Tony has always had a healthy and diverse interest in music, bombarded from an early age by such recording artists as Duane Eddy, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Hank Snow and Johnny Cash, he also had the parallel influences of such singers as Tony Bennett and Ray Charles and Los Indios Tabajaras.
Live music was also a major influence. Being a sibling of the legendary North East musician Jim Hornsby meant that there was normally a guitar being picked, strummed, bought, sold, dismantled, altered or in the throes of being built somewhere around the Hornsby household. “ I could knock 3 chords out from an early age but didn’t start playing properly until my early twenties, when I started playing bass in a couple
of local bands for fun”.
Country music has always been a favourite of Tone’s, offering subtlety, variety and a rich catalogue of classy, intelligent songs to choose from.He has played in many country bands up to and including “The Jon J Paul Band” of the late 90’s. Tony also had an enjoyable spell with North East band “Prelude” and particularly enjoyed the recording side of that liaison.
Bluegrass has also been a major interest with Tony playing in bands such as “The Vinegar Hill Boys”, “The Mountain Dew Boys” and more recently acoustic roots ensemble “Diesel Therapy”. “ One of my favourite collaborations was with John “Hutch” Hutchinson” of David Bowie (Spiders from Mars) fame whom Tony played alongside in the York area for a year or so., playing acoustic country blues and original material of “Hutch’s”.
Tony is particularly interested in the recording side of things, playing original songs/tunes being his real passion but equally the dynamics of supporting multi instrumentalists on stage gives him immense satisfaction.“ I am a self confessed gear snob and love my Ampeg rig to bits” and “ I strive for that warm, rich sustain that valves give”.Usually sitting right on top of Lee’s kick(ass)drum, playing a beautiful MusicMan Stingray 5, Tony is to be found grinning, singing 3rd harmony or watching Lee like a hawk waiting for an opportunity to lift or pull back the song with subtle dynamics.“ I love that shuffle groove, its so much fun to play and Lee is such a cool player, his brush work is great and he can pull the kit right back until it almost disappears”!
What more could you want???
