Rubyhorse

The band formed in high school Cork, Ireland, in 1988, taking their name from a Wonder Stuff song.[10] Having toured Ireland to the point of saturation with their first release A Lifetime In One Day, they relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, in January 1997, and began what would become a 60-week residency performing at The Burren Irish Pub and Restaurant,[11] in the Davis Square area of Somerville, Massachusetts. They won 3 Boston Music Awards within one year of arriving in America.[12]

National tours ensued, as did a battle among various record labels to sign them. Fueled by the group reaching number one on the fledgling MP3 charts (a first for an unsigned group at this point), Rubyhorse signed an ill-fated deal with Interscope Records which saw them relocate to Los Angeles, and record an album with producer Paul Fox, which despite its enormous budget, was never released.

Major-label big-budget lesson learned, the band eventually returned to their roots, finding Ohio-born, Nashville-based producer Jay Joyce, and created the independently released album, How Far Have You Come, on a 16 track machine in his suburban Nashville basement.

Having toured the new album across the country, Island Records signed the band to their second deal under the same Universal Records umbrella they had just left in order to rework the How Far Have You Come album.

In the summer of 2001, the band returned to Nashville with Jay Joyce, recorded some new material (including "Sparkle"), took the tapes to Miami beach for Tom Lord Alge to mix, and finally released Rise, their only major-label album, which features slide guitar by George Harrison on the track "Punchdrunk".[8]

The band toured the country, appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Good Morning America, showcasing their single "Sparkle" which eventually hit No. 17[13] in the 2002 Billboard charts, won an Irish Meteor award, and can still be heard in movies such as Ed Burns' Sidewalks of New York, and TV shows such as Smallville. The song "Fell on Bad Days" was used in the final scene of the season finale of Season 1 of Rescue Me.

Following the departure of songwriter and original member Owen Fegan in August 2003, the band returned to Jay Joyce’s Nashville compound to record Goodbye To All That, a critically acclaimed album[14] which was released on the Atlanta-based Brash Label. The band toured extensively through the United States and Ireland, and although critically acclaimed, the album never gained the traction it needed to sustain the band who eventually broke up in 2005.

Subsequently, the members pursued solo projects. Joe Philpott formed "Jodavino"[15] and the White Horse Guitar Club[16] who achieved success in Ireland and Germany.[17]

Declan formed a side project with drummer Gordon Ashe called Leftbank[18] and released two albums Why Can't Man Be More Like Animals[19] and The Sky On My Birthday.[20]

Owen Fegan released the "Maps Of Mars" EP[21] under the name "VEMO" to positive reviews.[22]

The original band line-up reconvened during the Covid 19 lockdown and recorded a "live from home" version of Punchdrunk[7] featuring George Harrison.[8] The YouTube video[9] was released on July 2, 2020, and an extended single version was released on October 16, 2020. The delay in the official release was due to permission being required from the Harrison estate to have George's name associated with a new release of the song. Oliva and Dahni Harrison gave it their blessing.

• Joe Philpott; guitars.
• Decky Lucey; bass.
• Owen Fegan; keyboards.
• Gordon Ashe; drums.
• David Farrell; lead vocals.

• Official site