Sam kelly's station House
Stormy Monday Blues.The Blue's Head.
London SW13. 16/2/09

The legendary music venue was packed for the debut of the new line-up of Station House.
the band was created to host the regular session at the Station Tavern, in Bramley Road London W10, on Sunday afternoons. Drummer Sam Kelly is the only constant. Bass player and singer Spy is the second longest serving member followed by keyboard and singer Paul Jobson.Now Tony Qunta has replaced T.J.Johnson on guitar and Jerome Marcus has stepped up on percussion, following in the footsteps of Root Jackson.
The music was full on funk,whatever the song, and inevitably very percussive. After the instrumental "Revelation" Spy led the vocals on several numbers: "Treat a dog", "More than one way home" and "Bad is Bad". Then he sang "Use Me" and the excellent "People say" with Paul, the others providing backing vocals as required. Tony stepped up to sing on "Lovely Day" and " The Thrill As Gone" in a light tenor voice. Spy and Paul split vocals duties for the remainder, the latter singing the night's theme song "Stormy Monday".
All the players took turns with excellent solos, none of them too long. This is definitely an instrumental band with vocals rather than a singer's band with backing musicians. The evening flew by and the 11pm curfew came all too soon. I look forward to seeing them again.
-Fran Lesiie, Blues in Britain.(Photo also by Fran Leslie).

Bushy's Big Wheel Blues Festival. Isle Of Man, May 2007

Below Is an email sent to the team at Boogaloo from our gig at the Isle Of Man.

Hi Monica, just thought I'd let you know that we had a great festival, and as for Sam Kelly, I hardly know how to describe it. They went on first which in a way was a bit of a shame, but they absolutely took the place apart and the energy and vibe thay created carried right through the whole night.Everyone was knocked out and talking about them, and they sold more CDs than anyone else. I already was really into them and knew they'd be great, but I didn't know they'd stun the whole audience. Plus they're a really nice bunch of people and had everyone laughing from the time they arrived....I hate them.

As you know there are loads of good artists around and it's generally a good thing to keep putting on different acts, but for me (and now a lot of other people I suspect) these guys,particularly with Root fronting, are a class apart and I will try to get them back over here somehow, maybe for a one off gig. Just wonderful.

Been good doing business with you, I will be in touch again soon as planning for next year's fest(our 10th, so quite a big deal for us) starts soon and there's a fair chance you'll have someone we will want to bring over.

Best wishes

Pete Christian

Guisborough Blues Club

11/11/2006

Thank you again for giving us all a great show. What you do is so fresh and true to what RnB is all about, the whole set up with Yourself, Root, Spy and TJ, proves my adage "theres only one thing better than a good musician and thats four of them playing in the same band'

Farnham Blues Festival - 12/11/06

'A lone figure strutted out on stage and screamed into the microphone: "Did they rock, or did they rock?"

The question hung in the air before a packed hall responded with cheers, whistles and shouts as one of the greatest live blues acts in the country was gently coaxed back out for an encore.

The band was Sam Kelly's Station House, award-winning artists of international standing, and the time was only mid-afternoon'

Chris Joint - The Herald 24 November 2006

From Digital Blues. The Farnham Festival.

.......It was really hard to leave the Great Hall to catch the other artists that I wanted to see included amongst which were Station House, another band of whom I had heard so much. With the ubiquitous Sam Kelly on drums and the imposing figure of Root Jackson up front this is a wonderful unit. Paul Jobson on keys & Dave Clark on bass were just two of the very recognisable faces that were on stage but I must confess that I was confused by the fact that there were more people on stage than I expected! I think that TJ Johnson & Winston Delandro were the two guitarists who between them played up a storm and I believe that Spy was also there adding to the percussion.

Whatever, this is definitely a band that you should catch if you have not done so already. The combination of many years playing the Blues and that unique and captivating Caribbean influence created a stunning fusion that had the packed Cellar Bar steaming and rocking and grooving like there was no tomorrow and the band’s obvious enjoyment was infectious. You would have to go a long way before you will find such a tight and talented outfit playing such a great mix of material with such skill and joy and with such class!.....

Diva works her magic

Alan Golden for the Surrey Observer, 3rd March 2006

FEW people, including the band, had heard of Janice Harrington before her date at Cranleigh Arts Centre on Saturday night, but those with the good sense to be in the audience will not forget this American diva in a hurry.

Despite boasting an impressive CV and a music business background that runs the gamut from entertaining the troops in Vietnam, to playing alongside the likes of Sammy Davis Jnr and BB King, her profile on this side of the Atlantic has been low to say the least.

Even award-winning blues drummer Sam Kelly, whose superbly funky outfit, Stationhouse, provided the musical accompaniment for Saturday night’s gig, admitted he hadn’t heard of the lady before being booked to play with her.

But, like the rest of us in the audience, I think Sam and the band – guitar maestro TJ Johnson, ace of the bass Spy, and young keyboards star Paul Jobson – were more that impressed after a commandeering performance by the almost frighteningly raunchy great-grandmother.

Harrington flew in from Germany, where she now lives, especially for the gig and only met the band for the first time earlier that day, but there was clearly an instant rapport between singer and musicians. Stationhouse started the evening off with some trademark funky blues numbers before the US songstress appeared on stage, dismissing everyone bar Jobson, who provide stylish piano accompaniment to her assured version of the old standard, The Lady Is A Tramp.

The band then came back to assist Harrington on a series of self-penned raunchy blues numbers like Work Your Magic, and Seven Days A Week Man Blues, interspersed with some sassy chat, as well as classics like Let The Good Times Roll, Got My Mojo Working and Route 66, before rounding off her encore with a touch of Let’s Twist Again.

Taken from http://www.redlionrocks.co.uk 11th April 2006

T.J.Johnson - Guitar/Vocals, Winston Delando - Guitar, Paul Jobson - Keyboards/Vocals, Spy - Bass/Vocals, Sam Kelly - Drums. Guests - Laburn - Guitar/Vocals, Joshua Blue - Guitar/Vocals
Station House gigs are always a bit different with almost a jam feel to them, well this one was even more of a jam, and a great night it was. Part of the reason for the jam feel was that Root Jackson wasn't with them for this gig, so the band split the vocal duties between them, along with the two guests, Laburn and Joshua. From the outset this was a bit of a guitar fest as TJ and Winston played their usual great guitar from the start and we then had the excellent Laburn and Joshua who are also two great guitar players, Joshua being well known to us here from his visits with his own band. Although Root wasn't with them the material was what you expect, with a few variations, 'That's Not Love', 'Born Under A Bad Sign' , 'Leave Your Hat On', 'Hey Joe' and a superb version of 'Exodus'. The main thing with a Stationhouse gig is that they never have an over rehearsed sound and are more like a jam, and this one was no different with four excellent guitarists playing at different times, the superb bass playing of Spy, who is also a very good singer, Paul on keyboards really adds depth to the sound and then there is the superb Sam on drums. This was a great night, as you would expect from this band, with some very welcome guests. Laburn will hopefully be down with his own band and I'm sure Joshua will be back soon as well. CDL