Honky Tonk Heroes
In the latter days of my involvement with "The Business" the band had pretty much become an out & out blues band and I felt the pangs of my eclectic tastes losing out. So, around 1983, I formed the "Honky Tonk Heroes" to feed the starving country element of my soul!
This ultimately led to my departure from The Business... but that was cool... I was ready to move on and rediscover my original country roots.
The original Honky Tonks consisted of myself, Brian Harris (the best country guitar picker in Dublin), Liam McKenna on bass, John Ryan on keyboards, Martin McElroy and the wonderful Percy Robinson on pedal steel.... Percy used to travel regularly from Donegal to Dublin for our gigs... some of which just about paid for his petrol and a few drinks for the band! Percy was the go-to- hip pedal steel player in Ireland and featured heavily in many televised RTE shows including American artistes like John Prine.
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One of the things I loved most about my years in Dublin was that, with most of the guys I played with, music always came first and money came second! This attitude epitomised an old Dublin saying ... "Where would you get it?!”
The original Honky Tonks recorded a single "Laying My Heart on the Line" c/w “Trouble"
The band saw a few changes in the latter days featuring Davy Whyte and John McCann on drums and my old friend, the inimitable Declan McNeilis (RIP) on bass/vocals.
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