DOCTOR'S ORDER'S were formed in 2005 with the aim of playing good time bouncing blues, and the result is just that.
Doctor's Orders' music, while it could broadly be described as blues, is an eclectic mix within that genre, combining funk, rock, r&b, jazz and swing to produce a varied, up-tempo set. Many of the covered artists are familiar, ZZ Top, Dr. Feelgood, Fleetwood Mac (of course), Johnny Winter, The Blues Band, Them, The Allman Brothers Band, (the inevitable) Garry Moore, Louis Jordan, Robben Ford and many more, but Doctor's Orders generally tend to avoid the more obvious "done to death" numbers in favour of songs which, although well known are perhaps not heard as often.
The set includes a spattering of instrumentals featuring excellent guitar work from Jon Bridger and Martyn Davies which, while delivered with great flair and skill never fall into the trap of self-indulgence.
The band is completed by the rock-solid rhythm section of Dave Wiggins on bass and Chris Houghton on drums.
TAKE YOUR MEDICINE!

Doctors Orders
Gig Review 6th October 2007
by Tony Smith - Borough Blues Club
What was it? Did everyone stay in to watch France and New Zealand ? Did hordes go to the Blues Festival in Blaenavon?
For whatever reason, our numbers were down on the usual attendance on 6 October when Doctor's Orders played at the BBC.
A pity for those unfortunate enough to miss the gig!
Doctor's Orders are four guys based in Worcester . Chris holds it all together on the drums, Dave is the bassist and master of ceremonies, Martyn does most of the vocals and plays guitar left handed - according to their web site he also plays harp but we didn't see it - and then there's Jon. Jon is a guitarist - a seriously good guitarist.
Their set included a super mix of well known blues numbers, a bit of rock and roll, a bit of swing, a bit of TV theme music (who knew that the theme from Top Gear is called Jessica?), a ZZ Top number and one from Fleetwood Mac - all delivered with terrific gusto.
The band opened with Dr Feelgood's "Down at the Doctors", this was followed by BB King's "Someday Baby" and then Albert King's "Blues-Power": - an answer to recent mutterings against bands who only play self penned offerings!
Other numbers from history's most popular blues artists - and not necessarily their cliché tracks - followed. These were interspersed with instrumentals and a few "only marginally" blues numbers - altogether an excellent and thoughtfully mixed set.
Although Martyn provided the bulk of the vocals Dave's singing, particularly on "Talk to your Daughter", made a nice contrast.
From the beginning Jon's solo guitar power was obvious. He's a man who loves his work.
His shades and his pony tail tell you that the man is committed. When he's really into it he unties his long hair and you'd be excused for confusing him with someone from the heavy metal brigade! But you wouldn't confuse his playing. He is one of the best electric blues guitarists that I've heard at the BBC.
Martyn is no slouch and, towards the end, he and Jon seemed to seriously enjoy their guitar duel on " La Grange ". Their encore of "Statesboro' Blues" and "Baby Please Don't Go" finished the evening in some style.
We've had some bands at the BBC that were obviously very competent but didn't have quite as much passion - these boys have high energy and real commitment to go with their expertise.
In my view, this is one of the best bands on the local circuit. It was a privilege to be there.

• Rock
• Blues
• Jazz
• Funk
• Swing