VIDEOS - BANSHEE REEL

Banshee Reel was a Kiwi Celtic rock band that was active in the 90's. There was a fan page at www.geocities.com which had all the info about the band. The page is no longer available, but I have found an archive from the original at www.webcitacion.org:


"The now defunct band Banshee Reel were one of the main sources of my initial interest in Celtic based rock music. I spent many hours over several years catching them any time I could.

Mostly when in Palmerston North they played at an 'Irish' bar known as 'The Shamrock' but I also saw them play at Massey University orientation gigs as well as outdoor gigs in the Esplanade gardens. Not to mention an assortment of other venues outside of Palmerston North.

They went through several line-up changes but for me, the 'classic' band consisted of

Allan Clark on bass
Gavin Duncan on fiddle
Julia Deans on acoustic guitar
Mo on drums
Chris O'Connell on mandolin

This is essentially the line-up for the release of their first album in 1993, called "Culture Vulture". "Here We Go Again" was written by Rob Joass who later on went to form The Hobnail Boots. This song was later covered by Captain Tractor on their 3rd album, "Bought The Farm". "Johnny's Ghost" appears on the recent Captain Tractor release "Hat Trick".

The tracks on the album are as follows

01 - Johnny's Ghost - Clark, Banshee, Trad.
02 - Step it out Mary - Trad.
03 - Horses - Clark, Banshee, Trad.
04 - Star of the County Down - Trad.
05 - Maggie Death - Clark, Banshee, Trad.
06 - Flat fish, Shallow Water - O'Connell, Banshee
07 - If I Should Fall from Grace with God - McGowan
08 - Fired From the Heart - Clark, Banshee
09 - Here We Go Again - R. Joass
10 - Ten Years I've Been a Miner

In 1995, the first album was followed up by a second called "An Orchestrated Litany of Lies", a famous quote from NZs recent political past. This album featured the 'new' member Tony Coughlan on accordian. Other musicians on the album include Alan Norman (writer of '"In Yer Dreams", Janet Roddick and Rory Morrison

"40 Miles of Pain" also is covered by Captain Tractor on "Bought the Farm".

This album consisted of:

01 - Sorrow - Clark
02 - Never Can Tell - O'Connell, Duncan
03 - Blood on Your Hands - O'Connell
04 - Lament - Clark, Duncan, Moen
05 - The Miner - Clark
06 - Honest to God - O'Connell, Deans
07 - In Yer Dreams - Norman
08 - 40 Miles of Pain - Clark
09 - Burn Me - O'Connell
10 - I Haven't Time - Moen
11 - Horses
12 - Lament II - Clark

The band spent some time overseas, playing in Australia, Europe, the US (specifically, New Mexico) and extensively in Canada, where they met up with Captain Tractor as well as many other artists and performers. This meeting eventually led to Captain Tractor coming to NZ in early 1996.

Since they split up, the members have kept busy with various activities. Mo is now in Jacky Tar, Chris is in The Navigators, Julia is in Fur Patrol, Gavin got married and moved back to Scotland where he now has a young child, Allan is reported to be managing a major local recording studio.

There is rumours of a reunion 3rd album coming out at some stage. I, for one, look forward to such a thing."

(taken from: http://www.webcitation.org/5kmDi2Fec)


Banshee Reel - Sorrow