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]