Oyster Band

Oysterband
Oysterband headlining the 2006 Wickham Festival
Background information
Origin	Kent, England
Genres	Folk rock, electric folk, folk punk
Years active	1976–present
Website	www.oysterband.co.uk
Members	Alan Prosser Ian Telfer John Jones Dilwyn Davies Al Scott Adrian Oxaal
Past members	Will Ward Cathy Lesurf Chris Taylor Ian Kearey Chris Wood Russell Lax Lee Partis Ray Cooper

Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is an English electric folk, folk rock, and folk punk band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976.

The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram, and under the name Oyster Ceilidh Band played purely as a dance band at first. The name Oyster comes from the group's early association with the coastal town of Whitstable in East Kent, known for the quality of its oysters. Their first album, released under the Oyster Ceilidh Band name, was Jack's Alive (1980) on the Dingles record label. Subsequent albums, as Oyster Band (sometimes The Oyster Band) were released on the band's own Pukka Music label: English Rock 'n' Roll: The Early Years 1800–1850 and Lie Back and Think of England, followed by Liberty Hall and 20 Golden Tie-Slackeners.

The lineup of the band changed over these albums. The first recorded line-up was:

When Chris Wood left the band to go travelling in Canada, he was replaced on bass guitar by returning founder member Ian Kearey. Cathy Lesurf subsequently left to join Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band, and Will Ward also departed so that by the time they recorded Lie Back and Think of England the personnel had settled down to John Jones, Ian Kearey, Alan Prosser and Ian Telfer. For the album Step Outside they added Russell Lax on drums. Step Outside mixed self-penned songs, often with a political theme, with reworkings of traditional standards such as Hal-an-Tow.

After the 1987 release Wide Blue Yonder Kearey left the band to be replaced by Chopper (real name Ray Cooper). Subsequent albums included Ride, Little Rock to Leipzig and the June Tabor collaboration Freedom and Rain. Following this the band name changed to Oysterband. Drummer Lee Partis (who for several years was billed only by his forename) replaced Russell Lax for 1992's Deserters before Holy Bandits in 1993 propelled the band to the forefront of a booming folk rock scene alongside bands such as The Levellers.