Odd Man Out

ODD
MAN
OUT

About

ODD MAN OUT

Odd Man Out are a 5-piece bluesy rock band from Wiltshire.

Bios and influences for Odd Man Out

INFLUENCES

SIMON SMART

Lead Vocals

My influences include Todd Rundgren, The Tubes, Utopia, The Stranglers, Curtis Stigers in his Jazz Blues guise, Andy Roachford, Judie Tzuke, Billy Joel, Jethro Tull, Jonie Mitchell, Supertramp, The Blues Band and Paul Jones and Dave Kelly, Xtc.

CHRIS SKELTON

Bass Guitar

I started my path to stardom back in 1978, as a young man growing up in Batheaston, where I fell in with some local lads rehearsing in the village hall. They didn’t have a bass player, the following week they did.

The band soon went out on the road playing all over Bath and the surrounding area, gaining a large following. The band was called QUIET.

Around the mid-70s I started to write a lot of the music we did, which gave us a healthy set of originals and covers, we were a Rock band in the genre of Lizzy and AC/DC Sabbeth and are own stuff.

1980- 81 – We had an invitation to go professional, however, I had applied and been accepted to join the Army, which I did. 10 years later I returned to Bath to find the old band still doing the pubs, they didn’t quite get the record deal.

1990’s – Formed a band called Odd Man Out, playing Rock, blues, covers etc. This went on for several years with various lineup changes and front men/women.

Post covid – I put together our present lineup originally going out as No Fixed Abode but due to a folk outfit having the same name, we have gone back to Odd Man Out, trading on past glories!!!

Influences include Roger Glover, Deep Purple, Geddy Lee, Rush,

Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy, Alan Lancaster, Status Quo.

Equipment:

Music man stingray, Godin Z11, Music Man stingray studio sub, Peavey Ritcher 500watt combo.

RICHARD VISE

Guitar

I started playing guitar at 14. I played in variety of bands in Bristol in the 1980’s. After a hiatus of over 30 years, I began playing live again regularly 2 years ago.

Early influences include Chuck Berry, BB King and later Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Pete Townsend and Paul Weller.

ROBERT GRABOWSKI

Drums

I started playing piano and singing in a choir at a young age, where I learnt the basics of music, but I found my passion when I switched to the drums at age 12. In my late teens, I tought myself the bass guitar, and took singing lessons at college, whilst studying drama and musical theatre. I joined an early incarnation of Odd Man Out on drums at 16, and have been playing with them on and off ever since, including a 5 year stint as frontman, and as fill in on bass occasionally. After a few years hiatus for personal mental health reasons, I was very happy to be asked to rejoin, and look forward to many more years on the road.

Individual Influences: Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Roger Taylor, Phil Collins, Lars Ulrich, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Robert K. Weiss.

Band Influences: The Beatles, Queen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, The Blues Brothers, Guns N’Roses, Metallica, Shinedown, Black Stone Cherry, Volbeat.

VINCENT CARLYON

Keyboards

Since the age of 12, I was mesmerised when I discovered that the father of my friend could play keyboards. Ok, maybe not keyboard’s as such, but more like the old double keyboard organ with foot pedals that nobody can seem to be able to give away these days! Anyway, I would say that this person was my first influence into playing music, in particular, keyboards. After spending much time sitting on the floor, studying and listening to him play, I then got my first keyboard at the age of 15 and this is where my journey started. I have been in a few bands over the years, playing in Bristol, in and around Bath, as far down as Cornwall, Winchester etc. I enjoy all styles of music and happy to give anything a go, however, I definitely have a soft spot for the Blues!