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Case, Ball & Shears
Case, Ball & Shears were a South African contemporary Christian soft rock group formed in the mid 1990s in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Formation and early performances
The group first performed together in 1994 when singer/songwriters Clive Case (lead/harmony vocals and guitar), Stuart Ball (lead/harmony vocals and guitar) and James Shears (lead/harmony vocals, guitar and bass guitar) who were all working venues around Johannesburg, joined forces after they discovered a mutual love of 1970s folk rock harmony groups like Crosby, Still & Nash, Poco and the Eagles.

Having initially worked their local gigging circuit as individual performers and occasionally as a duo, James Shears and Stuart Ball - both British immigrants - began giving regular on stage vocal harmony support to South African born Clive Case who Stuart Ball had met at a local song writing club. These regular collaborations led to the creation of the new group that had a strong focus on tight 3 part vocal harmonies. Having struggled to find an appropriate name for the new group the trio decided to honour their stance as individual song writers and performers, and name the group after their surnames as had been the trend with many of the groups from the 1970s - a period of music that all three shared a fondness for.

The group initially performed live gigs with a drummer (Alec Brodie) and some electric instruments, but then inspired by MTV's 'Unplugged' series of TV concerts, opted for a more acoustic set-up with Clive Case and Stuart Ball playing acoustic guitars and James Shears playing acoustic bass guitar. The group performed exclusively as a trio throughout their career, but for some larger performances additional musicians were called in.

The group initially gained a strong following in the Johannesburg area which lead to many radio appearances on the both the SABC and independent radio stations, and although without a recording contract at this stage, the group was invited to film a number of music videos for the SABC's own religious TV shows using a demo recording of the songs  'The River', 'Song For Mary' and ' Lamp Unto My Feet'. These performances plus continual touring across the Gauteng region, brought the group wider exposure and eventual invitations to tour South Africa supporting American CCM artists such as Don Fransisco, Pam Thum and Scott Wesley Brown.

Willard's Chips Music Development Programme (1995)
An early version of the song  'That Kind Of Love' was recorded at the SABC's famous M5 music recording studio in Auckland Park as part of an initiative to promote local South African music known as the Willard's Chips Music Development Programme although the recording was never released to the public.

'Turn The Tide' (1996)
In order to meet the increasing demand from concert goers for a recording of their songs, the group’s initial album ‘Turn The Tide’ was recorded at James’s home on borrowed equipment during the winter of 1996. ‘Many of the songs on  'Turn The Tide'  reflected the tumultuous political times that South Africa was going through after the release of Nelson Mandela and the dismantling of Apartheid. Notably, the song  'Pray For Me' written by Clive Case, was inspired by the outbreak of violence that followed the assassination of the anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani.

The group signed a distribution and marketing deal for  'Turn The Tide' with the Durban based record company Sarepta Music which led to exposure nationally and an increasing fanbase through across the country.

In 1997 ' Turn The Tide' was a surprise winner at the South African Music Awards (SAMA) in the category ‘Best Contemporary Gospel Performance’ beating other highly established artists. The album also achieved awards in the categories, 'Best New Artist', 'Best Artist' and 'Best Album' at the Christian Booksellers of South Africa (CBSA) music awards ceremony also in 1997.

Songs such as 'Special Reason’ and ‘That Kind Of Love’ had regular airplay across South Africa on both the SABC and major independent radio stations, leading to the group being invited to perform live as part of 94.7 Highveld FM’s (now known simply as 947) - ‘Live From The Blues Room’ series.

The accessible music of Case, Ball & Shears found support from major radio stations and venues in both the religious and secular markets across South Africa leading to invitations to perform live in most of the major cities around the country including Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London and Cape Town.

'Time Comes Around' - Case & Shears (1999)
After a successful but strained tour of the UK in the summer of 1998, the group decided to disband after 5 year together with James Shears and Clive Case continuing as the duo  'Case & Shears' and Stuart Ball continuing as a solo artist.

In early 1999, Clive Case and James Shears recorded the album ‘Time Comes Around’ at James Shears's own Bramble Hedge Studio in Johannesburg. The album included songs such as  'Look Around You', 'Share A Little Love', 'Harvest', 'Serious'  and ' Thinking About Me' which had been regular songs in the Case, Ball & Shears live repertoire. The album had a more produced Pop sound including drum loops, electric guitars and Celtic instrumental influences and was released in both South Africa (Sarepta Music) and the UK (ICC Records) but could not match the success of  'Turn The Tide'.

' Winds Of Change' - Stuart Ball (1999)
Stuart Ball recorded a solo project (produced by James Shears) entitled ‘Winds Of Change’ at James Shears's Bramble Hedge Studio in Johannesburg which was released in South Africa only (Sarepta Music).

Relocation to Harpenden, England.
James Shears and Clive Case both relocated to Harpenden, Hertfordshire in 1999 with Clive Case taking over the role of Head Teacher at The King's School (Harpenden) from 1999 to 2021, and James Shears joining mixing console manufacturer Soundcraft from 1999 to 2008 as a Product Manager for Digital Mixing Consoles. James Shears currently resides in the village of Clymping, West Sussex.

Stuart Ball moved to Dubai for a period and then returned to the UK taking up residence in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

The trio regrouped for a series of concerts in Chennai, India in late 2004 and also for an impromptu garden concert at James Shears's wedding in Clymping, West Sussex in July 2010.

All three members are still based in the UK and remain in close contact. In October 2020 after months of COVID 19 lockdown measures, James Shears travelled to Harpenden to record the backing vocal contributions of Clive Case and Stuart Ball on a song featured on a recording project he was working on.