The Stones

The band was first put together by JBlack, as part of the first "Rolling Stones Festival" of 2007, in Eckington, Derbyshire.

(Eckington has a significant link with The Rolling Stones as Mick Jagger’s grandmother was from Eckington and is now buried there, and Mick has been a frequent visitor to his grandmother’s grave.)

At the Festival on Bank Holiday Monday, 2007, JBlack (who was a Rolling Stones fan from their beginning in the 60’s) wrote out the music and lyrics of twenty Rolling Stones’ songs and put together a band to perform them made up of members of the Kahunas (a local classic rock band), and young Ben from Eckington who bears a striking resemblance to Mick Jagger. The unrehearsed performance was magical, because of the power of the songs, the way that Ben slipped into the Mick Jagger role as if he had been born to it, and the way the band immediately grasped the "loose but tight" conundrum in the feel of The Rolling Stones music. The band decided that this was the way ahead for them.

The band started performing late December 2007 under the name of "The Stoned Angels" (The name came from the fact that that first performance in the Eckington Rolling Stones Festival, was performed in a local venue called The Angel Hotel).

The second gig they performed was on a Sunday night at "The Diamond" in Sutton in Ashfield, a Rock Tribute Venue. Although still a little ragged at the seams, the performance was greeted with great acclaim, with many people impressed at how the band had captured the "feel" of The Rolling Stones Music, and The Diamond booked them back for a Saturday night (their big night) later in the year
The band continued as "The Stoned Angels" playing pubs and clubs in the local music scene around Chesterfield and Sheffield, playing to packed venues reminiscent of the early Rolling Stones work, with people standing on chairs to see the band, and people dancing in every available space.

JBlack invited Steve Barker of Morningside Management to the Diamond gig in June. He liked what he saw and heard and agreed to take on the Band to promote them to the UK Theatre circuit.

JBlack then formally became the Manager of the band and established an exclusive agreement with Morningside Management for Theatre work. During the process of establishing the band as a professional outfit the current line up was established and the name changed to "The Stones".

On September 8th 2008, the band recorded a promotional DVD at The Princess Theatre in Cannock, which can be seen here on the web site.

Theatres are already being booked for 2009 and 2010, as well as other work such as Hotels, Holiday Camps, Clubs and Corporate and Society functions, to complement the theatre work and to share their love of The Rolling Stones music with as many people as possible