Blind Peg-Leg Jefferson

Genre: Blues
Starting Date: 6/7/2005
Final Show: 22/11/2006
Members: Phil Duffy, Michael Maynard, Allan Brannigan, Duane Pike, Ulrik Lied and Rodrigo Casasola.

Blind Peg-Leg Jefferson began as a solo Blues project by Phil Duffy growing with the addition of Michael Maynard, Allan Brannigan, Rodrigo Casasola, Ulrik Lied and Duane Pike and produced three albums before the band split in November 2006.

As a youngster Phil Duffy dreamed of becoming a blues star and at the tender age of 16 began his journey to the top, somehow fooling a local London club into believing that he was a 96 year old Afro-American bluesman named Blind Peg-Leg Jefferson. That first gig on the 6th July 2005 was watched by two people and included only one song. By the end of August 2005 Jefferson was playing to about 150 people, most of whom were undecided whether they had come to see a blues musician or a comedy act as Blind Peg-Leg stumped around the stage, trying to play a non-existent piano, (the young Jefferson could not afford an instrument by this stage). These early gigs were very much an experiment and included current chart hits, a handful of poorly written blues songs sung out of key and often a strange Robot dance, more suited to electronica gigs than a blind man with a wooden stump. Jefferson was often booed off stage and even while his London following increased he still had to face two men and a dog as he travelled across Europe.

Realising that he needed support as his workload increased Blind Peg-Leg sought out some kindred souls to join him as his backing group. He was joined at the end of August 2005 by guitarists Michael Maynard, Allan Brannigan and Rodrigo Casasola plus drummer Ulrik Lied. A few weeks later singer Duane Pike joined and Jefferson took on the role of backing singer, as well as pianist. With a spread of skills across this larger band individuals began focusing on specific tasks, meaning that the band could progress faster. Maynard, Casasola, Lied and Brannigan wrote the songs, Jefferson (Duffy) managed the band and Pike remembered to turn up to gigs.

Success came quickly, with Blind Peg-Leg Jefferson hitting the top ten in the blues charts with their first single, Colourblindness Blues. That was the first of three songs from their first album, Beginner's Guide to the Blues which catapulted them into the top ten blues bands in the world. Two albums followed, We're Getting Better and We're Getting Worse, both of which spawned number one singles. Without You hit number one in March 2006, All Filler, Not Much Killer did the same later that year.

By early 2006 the band had completed their first world tour and were fixed in the top five blues bands in the world. In the summer of that year Blind Peg-Leg Jefferson were officially rated as the top blues band in the globe and were internationally known outside of the blues genre. Everything was looking rosy for the band and a long successful future was predicted.

In April 2006 Phil Duffy was appointed as Chief of Police in London, a job which had a serious affect on the wellbeing of the band. In order to fulfil that role Duffy needed to be in London as often as possible, which clashed with the worldwide touring schedule of the band. To work around that problem Duffy increased the gap between gigs from one or two days to three days, so that he could fly back to London after a gig, carry out his policing role and then fly on to the next city on the itinerary. That worked well for Duffy but meant that the other band members were sitting around in hotels more often and they grew bored of the endless touring. The boredom led to members wandering off to other cities or more often than not forgetting to book flights to their next gigs and so missing them. Lied and Pike became adept at missing gigs and BPLJ's last album title shows how the band felt about their status, “We're Getting Worse”.

It became increasingly obvious that a change was needed, despite Duffy's term in office as Chief of Police coming to an end in November 2006. The band members began a discussion about the future of the band and very quickly Rodrigo Casasola decided that he wanted to quit and set up his own reggae band. This led to a decision that the band members should go their own ways and Blind Peg-Leg Jefferson ceased to exist on the 22nd November 2006. The band members agreed that they would explore other genres of music and one day return to Blind Peg-Leg Jefferson and the Blues.

Success has been varied for the six band members, depending upon their drive and ambition. The highly ambitious Phil Duffy and Michael Maynard decided to stick together as a duet, with Duffy on the piano and lead vocals and Maynard playing electric guitar and backing vocals in the rock supergroup Clash of the Social Titans. This band took on Blind Peg-Leg Jefferson's contracts and touring schedule and became one of the biggest rock acts in the world.

In contrast Ulrik Lied never joined another band and was seen drifting around London before his untimely death on the 20th March 2007 put an end to hopes of a complete reunion of Blind Peg-Jefferson.

Similarly Rodrigo Casasola's reggae hiatus failed to set the world alight and he died on the 27th May 2007 in Copenhagen.

Allan Brannigan reformed his modern rock act, Strangerlove and was joined later by Duane Pike on vocals. They carried out a world tour in spring 2007 but have not played since and Duane Pike's death on the 3rd September 2007 seems to have affected Brannigan badly as he now roams the streets of London, having not touched a musical instrument since that last tour.

Outside of their musical careers Maynard and Duffy have also flourished, with Maynard being appointed Chief Justice of London and later twice Mayor of the same city. Duffy was later appointed Vice Mayor of London by his bandmate, to add to his previous role as Chief of Police. At the end of his time in office he was briefly promoted to Mayor of London, for one stunning week only before retiring from public office. They still intend returning to the Blues one day, perhaps with Brannigan if he survives.

Two number one Blues hit singles Top of the Blues rankings in 2006

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