One of the country’s finest musicians and songwriters, Cotswolds-based Coppin found fame in the 70s cult folk rock band Decameron.

“Reunion 2006” will bring the original Decameron line-up back to the town where they formed and which inspired several songs including ‘Cheltenham Ladies’. Once one of folk and acoustic rock’s biggest box office draws and dubbed “the thinking man’s Lindisfarne”, Decameron was led by the formidable songwriting partnership of Coppin and Dave Bell and completed by Al Fenn, Geoff March and Dik Cadbury.

Johnny will also be joined on stage by some of his more recent musical friends who have been part of his enduring and varied career – fellow singer songwriter Mike Silver who had a BBC Radio 2 hit with ‘Not a Matter of Pride’, Rolling Stones co-producer and keyboards player Matt Clifford, fiddle player Paul Burgess and guitarist and recording engineer Mick Dolan, who has worked on many of Johnny’s past albums.

In the first half of the Cheltenham show Johnny, joined by Silver, Clifford, Burgess and Dolan, will perform some of his own songs, Gloucestershire songs and material from his most recent, popular album The Winding Stair.

The spotlight will turn on Decameron after the interval. Today the five musicians surprisingly still live within 20 miles of each other in Gloucestershire – Johnny (guitar, keyboards, vocals) at Nailsworth, Dik (lead and acoustic guitars, bass, violin, viola, percussion) and Dave (guitar, vocals) in Leckhampton, Al (lead guitar, mandolin) in Longney and Geoff (cello, violin) at Stroud.

Tickets for this special gig are available from Cheltenham Town Hall Box Office (T: 01242-227979) price £16 and £14 concessions £14 and £12, children £7) Doors open at 7pm with the show starting at 7.30pm.

Links:
www.johnnycoppin.co.uk
www.decameron-uk.com