Three Card Trick

» Profile

Three Card Trick are without a doubt one of Scotland's hardest working groups!

Currently performing over 20 shows a month all over the UK and recently branching out to Europe, you're in safe and experienced hands with this trio of energetic, fun loving, talented party animals.

Covering everything from ABBA to ZZ Top via hits from Bryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Bowie, Queen, The Beatles, Robbie Williams, The Rolling Stones, The Killers... test the boys - you got a song you wanna hear - they'll either play it or learn it for you in no time!

Three Card Trick have been performing together for 4 years, currently reaching audiences as far afield as Paris with their energetic and slick stage show.

Gary Johnstone toured for 3 years with The Elvis Collection and worked with David Bowie tribute Starman Live and was also hand picked to support blues legends Johnny Winter and John Mayall on their recent UK tours.

They are three enthusiastic, professional and youthful yet incredibly well experienced musicians, all with music performance degrees (two from Perth College, one from Napier, Edinburgh) who after two years on Glasgow's pub circuit know how to read and entertain even the toughest of audiences!

They understand that booking a live band is not just about the music, it's about creating a party atmosphere for audiences of all ages! They also have an 'anything goes' policy - if you shout out a song you want, even if they've only ever heard it once, on the radio, on the way to the gig - they'll give it a bashalthough you might have to help by singing along!

Three Card Trick also use only the best musical equipment by Fender, Shure, Laney, Yamaha, Sabian, Wharfedale and Peavey, and at the average age of 25, they create an extremely professional sound and look for such a refreshingly young outfit, giving more seasoned performers a run for their money at every turn!

There's a reason the Three Card Trick boys are such a busy bunch - they bring the party to you, how you want it, every time!

» Song List

• 2,4,6,8 Motorway (tom Robinson Band)
• 20th Century Boy (t-rex)
• 500 Miles (the Proclaimers)
• Aint No Sunshine (bill Withers)
• All Along The Watchtower (hendrix)
• Alright Now (free)
• American Idiot (green Day)
• Auld Lang Syne (burns)
• Back In The Ussr (beatles)
• Bad Moon Rising (ccr)
• Basketcase (green Day)
• Billie Jean (michael Jackson)
• Blue Suede Shoes (elvis)
• Bombtrack (rage)
• Born To Be Wild (steppenwolf)
• Breakfast At Tiffanys (deep Blue)
• Brown Eyed Girl (van M.)
• Caledonia (dougie Maclean)
• Call Me (blondie)
• Cant Get Enough (bad Company)
• Cant Stand Losing You (the Police)
• Cocaine (clapton/cale)
• Come Together (beatles)
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love (queen)
• Crossroads (cream)
• Dakota (stereophonics)
• Dance The Night Away (the Mavericks)
• Dancing In The Moonlight (thin Lizzy)
• Dancing In The Moonlight (toploader)
• Dancing On The Ceiling (lionel Ritchie)
• Dont You Know Who I Think I Am (3ct)
• Don't You Want Me Baby (human League)
• Empty Arms (srv)
• Every Breath You Take (the Police)
• Fire (hendrix)
• Five Long Years (freddie King)
• Fly Away (lenny Kravitz)
• Foxy Lady (hendrix)
• Gimme All Your Lovin (zz Top)
• Gimme Some Lovin (spencer Davis Group)
• Good Riddance (green Day)
• Great Balls Of Fire (jerry Lee Lewis)
• Heartbreak Hotel (elvis)
• Highway To Hell (acdc)
• Holiday (green Day)
• Honky Tonk Woman (rolling Stones)
• Hoochie Coochie Man (muddy Waters)
• Hot Love (t-rex)
• Hot N Cold (katy Perry)
• I Dont Need No Doctor (ray Charles)
• I Got A Woman (ray Charles)
• I Gotta Feeling (black Eyed Peas)
• I'm A Believer (the Monkees)
• I Still Havent Found (u2)
• I Want You To Want Me (cheap Trick)
• Its Never Gonna Work (3ct)
• Jailbreak (thin Lizzy)
• Johnny Be Good (chuck Berry)
• Jump, Jive And Wail (brian Setzer)
• Jumpin Jack Flash (rolling Stones)
• Just Dance (lady Gaga)
• Keep On Running (spencer Davis Group)
• Killing In The Name (rage)
• Layla (eric Clapton)
• Let Your Love Flow (bellamy Bros)
• Lets Dance (david Bowie)
• Long Train Running (doobie Brothers)
• Look At Little Sister (stevie Ray Vaughan)
• Love Foolosophy (jamiroquai)
• Love Is All Around (wet Wet Wet)
• Maggie May (rod Stewart)
• Mama Told Me Not To Come (tom Jones)
• Minority (green Day)
• Morning Glory (oasis)
• Mr Brightside (killers)
• Mustang Sally (the Commitments)
• My Girl (the Temptations)
• My Sharona (the Knack)
• Ooh La La (rod Stewart)
• Phone Booth (robert Cray)
• Poker Face (lady Gaga)
• Pride And Joy (srv)
• Reconsider Baby (freddie King)
• Red House (hendrix)
• Ring Of Fire (johnny Cash)
• River Deep, Mountain High (tina Turner)
• Rock Me Baby (bb King)
• Rock N' Roll Star (oasis)
• Rockin All Over The World (status Quo)
• Route 66 (nat King Cole)
• Run To You (bryan Adams)
• Scar Tissue (red Hot Chilli Peppers)
• Sex On Fire (king Of Leon)
• Shangalang (the Bay City Rollers)
• Sharp Dressed Man (zz Top)
• Shine (take That)
• Sit Down (james)
• Song 2 (blur)
• Stacked Actors (foo Fighters)
• Stay With Me (rod Stewart)
• Summer Of 69 (bryan Adams)
• Superstition (stevie Wonder)
• Sweet Caroline (neil Diamond)
• Sweet Home Chicago (bb King)
• Take Another Little Piece (dusty Springfield)
• Teenage Kicks (undertones)
• Texas Flood (stevie Ray Vaughan)
• Thats Entertainment (the Jam)
• The Hunter (free)
• The Power Of Love (huey Lewis)
• Til Mornin Comes (3ct)
• Tnt (acdc)
• Valerie (the Zutons/amy Winehouse)
• Voodoo Chile (hendrix)
• Wannabe (spice Girls)
• Waterloo (abba)
• When Love Comes To Town (u2)
• Whisky In The Jar (thin Lizzy)
• Whole Lotta Shakin (jerry Lee Lewis)
• Wonderful Tonight (eric Clapton)
• You Never Can Tell (chuck Berry)
• You Really Got Me (kinks)
• And Many More!

