History of The Shine

OK, so what do you do when you wake up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning? Well, from my point of view I had a coffee and started thinking back through a kind of "timeline" of The Shine... On this basis, I reckoned it may be quite interesting (if only to us Shinies) to atually log this down before memories fade completely... Here goes....

4th January 2004 - Andy and I met for the first time in Nicky Tam's in Stirling following my finding his wee "want ad" in a Falkirk music store. I had left Must Hang Sally in September 2003 following the band's break up and was bursting with new but definite ideas. Through meeting with Andy, and a few pints, we discovered we wanted the same thing - a working band with no material limits, playing what we wanted to play and with no conflicting egos. We agreed to give this a bash with Andy on lead guitar and vocals, me on lead vocals and guitar.

January 2004 - I gave Iain a call, Iain being a mate of mine and long time conspirator with Unfinished Business. Iain was up for giving it a bash at being our drummer from the outset. With Iain on board, we set up a deal with the Railway Tavern in Dollar as a practice venue and started working up material, auditioning bass guitarists etc. First bass player we tried was Stuart Grant who was to feature strongly throughout the band's history (although he didn't take up our offer to join, going on to form Soul Inferno around this time).

March 2004 - Andy, Iain and I had our first live outing at a jam session at the Weir Pumps Social Club in Alloa with a dep bass player from the bunch of people there.

April 2004 - Colin Nelson joined the band as our bass player. A solid, thoughtful guy, Colin also had the coolest "want ad" I'd ever seen in Sound Control and a WAL bass - the first time I'd ever seen or played a WAL close up. Around this time, the Railway closed, never to reopen. I struck a deal with the Twa Macs in Alva and we had a new free practice venue (whenever it wasn't full of assorted crap, timings & agreements fucked up etc.)

November 2004 - First couple of official gigs as The Shine as a four piece. First was a freebie at the Twa Macs, the second the Dunfermline Christmas light switch on.

January 2005 - Colin decided to leave. We were unaware of any musical differences but Colin had a lot going on aside from the band. We wished him well, he was (and probably still is) a great player.

March 2005 - First properly touted / sourced gig at Forresters in Cambusbarron - WITH NO BASS PLAYER! First re-entry of Mr Stuart Grant!

June 2005 - We are introduced to Mark (TSD) Palmer by Lynz Hepburn of Soul Inferno (Stuart Grant link No. 3). Mark immediately gelled with where we were going AND HAD A VAN! This started one of the most inventive period in the band's history where (1) we gained a circuit of prestige gigs (2) developed our sound - turning Mark from a talented bass player to an unadulterated rock monster (or was it the other way round) (3) recording our first "proper" demo CD in Andy's home studio (4) conquering the internet with a diverse web presence (5) following Mark's lead and adopting silly pseudonyms! Andy is deemed the sexiest member of the band by female audience members.

August 2005 - Our first Gig In The Glen in Dunfermline as headliners (with Soul Inferno as second on the bill). This was followed by the conquering of Edinburgh, a city we still love playing.

June 2006 - Just before a gig in Edinburgh, Iain feels a TWANG and amuses us all by showing us that his thumb's got no movement and closely resembles a piece of lifeless rubber! He goes on to play a 3 hour gig only to discover the following day that his tendon had snapped and started it's ascent back up his arm! Thus followed 6 months of surgery, complete rest and then physiotherapy. At this time, Iain was told that he may never play drums, knit or masturbate again (OK, I made up the last two...)

August 2006 - Mark decides to leave the band and concentrate on his other band The Screaming Meemies. Bass recruitment begins again....

August 2006 - Mr Stuart Grant, believing Soul Inferno were about to fold, joins The Shine officially as bass player. As a result, we pretty much drop the silly pseudonyms and discover that we can be just as powerful (or in fact even more) with a funky drive from the rhythm section.

February 2007 - Reports of Soul Inferno's demise appear to be grossly exagerated and there is a conflict of gig dates. After huge heart searching, we suggest to Stuart that he'd be better concentrating on rebuilding Soul Inferno - his baby.

March 2007 - Before leaving, Andy, Iain, Stuart and I head off to Craigmont Studios in Glasgow to record a new professional album. If this was to be seen as Stuart's swansong, it's a fucking cracker! Back to the recruitment process... Andy and I placed various want ads and came up with a few options.

April 2007 - On one night in Rosyth, we auditioned a couple of guys, the second being Mike Gudgeon. Now, here's an interesting one... Mike had previously contacted me about the bass position just after we'd appointed Stuart, Mike's married to Lesley of David Beattie's Lucky Tile who we were vaguely associated with (and who knows my mate Martin) and, in fact, Mike was one of the local cops who put an untimely end to Gig In The Glen 2006 (although he was the innocent party of the couple of cops).

Anyway, back to the audition... There was no comparison! Mike was offered the job right there and then. We were ready to "Set a Pidge on ya!". Mike is also, without any offense to those who went before, the most talented bass player we've ever heard - bringing power, funk, rhythm and a musical knowledge WAY in excess of any of us. Andy has also lost his crown, in audience terms, as sexiest member of the band - this having been claimed by Mike!

May 2007 - Mike's first gig with us (after only a couple of practices) at Alloa Town Hall for the CAMRA Real Ale Festival.

February 2008 - Back off to Craigmont Studios, Glasgow to record our third album (with third consecutive bass guitarist).

August 2008 - Mike is not only the longest standing bass guitarist in the history of The Shine, he's also the most prolific as we pick up regulalrly prestigious gigs. Mike is also the most in tune with the rest of us as he shares the ethos of fun without ego and is a normal decent family guy.