asleep
in the car listening to Bob Dylan, having a record player with flashing disco lights and my older brother
being into heavy metal (this gave me unlimited access to that genre of music). Lowlights include: asking
for a ‘Dream Maclita’ like the one in Paul Young’s song ‘Love of the common people’ and not getting one for
Christmas – he actually says ‘dream to cling to’ – this evaded me for years! My parents had no chance of
finding the elusive ‘Dream Maclita’!
Since then, my ambition was to have a degree in performance
so why I chose Business and Finance is anyone’s guess. Eventually I found myself on a performing arts
degree which left me in good stead for going out on my own as well as creating weird and wonderful ‘happenings’!
Nowadays, with various bands behind me, I have several
collaborations including working with Howard. Howard is a lot of fun as well as patient, enduring hours
of my ‘can we play that bit again’ perfectionism. We’ve earned ourselves a residency at the Crown Inn,
Oakengates, Telford (see other page – Open Mic Nights). We’re pretty eclectic, playing folk, rock, pop, country,
indie and whatever takes our fancy. I’m presently having a bit of an eighties phase which is presenting us
with some interestingly angled acoustic versions. So all in all it’s a lot of enjoyment.
Essentially, I love singing and can’t think of anything
else in world I would rather be doing, it’s just a shame that I have to have a day job to keep the bread
coming in!
This website is designed and maintained by Howard Bell. All the content is the property of Francis-Bell and may only be reproduced with permission from Clare or myself.
