THE PAT TRAVERS BAND
"MAKES NO DIFFERENCE"
Towards the end of 1975 PAT TRAVERS, a young Canadian guitarist, made his British debut before the faithful few who customarily assemble for the support band at the Marquee Club. Fewer still will have recognized the presence of former Ashton, Gardner and Dyke drummer ROY DYKE and Gnidrolog/Flying Hat Band bassist PETER COVCZING. But 45 minutes later they had adopted a new guitar hero recalling, as they probably did, the golden age of the trio. The raw blues power generated on that same stage by Rory Gallagher's Taste, Tony McPhee's Groundhogs.
That night they were hearing the 1975 economy version-an absorption of country, rock and blues roots, pounded out with very little fuss in a fashion that we've come to pray for since Johnny Winter set the sanctioning precedent for all axe-men to cross over from pure blues to rock and roll.
Pat Travers has taken the reverse route, winning his spurs playing pure rock and roll in Ronnie Hawkins' Band and working the club circuits throughout Canada. Few musicians could boast such an impressive pedigree before their twenty-first birthday, and in Pat Travers' case it was sheer frustration that drove him first from the small-town environs of Ottawa to big city Toronto, and then across the Atlantic. A few short months after arriving in the U.K. this confident young guitarist seems on the threshold of a major breakthrough. Firstly, as support with the Groundhogs and now special guests on the Sensational Alex Harvey Tour with a exciting new album to be released June 4th on Polydor Records.
