Biography
The Drovers was formed in 1988 by fiddler Sean Cleland. The band recorded its first album - "World of Monsters" - with drummer Jackie Moran, guitarist Mike Kirkpatrick, bassist/vocalist David Callahan, flautist/vocalist Kathleen Keane, and fiddler Sean Cleland. Winston Damon (aka Stone Ulele) joined the group late in the recording and can be heard playing percussion on track no. 10.
The group toured for the next couple of years with this ensemble, but at last Kathleen decided to part ways and then Jackie excused himself. The group went back to work as a four-piece and produced an EP, titled "Kill Mice Elf."
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By this time, the band had drawn the attention of director Michael Apted ("Gorillas in the Mist," "Coal Miner's Daughter," "Seven Up") and were cast in the thriller "Blink," (1994 - New Line Cinema) performing as themselves with the addition of the fictional character (played by Madeleine Stowe) around whom the story revolved. A soundtrack recording was released and the band won acclaim for its contributions.
The Drovers continued touring and such, then convened in 1995 at the studio of producer Steve Albini to record "Little High Sky Show," released on Thermometer Sound Surface. The group also recorded in Minneapolis with Tommy Roberts and with Chicago engineers Bob Weston and Jeff Moleski.
Following the release of said record, the band went through a number of personnel changes and continued touring for five more years, while working on another recording. The self-released "The Drovers" was put out in 2001 with limited distribution.
Finally, the Drovers stopped touring and recording to pursue other opportunities: Mike Kirkpatrick can be heard in the Western Michigan Irish traditional-inspired group Fonn Mhor; David Callahan formed the Scando-Celtic psychedelic Stroby Alliance and now lives near Stockholm, Sweden; Paul Bradley formed PC Guild, a software business catering to the concert touring industry; Sean Cleland now heads the Irish Music School of Chicago.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.