Shez Sheridan

Shez 'Shovlingdon' Sheridan was very fortunately baptised 'Shez' by his parents who showed great forethought in starting him off with a stage name immediately. It has saved generations of his protégés from having to bother learning some ordinary name.

Born in 1964 and raised in the downtown district of Lodge Moor, its neon lights and go- go bars were to be an immediate draw to the young Shez. To quote his own words, 'I left school with f--- all and leached off Thatcher's government for a bit whilst getting to grips with the guitar.' He honed his skills amongst the strip joints and speak-easies of this seething metropolis, playing for sausage rolls and Henderson's Relish- based comestibles, alco- pops, Bovril, you get the idea. 

He toured a fair bit of the world with many artists and played on hundreds of albums, some of which were: Richard Hawley, Duane Eddy, Steve Cropper, Womak and Womak, and John Grant

 

This paltry career was transformed when he joined the mighty Dizzy Club in 1999. At the time we were partying like it was the year before the Millennium, just to get the practice in. The precise circumstances of his joining are shrouded in collective amnesia but recent research on the episode seems to indicate that it was centred round an unfortunate diplomatic incident and an unpaid bar tab. (We have asked the researchers not to pursue this further.) It's funny how these  things work out. Due to his frequent international responsibilities with Richard Hawley as Sheffield's cultural ambassador he is regularly granted parole from the Club, on the strict understanding that he doesn't get up to mischief, doesn't emigrate for good and phones home regularly. Audience members at the European Hawley gigs who look closely will be able to make out his ankle tag.