About

The band was formed in 1998 and has comprised numerous musicians over the years.   At the heart of the band are Alan Coleand Gail Sirmais are talented multi-instrumentalists. The band have been know to turn out as a 3-piece! Down in the engine room there is Bill King the wizard of the fretless and 5-string bass. Martin Rigby adds additional layers of guitar and keyboard as required. A recent recruit is Richard Greenough who is a lead guitarist with dazzling flair who can turn on the style at will.

Alan Cole (caller)

melodeon, harmonica, whistle, acoustic guitar, congas and other percussion, lead vocals

Al’s the “jobbing folky” in the band. Over the years, whatever it is he’s played it, sang it, danced it (drunk it?). “Can you play a bit of Patagonian Nose Flute on this one Al? Yeah, alright then”. He’s also been accused of being a halfway decent caller – well he can’t be that bad or the likes of Whapweasel wouldn’t keep asking him to moonlight!

Gail Sirmais

melodeon, keyboards, soprano and tenor saxophones, recorder, percussion.

Gail is NOT a folky! She might be an outstanding clog dancer who has performed all over the world and brings that innate sense of rhythm and timing to her music; she might have played in ceilidh bands for many year including numerous appearances at major festivals but she’s a classical pianist really. Honest!

Richard Greenough

Guitars

Rich is the band's latest recruit, playing lead electric and acoustic guitars. His sparkling talent has added a new dimension to the " Fagins Pocket sound", a fuller biography will follow soon ...

Bill King

fretless and 5-string bass

Bill is a (not so) old rock and roller and is the latest recruit to the band.  Having the spent the rest of his musical career playing rock and blues he brings an edge to the music which only an outsider can provide as well as a “why don’t we try..” attitude. Just watch out for the red shoes!

Martin Rigby

guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, webmeister

An enthusiastic musician and arranger with eclectic musical tastes and no folk roots (apart from a couple of venerable Steeleye Span LPs in his collection).   Makes the transition from progressive rock into folk in a constant state of bewilderment.  Started as a "fill-in" bass player for the band.   Rumoured to enjoy country music, Martin can occasionally be caught on stage in a stetson!  Purveyor of strange noises from his keyboards and electric guitar, courtesy of an effects box with more knobs than the flight deck of Concorde, and rather more conventional noises from his acoustic!   Legendary (in his own mind) peformer on solo triangle ...