The Music Of Pink Floyd
Gerard McDonald - saxophone
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Gerard grew up in the heyday of 1970's progressive rock and spent his formative years absorbing the great music of that era. "I remember buying Dark Side Of The Moon not long after it was released," he says, "and I was instantly addicted to the music and lyrics. Even today, I never tire of listening to or performing that album".
His first instruments were guitar and keyboards. "Despite being influenced by a broad spectrum of music, attempting to write and play like Pink Floyd and their contemporaries became an obsession", he continued, "and I only started to play the saxophone by chance. I remember picking up our sax player's instrument during a break in a rehearsal, and I immediately felt at home with it. Some years later, I found myself staring at the saxes in a local music store and I remembered how it had felt. So I bought my first alto sax and, just twelve months later, was playing in several local blues bands as well as one of the local rep theatre's productions".
Gerard has now played saxophone with bands and artists such as The Drifters, Terry Kennaugh, Gerry Gillard, TwentyFourSeven, The Reggimental Band, The Hustle, Angie Palmer, Rob Gould, Richard Smith, and Bamjimba. But he never forgot his early love of Pink Floyd and, when the chance arose, he jumped at the opportunity to play their music, touring the UK and Germany with a number of tributes before joining The Floyd Effect in 2011. In addition, he writes and records with his partner (and one of The Floyd Effect's backing vocalists) Fiona Ford. Their first album, ‘Leave Everything You Know', was released in 2011 and received enthusiastic reviews from listeners and critics alike.