Celtic Music: Boys of the Lough

In Scotland, Shetland fiddler Aly Bain got together at the Forest Hill Bar in Edinburgh with guitarist Mike Whelans and singer Dick Gaughan for sessions. In Ireland, champion flute and whistle player Cathal McConnell joined with Tommy Gunn and Robin Morton (Morton later left to found Temple Records). The two halves joined to form Boys of the Lough at the Falkirk festival in Scotland.

With over sixty tours of the USA alone, the Boys of the Lough have been instrumental in spreading appreciation of traditional music of the Celtic lands worldwide and have inspired many younger musicians.

Their first self-titled album in 1972 featured Aly, Cathal, Dick and Robin. After that, Dick went on to a solo career and Dave Richardson, who is still with the band, joined, for a lineup that lasted for the six following albums. A tour in 1978-79 was billed as a "final tour" but after a brief period they returned with the album Regrouped in 1980. The lineup at that time included John Coakley, who performed with the group for 12 years, Tich Richardson, who was unfortunately killed in a 1983 car accident, and Christy Leary. Robin Morton had by then left.

Aly Bain left after 32 years, and the current lineup includes founder Cathal McConnell, Dave Richardson, 1997 additions Brendan Begley and Malcolm Stitt, and Kevin Henderson, who joined in 2002.

CDs available from Amazon.com (US) are in bold. Three of them are also available as MP3 downloads in the US. Titles that are links are available from Amazon.co.uk.

* Boys Of The Lough (1973)
* Second Album [VINYL] (1973)
* Live At Passim (1974)
* Lochabar No More [CASSETTE] (1976)
* Piper's Broken Finger [CASSETTE] (1976)
* Good Friends ... Good Music (1977)
* Wish You Were Here (1978)
* Regrouped (1980)
* In The Tradition (1981)
* Open Road (1983)
* To Welcome Paddy Home (1985)
* Far from Home [VINYL] (1986)
* Farewell and Remember Me (1987)
* Sweet Rural Shade (1988)
* Live at Carnegie Hall (1992)
* Fair Hills of Ireland (1992)
* The Day Dawn (on Amazon as Midwinter Night's Dream) (1994)
* The West of Ireland (1999)
* Lonesome Blues and Dancing Shoes (2002)
* Twenty (2005)