IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

BOB FOX JOINS HOME SERVICE

Home Service is pleased to announce that we have secured the services of Bob Fox as our new lead singer, following the news that John Tams has decided to step down.

Long regarded as one of the great voices of British folk song, singer and guitarist Bob Fox has been deeply influenced by the working class culture and industrial folk song of his native County Durham and has become a first rate exponent of storytelling through song –Home Service is delighted to have him on board.

Bob worked alongside John Tams and Graeme Taylor, taking the role of “Songman” in the National Theatre’s highly successful West End production of War Horse, and is looking forward to a brand new role alongside Taylor’s fiery lead guitar and Home Service’s stirring brass and rock-solid rhythm sections.

Home Service was originally formed in 1981 from the creative nucleus of the Albion Band line-up that produced the classic Rise Up Like the Sun album, with Tams and Taylor feeling the need to explore more contemporary themes in the songs and musical interpretation.

During its relatively short life in the mid-eighties, Home Service produced three albums (all still available from Fledg’ling Records) and headlined at major festivals including Cambridge, Cropredy and Dranouter. They toured extensively, but found arguably their biggest audience when they provided music for Bill Bryden’s ground-breaking production of The Mysteries trilogy, which ran for many years at the National Theatre.

Cut to 2011 and the band made a dramatic return to prominence with the best-selling Live 86 album and a string of major festival appearances, followed swiftly by further success in 2012 when they won Best Live Act at the Radio 2 Folk Awards.

After a period of inactivity, Home Service made a triumphant return to the stage with a powerful and emotional performance at Fairport Convention’s Cropredy Festival in 2022, stunning an audience of 20,000 – now, the band is back to full strength and raring to tread the boards once more.

Bob Fox (vocals, acoustic guitar), Graeme Taylor (guitar), Andy Findon (saxes, flute, piccolo), Michael Gregory (drums), Rob Levy (bass), Steve King (keyboards, sax), Shane Brennan (trumpet), Andrew Lester (trombone).

“The brass play like the Devil’s own pit-band, the rhythm section lay down an immovable foundation and Graeme Taylor’s guitar can strip paint” – R2 Magazine

The Broadstairs performance is Bob Fox’s debut.