John Tams
| John Tams | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born |
16 February 1949 Holbrook, Derbyshire, England |
| Genres | Folk |
| Occupation(s) | Actor/singer |
| Instruments | Guitar, Melodeon |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Associated acts | Muckram Wakes, Albion Band, Home Service, Barry Coope |
| Website | www |
John Tams (born 16 February 1949) is an English actor, singer, songwriter, composer and musician.
Tams was born in Holbrook, Derbyshire, the son of a publican. He left school at 15 without any qualifications and went to Chesterfield Technical College where he spent two years on a GCE course, concentrating on the arts. One of his most memorable acts was to undertake an O level in geometry with just the aid of a ball point pen. When tasked with bisecting a line he nobly rejected the use of compasses (since he had none!). He first worked as a reporter for the Ripley and Heanor News, and then as an editor on the Belper News - where he notably interviewed the then deputy prime minister George Brown - and the Alfreton Observer. He also worked for BBC Radio Derby and BBC Radio Nottingham, and as a freelance reporter for the Melody Maker and the New Musical Express.
There was a strong musical background in his family and by the age of 11 he was playing the E flat horn in Riddings Brass Band, and began playing the guitar in his teens.
Tams was a member of Derbyshire folk group Muckram Wakes in the 1970s, then worked with Ashley Hutchings as singer and melodeon-player on albums including Son of Morris On, and as a member of the electric folk group Albion Band. Splitting with Hutchings in the 1980s, he formed Home Service. He is now either fronting a folk-rock band, Home Service (Best Live Act at the BBC Folk Awards 2012) or in a duo with [Barry Coope...Duo of the Year 2008).
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