The Bad Shepherds were an English

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

band, formed by the comedian

Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. Part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s, he and his comedy partner Rik Mayall starred in the television sitc ...

in 2008. They played

folk punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in t ...

songs with traditional folk instruments. The band primarily consisted of Edmondson (vocals,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...

) and

Troy Donockley Troy Donockley (born 30 May 1964) is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist most known for his playing of Uilleann pipes. Having performed with many artists as a session player, he is most notable as a member of Finnish symphonic metal ba ...

(

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

s, vocals).

History

After "accidentally" buying a mandolin, Edmondson taught himself to play a few chords and he began to play a few punk songs on it. After playing for two days with Donockley, a virtuoso uilleann pipes player and multi-instrumentalist, they had arranged eight songs. After some initial experimentation, they enlisted Dinan, winner of the All-Ireland Fiddle Championship, and the band was formed. Essentially a folk band, the band's repertoire is taken from

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and new wave hits from 1978 to 1985. They re-interpret songs, inserting traditional

reels A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...

and

jig The jig (, ) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It first gained popularity in 16th-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of the British Isles, and was adopted on mainland Eu ...

s. After touring the United Kingdom during 2008, the Bad Shepherds released their debut album, ''Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Methera!'' (which translates from an ancient

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

n dialect as ''One, Two, Three, Four!'') in May 2009. The band released their second album, ''By Hook or By Crook'', with former

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

member

Tim Harries Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, an ...

playing double bass, in 2010. The Bad Shepherds also headlined the first Looe Music Festival in 2011. At the start of 2013, after a year long hiatus the band announced they were getting back together to release a new album and undertake a 24-date UK tour, along with a six-date tour of Australia. Both of which were entitled ''Mud, Blood and Beer''. The album was released on 19 August 2013, and included both cover versions of punk and new wave tracks, plus their own material. Adrian Edmondson announced the band's end on his Facebook page on 31 October 2016.

Awards

The Bad Shepherds were nominated for the Best Live Act award at the 2010

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British rad ...

. In 2012, the band won the Spiral Earth Award for best live act. The organisation celebrates a wide range of music, however their roots are mainly focused in the folk music genre.

Band members

Final line-up

– vocals, mandolin, mandola *

– uilleann pipes, cittern, whistles, vocals

Former

Terl Bryant Terl Bryant is an English drummer, percussionist and musician who has produced a number of his own works and is credited for touring and recording with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Iona and Peter Murphy amongst others. Biography Originally ...

– percussion *Andy Dinan – fiddle *Carol Dawson – fiddle *Eimear Bradley – fiddle *Keith Angel – percussion *Mark Woolley – percussion *

Maartin Allcock Maartin Allcock (born Martin Allcock; 5 January 1957 – 16 September 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Biography Born in Middleton, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), England, Allcock studied music at Hudder ...

– bass *Brad Lang – bass *

– bass

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Shepherds, The English folk musical groups Folk punk groups Musical groups established in 2008 Musical groups disestablished in 2016