The Bothy Band are an Irish traditional band, originally active during the mid 1970s. They quickly gained a reputation as one of the most influential bands playing Irish traditional music. Their enthusiasm and musical virtuosity had a significant influence on the Irish traditional music movement that continued well after they disbanded in 1979.

History

Formation

The Bothy Band was formed in 1975 by

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

player

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozaik, LAPD ...

, after he left the group

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, gu ...

to form his own record company, Mulligan. Lunny invited uilleann piper

Paddy Keenan Paddy Keenan (born 30 January 1950) is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes who first gained fame as a founding member of The Bothy Band. Since that group's dissolution in the late 1970s, Keenan has released a number of solo and collaborati ...

, flute and whistle player

Matt Molloy Matt Molloy (born 12 January 1947) is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at nineteen. Considered one of the most brilliant ...

, fiddler

Paddy Glackin Paddy Glackin (born 5 August 1954) is an Irish fiddler and founding member of the Bothy Band. He is considered one of Ireland's leading traditional fiddle players. Biography Paddy Glackin was born on 5 August 1954 in Clontarf, Dublin. His fath ...

, and accordion player

Tony MacMahon Tony MacMahon (18 April 1939 – 8 October 2021) was an Irish button accordion player and radio and television broadcaster. MacMahon's chief early inspiration, accordionist Joe Cooley, was a frequent caller at the MacMahon home in Ennis, Co. C ...

to get involved in an early project for the new label. This group of players was soon joined by a brother and sister who played in the Irish traditional group

Skara Brae Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill in the parish of Sandwick, Orkney, Sandwick, on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. It consiste ...

Mícheál Ó Domhnaill Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (; 7 October 1951 – 7 July 2006) was an Irish singer, guitarist, composer, and producer who was a major influence on Irish traditional music in the second half of the twentieth century. He is remembered for his innovat ...

on acoustic guitar and

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill is an acclaimed Irish traditional singer, keyboard player, and composer. She is considered one of the most influential female vocalists in the history of Irish music. Throughout her career, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill has worke ...

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

and vocals. Originally called Seachtar ( Irish for ''seven''), the group was renamed by Mícheál Ó Domhnaill after Tony MacMahon left the group to work as a producer for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. The Bothy Band made its debut on 2 February 1975 at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

Three studio album career

In 1975 the Bothy Band released their eponymous first album on Mulligan Records (in Ireland;

Green Linnet Records Green Linnet Records was an American independent record label that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1975 t ...

in the US;

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

in the UK). Described on RTE as 'an incendiary mix of driving folk-rock rhythms' and 'a game-changer of an album', it established their reputation as a significant musical force in Irish traditional music. In 1976, they released their second album, ''Old Hag You Have Killed Me'', which was praised as 'a benchmark of the genre' of Irish music and expanded their following. In 1977, they recorded what would be their last studio album, ''Out of the Wind – Into the Sun''. In 1979, the Bothy Band released a live album, ''After Hours (Live in Paris)''. During their four years together, the Bothy Band featured a variety of fiddlers. Original fiddler Glackin was replaced by Donegal fiddler

Tommy Peoples Tommy Peoples (20 September 1948 – 4 August 2018) was an Irish fiddler who played in the Donegal fiddle tradition. Biography Peoples was born near St Johnston, County Donegal, Ireland. He was a member of traditional Irish music groups, i ...

on the band's début album. Peoples in turn was replaced by

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

-influenced fiddler Kevin Burke on the second release. They played their final gig with this lineup at the 3rd Boys of Ballisodare Festival on 10 August 1979.

After the Bothy Band break-up

After the group disbanded in 1979, the members continued to play influential musical roles in the Irish traditional music movement. Lunny returned to Planxty along with Molloy, and then later helped form the Celtic rock band

Moving Hearts Moving Hearts is an Irish Celtic rock band formed in 1981. They followed in the footsteps of Horslips in combining music of Ireland, Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.Harris, Craig''Movin ...

