Biography

Blood or Whiskey was formed in 1992 in County Kildare, Ireland by brothers Barney & Kevin Murray and Colm & Pat Gallagher. By 1994, the band grew to 7 members with the addition of Dugs Mullooly and Chris O'Meara. Other members have included Jim Borek, Damien Bowden, Niall Bowden, Alan Confrey, Sean Fallon, Beano Heenan, Andy Motta, Colly Morrisson, Peter Mullan, Sean O' Neill, Kevin Pluck, Pete Townsend, and Paul Walshe, In 1995, Blood or Whiskey were spotted at their regular Thursday night gig at The White Horse Pub in Dublin by the legendary Kim Fowley, former manager of The Runaways. Kim produced Blood or Whiskey's first eponymous release, recorded in October 1995 and released by Sound Records in June 1996. Likened to The Pogues, the band's influences are described as The Dubliners meet The Clash. Having released 4 albums & 3 EPs, the band has toured extensively throughout Ireland, the UK, Europe, the US and Japan. Other highlights have included being a regular feature at the Rebellion festival, and supporting SLF on a UK tour, opening for Manu Chao, Rancid & The Pogues, and playing Oxegen and Reading & Leeds. Their second album, No Time to Explain, was released in 2001 on Rejected Records, and later acquired by Reprieve Records in the US. Albums Cashed out on Culture (2005) and Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil (2014) followed. The band have released two EP's: Live and Learn (2009) and Poxy Pub (2023) - previously unreleased songs, recorded by the band in 2001.