| The Biography of Bryan Josh and Mostly Autumn: |
I can clearly remember sitting in the back of a grey mini van driving away from "The Harney Peak"; a pub situated in the north of the mountainous lake district, after a few pints of shandy. I was only nine years old so the alcohol content had me feeling particularly relaxed. There was a margarine tub with a car stereo jammed in it and on it my brother Andy was playing "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by the Pink Floyd. In those fragile but sublime moments that followed I began to sense a very powerful relationship between music and nature. It seemed the two merged in some kind of organic harmony. I watched the bright night sky shine over the mountains, forests and waters through the front windscreen, while the perfect musical progression of “Crazy Diamond” was cutting the air. It definitely stirred up some kind of emotion in me and from then on Andy would carry on playing the likes of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Deep Purple, Spirit, Roy Harper, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, Queen and many more, not only when we were out camping but at home as well. All of these bands have had a great influence on me but I must say that I feel there is something about the Pink Floyd that got in my blood. I believe they are special in some way. "Shine on you crazy diamond" is still a song I hold as an all time favourite along with the album "Wish you were here". 
At the age of eleven I started messing around with any guitar I could get my hands on, and then bought a nylon string acoustic. My Uncle Brian showed me a few chords - E, A and B7. After a couple of weeks the end of my fingers hardened and I carried on experimenting. I was generally self taught, heavily influenced by David Gilmour and Ritchie Blackmore, although many years later Liam and I attended Leeds College Of Music for a course in technical guitaring and music theory. We tried our best to forget all that crap and got back to experimenting without knowing what we were doing, although the knowledge did become useful as we both taught guitar professionally for a time to earn money in between gigs. I definitely feel that one should play the guitar from the heart and only play what is required for the song,: feeling and sincerity always translates in music. Another area of music which had an impact on me was the Celtic traditional folk sound. My first memory of this was in a bar called the " Wasdale Head Inn" in Wasdale, in the English Lake District at the age of twelve. 
I had been out in the mountains, snow and ice climbing with my father, and I can remember
crawling into the pub afterwards feeling very exhausted and seeing five guys sitting in
the corner by a roaring fire playing traditional jigs and reels with whistles, fiddles,
guitars etc. It definitely had the effect of warming my spirit, there was a fantastic
atmosphere in the crowded room, this music felt very organic, the whole scene was an
inspiration, the mountains and forests outside with the wild snow and ice and inside the
Inn there was this great music, a roaring fire and plenty of ale. From then on I found this
scene very attractive and would often visit bars of the like. I guess this would account
for the Celtic influence that sometimes creeps into Mostly Autumn.Ten years later when camping in Wasdale - the very same valley - I found myself staring out of the mouth of my tent , completely blown away by the bright stars and winter mountains, I was in awe of it all and found myself writing "The night sky". This was the song that first inspired the concept of Mostly Autumn, although the name didn’t exist until two years later. I asked a guy called Troy Donockley, who I had seen fronting a band called "You Slosh"; if he would play some low whistle on the song ; I felt this instrument encapsulated the feeling I was after. He agreed and so the original demo was recorded in 1990. Troy has since become a good friend and a great musical inspiration , he has also played on various other songs of ours. ( It’s worth mentioning that "You Slosh" also played a great part in influencing the celtic atmosphere that is sometimes present in Mostly Autumn, I would also strongly recommend you check out Troy’s recent solo album "The unseen stream" (check www.troydonockley.co.uk). 
The name "Mostly Autumn" came about in 1992 when Liam and myself were drinking
in a pub called "The Newfield Inn"
in Dunnerdale, the Lake District. I knew I
wanted to name the project something to do with Autumn and when out of the blue Liam
pointed to a postcard rail saying "Mostly Sheep", I only saw the word
"mostly" and it struck me and thus the name was created. I have and still do
have a great love for the season of Autumn, apart from the striking colour changes and
fragrances, I find it a very provocative time, very nostalgic and powerful, stunning beauty
alongside a certain air of sadness and yet a great feeling of optimism. The time between
Autumn and Christmas has always been a favourite of mine.Over the next few years I recorded more ideas that were within the boundaries of what I felt Mostly Autumn was; "Winter Mountain", "Steal Away", "Boundless Ocean" and "Out of the Inn" were among these songs and although I did try a few of these in a short live gig as support to another band, the project was still very much a studio one. 
Shortly after this I changed course and got involved in a project called "Under the Ivy"
with a good friend and songwriter called Duncan Rayson. Duncans songwriting excited me a lot and
we recorded some great songs. Sadly, we were unable to take the project any further at that time,
though it is something I would certainly like to re-approach if time would permit in the future.
Then in 1995, immediately after the very tragic loss of my father, I wrote the song
"Heroes never die". The very first recording of this was still under the guise of
"Under the Ivy" and Duncan also contributed some powerful lyrics on the song.
Later on I decided to extend the arrangement of the song and create a band that would be capable
of performing it in a live situation, thus the return of Mostly Autumn, this time as an eight piece
band that could go out and play a full concert, not just a support. From the word go the band
worked very well live, it was always a very powerful performance, we performed some of my early
song ideas and filled the rest of the set with choice cover versions from the likes of Pink Floyd.During this period I felt very emotionally charged as I knew that the death of my father had the direct effect of re-creating Mostly Autumn, and I felt very strongly about writing and recording a CD that would, in effect, be a tribute to what I and many others had shared with my father, Robert Josh. It also dealt with the way one tries to cope with such a situation. My mother kindly offered to fund the recording and it turned out to be the CD "For all we shared" with "Heroes never die" being the heart of the CD. I also resurrected some older ideas and re-recorded them; it was especially enjoyable to re-visit "The night sky" with it being the very first song relating to the concept of Mostly Autumn, I had always felt dissatisfied with it lying in silence since the very first recording in 1989/90 with only a handfull of people having heard the song. 
About six months later; thanks to a "Classic Rock Society" concert we were asked to play at, a certain Malcolm Parker got to hear the CD and signed us to "Cyclops Records for a further two CD’s. He also picked up "For all we shared" and suddenly we had international distribution. The second CD "The Spirit Of Autumn Past" has a photo from inside "The Lion Inn" at Blakey Ridge, on the front cover. This marvellous pub which stands alone on top of the North Yorkshire Moors. I have a personal love for the place and it has also played a large part in inspiring Mostly Autumn, we often still play concerts there. The singing at the beginning of "For all we shared" was my dad directing a few words at me on my 21st birthday inside the Lion Inn. Following the first three CD’s, and whilst supporting Ritchie Blackmore on his English tour, we were spotted by Bob Carruthers of "Classic Rock Productions". It was actually his daughters that insisted he bought the albums. He was incredibly enthusiastic and thus signed us to his label. We have now been with Classic Rock Productions for around nine months and we are all very excited about the future. In brief, this is The Story So Far........ |