Status Quo - Francis Rossi - Andrew Bown - John 'Rhino' Edwards - Leon Cave - Richie Malone

 
Francis Rossi
Francis Rossi Born: 29th May 1949
From: Forest Hill, South London.
Now Lives: South London.
Personal: Married to Eileen, eight children from two marriages.
Plays: Lead Guitar, Vocals, Songwriting.

Francis is the front man. His instantly recognizable voice and the twin guitars of Rossi and Parfitt are the main ingredients of Status Quo.

Known to everyone in the band as 'Frame' or 'The Gomorr' (the grand old man of rock and roll), he is married to Eileen, has eight children from two marriages, and lives in Surrey, England.

A typical Gemini, Francis on stage is an outgoing and charismatic showman but has been labelled a recluse because he rarely goes to parties or big social occasions, preferring to stay at home (If you saw his house you'd understand why!). Musically he still loves playing, performing and writing as much as ever and is always involved in the production of Quo records.

When not touring, Francis keeps fit by swimming and exercising. He is a collector of Koi Carp, likes Clay pigeon shooting and is probably the English pasta-eating record holder.

Equipment

The Green Fender Telecaster...
is an original 1957 model, which Francis bought for £70 in 1968 and has been his main guitar ever since.
Over the years he has had some of the original Telecaster fittings replaced, using G&L parts which help the sustain and the intonation. It now has three pickups, which work in a Stratocaster configuration.

From 2015 Francis has also been using a custom-built green 'Status' Graphite guitar, which is a Telecaster shape carved from a slab of ash with a graphite neck, stop tailpiece and loaded with three Hot Rails pickups.

The gauge of the strings Francis uses are: .09 .11 .16 .26w 34w 46w.
He is currently using two 4x12" 8 ohm Marshall cabinets, a JCM 800 Lead Series amp and sometimes a JCM 900. For effects, Francis uses a Roland GP8 which boosts the signal to the amplifier, has five different overdrive patches and one patch which is a very tight straight double effect with some echo.

Between the output of the amp and the speakers are Palmer speaker simulators. The output of these goes out-front and is mixed with the miked signal from the Marshall cabinets and a miked signal from a Vox AC30 which is one of the new ones made by Marshall using exactly the same components as were originally used when they were first made in the sixties. You won't see the AC30's on the stage because they are kept behind the Marshalls.

Francis and Rick love the sound of the original AC 30's. In the old days these were loud enough to be the main stage amps but now the miked signal is sent out front to give the sound that extra fatness.

Francis uses Samson Radio systems on the guitar and for Radio headphones.


 
Andrew Bown
Andy Bown Born: March 27th, 1946.
From: Beckenham, South London.
Personal: Andrew and his wife Ronnie (Veronica) live with three of their four children in Barnes, South West London.

Plays: Keyboards, Guitar, Harmonica, Bass, Vocals, Songwriting.

Andrew, otherwise known as 'Acid Man' because of his acerbic wit, is the multi-instrumentalist of the band and whilst he wouldn't admit it, is a fantastic musician.

Besides the keyboards, harmonica and guitar that you see him playing on stage with Quo, he is a great bass player, in fact not many people are aware that bass is his main instrument. He is also by his own admission the worst drummer in the world!

Andrew is also a connoisseur of fine wines and noted consumer of the same.

A full member of the band since 1976, he has contributed some great songs to the Quo hit list including "Whatever You Want" and "Burning Bridges".

Equipment

The main keyboards Andrew uses on stage with Quo are a Roland piano, a Hammond C3 Organ and a Roland D70 which is also used for a mother keyboard and is connected to a Roland U220, a Vintage Keys module and an Akai Sampler. He has a Leslie speaker for the Hammond Organ, which is kept at the back of the stage and various pedals and effects which have all been modified to make the setup more comfortable to play.

When playing the guitar, Andrew uses custom guitars by Jamie Davey, a vintage Fender Telecaster, a Gibson Les Paul, a Washburn semi-acoustic and Gibson and Takamini acoustics.

