Joss Davies: A multi-instrumental powerhouse and solo artist who has shared stages with members of The Specials and Kate Bush's session players, bringing his lifetime of musical pedigree and multi-string mastery to Pogue McClone.

• Rock and Roll
• English and Irish Folk
• Independent composer and performance artist

Joss Davies 

Weapons of choice: Guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, backing & lead vocal in Pogue McClone

Growing up in a musical household, Joss can’t remember the precise moment he originally picked up the guitar, but learnt his first chords from his dad, local musician Bryn ‘Mad Dog’ Davies. Taking lessons from FM’s Jim Kirkpatrick and Lee Belsham of Dr Phibes and the House of Wax Equations, he later went on to study Music Tech at college, whilst forming a jam band playing Madchester sounds, original instrumentals and funk - winning a local battle of the bands in the process.

Joining his dad’s Mad Dog Davies Band as lead guitarist in 2014, Joss cut his ‘live’ teeth playing far and wide, including frequent appearances at the Isle of Man TT Races, before forming his own band The Ten Decks, releasing two EPs of original material in 2019 and 2023 respectively. The following year saw Joss playing electric guitar at a handful of reunion gigs with the zydeco-blues band Zydecomotion, featuring Chris Hall (session musician for Paul McCartney and Kate Bush) and Horace Panter - bass player for The Specials, with 2025 bringing the release of his debut solo album, ‘To The Edge of Your Seat and Back.’ 

With his compositions picking up traction, Joss is currently working on his second album and is also heavily involved in ‘Penny for Your Thoughts’ - a music networking event in Crewe and Nantwich championing original music.

With the The Pogues one of his favourite bands of all time, it was inevitable that he would join the ranks when Pogue McClone came calling, giving him a chance to put his own stamp on their material.

Martin Wright: A multi-instrumentalist veteran who busked across the Midlands and played the Cambridge Folk Festival fringe with Black Crow, now breaking a lengthy hiatus to bring his mastery of the banjo, harmonica, and whistle to Pogue McClone.

• English and Irish Traditional Country Dance Tunes 
• American Old Time Fiddle Tunes
• Clawhammer and Frailing Five String Banjo

Martin Wright 

Weapons of choice: Everything

A multi instrumentalist (clarinet, flute, guitar, banjo, fiddle…), Martin developed a love for the blues whilst working at Custom Amplification in Crewe, owned by local legend Pete ‘Snakey Jake’ Johnson. Influenced by the Nashville sound and the likes of Loudon Wainwright III and Ry Cooder, as well as local folk artists, Martin took up the banjo, busking his way in and around Cheshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands.

During the eighties, Martin teamed up with melodion player and singer Mike Hurst, hailing from Sandbach, with the pair developing a tight English folky sound, playing barn dance tunes and music hall songs, before the arrival of local musician Bryn ‘Mad Dog’ Davies, who joined the band playing snare drum with brushes. The outfit was rounded out by ringleader Pete Marsh on tea chest bass and fiddle, whose songs were heavily influenced by the likes of the Dubliners and the Pogues. Going out as Black Crow, the quartet made a name for themselves playing informal sessions and folk festival fringes, including a spot at the Cambridge Folk Festival.

Following a spell with Crewe band Tower Struck Down in the early nineties, Martin then took a lengthy hiatus from music. But silence is far from golden, with early retirement and the formation of Pogue McClone by former band mate Bryn giving him the opportunity to dust off his instruments and take to the stage once more…

Rees Wesson: A master accordion craftsman and veteran of the UK’s number one zydeco band Joe Le Taxi, who has toured from Europe to Louisiana and now brings his decades of authentic swamp groove to Pogue McClone.

• English and Irish country dance tunes
• Zydeco
• Cajun 

Rees Wesson 

Weapon of choice: Accordion

Whilst, according to The Who, mama may have a squeeze box, Rees Wesson developed his love of the melodeon after first seeing the legendary Mike James in 1974. Smitten, he parted with £30 for a Hohner Pokerwork, mastering his craft whilst working as a night-shift engineer at a cheese factory in West Wales. Influenced by the likes of Reg Hall from the Rakes and the Old Swan Band’s Rod Stradling, Rees cut his teeth with The Carbolic Smokeball Company, Devious Roots and Bouezous, all playing traditional ceilidh dance music.

The eighties saw him further immerse himself into the world of the melodeon/accordion, importing Castagnari instruments and fixing up old Hohner accordions, before heading out to Italy and Louisiana to meet accordion builders and returning to the UK to trade at festivals.

As a member of Edward the Second and the Red Hot Polkas, Rees then toured Europe, Canada and America, as well as making regular trips to Italy and Ireland to meet makers and players whilst also passing on his musical skills to others.

In 1992, he formed the band Joe Le Taxi, soon becoming the UK’s No.1 Zydeco band thanks to their authentic swamp groove and still gigging after 34 years, whilst in the background, Rees learnt to make his own Wesson brand accordions, which he still produces at his workshop in Welshpool, Mid Wales. His instruments can be found at www.melodeons.com/gallery

Which brings us to the present day and his latest engagement, as a member of Pogue McClone, joining band leader Bryn ‘Mad Dog’ Davies and fellow troubadours with their energetic interpretation of the music of Shane McGowan and co. 

Steve ‘Shoey’ Shoebridge: A seasoned rhythm powerhouse who has driven beats from Crewe’s Lyceum Theatre to a five-year residency in Doha, now bringing his deep Irish roots and legendary percussion skills home to Pogue McClone.

• Jazz
• R&B
• Rock n Roll

Steve ‘Shoey’ Shoebridge 

Weapons of choice: Drums, spoons, angle grinder

A Crewe lad, Shoey discovered a proclivity for hitting things at age 10, spending six years with the Co-op Brass Band, interspersed with a spell as percussionist at Crewe’s Lyceum Theatre. The local ‘club’ scene then beckoned, with him holding down residencies in Crewe and Macclesfield, before joining a myriad of North West/North Wales bands including Rider and Steel Breeze.  

Studio work saw him record at Cargo in Rochdale and Swallow in Smallwood, whilst keeping one foot in the local scene with acts such as Night Train, before making his mark as drummer with Fourplay - winners of Piccadilly Radio’s Battle of the Bands in the late eighties, who supported the likes of Dr and the Medics and Labi Siffri. 

With a CV that reads like a ‘who’s who’ of Cheshire’s finest including Big Blue House and the Fabulous Blues Roosters, Shoey also went global as a member of the resident band at The Jazz Club, St Regis Hotel, Doha from 2012-17, before returning to the UK, picking up where he left off with stints in Bryn Davies’ Mad Dog and U2 tribute Angel of Harlem. 

Of Irish descent, Shoey’s now found his true calling, playing back alongside Bryn in Pogue McClone. Another chapter begins…