The Western Heights are a Dover based trio playing original melodic and country-inflected songs. Toby Oakes has sporadically written, sung and played guitar for over 50 years, he has worked with bassist Kevin Richards for 10 years and they were joined by drummer Dave Robinson in 2021.
The Western Heights’ gig at the legendary Water Rats marks the band’s long awaited London debut.
Toby Oakes is 70 and has no idea how that happened. He wrote songs and wanted to be a pop star, there was no Plan B. There were moments, a band called FK9, recordings, a deal – but the band broke up. Then life: relationships, jobs. Every few years a new handful of songs, a new band name; Silvertongue – two gigs. He moved to Folkestone and then Dover, meeting musicians, practicing, rehearsing. The Good Germans – two gigs. Then popular local singer/guitarist Kevin Richards joined because he liked the songs and wanted to play bass. They became The Western Heights, recorded some demos and tried to find a drummer, chancing on the right one when vibes player Dave Robinson stepped in for their debut gig at the jazz bar he ran.
The music draws a line between Buffalo Springfield and the Velvet Underground with many stops along the way, songs of self-pity and bafflement with bitter lyrics and sweet tunes.