Raymond Pitt

Who would have thought it? I decided to retire from performing live in 2010 after many too many happy years of playing with various cover and tribute bands. But here I am again for what I guess is my second final farewell tour having been coaxed back on stage by The Carpet Crawlers.

I have known the band for a good few years now and remember helping Andy Keegan out with some original Genesis sounds so we are very well acquainted. Andy is a great keyboards player and I will be doing my very best to do the keyboards justice in his absence.

Anyway, I started playing piano to entertain family, friends and schoolmates form the age of 7. I moved on to playing in bands from the age of 16. To be honest, I never really got into Genesis music until my brother in law forced me to sit down and listen to And Then There Three in 1978. I was hooked, although I didn’t get the chance to see them perform live until the Invisible Touch Tour at Roundhay Park, Leeds and have been a massive fan ever since.

Like many fans, I recorded the Wembley Show which was broadcast on Radio 2 on July 4th on to a Cassette tape. And what a show it was to see/hear Genesis at the end of a 10 month World Tour and levitating the entire stadium. Amazing.

As a former Genesis tribute band keyboardist I have spent a ridiculous amount of time over the years trying to recreate the sounds of Tony Banks. To that end I ended up buying most of the keyboards Tony used. These included a Synclavier II, Prophet 10, Emulator II,  ARP Quadra, ProSoloist etc. I played them all live, before downsizing the keyboard rig by sampling the Genesis sounds onto the Korg Oasys.

I have kept my hand in over the last few years by programming sounds for virtual synths, especially a library of Genesis sounds for SynthMagic’s amazing Sounds of the Quadra (for Native Instruments Kontakt).

So after a few years with my feet up, I am delighted to be given the opportunity to perform live with The Carpet Crawlers and recreate the Invisible Touch Tour. Hope to see you on Tour.

Equipment:

Korg Oasys

Korg Kronos 2

Korg Wavestation EX

Roland A800

Apple MacBook Pro