MEET
COMMON CULTURE
Dan Watson
Vocals & Guitar
Fun Fact About Dan
Dan’s favourite book is IT by Stephen King. He’s also allergic to pickled gherkins!
Dan's Musical Background
When I was 6 my teacher, Miss Fox, played the guitar in assembly and I was transfixed. I went home and told my parents that I wanted a guitar, not an electric one though, “one with a hole in it”, like Miss Fox’s.
Soon after I received a charity shop special 3/4 size classical guitar. I was technically a year too young to start lessons but after some special consideration and an audition (I’d figured out the chords to ‘Horse with No Name’, both of them!), I was allowed to start weekly lessons at school. I did my first few grades, but it was decided that I needed some confidence, so I could play in front of other people. So I started attending Barnsley Guitar Ensemble at the Performing Arts Development Service (PADS, now Barnsley Music Service) on Wednesday nights.
After a few years in the beginners ensemble, I asked if I could stay behind to join the folk ensemble that rehearsed afterwards, because I thought banjos looked cool. I went and was instantly hooked, and borrowed Banjos, Mandolins and Bouzukis till I’d learned to play them.
That Christmas, my grandparents asked if it was to be Banjo or Mandolin. I chose Banjo and received one of my own that Christmas day (video footage is out there somewhere, it’s as bad as you think). I stayed in the folk ensemble throughout all my school years and when I was 14 Lizzie joined. Not long after we started a band with some other friends called Folkus and started gigging and playing open mics around Barnsley.
Around that time I first met Scott Doonican and regularly attended his open mic nights. One night he asked my Dad if I’d be interested/allowed to fill in for their guitar player on the occasions he couldn’t make a gig with The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican. He said yes and I was thrilled to get stuck in. After doing a few of these filling in spots, Scott asked me to join the band as a permanent member.
Around the same time Folkus ended as we all started to go to different colleges and think about Uni. The Doonican’s took me from the world of open mics and small pub gigs, to the world of music festivals and touring and we had an amazing time on the road for the best part of 9 years.
Meanwhile myself and Lizzie from Folkus, decided to continue as a duo and started playing shows as ‘Morris & Watson.’ We also became an item and got engaged in 2022.
In 2023 I decided that it was time for a change and so announced my departure from the Doonican’s and began to focus on making new music. Liz and I knew Chris and Evie from the festival scene so asked them if they would join us in our new project. And the rest is history.
Dan's Influences
My influences range wildly, but my main inspiration when writing for Common Culture definitely comes from The Levellers, Frank Turner, The Decemberists and The Wonderstuff. I’m also a huge fan of traditional music, and love The Watersons, The Dubliners, Bellowhead and modern bands like Talisk, Damien O’Kane & Ron Block and Kinnaris Quintet. I’ve also recently got into Bluegrass and Old Time music, but that’s a whole other rabbit hole!
Lizzie Morris
Fiddle &
Vocals
Fun Fact About Lizzie
Lizzie is currently doing a PhD in music and dementia. Soon you can call her Dr Morris!
Lizzie's Musical Background
After playing classical violin from 7-14 years old I was almost ready to give up…that was until I happened upon a folk club at the local community center. It was there I learnt about playing by ear, not striving for perfection and actually ENJOYING my folking instrument!
It was here I met a shy banjo playing dork who would, much MUCH further down the line (after he could grow a beard), turn out to be my sexy future husband! Here, I fell in love with my instrument all over again, learning jigs, reels, shantys and hornpipes and began playing live for the first time.
Us young ‘folkies’ formed a band very cleverly titled band ‘FolkUs’ and started playing at local pubs and festivals (happily finding out you could get served underaged if you played)! This later developed into a folk duo called Morris & Watson, which has remained a wonderful part of my musical identity.
Over the last few years I have been involved with the incredible Muddy Summers & The Dirty Field Whores and spent many years bouncing around on stage with them, singing about “how shit” the world is. I have also featured in other wonderful projects with the Sweetchunks Band and Horse Puppets.
Whilst I have loved being a part of so many fantastic musical groups, I felt it was time to lead my own path….and now starts the era of Common Culture!
Lizzie's Influences
My musical influences primarily come from 3 avenues: (1) folk; (2) pop; and (3) hair metal! I am a huge fans of Kinnaris Quintet, Frank Turner, Damien O’Kane and Ron Block, Whitesnake, Taylor Swift (obvs I am in my 20’s), Rainbow, Cat Burns, Moore, Moss and Rutter, The 1975, Dutty Moonshine and Newton Faulkner.
Chris Reed
Drums
Fun Fact About Chris
Chris is a world traveller; he’s experienced 69 countries. He’s also our very own Robin Hood being born in Sherwood as well as being a dab hand at archery!
Chris' Musical Background
From being immersed in music as a kid, I can’t recall a time when I decided it’s what I’d do. It just always seemed like the natural thing to happen. As my initial thoughts of being a guitar player faltered, I soon realised drums were the coolest instrument anyway. My Brother got a bass guitar and when his friend brought a drum kit over to jam, my mind was made up. I got my own that Christmas.
I played non-stop, learning my favourite rock, punk and metal tracks by ear, but realised that thrashing alone in the bedroom wasn’t going to help my do or die rock n’ roll mission. So I set out to find a band of like minded individuals.
