Cyrus

Cyrus – ©Brian Hill

Cyrus – Edinburgh, the early 70’s, Progressive Rock was in it’s prime, and so too was a young bass player named Cyrus Scott who with friend Gordon Feenie formed the band Not Quite Red Fox. This name may be familiar to fans of another Scottish singer named Fish, as they were the band that rejected him on his first ever audition! Ironically, around the same time, at a gig in Luton, where Not Quite Red Fox were competing in Battle of the Bands, Cyrus was approached by an up and coming group of musicians named Marillion, who thought his Gabriel-esque vocals would be perfect for their particualr style of music. Unfortunately their were communication problems and after Cyrus and his band mates returned to Scotland no further contact was made. Although this alternative Marillion line-up would have been proven to be a very interesting parallel for many prog fans, it was not to be. The position was left open for the man that Not Quite red Fox had turned away and Cyrus was left walking another path.

Suffering the same fate that many young bands do, Not Quite Red Fox split and drummer Gordon Feenie departed to London in search of fame and fortune, they lost touch. Cyrus stayed in Scotland and played for a while in a local band named Circus where he formed a friendship with guitarist Frank Kennedy. Dissatisfied with the local scene and yearning for bigger things Cyrus decided to follow in Gordon’s footsteps and headed south.

Once in London he auditioned with several bands before spotting an advert for a bass player by an outfit that seemed to be just the style of music he was looking to play. Cyrus called up, arranged an audition and turned up at the band’s rehearsal room. Armed with his bass guitar he waited nervously at the door. It opened and Cyrus was greeted by the band’s drummer. It took a minute for this familiar face to register, as he was now sporting an orange Mohican hairstyle, but Cyrus quickly realised that fate had played another trump card and he was once again teamed up with old friend Gordon Feenie. The name of the band was Citizen Cain…