About us
The Ardliners were formed in December 1988 by Paul Riley (vocal/guitar), Danny Pickett (bass) Paul Bridge (keyboards) and Chris Francis (Tenor sax) at the Elephant & Castle during a session drinking Jamesons and smoking morrocan hash.
They were joined soon after by the East London connection of Dave Oakley (keys) Brad Turner (guitar) and Mac (Drums) who bought more hash with them.
Rehearsing 3 times a week in a Taxi garage in Kings Cross, they were soon tight enough to hit the streets with what they termed thier Reggae Wall of Sound.
After playing thier first gig at The Coach and Horses in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton where they were offered a support slot with ska-popsters Maroon Town at The Old Queens Head in Stockwell. This set the pattern, every time they played someone from the audience offered them another gig. Playing around mainly around South London and Camden with occasional performances in the Midlands, Stoke and Nottingham and of course Soho. The initial phase of The Ardliners was all over by 1991, they stayed in touch and met up occasionally to jam or write the odd song with everyone pursuing thier own projects. At the start of 2022 they got together again and played thier first gig together for years
at the legendary Gaz's Rockin' Blues.
They are now looking to play at festivals and to bring thier music to a wider audience..
