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Meet the members of the Crossings Band

Darwish Abdullah

Darwish, who came to the UK in 2004, is a song-writer and guitarist in the Flamenco style. He is a graduate Crossings Trainee who now teaches guitar in the Crossings Open Session. Darwish and Chantelle write songs and play duets together. 

Kennedy Banda

Kennedy is a guitar player, singer and song-writer with the Crossings Band.

Laurence Bonner

Laurence was born in Northumberland and has a split English/Iranian heritage. He plays the drum kit and other percussion instruments, and first started playing the drums at the age of 12. He currently plays the drum kit for Diddley Squat and Dough Boi and the Souffle Selector, two local bands that play mainly reggae, ska, folk and rock and roll. His involvement with Crossings began recently in 2011.


Lucy Fairley

Lucy has lived on Tyneside for many years. After a successsful career in Arts Administration she changed her life by taking a degree in Traditional and Folk Music at Newcastle University, which led to her setting up Crossings. Lucy also plays with the Angels of the North ceilidh band.

Chantelle Howes-Warden

From a young age Chantelle has been involved in music, mainly in a gospel choir. She is currently one of the lead singers and song writers in Crossings Band and also provides backing vocals. Chantelle is a graduate of Crossings’ Diversity Facilitation Training Programme and is currently developing her facilitation skills through jointly leading the Women’s and Children’s Crossings group. She and Darwish Abdullah also play as a duo.
 

Jewan Mohammad

Jewan is a Kurdish musician from Syria. He started playing the saz (tembur) when he was young and now also plays the baglama, the bozuk and the tar. He has played with a number of famous singers and musicians in Syria and plays Kurdish, Turkish and Arabic music. Jewan also performs as a solo artist.

Fred Phethean

Fred is the facilitator of the Crossings Band, where he plays the trombone and raps. He also plays with a number of other bands and outfits such as the Backyoard Rhythm Orchestra; Diddley Squat, Verbal Terrorists and others.


Elliott Rush

Elliott is a pianist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who has been studying and working in the North-East for many years. Having recently returned from 2 years living in Brussels, he is now embarking on a different career as a stay-at-home dad whilst continuing to teach, play live and compose and record music at home. Elliott performs as a solo artist, an accompanist and has spent many years performing in the band Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle.
 

Paddy Villiers-Stuart

Paddy has a background in singing and playing instruments with strings and an old 70's synthesiser. In Crossings he is the bassist. He also plays with Diddley Squat, The Backyard Rhythm Orchestra, Dough-Boi and the Soufflé Selector and solo.