About Us
We first took shape as a five-piece folk a cappella group in May 2012 and performed together for the first time as "The Folk Collective" at Crawley Folk & Beer Festival that same summer. A full history of No Strings Attached can be found here.
With one addition, and to highlight the fact we had decided to ditch the instruments used in The Beamers (an earlier forerunner of our line-up) we became "No Strings Attached" and debuted in Cuckfield in October 2012. Since then we have performed on just under 200 occasions throughout Sussex, Surrey, Kent and London. In January 2016 we became a quintet again after John decided to pursue other musical ventures. At the end of 2023 Phil retired and was replaced by another John.
Nearly all of our arrangements are developed by the group as a whole during rehearsal (or even after the rehearsal, in the pub!); no-one conducts, anyone can take the lead and we all revel in the sheer enjoyment of singing in harmony.
The Band
Russ Braithwaite
Bass
A cappella has long been a passion of Russ's, especially after seeing The Flying Pickets perform live in the early 80s. He has been in many local vocal groups and choirs and currently still sings with Vivace! in Ditchling.
Bonnie Flitney
Alto
Bonnie has sung in various choirs including The Royal Choral Society, held a residency with a band around the local social clubs and these days entertains and/or raises money for good causes singing with Touchstone, Cotillion and NSA.
Alex Sandford
Soprano
Alex has an eclectic taste in music and loves listening to anything from classical to rock, pop to Indie, or musicals and choral. She has sung in many different choirs and groups of various sizes since school, singing many different genres and as well as NSA currently spends her spare time singing in two other choirs. She is never happier than when she is outside in nature, getting muddy, lighting fires and building dens with groups of children as part of her role as a Forest School Leader and, of course, teaching songs about the trees and animals if the opportunity arises!
David Spear
Tenor
David has sung in several Sussex choirs, and performed regularly with his own group Packet of Three (guitar & vocals), raising lots of money for a school for deaf children in Nepal along the way. They also held Open mic nights for many years at The White Harte Cuckfield, where Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze fame and friends joined in one summer evening. Over the years David sang with everyone who would eventually become NSA in various formats. To quote David, 'It is such a joy to sing with my friends in NSA and bring that sense of fun to our audiences.'
John Palmer
Tenor & Beatbox
John enjoys singing popular songs in all genres specialising in Gospel, Country, English Heritage, Celtic and Blues music. In addition to performing with NSA he sings in large-scale choral works with the St Pauls Cathedral Chorus. For many years now he has has played bass guitar with the Central Band of the Royal British Legion and its dance band offshoot the Embassy Big Band. John also writes, performs and produces recordings of his own original material as a published singer-songwriter.
Past Members
Phil Purdie
Tenor & VP
2012-2023.
John Sandford
Bass
2012-2016.