Band celebrates two decades of rock and roll with gig at Greig Hall in Alcester

The first gig was a family member’s 40th Birthday Party on 14th July 2003 which led to further bookings and eventually some big gigs like Stratford River Festival where Texan Peacocks had the 7,000 audience in the palm of their hands – an event that still conjures fond memories for those who attended that memorable summer evening by the River Avon.

Texan Peacocks have played nearly every Adventure Bike Rider Festival at Ragley Hall Estate since the first event and watched it grow from a few hundred people to 20,000 where they entertained the large crowd and played four encores last year.

When they played Shipston Proms for the first time they supported The Blockheads which they said was a great honour.

Drummer, Rupert Carr-Smith said: “When we practised for the first gig there was a peacock singing on the roof of the shed we were practising in. We initially called the band The Peacocks. Then Tex and the Peacocks but that sounded too 60s. So we ended up with Texan Peacocks as it sounded more unique.”

He added: “Who would have believed after playing a one-off gig in 2003, with only a couple of hurried practice sessions, we would still be playing in 2023? We were really surprised when, a few days after that first gig, someone asked us to play at another party. We hadn’t really considered being a band and then it just carried on with a life of its own. We are now celebrating with a Special 20th anniversary gig on Friday 27th October at The Greig Hall in Alcester.”

Lead singer, Pat “Tex” Austin added: “When we practised for our first gig there was a peacock singing on the roof of the shed we were practising in. We initially called the band The Peacocks. Then Tex and the Peacocks but that sounded too 60s. So we ended up with Texan Peacocks as it sounded more unique.”

The band has many varied influences but some of their favourite tracks include;

Creep, Message in a Bottle, Won’t Get Fooled Again, Echo Beach and Psycho Killer.

Their favourite bands include; The Police, The Who, The Damned, The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, Alice Cooper, Sting, Van Halen, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes and Pink Floyd.

One of the reasons why Texan Peacocks are so popular is because they bang out the best-tunes and hit the audience with some of the all-time classics which means the audience just has to get stuck in.

But there have been some – shall we say – different gigs, like the hen party as Rupert explains.

“When John, our current bassist played his first gig with Texan Peacocks there was a hen party at the venue and they decided to throw knickers at us. There were knickers everywhere! It was quite a surprise for John but he’s still playing with us.

We’ve played lots of parties over the years. One had muscular male strippers appear in front of us serving vol-au-vent and quiche whilst we were playing which was a surprise.”

On another occasion Rupert forgot his drumsticks and had to hire a taxi to collect them from Stratford and deliver them to Alcester so they could get a lift to the venue in Worcester.

Jay, who played bass, broke his E string and played on the whole set with three strings because he didn’t have a spare but he didn’t make any mistakes.

Then there was the time when Tex had a very sore throat but not wanting to let anyone down, tried to save his voice by whispering for several days before the performance. Unfortunately, he lost his voice during the first song but amazingly the bass player got up and sang the entire gig without preparing and the band even got a good review.

Weddings are also a speciality for Texan Peacocks but even these special occasions can have their moments as the band navigate their way to venues up and down the Midlands.

“Years ago we went to a wedding in Derby and turned up at the bride’s house instead of the venue. She’d given us her home post code and not the venue’s. It turned out OK and we weren’t late,” said Rupert.

“At another wedding we were served very strange, unrecognisable mediaeval food and mead. To this day we still don’t know what it was. One time we went to a wedding in Shrewsbury and wondered where the other band members were. When we phoned them we found they’d driven completely past Shrewsbury and were nearly at Whitchurch.”

After twenty years of performing live Texan Peacocks have left a lot of people very happy to dance the night away but as always – even the best laid plans can be affected by the weather and the audience.

Rupert said: “Inevitably, we’ve had a few things happen over the years.

Several times we’ve been completely freezing all night whilst playing outdoors in minus temperatures. We’ve even come down with the flu or a cold during a performance.

Rain has featured many times. We’ve played in marquees during storms with so much rain there were waves in front of our stage. We’ve also got our trailer stuck in the mud when trying to leave a flooded field.

There have been moments where we have been worried about seriously drunk people in the crowd. It’s great to see people enjoying themselves but this one time too many in the crowd had too much to drink and people were falling over. We had to stop playing.”

The band has played in front of a few well-known artists over the years. In fact there’s few who have watched Texan Peacocks on several occasions but it’s a no names policy when it comes to this subject.

The Herald asked Texan Peacocks the following question:

If you had to play support to one band (and you can only choose one) who would it be and why?

Rupert said: “The band had a vote and 3 said Foo Fighters. Why? Because they rock!”

They plan to create a new promotional video next year and play more music festivals.

Texan Peacocks lead singer, Pat (Tex) Austin said the years had flown by.

“It all started with a peacock singing on a shed roof and went on from there. We’ve enjoyed every moment and built up a loyal following. It will be a special night in the Greig Hall because we’ve played there many times and it’s great to be there now it’s re-opened. We are planning to play 3 sets with different line ups and we can’t wait.”

The line-up has gradually changed over time. The original line-up was:

Vocals - Pat (Tex) Austin

Bass - Andy Danks

Guitar - Renny Badham

Keyboard / Percussion - Paul Lloyd

Drums - Rupert Carr-Smith

In 2015 Nigel Webb joined as guitarist

In 2018 Jay Clark joined as bass player

In 2020 John Archer joined as bass player

In 2023 Renny Badham and Andy Bunn have both been playing guitar.