He also plays several Harmonicas and as with the other members of Quo, Andrew uses in-ear radio monitoring.


 
John 'Rhino' Edwards
John 'Rhino' Edwards Born: 9th May 1953
From: Whitton, Middlesex.
Now Lives: South west London.
Personal: Married to Kathy, three children.
Plays: Bass, Guitar, Vocals, Songwriting.

John has played with many other artistes but for him there is only one band and he is where he wants to be, in the engine room of Status Quo.

He is known to all as 'Rhino' and also as 'The Bludgeon' because he is the clumsiest man in the world and somehow he manages to break things wherever he goes.

An enthusiastic supporter of Brentford Football Club and a 'Do it Yourself' (demolition) expert, he is married to Kathy and has three children, Mae, Freddie and Max.

Rhino loves touring and when Quo are on the road, he and Andrew can often be found wandering the streets, taking in Art Galleries, seeing the sights and tasting the local brews.

With possibly the biggest stereo system in West London and the best neighbours (not), he is a musicoholic, always listening to new and old records of all kinds and recording tracks in his home studio... loudly.

Equipment

Rhino mainly uses Status basses, (aptly named, but no relation) He has a collection of others which he sometimes uses when recording, including an Alembic, a Fender Jazz, a Fender Precision and various others, but on the road with Quo he only uses the Status basses because they sound great and stand up to the rigors of touring. He has two headless Status four strings and a Status five string.

For amplification he uses a Markbass F1 amp with 2 4x10 horn loaded cabinets, with a repeater amp on the other side of the stage through a regular Marshall 4 x 12 cabinet.

Rhino released a solo album in 2000 on Eagle Records. The album 'Rhino's Revenge' is now available on Spotify from the link below.


 
Leon Cave
Leon Cave Born: 24th September 1978
From: Northwich, Cheshire
Now Lives: London
Plays: Drums, Guitar, Bass

Leon played with Francis Rossi on his 'One Step At A Time' solo tour in 2010.

Born on 24th September 1978, Leon has also played with Macara, Zen Baseballbat, Texas Chainsaw Orchestra, Hudson Swan, Carnival Messiah

Producers worked with include Gregg Jackman (Seal, Prince), Bruce Wood (Nightmares on Wax), Charlie Russell (Athlete, Jamiroquai), Howard Gray (Apollo 440, The Manic Street Preachers), John Fortis (Razorlight, Noisettes, Paulo Nutini), Cutfather & Joe (Jamelia, The Wanted), Lee Smith (The Cribs, Submotion Orchestra, Fatboyslim), The Futz Butler (Audi, Coca Cola, Moonpig).

Equipment

With Quo, Leon plays Spaun and Noonan drum kits. His snare drums are Noonan. All other hardware is DW drums. Sticks are Vic FirthDrum, Heads are Remo. and all cymbals are Paiste.




 
Richie Malone
Richie Mallone Born: 18th March 1986
From: Ballybrack, South Dublin
Now Lives: Firhouse, South Dublin.
Personal: Richie and partner Jessica have three daughters.
Plays: Guitar

Hobbies: Running, swimming and sightseeing. Supports Chelsea FC.

Richie first played with Quo in July 2016, after Rick Parfitt was taken ill. His first show was in Leuven, Belgium.

While not on the road with Quo he is a Senior Project Engineer in an Audio/Visual systems integration company where he has worked for over 10 years.

Equipment

Richie uses 3 telecasters on tour with Quo:

The main telecaster is called the AC Cobra and is a custom build which he designed himself - with the AC Cobra car as the idea behind its design. It is strung with .13-56 strings, and built by Mike Smith @ Replica Guitars.

The second telecaster is a Rick Parfitt replica which Richie has used for every single gig he's played since the age of 21. The guitar was a surprise birthday present from his father Karl. Now in use for for Rain and Whatever you Want, and strung with .13-.56 strings. Also built by Mike Smith @ Replica Guitars.

Number three telecaster is a Fender American Special, used mainly for Hold You Back and as a back up. Strung with .11-.49 strings.



All Quo pictures by Rick Van Gerven