Richard Clay: Richard - also known to many friends as Dick - came to Leeds, from Holbeach in Lincolnshire, in 1967 to study engineering. Originally a classical violinist he took up the mandolin (he plays an Oakwood mandolin), and then the guitar, and played in several folk, jazz and rock bands in the 1960s and 70s (notably “Nonesuch”, "The New Metronome All Stars", and "Bop City") collaborating firstly with singer/guitarist Pete McGuffin and later with keyboard and bass player Andy Macgill. In 1968 “Nonesuch” supported The Sallyangie which included the 15 year old Mike Oldfield, and also, amongst others, The Strawbs, and Alexis Korner.

Richard did little performing from the late 70s to early 90s as family and career took up more time, though he did a lot of music with young people in his time as a teacher: running jazz bands (the jazz pianist Robin Aspland started his career in one of Richard's school bands), writing musicals and concert pieces, and playing violin, double bass, french horn, and saxophone in school bands and orchestras. He also sang in - and composed for - the Leeds Teachers' Choir.

With children grown up he started playing again. He formed the band "Rattlebag" with Simon Kilner and Pete 'Peanut' Turner, and they were later joined by James Whelan and Beth Harris. When Rattlebag split up he formed the trio "Mulberry Blue" with Beth and James, which enjoyed great success around the Yorkshire area for a couple of years. When Beth left Mulberry Blue to pursue her teaching career, Richard and James continued for a while under the name "Mixing up the Medicine" performing blues, bluegrass, and their own original songs.

Richard has collaborated with many musicans on the Yorkshire folk/acoustic scene in recent years. He has performed in a duo with Tim Light, with Nick Hall of the Hall Brothers, and with Barry Smith and Dave Allen in The Allensmith. In 2008 Richard and Beth briefly reformed Mulberry Blue as a five piece pub-rock band. His latest projects are a pub-rock band with singer Andy Dunderdale, and a folk-rock band, "Mahogany Monkey".

In 2006 Richard took early retirement from a thirty year career as a physics teacher and head of a high school science department, and now works as a production editor and layout artist at Stockholm Environment Institute (based at York University). He is married with three grown up children and now lives in Bishopthorpe, near York.