Biography

Blaggards (no “the”, pronounced BLA’ GUARDS or BLA’ GHERDS, depending on where you’re from) formed July 2004 in Houston, Texas. We play what we call Stout Irish Rock, traditional Irish music mixed with rock n’ roll. Blaggards are guitarist/vocalist Patrick Devlin, bassist/vocalist Chad Smalley and drummer Eric C. Hughes, featuring Heide Riggs on fiddle. Front man Patrick Devlin grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to Houston in his early 20′s. In 2003, while hosting a weekly open mic at an Irish pub, Patrick met bassist and singer Chad Smalley, and the two of them started Blaggards the following year. Drummer Eric C. Hughes sat in with Blaggards several times before officially joining the band in January 2020. Blaggards maintain a rigorous schedule, playing constantly throughout Texas and touring nationally several times a year. We’ve also toured Ireland every year since 2010. Our original instrumental entitled “Kerfuffleful” appears in the New Line Cinema motion picture How to Be Single, released February 2016. “Drunken Sailor” and “Big Strong Man” from our first CD, Standards, were both featured in episode 86 of the CBS series The Good Wife, aired on March 24, 2013. “Big Strong Man” also appears in the British film The Kid, directed by Nick Moran and based on the best-selling book by Kevin Lewis.