who are the austin beats?
Ever wanted to know who the Austin Beats are? Well now here's your chance, read on to find out who the Austin Beats are, what gear they use and what makes them tick!
Lee Chapman (Guitar, Lead Vocals, Band management)Lee is the brains of the operation. Fronting the band with electric and acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Lee's energetic stage performance and powerful voice make each gig and memorable experience! Lee has years of experience fronting professional function bands and is also a well known solo performer playing acoustically around many venues in Norfolk and Suffolk. As well as this Lee is one half of the popular Len 'n' McCartney Duo and teaches Music Technology to 6th Formers around the lowestoft area.
James Burrows (bass guitar, Backing vocals)James is the bass guitarist for the Austin Beats. James has been playing for many years in various different original music acts around the country and first started his function band career with Lee and Rick in the Len 'n' McCartney Band. Among James' other talents are double bass (which sometimes makes an appearance with the Austin Beats) and the occasional Acoustic guitar. James uses an 1952 Re-issue fender Precision, an Original Vox Bass 125 amp head and an 1x15 ampeg classic cab.
Ric Decruz (Drums, percussion)Rick plays drums and percussion for the Austin beats and previously played with Lee and Andy in Watershed before joining Lee and James in the Len 'n' McCartney band. Rick has a special talent for learning to play any style of music well and took to the challenge of mastering retro rock and roll! Highlights for Rick in the Austin Beats set include Wipeout and the Monkeys Theme.
Andy Robinson (Piano, Organ, Backing vocals)Andy is an accomplished pianist and keyboard player. Andy has played keyboards with Lee, Rick and James over the years in various bands and is also a talented bassist for another suffolk based band. Together with Lee, Andy is the 'ears' of the band taking care to make sure everything sounds as good as it possibly can by working the sound desk in-between (and sometimes during) playing songs. Apart from performance work, andy has also done a large amount of recording and production.
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