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| PETE GRANT - LEAD GUITAR, ACOUSTIC GUITAR, VOCALS....... Pete was born at a very early age in Whetstone, a suburb of North London, England. He was obsessed with guitars for as long as he can remember. By the age of 16 he was playing, and after hearing a record of Peter Green playing with the original Fleetwood Mac, he was inspired to search out the recordings of the artists that started the blues back in the day. He was lucky enough to see many great blues artists on stage who are no longer with us, such as Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Pops Staples and Lowell Fulsom, to name a few. As his own guitar style developed, he found he was most influenced by Peter Green, eclectic British guitarist John Martyn, BB King, Otis Rush and folk rock guitarist Richard Thompson. He had a varied professional life in England as a musician and actor. He worked as musical director and performer for The Keeping Mum Theatre Company and wrote much original music for them. There was lots of blues band activities, not least when he spent time in the American Midwest in the late 80's. One of the artists he performed with in Indianapolis, Andra Fay, now records and tours as a member of The Uppity Blues Women. Also during his stay in Indy, he was lucky enough to meet and spend some time with Yank Rachell , king of the blues mandolin. Yank's recording career stretches back to 1929 and early sessions with the likes of Sleepy John Estes and Sonny Boy Williamson I. After a lengthy illness in the 90's, (and a brief musical comeback in 1998 with a duo called Leap Of Faith) he got involved with music management and creating web sites for musicians. He ran the official web site for British blues legend Peter Green, founder of Fleetwood Mac for several years, as well as sites for Pete Brown, musician and writer, best known for his songwriting partnership with Jack Bruce for Cream and beyond, and Dick Heckstall-Smith, legendary sax player with such bands as Blues Incorporated, Graham Bond Organization, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Coloseum, as well as a distinguished solo career. Dick eventually asked Pete to act as his manager, a role he fulfilled until Dick's death in late 2004. Earlier that year, Pete and Dick had co-written Blowing The Blues, a book about Dick's fifty year music career. This book and accompanying CD are still available at Amazon.com and at the Clear Press web site. He remains in awe of Dick's neglected yet brilliant talent. In March, 2004, Pete got married to the lovely Karmen and moved to Porterville, CA. After a pretty long settling in period he began to get enthused about playing again. He still runs the Pete Brown Web Site, gives guitar lessons and is working on a new book. He devotes some of his spare time to The Barn Theater, where he is a board member, and also directs on occasion. He is currently working on a book about the history of the Barn, as well as another music biography. Late last year he met Bob Bartlett, and through him met Phil Henry, and (hopefully) a legend (and two good new friendhips) were born. After an initial closed jam session at the Barn Theatre, they decided to stick together as The Bobcat Blues Band. After an initial private gig, they made their public debut at The Screaming Moose, Porterville in February of 2007, and as of Mid September of that year have played almost fifty shows together, with more dates coming in all the time. Bob has left the band now, but Pete hopes that their friendship will continue, and is looking forward to tormenting, sorry, playing with a new member of the band. Pete has a varied musical taste which includes all the
aforementioned acts, plus Bowie, The Clash, Neil Young, Elvis Costello,
Nick Cave, Bjork, John Frusciante and Mogwai
amongst a cast of
millions. As far as playing goes, he loves playing all manner of blues,
and is enjoying the spontaneous nature of a Bobcat performance. The
more the band play together, the tighter they are, and the more room
they have for creative improvisation.n.
