The Dreadnoughts | |
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| Origin | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Genres | Folk Punk, Celtic Punk, Polka Punk, Gypsy Punk, Folk, Sea Shanty, Folk Rock, Scrumpy and Western |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Stomp |
| Members | See Current Members |
| Website | thedreadnoughts |
The Dreadnoughts are a Canadian 6-piece folk punk band from Vancouver. The band combines a wide range of European folk music with modern street punk. The band has seven full-length albums and three EPs on various labels, and has played around 500 shows in around 30 countries. They also used to perform before 2020 as a traditional polka band at polka festivals, under the name "Polka Time!". [1] Their performance peak was in 2010, when 180 shows were played.
The Dreadnoughts formed in 2006 in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They released their first album, Legends Never Die, in 2007, followed by their second album, Victory Square, in 2009. They wrote Victory Square as a tribute to their home city of Vancouver, and as such, many of the songs on the album focus on places of importance to the bandmembers. [2] The Dreadnoughts promoted the album by touring all over Canada and Europe in 2009, a tour which inspired much of the material on their 2010 album Polka's Not Dead. The tour was documented in a book by Adam PW Smith, who would later produce a mini-documentary about the band as well.
In late 2011, after producing Polka's Not Dead, the band announced an indefinite hiatus. However, they followed this by playing shows occasionally, such as annual Vancouver shows, a two-week European tour in January 2014, and two March gigs with Guttermouth in 2014. On November 11, 2017 they released their fourth full-length album Foreign Skies, a folk-punk concept album about the First World War. They followed this up with the acoustic album Into The North on November 15, 2019. Their most recent album Green Willow, which consists entirely of folk-punk renditions of traditional folk songs (with the exception of the final track "Roll Northumbria"), was released digital-only on March 13, 2023. [3]
Noticeable influences in their sound include acts such as The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, Stan Rogers, Gogol Bordello, Goran Bregovic, and Rancid. The band commonly records and perform sea shanties, polkas and klezmer songs, and are also strongly influenced by English Scrumpy and Western music - in particular the West Country bands The Wurzels and the Surfin' Turnips. [4]
Their 2009 release, Victory Square, was ranked the 4th-best folk-punk release of 2009 by folk-punk magazine Shite N' Onions. [5] Their previous release, Legends Never Die, was ranked #7 on the magazine's 2008 list. [6] Multiple cross-Canada tours and European tours have helped to contribute to the band's steadily rising profile. [7]
Other acts that have shared the stage with The Dreadnoughts include Stiff Little Fingers, The Cider Fecks, Swingin' Utters, Hepcat, The Real McKenzies, Goran Bregovic, IAMX, Okean Elzy, Talco, The Creepshow, Mad Sin, and Los Furios.
Edward II are an English band which play a fusion of world music, English folk and reggae. Active from 1980, the band broke up after losing several key members in 1999, relaunching as "e2K" in 2000. In 2003, the band dissolved once more, but have since reformed for a one-year reunion tour in 2009 under the "Edward II" name, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the breakup of the original band. They reformed in 2015 specifically to produce the Manchester's Improving Daily project, which includes the release of new recorded material and a book. The project is designed to celebrate a collection of tunes written in Manchester during the Industrial Revolution, published as Broadsides and currently held in Manchester Central Library. In 2021 Edward II released the album "Dancing Tunes", bringing their own unique style to a collection of traditional and historic Jamaican calypso and mento songs that pre-date reggae as we know it today.
Levellers are an English folk rock and anarcho-punk band formed in Brighton, England, in 1988, consisting of Mark Chadwick, Jeremy Cunningham, Charlie Heather (drums), Jon Sevink (violin), Simon Friend, Matt Savage (keyboards) and Dan Donnelly. Taking their name from the Levellers political movement, the band released their first EP in 1989 and LP in 1990, with international success following upon signing to China Records and the release of their second album Levelling the Land. The band were among the most popular indie bands in Britain in the early 1990s, and performed at the Glastonbury Festival, first in 1992, then in 1994, where they performed as the headline act on The Pyramid Stage to a record crowd of 300,000 people. They continue to record and tour.
Subhumans were a Canadian punk rock band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1978.
