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The Durham Project started out with songs written by Alan Blackburn (keys) and Phill Shute (Simmons) (guitar/vocals). They were joined by long time friends and allies Lee Willsher (drums/vocals) and Tony Jex (bass) to get the band on the road. Another long time friend Jeff Cripps (Mississippi Shakedown) invited them to record at A Sharp Studios and Jeff did the engineering and production as well as some drums, percussion and backing vocals on their first release The DP EP out on the legendary Big Rock label. The guys started a residency at Taverners Hill Hotel joining with Joey D (guitar/vocals) and things started to move. They did the Songwriters Across Australia Big Rock concert at "The Wall" in Sydney to great acclaim...things were looking good until a very serious motorbike accident and ill health brought this progress to a shuddering halt. After a long hiatus for recovery Al and Phill re-started the project. As Tony and Lee had moved on to further their careers a new rhythm section of Mitch Mitchell (bass) and Pedro Mello (drums, percussion, cajon and vocals) were recruited and an acoustic based album is completed and ready for release on Big Rock Records. Mitch has been busy with many musical commitments so Ross Johnston is the latest team member to join on bass, double bass and vocals. The band have released an EP and an acoustic album, and are putting the finishing touches to a track for the Big Rock Records 40th anniversary album.