The Wakes

The Wakes are a folk rock band from Glasgow, Scotland.^[1] The band's sound is a mixture of Celtic traditional music fused with punk rock and funk. The band's lyrics embrace their culture, heritage and surroundings. They cover all manner of subjects from anti-fascist politics,^[2][3] immigration^[1] and unemployment to uprising and rebellion in Scotland, Ireland and beyond. Musical influences include The Pogues, Dick Gaughan, The Clash, Dropkick Murphys and Bob Dylan.^[1]

History

Performing as ‘Murphy’s Law’ for most of 2006, ‘The Wakes’ officially formed in early 2007, releasing their debut album ‘These Hands’ that summer and pioneering the first of 3 Glasgow based ‘Big Hooley’ concerts in September. Despite notable personnel changes, (which saw Chris Cruickshank swap flute and mandolin duties for the bass guitar and Eamonn Maguire being drafted in on drums) in early February 2008, work began on the next album; released 18 months later as ‘No Irish Need Apply’ on the band’s own ‘Big Hooley’ label. This album not only produced charity single ‘The Uncrowned King of Football’ in memory of Glasgow Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone, but also ‘Pirates of the League’ an ode to German football club F.C St. Pauli – originally debuted by the band in Hamburg’s ‘Knust’ venue. ^[4] European tours continued throughout the coming months and in May 2010, ‘The Wakes’ found themselves back in Hamburg once again, this time as part of the centenary celebrations for St Pauli, culminating in a performance at a sold-out, day long music festival in the Millerntor Stadion, sharing the bill with reuniting punk-rock luminaries ‘Slime’ and indie rockers Thees Uhlmann and ‘Kettcar’. ^[1][5][6] While the continued presence of electric instrumentation in The Wakes’ material has provided the necessary edge to the group’s rockier ‘folk ‘n’ roll’ identity, they have long strived to maintain a tangible link to their traditional roots. In December 2011, they issued the entirely acoustic ‘Stripped Back Sessions’ and in between their amplified sets, they still continue to perform acoustically, with appearances at Glasgow’s Americana festival ‘No Mean City’ (September 2012), ‘Celtic Connections’ (January 2013) ^[3] and more recent performances at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall (December 2015) and at the city’s ‘Old Fruit Market’ and ‘Oran Mor’ (early 2016.) In August 2013, the group released ‘The Red and the Green’ which like its’ ‘No Irish…’ predecessor received favourable criticism in various music press, as the boy’s ‘folk ‘n’ roll sound further deepened.^[1] This album was re-released in late 2015 when ‘The Wakes’ signed with Hamburg-based ‘Drakkar Records’, with work beginning on ‘Venceremos’, the group’s fifth Long-Player, and their second issued through the Drakkar label. ‘Venceremos’ was launched in September 2016, becoming ‘The Wakes’ most critically acclaimed recording so far.

Current Members

• Paul Sheridan: lead vocals and guitar^[3]
• Chris Cruickshank: bass, saxophone, flute and vocals^[1]
• Eamonn Maguire: drums^[1]
• Christopher James Sheridan: harmonica^[1]
• Danny McGuinness: whistle
• Conor Markey: banjo, mandolin and electric guitar

Discography

References