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  Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green with Pete in Surrey, England, 1999  "Blowing The Blues" by Dick Heckstall-Smith and Pete Grant (The Clear Press 2004)  Pete appearing in "A Salute To Vaudeville" playing the old Lil Green song "Nuts" in the Fall, 2004. |
| PHIL HENRY - DRUMS & VOCALS Phil was born in Pasadena California in 1956. He grew up in a small town near Pasadena called Temple City and began playing drums at the age of 11. His parents purchased his first “Pearl” drum-set the following year. "I played those things almost everyday after school for hours. The neighbors hated it!! I took private lessons for a while, but my main studies were in school." All through school he played in Marching band, concert band, jazz band, and played with the prestigious San Gabriel Valley Junior Symphony Orchestra. And of course a garage band playing rock & roll of the day (60’s & 70’s) He played all types of “percussion” back then, timpani, Xylophone etc. But his passion was on the “kit”. He also loved to sing and was in choir all through school. Then came the need to earn a living! He joined the Arcadia Police Department in 1977 as a full time police officer, working there for 13 years. The intense time demands of that career included working night shifts and weekends. This meant that he did not touch the drums for 15 years! OUCH! Music remained a passion however, with a constant desire to play. Phil was injured playing football on Thanksgiving day 1989. That ended his police career. That was a blessing actually. "Even though I miss police work and “The guys” very much, I was now able to have a life! My beautiful wife Christine who I married May 18, 1985 was by my side, and after police work actually got to see her! I don’t know how it happened but she got pregnant! We have 2 beautiful children, Tyler and Alexandria. I also have a son, Philip Jr, who will turn 30yrs old May 2007." After Police work, he ended up working for an insurance company in claims. "I love this work, and it has been very good to me. It is a little like police work (investigations) but without the bad hours, and no gun!" Phil and his family moved to the Santa Ynez Valley in 1996, the year that he found his church needed a drummer. "Boy were my sticks rusty. But like riding a bike, so they say, I soon was back in the saddle. I formed a blues and classic band that we named “House Red” because we played most of our gigs at local wineries. My enthusiasm for music came back with e vengeance!" Then in 2002 his company moved Phil to the San Joaquin Valley, and they settled in Springville, California. "I had to leave my band behind, which was hard. The group was very talented, and the music was great. My wife pulled a card off of the bulletin board at Save Mart… “Drummer Needed” I joined up with Charlie Gayle and have played country music with Charlie locally on and off. I have been asked to sit in with several local musicians now and then, one of them being Bob Bartlett. Then Bob asked me to play with Pete Grant, : “Do you want to play some blues?” Well I guess Bob did not know that Blues just happens to be my absolute favorite music to play drums with. I said “Don’t tease me Bob!” I guess you can say the rest is history! I am really looking forward to this. Bob and Pete are extremely talented, and I think we can make great music!" "As far as my singing! In the last 5 years or so, I have found that I really love to sing country. I have always been the drummer in the back, I hope to sing now and then!" |
 Phil on stage at The Screaming Moose  Phil sings!   Phil at teh Moose, Oct 2007 |
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BOB BARTLETT - BASS GUITAR & VOCALS (Bob left the band in Oct 2007)
Bob Bartlett has been playing in bands since attending Fresno Pacific University in the 70's. For the past 15 years he has been involved with many local bands
performing Classic Rock, Modern/Alternative Rock, Country, Bluegrass, &
Jazz. He has had the opportunity to work with many fine musicians between Fresno
- Bakersfield. He has also played with bands in Santa Cruz, Napa Valley, and
Joshua Tree, CA. Bob has been seen in many venues in the Central Valley playing
Bass guitar, Rythm guitar, & Harmonica/ Vocals. On occasion, he has also
been known to extract his vengeance on mandolin and accordion.
Bob is fortunate that his involvement in music over the years comes
with the support of his loving and beautiful wife, Gail.
Bob enjoys listening to and playing songs by a wide variety of
artists, including John Lennon, Allman Brothers, Miles Davis, John Prine, Bob
Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Traffic, Cream, Savoy Brown,
Pink Floyd, Santana, Van Morrison, Emmy Lou Harris, Tom Waits, and "jam bands"
such as String Cheese Incident, LeftOver Salmon, & Widespread
Panic. Bob's favorite music is The BLUES! including but not limited to Muddy
Waters, JR. Wells, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Boy Fuller, Buddy Guy,Son House,
Robert Johnson(never alone late at night), Luther Allison, John Lee Hooker, SRV,
Fred McDowell, Hot Tuna, and on & on & on... .. .
Bob Says "the Blues is true and timeless. The singer/musician can
make you feel real emotions and shares a real pain/ joy with you in a world of
phoney people, fake feelings, and fabricated B.S."
Bob also says, "Keep it real, and don't forget to
Boogie".
If Music is the Bread of Life, Then Play On |
 Bob at the Moose, Oct 2007 |