Within a few months of meeting the right people, I was playing in the venues where I’d watched my favourite bands the year before. Later, I was supporting bands I grew up listening to and whose posters had graced my bedroom wall. Our band released two critically acclaimed albums and toured extensively, playing headline shows and major festivals across the UK, Europe and USA. We got a die hard following from our high energy punk rock shows and received rave reviews in magazines such as Kerrang! and Classic Rock, plus features on major music stations and BBC Radio 6.
Keeping my style versatile and not wanting to sit in one genre of music, all this time I was also getting called for numerous live and studio sessions, ranging from rock, to indie, to folk artists and singer-songwriters. This also led to a few years touring in a theatre show, playing hundreds of sell out shows in theatres and big arenas across the country.
Blend all that in with drumming for carnival and samba bands and I’ve been fortunate to keep my drumming life busy and varied.
A keen explorer, I took a full year out to go and travel the world, returning in January 2020. Within a few weeks I squeezed in two UK tours, but then Covid hit! It gave me the opportunity to knuckle down and actively start doing remote drum recording, which I’d wanted to do for years.
That’s put me on a wild ride and I’ve drummed on dozens of tracks for people all over the world, playing no end of styles. It’s led me to record drums for a Nickelodeon video game, have a black metal album released on a Peruvian record label and drum on songs which have been worked on by some big names. Such as Curtis Mathewson (credits: Foo Fighters, Train, Motorhead, NOFX), Jack Endino (credits: Nirvana, Soundgarden) and Jeffro (OKeefe Music Foundation). I’m so fortunate and my remote drum recording journey continues.
I played in a band at lots of festivals with Lizzie some years ago and we’d kept in touch. After performing a few ceilidhs with her and Dan, discussion turned to creating something new. I was excited and honoured to be asked, so it was a no brainer to get involved. That’s where we find ourselves with Common Culture today.
Chris' Influences
Growing up my background was in Hard Rock, Metal and Punk, but my tastes also contrasted with Singer-songwriters and Folk musicians (which I think stems from my parents). Nowadays, asking my interests feels like a difficult question to answer. When people say they love everything it usually means they aren’t really into anything. I really do love everything though! Recently I was at a Pig Destroyer gig one day and the next at First Aid Kit. Grindcore or Folk, it’s all special to me.
I’ll bring and mix influences to whatever I’m doing. Some people have found it a bit strange that I’ll be recording a metal track, then a folk song, then jumping up and down in a samba band (this has all happened on the same day). I even confuse myself sometimes, but have slowly stopped worrying about perception, as I love what I love and do what I do. You’ve just gotta be yourself whether you fit into people’s perceptions or not. It’s kept my musical life exciting and I feel really fortunate to hop around scenes. If you can’t be yourself, who can you be?
Evie Smith
Bass &
Vocals
Fun Fact About Evie
Evie LOVES animals; with a cat, two leopard geckos, a bearded dragon, a tortoise, and a Hamster at home, she’s on her way to owning a zoo!
Evie's Musical Background
My musical side all started primarily with my dad, since I can remember he’s been in our music room singing and playing guitar, as soon as I could I joined in singing my head off with him.
However, my interest in actually playing an instrument didn’t start until the age of 8, my first Levellers gig. Me and my best friend at the time went dodging and weaving our way to the front at the Wolverhampton Civic and stood in front of Jon. That was it, I fell in love with the Fiddle!
I was a year too young to learn with the school but that didn’t stop me nagging and nagging my parents. I became obsessed, one thing that added to this was watching someone Irish dancing and wanting to learn how to do that too! The next year I’d joined Bojangles Dance school and started my lessons for classical violin at school.
A few years later, the violin love had started to fall away, I wasn’t a huge fan of classical, I wanted to play the fiddle! Luckily my mum had joined a Morris Dancing side, so did I. I danced mainly but then slowly started to join in with the band and then started to teach me to play more folky tunes.
Unfortunately, due to injury, I had to stop dancing which made me lose my fire for fiddle.
I didn’t play any instrument until year 8 in Secondary School, our music class was learning to play guitar. I picked one up and strummed the chords, the first song I learnt was Stand by Me. Around the time I got my fiddle, my dad had got me a ¾ size guitar so I started to learn Avril Lavigne songs amongst other things. After a while playing, I joined Wildfire Folk; a youth ensemble in Lichfield, my first gig with them was in July 2014. With Wildfire I learnt more and more, but favoured learning riffs from the bassist (this is important later). I love being about to play more folk! We played loads of different gigs in and around my hometown, Lichfield.
After a couple years, a few of the lead people left, meaning I got to use my voice and get singing and playing lead guitar, until the bassist left. Due to me knowing all the basslines, I was asked to turn my hand to bass; which I like to think I took to like a duck to water. We played Fuse Festival and supported John Boden in the Cathedral, but once I got to 18 the hospitality work life took its toll and I struggled to get to rehearsals, resulting in me having to leave.
I was now able to drink though and go into pubs so I started going to open mics, my first was at the George IV in Lichfield.
Evie's Influences
My music taste is eclectic to say the least, The Levellers, First Aid Kit, Florence and the Machine, Muse, Avril Lavingne; all loved and all have impacted my style and so have many more.