Blaggards

Blaggards (no “the”, pronounced BLA’ GUARDS or BLA’ GHERDS, depending on where you’re from) formed July 2004 in Houston, Texas.

Blaggards play Stout Irish Rock, traditional Irish music mixed with rock n’ roll, informed by everything from Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley to Thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath. The band is frequently compared to bands like Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, and the Pogues.

Blaggards are guitarist/vocalist Patrick Devlin, bassist/vocalist Chad Smalley, and drummer Eric C. Hughes.

Front man Patrick Devlin grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to Houston in his early 20′s. After working in the local club scene for several years, Patrick saw a demand for Irish rock music that nobody was taking advantage of. In 1996, to this end he formed a band called On The Dole. Although the band did well, opening for legendary Irish touring acts like the Wolfe Tones and the Saw Doctors, eventually Patrick decided it was time to clear the decks and start again.

In 2003, while hosting a weekly open mic at an Irish pub, Patrick met bassist and singer Chad Smalley, a veteran of the Houston music scene who had recently returned from New York and was looking for a new project. The two of them soon began singing and performing together every week, developing a tight vocal harmony style. A year later, Blaggards was born.

Drummer Eric C. Hughes sat in with Blaggards several times before officially joining the band in January 2020. Eric has been a drummer since he was 10, and has made his life about music and performing. His resume reads like a “who’s who” of the Texas music scene: Allen Hill, David Beebe, The Derailers, Jesse Dayton, Mike Stinson, Archie Bell, members of Fastball, et al. Eric is also the Drum Set Committee Chairman for the Percussive Arts Society.

Blaggards maintain a rigorous schedule, playing constantly throughout Texas and touring nationally several times a year. We’ve also toured Ireland every year since 2010.

Our music has appeared in movies and TV. An original instrumental entitled “Kerfuffleful” appears in the New Line Cinema motion picture How to Be Single, released February 2016.

“Drunken Sailor” and “Big Strong Man” from our first CD, Standards, were both featured in episode 86 of the CBS series The Good Wife, aired on March 24, 2013.

“Big Strong Man” also appears in the British film The Kid, directed by Nick Moran and based on the best-selling book by Kevin Lewis.

Read about Blaggards newest album Blagmatic in the Houston Press!

Covers
Delilah (Tom Jones)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
Fisherman’s Blues (The Waterboys)
John O’Reilly (Charlie Robison)
Psycho Killer (Talking Heads)
I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones)
Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
The Fields of Athenry (Pete St. John)
Eastbound and Down (Jerry Reed)
Muswell Hillbillies (The Kinks)500 Miles (The Proclaimers)
Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Joe Jackson)
Ball & Chain (Social Distortion)
Red Rose Cafe (The Fureys)
Up the Junction (Squeeze)
If I Had a Rocket Launcher (Bruce Cockburn)
Spin Me Round (Dead or Alive/Dope)
The Pogues / Shane / The Popes
Young Ned of the Hill
If Should Fall From Grace With God
Streams of Whiskey
Boys From the County Hell
Broad Majestic Shannon
Fairy Tale of New York
Sickbed of Cuchulainn/Fiesta
Dirty Old Town
Sally Maclennane
Waxie’s Dargle
A Rainy Night in Soho
A Pair of Brown Eyes
The Recruiting Sergeant
Body of an American
Shane MacGowan & the Popes
Paddy Public Enemy #1
That Woman’s Got Me Drinking
Nancy Whiskey
Donegal Express
Rock n’ Roll Padd
The Popes
Sleepless Nights
Holloway Boulevard
Flogging Molly
Seven Deadly Sins
Worst Day Since Yesterday
Elvis Presley
Suspicious Minds
One Night
Tryin’ to Get to You
Viva Los Vegas
Blue Moon of Kentucky
My Baby Left Me
That’s Alright Mama
Love Me
Now or Never
Burning Love
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
Thin Lizzy
Dancin’ in the Moonlight
Boys are Back in Town
Emerald
Cowboy Song
Jailbreak
Whiskey in the Jar
Johnny Cash
Folsom Prison Blues
A Boy Named Sue
I Got Stripes
I Walk the Line
Ring of Fire
Sunday Morning Coming Down
Don’t Take Your Guns to Town
Orange Blossom Special
Cocaine Blues
Sea of Heartbreak
I Never Picked Cotton
Wolfe Tones etc.
Broad Black Brimmer
Celtic Symphony
Come Out Ye Black and Tans
Green Fields of France
Sean South of Garryowen
Some Say the Devil is Dead
Boys of the Old Brigade
Steve Earle
Johnny Come Lately
Galway Girl
Old 97s
Niteclub
W.I.F.E.
Saw Doctors
N17
All the Way From Tuam
Useta Lover
Blaggards arrangements & originals
Drunken Sailor
Big Strong Man
Rocky Road to Dublin
Botany Bay
Suspicious Minds
Irish Rover
Foggy Dew
Slapper’s Medley
Prison Love Songs
Bog Songs
Whiskey in the Jar
Spancil Hill
Wild Rover
Black Velvet Band
Finnegan’s Wake
Spanish Lady
Leaving of Liverpool
Moonshiner
2nd Worst Girlfriend
Rain or Shine
PLFM
Segway (“Wagon Wheel” as it’s called on the album)
Sweet 16
Lights of El Paso
Everyday is Christmas (Since You’re Gone)

Listen to Blaggards