The Detonators

James O’Hara, born in 1970 in Yorkshire, England, assembled the Detonators in 1992 as their singer and guitarist. The high-energy outfit soon drew notice on the British blues circuit, above all in northern England. Merging blues foundations with funk rhythms and threading in R&B drawn from every corner of the genre, the group earned a name for their electrifying stage shows. A 1995 performance at the Alexis Korner Memorial Concert alerted Indigo Records to their presence, while repeated club and festival dates carried their profile across Europe. O’Hara sings and plays with drive and precision, sidestepping familiar routes to uncover fresh perspectives on his material without losing sight of blues tradition. In the late-1990s lineup alongside O’Hara stood Richard Ormrod on tenor saxophone, Mike Jackson on keyboards, Ian Hawkins on bass, and Gideon Marcus on drums.