In 2003 considerable interest in the band resulted in an influx of A&R men to Gawthorpe and a signing to Domino Records.
In 2005 a change of direction saw Smith and Townsend leave the band and, later that year, the remaining two founder members brought in the Russian former tennis professional Andrei Nosov on guitar and Welsh student Tom Bailey on five-string bass guitar to replace them.
[citation needed] Finding themselves unable to market the band, and choosing to concentrate on their more commercial signings, Domino Records parted company with The Blueskins, leaving them on the lookout for a new label.
At the end of the year they played a small gig in their local pub in Gawthorpe, inviting friends to take to the stage and perform with them.
Following the split, Ryan Spendlove, the singer and frontman of The Blueskins decided to go solo and formed his own style of acoustic blues/folk.