Captain Tractor is a Canadian folk rock band, based in Edmonton, Alberta. They play a punk-influenced variant of Celtic folk music, similar to such bands as Great Big Sea, The Pogues or Spirit of the West. Their songs are often rich in local, cultural, and geographical references.
The Paperboys are a Canadian folk music band from Vancouver that formed in 1991. The Paperboys blend Celtic folk with bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul and country influences. The band has had a variety of members and line-ups since its original formation, with Landa remaining as the sole founding member, although veteran banjoist/bassist Cam Salay often returns as a guest performer. Known for consistently creating pop songs with melodic hooks, their music has been called versatile, with a wide range of influences, melding diverse musical influences more successfully than some other Irish rock bands have previously.
Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical styles and influences. The band included percussion and a four-piece brass section. Bellowhead's bandmembers played more than 20 instruments among them, whilst all performers provided vocals.
The Tossers are an American six-piece Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, formed in July 1993. They have toured with Murphy's Law, Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, Dropkick Murphys, The Reverend Horton Heat, Flogging Molly, Street Dogs, Clutch, Sick of it All and Mastodon. They opened for The Pogues in New York City on St. Patrick's Day in 2007. The Tossers were honored to play the Kennedy Center in May 2016.
Jimmy George is a Canadian folk rock band from Ottawa, Canada, who combine Celtic folk with rock influences and formed in 1991.
Jack the Lad were a British folk rock group from North East England formed in 1973 by three former members of the most successful band of the period from the region, Lindisfarne. They moved from the progressive folk rock of Lindisfarne into much more traditional territory and were in the mid-1970s something of a northern counterpart to bands like Fairport Convention. They have also been seen as part of an important roots movement, rediscovering traditional Northumbrian music.
The Outcast Band are a high-energy folk-rock band from Stroud, Gloucestershire. The band have played over 500 shows to audiences from London to Berlin, at festivals including Glastonbury, Guilfest, Wychwood, Trowbridge, The Acoustic Festival of Britain, and Heineken Big Tops, as well as a 52 date UK university tour and a number of European festivals.
Frigg is a Finnish folk music band that plays contemporary folk music, which takes its name from the goddess of Germanic mythology Frigg.
The Romaniacs was a Canadian rock band based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Their music combined Eastern European, Gypsy jazz, and pop. They made extensive use of costumes and props, including a large map, during their live shows.
The Black Halos are a Vancouver, British Columbia-based punk rock band. Their music also includes some glam rock.
The Shanes are a German folk rock, folk punk, and polka band from Trier, active from 1991 until the present. The band has published 11 albums and tours mainly in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg, but they have also performed in the United States/Texas, Great Britain, France and Hungary.
The Bad Shepherds were an English folk band, formed by the comedian Adrian Edmondson in 2008. They played folk punk songs with traditional folk instruments. The band primarily consisted of Edmondson and Troy Donockley.
Foghorn Stringband is an old-time string band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are considered one of the finest old-time string bands on the West Coast. They are noted for "intense dedication to the sources" of the old time tradition. Their music is billed as "a blend of high-spirited Appalachian dance music tying in sounds of traditional mountain fiddle tunes." Their interpretation of old time is played with the energy and edginess of punk rock, while at the same time showing a tremendous degree of technical finesse.
The Creaking Tree String Quartet is a Canadian progressive all-instrumental bluegrass and acoustic roots band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Stanfields are a Canadian rock music group, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Described by some sources as "the bastard children of AC/DC and Stan Rogers", the band blends a hard rock style with elements of traditional Atlantic Canadian folk music. The Stanfields are known for their powerful live show, and they have toured mostly in Canada and Germany.
Drink Hunters is a Catalan band from Barcelona and surroundings. Their music is a mix of punk rock, hardcore punk, folk music and Celtic music with traditional melodies and musical instruments like tin whistle and fiddle. This musical style is commonly called Celtic punk or folk punk. Their lyrics, sung in English, talk about social criticism, diverse historical events, and drinking and partying.
Paddy and the Rats is a Celtic punk band from Miskolc, Hungary. The group was founded by Paddy O'Reilly, Vince Murphy (bass) and Joey MacOnkay in 2008. Seamus Connelly (drums), Sonny Sullivan (accordion) and Sam McKenzie later joined the group. The music is Irish and Celtic folk but they combine punk rock, sea shanties, and some Russian, Romani and polka elements.
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