Not many UK bands are well known in the rest of Europe; one band that is leading the way to change this is "Blackjack". Their first steps outside the shores of Great Britain took them to Vienna for the SPGMA Festival and Bluegrass Band competition in November 1998. At that time they had been together for only six months and were delighted to take sixth place from a total entry of twenty-four bands. In summer 1999 they played at the second EWOB, one of only two British bands to be there that year and came back in 2000 to play again at EWOB/3.

So who are they? Fronting the band on guitar and vocals is Gary Payne who has one of the finest tenor voices to be found on either side of the Atlantic. His introduction to the music came through his father, Don, who in the fifties and sixties played and promoted Bluegrass and Country Music. Gary started playing mandolin and fiddle in various bands in the UK, and toured the USA with one in the early days.

BlackJack at Roch-e-Dale 1999 (with Pat Francis on dobro)

The youngest and tallest member is Steve Manser, on mandolin. Steve is a new acquisition to Blackjack having joined only this year. He is a talented musician and singer and one of the most laid-back people I know. (I suppose I may have had a small input to his development as many years ago used to teach his father how to play banjo. Steve was two years old at the time!!)

Next comes Sherryl Payne, on bass and vocals, she keeps the whole band together both on and off stage. Holding a strong beat on the bass and adding excellent harmony and lead vocals with the "female touch" she supplies an extra dimension to their performance. Sherryl is the driving force in the bands organisation and administration - dealing with the bookings and making sure all the band get to the gigs at the right time on the right day. It takes a strong personality to do all that and the rest of the band can testify to her effectiveness.

On banjo and vocals is the quiet man of "Blackjack" Rod Jackson. When not providing the driving traditional sound on the banjo he can be found smoking his pipe in some dark corner. Rod is an excellent banjo-man who brings a lot of experience gained in other bands and was invited by Joe Carr and Alan Munde to teach some banjo summer 2000 at Camp Bluegrass held at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas

One other member of "Blackjack" who has regrettably retired from the band is Pat Francis, a respected Dobro player and old friend of both Gary and myself. Pat was an original member and played at EWOB/2. He left the band earlier this year but not before he made his contribution to the bands first CD "Where There's a Will" released last year.

As you hear on the CD they play driving traditional Bluegrass mixed with softer contemporary songs with a touch of Gary's own compositions. When I asked them to describe their approach to the music they said " ….to play well, entertain the audience, have a lot of fun". Titles on the CD include Blue Virginia Blue, Goin' Gone, Say You Won't be Mine, Blue Piece of Paper and of course the instrumental Blackjack They are busy working on a new CD which should be ready for 2001.

"Blackjack" continue to play at Bluegrass festivals and clubs in the UK and Ireland. During this summer they will be taking their music to new audiences at Folk Festivals in the UK.

Blackjack can be contacted through Sherryl Payne at: sherryl@freeuk.com

Eugene O'Brien

Eugene is a banjo-man and sometimes mandolin player from the UK, now resident in Brussels. (banjo@skynet.be)

3rd Feb 2001