Photo by Phil Cornforth

The High Plane Drifters are Wesley Stephenson on Drums and Timothy Oxnard on vocals and guitar, they both come from Stockton on Tees in the north east of England. Wes has been playing drums since the age of 12, since then he has become a drummer of phenomenal power. Tim has also been playing his instrument since the age of 12 and has developed a unique playing style all of his own. They have been playing together for 5 years now and still are going from strength to strength.

Together they have inspired and excited audiences with their electrifying live set, betraying their audience’s ears with their full sound. Their recording output of two e.p's and an LP have sold around the globe. Although they have had interest from many major and minor record labels their LP was financed by the winnings of the PRS ATOM award, a nomination only award that they won, being only one of three winners in the UK, the only band from the north of England to do so.

They have also landed themselves a publishing deal in the states with Hunnypot publishing in Los Angeles who approached them to sign a deal; they join a staple of artists as diverse as Clutch, The Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club, Joan Jett and the Bloody Beetroots amongst others. 

Their unique sound has been described as a two man musical explosion that patrols over half a century of blues and roll history & a two man band with a four man sound. The High Plane Drifters call themselves a psychedelic garage blues two piece, but it is often agreed that their sound displays a more varied influence than that, not being straight 3 chord garage wonders with a blues riff or two for good measure, but two men who actually think about what they are about and what they are doing.

They have toured all parts of the British Isles and are now set to tour Europe and the United States after invites from promoters there. They have played gigs with stateside bands such as the The Black Diamond Heavies, The Immortal Lee County Killers, The Soledad Brothers, The Hentchmen, Dooley Wilson who they also released a split e.p with, as well as acoustic artists such as Benjamin Wetherill and Serious Sam Barrett.

Shortly before he died John Peel was impressed enough to play their demo, and this was long before they released any records, they have also been played by Mark Lamarr on Radio 2, Vic Galloway on Radio 1, and good underground stations like Artrocker and Beatroot Radio, plus a host of other stations in America, Croatia, Portugal, France and Israel. 

Considering this is a group that have achieved this with their self released records on their own label, and have largely organised their own tours with limited resources and hard work they remain optimistic, open minded and excited about the future and what it is to offer, and it seems right now that the world is ready to offer it a great deal more than obscurity.

 

 

www.thehighplanedrifters.co.uk
www.myspace.com/highplanedrifters
thehighplanedrifters[at]hotmail.com

Thanks to Neil Douglas for the video.