Area Code 273 - a very good band based in Brighton

Area Code 273 have been gathering quite a following of late. With a quirky mixture of blues, tex mex, and NICE folk, this odd assortment of economics guru, psycho professor and mad inventor have nearly mastered their instruments to a level of what some commentators have likened to music.

Or to put it another way: Area Code 273 are Andy Newell on guitar, Paul Stenner on bass (and guitar), Helga Ditmar on flute and Richard Vahrman on accordion. All of the team sing somewhat, and some sing less.

As most people ask where the name comes from, it probably requires a little explanation. Area Code 615 was the name of a Nashville country rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, taking their name from the telephone area code, which at the time covered all of Central and Eastern Tennessee. Their best known work was "Stone Fox Chase", which was used as the theme to the British Broadcasting Corporation's music programme The Old Grey Whistle Test. Area Code 273 pays homage to them by using the main part of the Brighton area code (or STD code as we used to say - not to be confused with other meanings of STD).