Crawley-based band Borrowed Time back gigging in the town

Crawley-based band Borrowed Time will be playing at the White Hart on Crawley High Street at 3pm on Sunday, August 21.
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It will be the first electric set Borrowed Time have played at the White Hart since 2019.

“The White Hart is one of our favourite local venues and we are really looking forward to playing on a summer Sunday afternoon,” said band co-founder Martin Ashton.

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“The band will play a mix of covers from the 50s onwards and a couple of original songs.”

Borrowed Time live in CrawleyBorrowed Time live in Crawley
Borrowed Time live in Crawley

The band was formed in 2009 by singer Paul Corrosion and guitarists Mike Sandford and Martin Ashton.

“The original concept was to be a blues band but it was quickly decided to expand the material to include rock and pop beyond the 60s/70s so now we play a good variety of material including covering artists like The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Foo Fighters, Catatonia and the Kings of Leon. We still include classic tunes from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

"We also have some original songs which feature in our live sets.

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“The founding members still form the core of the band but we have had a few different bass players and drummers.”

The current line-up is Paul Corrosion vocals, Ruth Rosie vocals, Mark Kennedy drums, Graham Hollebon bass guitar, Mike Sandford and Martin Ashton guitars.

“Apart from a hiatus during the Covid pandemic we have been gigging around Sussex with occasional sorties over the border into Surrey since 2010.

"Now that things are beginning to improve following the pandemic Borrowed Time are looking forward to getting back to normal levels of activity which is approximately a gig a month.”

Paul Corrosion has his roots in punk and rock.

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He was the bass player in Gypsy Dogs after which he joined Goth band All Living Fear and did some work with Arthur Brown while with them.

Paul then started doing more singing and now does both singing and bass playing in various situations.

Ruth Rosie is a relatively new member of the band and is a folk singer. Ruth joined Borrowed Time to broaden her experience while having fun, she says.

Mike Sandford is a returner having played in bands in the 60s then got married and had children but returned to pla ying in his 60s.

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Mike’s influences are mainly blues artists but also Frank Zappa and Tangerine Dream.

Graham Hollebon has played bass in a number of Sussex based bands and is a big fan of Status Quo, “ just an old rocker at heart,” Martin says.

Martin Ashton has a background in rock and metal, playing in bands like Necromancer and Rhino Charge.

Moving to Sussex just before the millennium meant a change of pace playing in St Mary’s church music group before forming Borrowed Time.

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Martin added: “Mark Kennedy has a PhD in animal psychology that probably makes him the brains of the outfit but he drums like the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

“Gigs since the lockdown have generally been very good. People seem to really want to get back to seeing live bands. Of particular note was Dorking Westival in April where we headlines the last night at the Kings Arms. The place was rammed.”