Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys are a punk rock band formed in the Irish Catholic working class neighborhoods of South Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They practiced in the basement of a friend's barbershop, blending punk rock, Oi!, Irish folk, rock, an

Dropkick Murphys are a punk rock band formed in the Irish Catholic working class neighborhoods of South Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They practiced in the basement of a friend's barbershop, blending punk rock, Oi!, Irish folk, rock, and hardcore into something they could call their own. The sound of their music is rooted in such outfits like Stiff Little Fingers, The Pogues, AC/DC, and The Clash. Their name was taken from a local rehab center. They typically close their concerts with Skinhead on the MBTA, a parody of The MTA Song.

Dropkick Murphys was formed in 1995 by Mike McColgan (vocals), Ken Casey (bass guitar), Rick Barton (formerly of Boston punk pop act, the Outlets) (guitar). After cycling through a series of drummers the band settled on Fit For Abuse vocalist, Matt Kelly in 1997. The band put out a series of EPs and were signed by Hellcat Records releasing their first full length album, Do or Die, in the same year. Soon after the album's release vocalist Mike McColgan left the band citing his inability to commit to touring. McColgan was replaced by former Bruisers singer Al Barr. 1999 saw the release of their follow up album The Gang's All Here and major changes were on the way. Lars Frederiksen who had produced Dropkick's first two albums exited to pursue other interests and Rick Barton left after getting married. James Lynch from local band Ducky Boys was picked by Barton to replace him in the group. The band also recruited another guitarist, Marc Orrell, (also a self-taught accordionist.) as well as Spicy McHaggis (bagpipes) and Ryan Foltz (mandolin / tin whistle).