Contest: Win Blaggards CD and T-Shirt

There is no shortage of great music here in Austin, TX. Pretty much anytime I want, I can go downtown and find a great live show. Last week, I was lucky enough to end up at a great Irish pub called Fadó. The band that was playing that night was called Blaggards from Houston, TX, and my Irish blood warmed quickly to the thought of listening to a nice, mellow Celtic traditional band.

Boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise.

Patrick Devlin, singer and guitarist of Blaggards, grew up in Dublin, Ireland before moving to Houston in his early 20’s. After meeting bassist and singer Chad Smalley, the roots of a kick ass Irish rock group began to form. Rounded out by an amazing fiddler named Chris Buckley and the incredibly talented drummer Michael McAloon, Blaggards were ready to begin their goal of world domination. Blaggards have an intense show schedule this year, and head off to Ireland in March of 2010. Want to go with ‘em? Me too! We can.

Frequently compared to groups such as Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly and the Pogues, Blaggards are much more than just a Irish rock band. With undertones of Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, even Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, Blaggards bring a new and very satisfying sound to fans of all genres. There are elements of rock, folk, punk and yes, metal, in their on stage set. Their first CD, titled Standards, is so surprisingly good that I’ve yet to play it for someone that isn’t an instant fan… no matter what their favorite style of music happens to be.

I think that metal fans in general are fans of music that speaks to us, music that makes us sit up and take notice, whether tapping our toes or banging our heads, the music has to make us feel something… which is why I feel more than comfortable suggesting that all of the Metal Martyr readers give Blaggards a listen. I didn’t have my nice HD video camera with me for this show, and attempted to record a couple of their songs at night with a regular digital camera. Needless to say, the videos came out looking like The Blair Witch Project, so I won’t be posting those.

However, you can listen to one of their songs, “Drunken Sailor”, here!

Blaggards and Metal Martyr have teamed up to offer one reader a copy of Standards, their full length first release, and a bad ass Blaggards t-shirt. Entering is simple, just leave a comment below, and at 5pm CST on Monday, August 17, 2009 I will pick a random winner via random.org.

Learn more about Blaggards here:

www.blaggards.com
www.myspace.com/blaggards

Buy their CD here: www.cdbaby.com/artist/blaggards

Contest Rules:

You must be a resident of the US, and leave a valid email address when you make your comment so that I can contact the winner. One comment per person per day, please. Any duplicates will be deleted.

[image: Anna Donlan/Blaggards]