» Previous Clients

• The British Embassy (madrid)
• Le Gibus (paris)
• 02
• Mean Fiddler (london)
• Abf Europe
• Barclay's Bank
• Carling Academy
• Renfrew Ferry
• King Tuts
• And Many More!

» Testimonials

Just wanted to get in touch to say that 3 card trick were brilliant! The boys had everyone dancing all night and we got great feedback from our guests.Thanks once again.
- Seamill Hydro Wedding

In a relatively isolated bar called Samuel Dows in Pollokshields, South Glasgow; I discovered quite a gem. That gem came in the name of Three Card Trick. This Glasgow-based three-piece band made a damn good noise. They play several cover versions of artists from several genres. Amongst the artists that featured in their set list were The Beatles, Elvis Pressley, Marc Bolan and T-Rex, David Bowie, AC/DC and even Lady Gaga. They played their own stuff as well, which also went down well. Their style fuses some 1970s rock with blues, funk and had a slight 50s rock and roll feel to some of the music. It is the sort of stuff that would be great for parties and festivals.The band consists of guitarist and vocalist Gary Johnstone, bassist Steve Adamson and drummer Neil MacDougall. What really stood about this band for me was their musicianship. It was delightful to see. Gary, the singer, was like a smoother, better-dressed version of Kurt Cobain. He definitely has the rock star voice and the charisma that usually requires two people to pull off. He was a great frontman and he was a very good guitarist. His playing was stylish, melodic, piercing, playful and sometimes psychedelic. It was a real collage. The bassist, Steve, was given a good chance during one of their own songs to express himself with some heavy blues-style solos complemented by some slick and smooth drumming from the drummer, Neil. This man was awesome! His drumming was thunderous when he wants to and truly enjoys being the kit. They were quite something and they all showed their appreciation for the establishment. This was actually the first of TWO gigs that they were playing at that night. Their second one was away over in Edinburgh, so they were understandably rushed off their feet by the time they finished playing. They seemed like a band that really enjoy their music and had a style that paid homage to many of the great bands of the past. The fun aspect can be credited to their description as a wedding band, they will be used to playing song that the crowd love and to get them dancing if they wanted to. It was a real pleasure to see them and I look forward to hearing them again in the future.
- Ikenna Oguguo - Sammy Dow's, Glasgow

