A chance meeting between two Bridgnorth area musicians has seen the pair go on to rock party venues and pubs all over Shropshire.
Eric Churchyard from Bridgnorth and Kelly Whitehouse from Chelmarsh met in a front room just over a year ago and since then the duo have formed KereriK – a band that performs cover songs from 1960s right up to the modern day.
Kelly, who is Eric’s daughter’s sister-in-law, had never experienced singing live before meeting Eric, who had been playing in bands for a number of years.
But in just 12 months the band has played at venues in Bridgnorth, Chelmarsh, Highley, Telford and Oswestry.
“It was just over a year ago, at that chance meeting in my daughter’s front room, Kelly happened to say to me ‘I’d love to have a go at singing’,” said Eric.
“At that time – having been in various bands over the years playing guitar, keyboard and singing – I was thinking I’d played my last gig some months before. And at my age of 60 plus it was the end of my musical exploits.
“But we decided to give it a try despite not having a clue what to expect – as Kelly had never sung “for real” before. The first time I heard Kelly sing I was blown away and I knew we were on to something – she has real musical singing talent.”
For Kelly, singing in public for the first time proved to be a real test of nerves but realising she would be turning 30 in September, the mother-of-one decided to give it a go.
“We put together a few numbers to perform as a duo at a local open mike evening with Eric playing guitar and me singing,” she said.
“I was full of nerves as it was my first time singing in front of an audience – but it was a real success and everyone loved it.”
Spurred on by this KereriK performed at another open mike session a couple of weeks later, at the Queen’s Head in Wolverley.
“This had a different set- up as you could choose to have backing musicians playing with you – and what a sensation that was,” said Kelly.
With the nerves disappearing the duo soon settled on Eric playing guitar and keyboard, with Kelly providing lead vocals.
“We cover all ages and with the mix of music we’ve found it ideal for private parties and special occasions,” added Eric.
For more information about the band visit www.kelerik.co.uk
