Goats Don't Shave are an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band formed in

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. Formed in

Dungloe ''An Clochán Liath'', known in English as Dungloe or Dunglow ( ), is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the main town in The Rosses and the largest in the Donegal ''Gaeltacht''. Dungloe developed as a town in the middle of the 18th century ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, the group was fronted by singer-songwriter Pat Gallagher and backed by musicians, Charlie Logue (keyboards), Declan Quinn (whistle), Gerry Coyle (bass), Seán Doherty (acoustic guitar), Jason Philbin (fiddle) and Michael Gallagher (drums). The group released two albums together, ''The Rusty Razor'' (1992) and ''Out in the Open'' (1994). After a sabbatical which lasted from 1995 onwards, a third album ''Tór'' was released in 1998 containing material from both Pat Gallagher and Goats Don't Shave. They are probably most well known for their songs "Let the World Keep on Turning" and "

Las Vegas (In the Hills of Donegal) Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

", both taken from their debut album '' The Rusty Razor''.

History

Their name comes from a pub incident in which a tipsy local character was told to stop acting the goat and have a shave and clean himself up - his response was to walk away muttering the words "goats don't shave!!" Since their formation back in the summer of 1990, Goats Don't Shave have risen to become one of the most popular bands Ireland has produced. They began performing their Celtic folk-rock in between their day jobs; which included a few fishermen, at which point the lads started to pick up regular gigs. Next, they recorded their first EP. There were five songs on it and began to sell them locally. The sales were so good that record companies started calling and so did RTÉ and '' The Late Late Show''. Led by singer/songwriter Pat Gallagher, the Goats became one of Ireland’s most outstanding bands in the early 1990s with top ten singles and a platinum-selling album. Formed around 1989, the Goats’ initial success came with their singles: "Las Vegas in the Hills of Donegal" and "Let the World Keep on Turning", both of which subsequently featured on their debut album, "The Rusty Razor". The Goats sold-out concert venues the length and breadth of Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America. They played both Glastonbury and Finsbury Park Fleadh whilst also being voted Best Band of 1993 by Time Out, one of London’s leading listings magazines. By the time of the 1994 release of their second album "Out in the Open", the Goats’ heavy touring schedule had undoubtedly refined their performance. All the songs on both albums were composed by Pat Gallagher. In 1992, the Goats released their first album through Cooking Vinyl, ''The Rusty Razor''. This fiery mix of folk, traditional music and rock was hailed by critics as an absolute classic, and the album went gold in Ireland. Following such success, they released a second album in 1994, ''Out in the Open'', a rockier, much rounder piece which maintained their well-earned reputation as a band capable of great things.

Reunions and Return to the road

The band reformed in 2003 to play at the popular Mary From Dungloe International Festival, the concert each year is usually held on the town's Main Street, however, due to over 2,000 people showing up to see the bands rare performance, it was moved to The Cope car park. Due to popular demand, the Goats decided to reform in 2012. They headed back to the studio to record a new album. The new album "Songs from Earth" was released in March 2014 and was followed by promotional tours in Ireland, Scotland and the UK. In August 2013, the Goats released one of their new songs: "The Little King", dedicated to the memory of the young Glasgow boxer, Benny Lynch, whose parents come from Donegal, Ireland. Following the release of "The Little King", the Goats were invited to play at Ballyshannon Folk Festival and Letterkenny Live. The Goats also played to a 40,000+ crowd at Celtic Park prior to one of Celtic’s football games in November 2013 and later that night at a sold-out gig at the Classic Grand Rock Venue in the city. The Goats’ most popular songs have been covered by dozens of other bands and a Goats Don’t Shave song is in practically every jukebox in watering holes around the world.

Band members

*Pat Gallagher –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Jason Phibin –

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

*Charlie Logue –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Declan Quinn –

tinwhistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

*Gerry Coyle –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Shaun Doherty –

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

*Michael Gallagher –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Kevin Breslin –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*John Foggy Boyle – ( bass) *Stephen Campbell –

Discography

*'' The Rusty Razor'' (1992) *''Out in the Open'' (1994) *''Tór'' (1998) *''Songs from Earth'' (2014)

Compilations

*''The Best of Celtic Inspiration'' (1998) This album contains 18 tracks, with the Goats Don't Shave song, "Eyes", at track 17.

References

External links

Goats Don't Shave on Facebook
site on

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Artist Info
page on Cooking Vinyl website
Pat Gallagher
website. {{Authority control Celtic fusion musicians Irish folk rock groups Musical groups from County Donegal The Rosses