Ballydowse was an American Celtic punk rock band from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, United States, with a rare mix of anarchist and religious ideas infused into their music. Many of the group's members were from the

Jesus People USA Jesus People USA (JPUSA) pronounced: ǰ-pu-sa is a Christian intentional community in Uptown, on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1972, coming out of Jesus People Milwaukee during the Jesus movement, it is one of the largest cont ...

commune.interview with Andrew Mandell group founder In addition to the group's

Mekons The Mekons are a British band formed in the late 1970s as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of ...

Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". ...

-style Celtic punk influences, the group also draws from world musics such as klezmer and Tibetan throat singing.Album Review
''Sojourners'', Mar/Apr 2000. Accessed October 25, 2007. Ballydowse released two albums both engineered by

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

. The debut was entitled ''The Land, the Bread, and the People'' and was a home place for many who found common cause with certain elements of Christianity while rejecting the American right wing bias so prominent in the church at the time. Their second album ''Out of the Fertile Crescent'' continued this trajectory with a growing Eastern European flavor. The group's political activism over the

economic sanctions Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they ma ...

on Iraq in the 2000s, prison reform, death penalty and the short-comings of capitalism was unique among Christian bands of the time. The group disbanded in 2003.

Discography

*''The Land, the Bread, and the People'' ( Grrr Records, 1998) *''Out of the Fertile Crescent'' (

Diamante Music Group Diamante Music Group was a Newport Beach, California-based independent record label distributor active from 1993 through 2004. Diamante was home to several dozen small independent record labels, some of whose artists later gained worldwide reco ...

, 2000)

Members

*Andrew Mandell - vocals *Robin Mandell - vocals *Nate Gustafson Peters - vocals, guitar, mandolin
Craig Holland
- guitar *Brian Grover - bass, didgeridoo,

whirligig A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a pinwheel, spinning top, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirlybird, or simply a whirly ...

, bodhran,

bullroarer The bullroarer, ''rhombus'', or ''turndun'', is an ancient ritual musical instrument and a device historically used for communicating over great distances. It consists of a piece of wood attached to a string, which when swung in a large circle ...

*Dan Kool - vocals, moohran, bodhran,

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

*Chris White - drums *Dave Baumgartner - violin *Darren Davick - guitar, octave mandolin *Levi Nerad - drums *Don Anderson - drums on Out of the Fertile Crescent

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballydowse Christian punk groups Christian rock groups from Illinois Musical groups from Chicago Punk rock groups from Illinois