JACKSON CREEK BAND

The Jackson Creek Band comprises of Ben Ashby, Helene Jones and Ken Hill; an acoustic band based in Cambridge, UK performing country & western, bluegrass and folk music -  all with a healthy dose of harmony, some fancy guitar picking and wholesome bass beats.

It all started with an idea; Ben Ashby wanted to play country & western music in Cambridge, England ( and that's not such a convenient place, when you think about it). Now Ben, he's quite the talented musician, having studied at Leeds College of Music and performed professionally around the world. He plays bass, guitar, piano and even composes. But Ben, as we mentioned, he had this hankering to perform some good, down-home music with some clean and true harmonies. Why is that, you may be asking yourself? Well, Ben lived in the US for close to ten years, you see, and a love for C&W music is something he's carried ever since moving back to Britain.

Ben learned about a singer who was living in Cambridge who, just so happened, was looking for a new project, too. He contacted Helene Jones, the aforementioned singer, and sounded out his idea.

Now Helene, she's a might talented herself. She studied classical voice with the nationally acclaimed mezzo soprano Lynette Alcantara, auditioned at the Royal College and Royal Academy, and performed with the English National Opera. She's won awards for her fine, classical singing, too - but, believe it or not, she's also performed with pop bands, folk groups and as a solo artist on both sides of the pond, supporting and performing with such US acclaimed folk artists  as Harvey Reid, John Perrault and the Shaw Brothers. 

Yeah, she's got one of those voices; real versatile. And she grew up listening to C&W music.

Helene listened to Ben's idea and liked it. Together they formed a duo act called, you guessed it, Ashby & Jones, in 2012.

Ben and Helene learned some songs and performed at local folk clubs and the fine folk in the audiences really liked what they heard -  but Helene and Ben both decided something was missing; a bass player.

Just so happened they met Ken Hill. And Dolly.

Dolly is the name Ken has given to his upright bass; she's big and blonde and brings the bottom end. Ken, it turned out, had a mighty nice singing voice, too.  Now, Ken may not realise this, but both Helene and Ben thinks he's the most talented of the lot; Ken's been playing in bands since he was a teenager, has more performances under his belt than the other two, most recently played bass for the acclaimed African fusion band Mitoki and runs the Cambridge based recording studio - TinTiger.

Ken, Helene and Ben then decided to rename the band and The Jackson Creek Band was born.

Why the Jackson Creek Band? It had a solid back-woods feel about it and it turns out there seems to be a Jackson Creek in just about every state in the continental US.
When in the States, you're never too far away from Jackson Creek. The name stuck.

And their audience is growing.

The Jackson Creek Band have performed at several venues and folk clubs in the Cambridge area, performing their warm, approachable take on American Country and Western music at key music venues such as The 12 Bar Club, in London,  The Elm Tree Pub, The Alma and The Corner House in Cambridge. They've been invited as headline acts at The Cambridge Folk Club, The Royston Folk Club and the Milk Maid Folk Club in Bury St. Edmunds to name a few.

Want to hear them? Just play one of the tracks here on the site. Want to get emails about their gigs and general 'goings-on'? Just add your name to the mailing list.  Want to hear some good, live C&W music? The Jackson Creek Band is available for both public performances and private functions. Get in touch, they'd love to hear from you.