Tribe3

Tribe3

Those who saw them at last year’s Winter’s End, or Prog For Peart, or HRH Prog, may have wondered just where Tribe3 had landed from. “In terms of age we’re like //Dad’s Army//,” asserts founder, bassist and keyboardist Steve Hughes. His 60th birthday’s hoving into view, guitarist Chris Jones is already in his sixth decade, while drummer/vocalist Jon Kinsey is a mere fiftysomething. “All three of us do have a background in prog. It’s only now we feel we’ve got the chemistry and the balance right.”

The South Wales trio did seem to emerge fully formed with their strong, self-titled debut in 2023. //Tribe3// was symphonic, spacey, hooky – heritage prog from men whose collections clearly featured Rush, Genesis, Marillion, Spock’s Beard. Yet that chemistry and balance was hard won over time.

From the Eighties, Hughes was in Bridgend neo prog band Ezra (whose ranks also briefly featured Robert Reed and Last Flight To Pluto’s Daz Joseph), but life and work intervened and the bass stayed in its stand for years. A Holdsworth nut, Jones played for London rockers Geneva, who were briefly courted by Led Zep’s manager Peter Grant before imploding. As a drummer, Kinsey’s varied if modest CV includes Matt Cohen’s Ghost Community and, with Jones, jazz-proggers theDougs.

“When I formed the nucleus of Tribe3 back in 2016,” says Hughes, “I hadn’t played music for 20 years. After trying out several guitarists Chris joined, and we did instrumental material inspired by Bruford, Brand X and King Crimson. Later Jon replaced our original drummer and we knew he could hold a tune, so I persuaded him to do a Phil Collins, step from behind the kit and give it a go.”

//Tribe3// was all written by that point, with Kinsey retrospectively adding meaningful lyrics, adapting the melodies and adding a smattering of keys himself. “I didn’t consider myself a lyricist,” he says. “Luckily, Steve had named the songs already, so that helped. With the song //Dawntreader//, I could’ve gone down the obvious C.S. Lewis route, but instead I wrote about a story my grandad told me about these miners and dockers who would walk miles to work, do a long, dangerous shift, then walk all the way home, and repeat that all through the week.”

From the grand, ambitious strains of opener //Voyager//, the full-throated follow-up //Life Amongst Strangers// is the sound of a group together and united from the off. Mid-set interlude //Requiem For A Friend// is dedicated to the late, esteemed prog writer Jez Rowden, an early advocate for the band. His faith in the band was well placed.

“We released the first album thinking we probably wouldn’t get past the family and friends level,” Kinsey says, “but things have snowballed. The standing ovation we had at Prog For Peart is my lasting memory. I’m very self deprecating so I don’t say that lightly. It was completely unexpected, as was the one at HRH. It was validation for the work we’ve put into the band.”

And with more shows planned later this year and the third album already in the can, there’s plenty to come from these ‘old’ boyos yet. GRM

PROG FILE

Line-Up: Jon Kinsey (vocals, drums, keys); Chris Jones (guitar); Steve Hughes (bass, keys)

Sounds Like:Three men of a certain age with a great record collection and a way with a tune.

Current Release: Life Amongst Strangers is self-released on March 14.

Website: www.tribe3.net

— Grant Moon