You never know what you will find in a basement. In a "what's the word?" moment, Gary Johnstone and his band took to the stage and blasted through a confident set of blues and r&b standards with his firebrand guitar style much to the forefront. You can't argue with the feel good style of this band and it isn't hard to see why Mr Johnstone is making a name for himself. The word, as they say, is given. They say the blues ain't nothing but a feeling and they also say that in all feelings there is the truth. There is nothing like a recession to sort out the wheat from the chaff and, at the end of the day, we all need to be entertained. Talking of entertainment in the coming year, you should be looking out for local blues guitarist Gary Johnstone who should have an album out soon.
- Bluesbunny Reviews - Pivo Pivo, Glasgow

I get vague memories of watching Robbie Robertson and Eric Clapton meeting on stage at The Last Waltz to hammer out Further on up the Road when I see and hear Gary Johnstone and Roscoe Wilson step up for the second half of Three Card Tricks every second Sunday of the month blues jam at Bar Bloc on Bath St (good plug?). Two fine guitarist with two fine styles, Roscoe on a simple acoustic guitar, Johnstone flashing his fine Fender Strat (im gonna say it was a strat, just on assumption of sound, but generally I failed to look at anything other than Johnstones fast fingers on the fretboard; which come to think of it, looked like a fender fretboard...) They manage to pick apart the blues like the best of them, hitting out Robert Johnsons Crossroads before Neil MacDougall and Steven Adamson pitch in with drums and bass respectively. Three Card Trick are the blues, right down to the checker shirts. No denying the talent pouring out of them all, the drum kit (literally) dripping with the sweat of rhythm, the guitars weeping with blues and the bass pounding out the footsteps of the legends before them. But they dont just play the blues... Bloc is a dark bar, perfect for the sound, dark and low, helps beat out the busted heart of the songs the band hammer through; candles flickers as they move from the aching of Robert Johnson to the dirt of the Kings of Leon, even to the pop beats of Lady Gaga (no, seriously) There seems to be nothing these three (sometimes four) guys cant play. The crowd very clearly like it, but the band seem on a different level anyway. When Johnstone, MacDougall and Adamson are hammering out pop songs like a cheap radio station they dig it, they feel everything, and they make pop sound good; feeling your toe tap to Lady Gaga when dressed like a cowboy is a weird feeling...but not an unpleasant one when these three are working it - maybe thats the Trick of these "Three Cards". Throughout the night I grooved on Greenday, the Kings of Leon, Blondie, Jamiroquai (I think), Jimi Hendrix, ACDC, Creedence Clearwater Revival, even Lenny Kravitz (kind of grooved...but I hate that guy) and a few more too. It was amazing to see this stuff being played, hearing it sound authentic, but with a twist: its not just covers - theres the bands individual inputs, all expertly placed in each song, so that you wouldnt notice they werent there in the original version. I came for the blues, but the pop hit me too. And they never disappoint on the blues. With Roscoe beside them, hammering out solos and driving a sweet sounding acoustic rhythm the band sounds excellent. Theres a fine tangle of traditional acoustic blues mixed with the modern electrics when Wilson is on the stage. They kick off like four wild horsemen of some weird blues apocalypse; and with these guys doing their thing a man could float off to Hell happy. With the pining electric guitar ripping at the notes like no-ones business, the bass and the drums kicking up to the next level: only the fear of drowning out the tender rhythm of that beat-up acoustic guitar holds the roof on the place. The wahwah pedal moves in, like some orgasmic relief, squealing in the middle of the beat...damn you can get into this shit. Johnstones vocals when they move in, raspy like the old blues man, supping whisky, sad, desperate, and just spot on. Three Card Trick rattle through classic blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan (Texas Flood was excellent), Freddie King, Ray Charles and more. Charles I Dont Need No Doctor is a standout on the set list a brilliant song that is done to near perfection by the four guys on stage. Typically closing on Johnny Be Goode (Chuck Berry), again a fine version, with exquisite solo guitar from Mr Johnstone himself accompanied by one of the best bass solos youll see in Glasgow (in my opinion) from Adamson whos link-up with MacDougall is so good its frightening. MacDougall is just awesome on the kit at all times. If you like music, and you dont like Sundays stuck in dreading Monday, get your ass down to Bloc, or book them for a function...you wont regret it.
- Andy Grozier - Bar Bloc, Glasgow

The young Gary Johnstone Trio were a late addition and energised the crowd with some blues and rock n roll including I Dont Need No Doctor, the superb Five Long Years and a finale with Brian Sexters Jump Jive And Wail.
- Duncan Beattie - Smokie Blues Festival 09, Carnoustie

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