Four Men and a Dog

Four Men and a Dog is an Irish traditional band that emerged in 1990 during the Belfast Folk Festival. The band plays Irish traditional music with a mixture of different other genres, including rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, swing, salsa, polka and even rap. They originally had their name because of former singer Mick Daly's nickname; "The Black Dog". Daly was later replaced with Kevin Doherty. Other original members included Gino Lupari, Donal Murphy, Brian McGrath, and Cathal Hayden.^[1]

Their debut album, Barking Mad (1991), was granted Folk Roots magazine's "Album of the Year" award,^[2] the first time that an Irish group had that honour.^[1] Line-up changes ensued before in 1993, Shifting Gravel, their second album, was not well received by critics nor the public. Their displeasure was centered around Doherty's pop/rock leanings, which overwhelmed the earlier pure Celtic undertones of the group.^[2]

They met The Band in 1994, and recorded their album Doctor A's Secret Remedies (1995)^[2] at Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock, New York, with musical guests Garth Hudson and Randy Ciarlante. Rick Danko also joined Four Men and a Dog on a UK tour where they played some of The Band's classics.

Long Roads followed in 1996.^[1]

• Cathal Hayden (fiddle)
• Gerry O'Connor (banjo, fiddle)
• Gino Lupari (bodhran, bones, vocals)
• Kevin Doherty (guitar, vocals)
• Dónal Murphy (accordion)

• Barking Mad (1991)
• Shifting Gravel (1993)
• Doctor A's Secret Remedies (1995)
• Long Roads (1996)
• Maybe Tonight (2003)
• Wallop the Spot (2007)
• And the Band Played On (2016)

• Official site
• Four Men and a Dog discography at Discogs
• Four Men and a Dog at IMDb