Blaggards are an American

Celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundation of the ...

band from

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...

has described them as "H-town's heir to the emerald throne of

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...

and

Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (25 December 195730 November 2023) was a British-born Irish singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He won acclaim for his lyrics, whic ...

History

Blaggards are led by guitarist and singer Patrick Devlin, who grew up in

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

listening to

Irish rebel music In the music of Ireland, Irish rebel songs are folk songs which are primarily about the various rebellions against British Crown rule. Songs about prior rebellions are a popular topic of choice among musicians which supported Irish nationalis ...

and heavy metal bands like

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

and

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

. After moving to Houston in 1994, Devlin fronted an Irish rock band called On The Dole for several years before starting Blaggards in July 2004 with bass player Chad Smalley (son of Nobel laureate Richard Smalley), violinist Turi Hoiseth, and drummer Brian Vogel. Hoiseth and Vogel have since left the band, leaving Devlin and Smalley as the only original members. Blaggards have toured nationally and internationally, and performed at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

2008, where they were the only Celtic-based act on the official schedule. Their music has been played on the

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

program ''Celtic Crush'', hosted by Larry Kirwan of Black 47. In 2013 he included their recording of '' The Irish Rover'' on his compilation album ''

Larry Kirwan's Celtic Invasion ''Larry Kirwan's Celtic Invasion'' is a 2013 compilation album of Celtic music, Celtic rock music. The album's tracks were selected by Larry Kirwan: taig, expatriate Irish writer, radio host and musician, most noted as the lead singer for the ...

''. The song "

Big Strong Man "My Brother Sylvest'" also known as "Big Strong Man", is an American song, but often performed by English folk singers and Irish bands. History My Brudda Sylvest' was written in 1908, words by Jesse Lasky and Sam Stern, music by Fred Fisher. ...

" from Blaggards' first album ''Standards'' appears in the 2010 British film '' The Kid'', directed by

Nick Moran Nick Moran (born 23 December 1969) is an English actor and filmmaker. His roles include Eddie the card sharp in ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' and as List of Harry Potter characters#S 2, Scabior in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall ...

. “Big Strong Man” and "Drunken Sailor" (also from ''Standards'') were both featured in episode 86 of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

series ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'', aired on March 24, 2013.

Members

* Patrick Devlin - Vocals and guitar * Chad Smalley - Vocals and bass * Kevin Newton - Drums

Discography

*''Standards'' (2005) ''1.

Drunken Sailor "Drunken Sailor", also known as "What Shall We Do with a/the Drunken Sailor?" or "Up She Rises", is a traditional sea shanty, listed as List of folk songs by Roud number, No. 322 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It was sung aboard sailing ships at ...

'' ''2. Bog Songs'' ''3.

(Yakety Sax)'' ''4. Prison Love Songs ( Folsom Prison Blues/ The Fields of Athenry)'' ''5. Slapper's Medley'' ''6. Foggy Dew'' ''7.

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

'' ''8.

Rocky Road to Dublin "Rocky Road to Dublin" is a 19th-century Irish song written by Irish poet D. K. Gavan about a man's experiences as he travels to Liverpool, England, from his home in Tuam, Ireland. Originally popularized by Harry Clifton, it has since been ...

'' ''9.

Suspicious Minds "Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by the American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was recorded by Elvis Presley with the producer Chips Moman. Presley's version reached No.1 on th ...

'' ''10. Irish Rover'' *''Live in Texas'' (2010) ''1.

Waxie's Dargle "The Waxies' Dargle" is a traditional Irish folk song about two Dublin "aul' wans" (older ladies/mothers) discussing how to find money to go on an excursion. It is named after an annual outing to Ringsend, near Dublin city, by Dublin cobblers (w ...

(Live)'' ''2. Whiskey in the Jar (Live)'' ''3. Rocky Road to Dublin (Live)'' ''4. Spancil Hill (Live)'' ''5. Slapper's Medley (Live)'' ''6.

Leaving of Liverpool "(The) Leaving of Liverpool" ( Roud 9435), also known as "Fare Thee Well, My Own True Love", is a folk song. Folklorists classify it as a lyrical lament and it was also used as a sea shanty, especially at the capstan. It is very well known in ...

(Live)'' ''7. Botany Bay (Live)'' ''8. Foggy Dew (Live)'' ''9. Big Strong Man (Live)'' ''10. Drunken Sailor (Live)'' ''11. Bog Songs (Live)'' ''12. Wild Rover (Live)'' ''13. Irish Rover (Live)'' *''BLAGMATIC'' (2021) ''1. Moonshiner'' ''2. Spanish Lady'' ''3. Sweet 16'' ''4.

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ; ) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as t ...

''5. Rain or Shine'' ''6. PLFM'' ''7. Wild Rover'' ''8. 2nd Worst'' ''9. Wagon Wheel'' ''10. Spancil Hill'' ''11. Lights of El Paso''

References

External links

Official website

Review of "Standards" in the Austin Chronicle

Paddy Rock Radio's Top Celtic Rock & Punk CD’s of 2005

Article in Connect Savannah Online

Article in The Boston Globe about the word "blaggard" that mentions the band

Article about Blaggards on MetalMartyr.com
{{Authority control Musical groups from Houston Celtic punk groups