The SKIP RATS Colin Mee - (lead vox/rhythm guitar) Ian Rhodes - (lead guitar/back vox) Mickie Downey - (bass/back vox) { Joe Guillan has now replaced Ian Rhodes as (lead guitar/back vox) } The Skip Rats were formed in 1987 by Col Mee, Joe Guillan (in 1992 by Ian Rhodes joined , before Joe returned in 2004) and Mickie Downey. Those "music critics" in the mags call the style of this trio from the North East of England "Roots Music" - the Skip Rats call it, "stuff that's really gettin' ya rockin". Their very special and personal mix of Country, Hillbilly, Rockabilly, Blues, Skiffle and Rock 'n' Roll is just the way the place they come from is: straight forward, sometimes soft, sometimes rough, sometimes wild and sometimes smooth - but always honest. The way of the Skip Rats' career leads upward - if you ask frontman Colin Mee for the reasons, he shrugs his shoulders and says: We believe in what we're doing. Look's like people appreciate this." Looks like they definitely do - almost every gig in 1997 was sold out! Ever since the first gig of the band back in 1987 at the Excelsior Club in Gateshead/Newcastle, the Skip Rats built up a huge following in whole Europe, and are constant guests on the continent. It was on occasion of a concert by the Skip Rats in Paris, when a Swiss Indie label took notice of the band, resulting in the release of the first album, "She's My Baby", whose first edition of 1000 pieces sold out within two weeks. Today, (daft) collectors are paying mor