No Exit’s first line up was Graham Trust (bass / vocals), Martyn Gilbert (guitar) and Perry Leach (drums). This 3 piece was the very essence of rock music – one voice, one bass guitar, one electric guitar, one drummer and no fancy frills. All were once pupils at Quarry Bank School in Liverpool, England. A famous ex student was The Beatles' John Lennon. A hard act to follow? No Exit aimed for the stars, and through hard work and determination, they scaled some dizzy heights - and plummeted to the depths of depair. Click on "History" for a full account of their odyssey and of Graham's own journey as their songwriter.

By the time their self-financed album ‘Songs from the Wilderness’ was released, Colin McCormick had replaced Perry on drums. This legendary compilation shows No Exit at their very best, with 11 of their most popular tracks, 5 of which remind us just what a superb live act they were. It’s all in there - great tunes, great musicianship and beautiful heart rending words all wrapped up in a blanket of youthful melancholia. While ‘The Real World’, ‘Hero’, ‘In the Dark’, 'Don't Walk Away (video) and ‘Wheels within Wheels’ may be particularly worthy of mention, this classic album is a joy from start to finish.

After 3½ years together, having taken the concept of a 3 piece band to the limit, No Exit broke up. Graham spent the next 4 years writing and recording as a solo artist, until eventually there was enough new material to enable him to form ‘The Vow’ with Tony Potter. The founding members were Graham Trust (rhythm guitar/vocals) Jacqui Lancaster (vocals), Martyn Gilbert (electric/12 string acoustic guitars), Paul O’Brien (bass) and Tony Potter (drums). After a year the band changed direction. Jacqui and Paul left, and Nick Reynolds came in on bass to give The Vow a harder, rockier edge. Over their two years together they recorded 16 songs, all of which feature on ‘The Vow – Complete Recordings’. ‘Wintertime’, ‘And I Know’ and ‘Television’s Home’ stand out as timeless gems, but as would be expected, the quality of all The Vow’s material is breathtaking. Among the album's highpoints are 2 songs written especially for Jacqui - 'When I Cry' and 'Evergreen' - which are played and sung with typical passion.

The albums 'GT & The Vow' – Volume 1 and GT & The Vow - Volume 2 are compilations of the best of The Vow and the best of Graham’s solo work after No Exit and after The Vow. They demonstrate his incredible versatility as a writer and performer. There’s the haunting duet ‘Reflections on Saturday’ with Jillian Coleman, an orchestral ‘Peace in our Time’, the pop rocker ‘Free the World’, a rockabilly styled ‘The Brain Drain’, the self accompanied acoustic lament ‘My Swan Song’ and an a cappella ‘Someone to talk to’. But there’s a lot more to these 2 great albums than that.

The task of retrieving the tapes from the vaults at Slug House, cleaning them up and digitally remastering them took two years, but it was two years well spent. Not all survived the ravages of time, but we are delighted to have made available for download 40 of Graham Trust’s best songs as well as 2 tastefully treated cover versions - ‘Big Bird’ by Eddie Floyd and an acoustic rendition of ‘I can’t help falling in love with you’, made famous by Elvis Presley. All these songs are brought to you FREE of charge for a limited period only. You can download them all for NOTHING; there are NO catches; NO tricks; NO alarms and NO surprises, just great music for you to share in.

Enjoy.

Vince Mayo,

President. Slug Records