About Us

Constance Redgrave

Bass - Vocal - Washboard - Percussion - Hawks trained on request.

Seemingly quiet and gentle, Constance's skills and experience are a matter of legend among the intelligence community. Smile when you buy that CD. And you WILL buy it........

When and where were you born?: I was born in May 1955 and raised in Hollywood California.

How did you come to play in the UK?: I graduated from the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles in 1982. I came to the UK in 1983 with an LA gothic rock band called Christian Death and been living and working out of London ever since.

How did you become bass player?: Process of elimination really. I tried a bunch of instruments and was pretty bad at all of them. Bass is such a subliminal instrument that I was 26 before I even realised that that was what I heard when I listened to music. It was love at first play and I am daily so grateful to have found it. Life is worth living when you have a passion and this is mine.

Who have been your influences?: In our house we always listened to The Grand Ole Opera (country music) every Sunday night and my parents were big Glen Campbell and Herb Albert fans. My transistor radio let me listen to what I now know to be the British Blues invasion in the sixties and seventies. The Stones, Beatles, Led Zeppelin and all the usual suspects. I also am a child of the west coast and so loved the Beach Boys, Mamas and Papas, and Crosby Stills, Nash and Young for their harmony work. I also still love AC-DC, Aerosmith and a wonderful 1970's LA band called X. Today, my tastes continue to be just a varied and catholic. My regular listening stretches from St Germain, Moby, Zero 7, Chuck E Weiss, Peggy Lee, REM, Paco De Lucia, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Frank Sinatra. It just depends on what my mood is on any given day.

What equipment do you use?: I have a 62 Fender precision bass with 4 year old strings tuned to BEAD (no G string). (Stop Press: It can now be revealed that recently, at an undisclosed location, the first string broke! Music share prices plummeted worldwide.) This is plugged into a Selmer Treble and Bass 50 amplifier. On the percussion side, I have a Zydeco washboard which is played with bottle openers, dog brushes and an egg whisk. Aside from these, I also have a multitude of percussion toys, boingy, rattley, chirpy and ringy things in great variety!

Who else have you played with in your career?: Well, aside from the band that brought me to the UK, Christian Death, I have had the pleasure of playing with quite a list of people and bands! These include Otis Grand, the legendary Steve Cropper, Anson Funderburgh, Debbie Davis, Misdemeanor, Hank Wangford, Chris Jagger, Pierre La Rue, Wes McGhee, Companions of the Rosy Hours, Audio Murphy, Boo Hewerdine and The Colin John Band among a host of others. Its been fun!

You passion is obviously your music, what else do you enjoy?: Thats a pretty wide and catholic range too! Serious literature, particularly Frank Herberts' classic "Dune" science fiction series, anything with scope and the power to move me or challenge my mind. Many forms of art, from photography to Japanese lithography and European sculpture, the colours and shapes I find fascinating. Some of the galleries I have visited are beautiful in their own right, the spaces and forms of the buildings themselves is something I really enjoy. Building techniques ancient and modern and the combinations of styles I think are an art form in themselves. Space can be warm and alive. The ancient art of falconry and birds of prey are something I have always loved. The idea of forming a partnership with a life so wild and free, of feeling the thrill of a silent, sleek hunter on the wing is a beautiful experience. I enjoy the open spaces and wild countryside they occupy too. There is something about complete freedom I find irresistable.

Commendations and Testimonials.

These are things other people have said about Constance:

"This woman lays down a f****** groove!"
Curtis Salgado - Santana, Roomfull of Blues, Robert Cray

"I had to go look to believe this was a chick playing bass!"
Bobby Parker - Born under a bad sign

"This Lady is just about perfect. What a feel!"
Steve Cropper

Two band flashbacks. Click on the images for a larger picture.

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