. He continued working as a record producer and later joined Andy Irvine to form the group Mozaik, releasing two albums in 2004 and 2007. After recording two albums with Planxty, Molloy joined

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

. After several solo projects with Ó Domhnaill, Burke founded

Patrick Street Patrick Street is an Irish folk group founded by Kevin Burke (formerly of The Bothy Band) on fiddle, Andy Irvine ( Sweeney's Men, Planxty) on mandolin, bouzouki, harmonica and vocals, Jackie Daly (De Dannan) on button accordion, and Arty Mc ...

with Irvine and

Jackie Daly Jackie Daly (born 22 June 1945, Kanturk, North Cork, Ireland) is an Irish button accordion and concertina player. He has been a member of a number of prominent Irish traditional-music bands, including De Dannan, Patrick Street, Arcady, an ...

(formerly of

De Dannan De Dannan (originally ''Dé Danann'') is an Irish folk music group. It was formed in 1975 by Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Alec Finn (guitar, bouzouki), Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán) and Charlie Piggott ( banjo) as a result of sessions in ...

). Ó Domhnaill and Ní Dhomhnaill went on to form Relativity and

Nightnoise Nightnoise was a music ensemble active from 1984 to 1997. Their original blend of Irish traditional music, Celtic music, jazz, and classical chamber music inspired a generation of Irish musicians. They released seven albums on the Windham Hill ...

. In 1994, previously unreleased concert recordings from the 1970s were released as ''BBC Radio One – The Bothy Band Live in Concert''. The music had been recorded in two different locations on different dates – 15 July 1976, at the BBC's

Paris Theatre The Paris Theatre (also known as the Paris Studios) was originally a cinema located at 12 Lower Regent Street in central London which was converted into a studio by the BBC for radio broadcasts requiring an audience. It was used for several ...

in London, and 24 July 1978, at the National Club, Kilburn. The first nine tracks, from the Paris Theatre concert, feature Peter Browne on pipes as a stand-in for Paddy Keenan.

2007 tribute concert

Following the death of Mícheál Ó Domhnaill in July 2006, the surviving members of the Bothy Band came together at the tribute concert "Ómós- A Gig for Mícheál", held on 24 May 2007 at

Vicar Street Vicar Street is a concert, performing arts centre and events venue in Dublin, Ireland. Located at Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Vicar Street has capacity for 1,050 people for seated performances and 1,500 people for standing gigs. The venue is ow ...

in Dublin. All proceeds from the concert went to the Irish Traditional Music Archive.

2023 - 2024 Reunion

The group reunited again in 2023, initially for a television documentary, which led to a full Irish tour in 2024. the lineup included all surviving members, including both

and Kevin Burke on fiddle, joined by guest musician Seán Óg Graham on guitar. The tour was ultimately cut short due to health issues experienced by Dónal Lunny, but the band were hopeful of re-scheduling concerts for 2025.https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2024/0430/1446568-bothy-band-cancel-gigs-as-lunny-recovers-from-surgery/

Discography

* ''The Bothy Band'' (1975
Track listing at Irishtune
* ''Old Hag You Have Killed Me'' (1976
Track listing of 1982 reissue at Irishtune
* ''Out of the Wind – Into the Sun'' (1977
Track listing of 1985 reissue at Irishtune
* ''After Hours (Live in Paris)'' (1979
Track listing of 1984 reissue at Irishtune
* ''The Best of the Bothy Band'' (1980
Track listing of 1988 reissue at Irishtune
* ''The Bothy Band Live in Concert'' (1994
Track listing at Irishtune
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Band members

Current members *

–

, vocals, guitar,

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A Goatskin (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...

, synthesizer (1975-1979; 2023–present) *

–

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 ...

, whistle (1975-1979; 2023–present) *

– flute, whistle (1975-1979; 2023–present) *

– fiddle (1975; 2023–present) * Kevin Burke – fiddle (1976-1979; 2023–present) *

–

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

, bodhrán, vocals (1975-1979; 2023–present) * Seán Óg Graham – guitar (2023–present) Former members *

– fiddle (1975-1976; died 2018) *

– vocals, guitar, keyboards (1975-1979; died 2006) Touring members * Peter Browne – uillean pipes, flute (1976)

Timeline

1975 to 1979

References

External links

* - provided to YouTube by

Compass Records Compass Records is an American independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown that specializes in folk, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, and acoustic music. In 2006, Compass purchased the Green Linnet and Xenophil ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bothy Band, The 1975 establishments in Ireland 1978 disestablishments in Ireland Irish Celtic music groups Irish folk musical groups Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups disestablished in 1978 Irish-language musical groups 1970s in Irish music 2000s in Irish music 2020s in Irish music