John started out on classical guitar but when he was about 12 years old, brother David bought his first banjo and John started playing backup guitar and singing. The boys quickly got hooked on the sounds of Flatt and Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers. Shortly after discovering some of dad's old Hank Williams records, John got himself a fiddle and quickly grasped the basic techniques; making loud and irritating scraping noises into the small hours. Although still too young to drink anything stronger than flat lemonade, John and David soon became regulars at folk clubs in and around East Yorkshire. In 1971 John went off to the Cambridge Folk Festival to seek fame and fortune. After a short spell with a folk band, he and fellow band member Steve formed Cockney Rebel, and John went on to play electric violin and mandolin on the band's highly acclaimed albums, Human Menagerie and Psychomodo. In 1974, John came to his senses and swapped his electric fiddle for something with a pulse. He now spends most of his time writing songs about tragic romance.

David Crocker is dedicated to mastering several instruments and numerous styles: bluegrass banjo, classical banjo, classical guitar, bluegrass guitar, electric country guitar, mandolin, fiddle, lap steel and dobro. Lately he has taken on the role of chief recording engineer and the band have been known to record all the tracks for an entire album in one evening in Dave's own studio (all for around 48p). David has also played with Chris Moreton, Spike Woods and Dick Embery in The Cat's Cradle String Band. As well as a short stint playing banjo with Peter Rowan, David has toured with various country bands for many years.