Biography
Electric folk outfit Bluehorses originated in 1994 when a group of Cardiff’s Welsh College of Music and Drama attendees came together. Chief songwriters Liz Prendergast, born in Wales and handling vocals plus fiddle, and Nic Waulker on drums and bodhrán recruited Dave Skinner on guitar, Gary Owen on bass, and Emily Grainger on fiddle to finish the Hoofclamped EP. In 1995 the EPs Dark Circus and Magicke Roundabout were tracked by Prendergast, Waulker, Grainger, Rob Khoo (born Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales; bass), Dave Salmon on guitar, and Jonathan Shorland on vocals and flute. Shorland soon gave way to Martyn Standing (born Cwmbran, Gwent, Wales; guitar) for the sessions that yielded the band’s 1997 debut album, on which occasional member Salmon appeared as a guest. Cracking Leather Skin And Bone delivered a jagged blend of folk and rock that upset numerous traditional listeners. The group’s vivid live energy was documented on a subsequent album-plus-video package that cemented their standing among the roots circuit’s most dynamic performers.
The follow-up studio effort, 1999’s Dragons Milk And Coal, revealed clear advances in both composition and execution. That year’s guest fiddler Deborah Peake (born England) joined permanently in place of the departing Grainger. Another personnel shift occurred in 2001 when multi-instrumentalist Neil Browning took Standing’s spot and participated in the recording of Ten Leagues Beyond The Wild Worlds End.
Throughout the early 2000s Prendergast and Waulker steered Bluehorses, thrilling international crowds with their high-octane concerts. They cut the Skyclad mini-album alongside Nathan Waulker on bass and Jakey Graupner on guitar; Graupner later ceded live duties to Jay MacDonald.
The follow-up studio effort, 1999’s Dragons Milk And Coal, revealed clear advances in both composition and execution. That year’s guest fiddler Deborah Peake (born England) joined permanently in place of the departing Grainger. Another personnel shift occurred in 2001 when multi-instrumentalist Neil Browning took Standing’s spot and participated in the recording of Ten Leagues Beyond The Wild Worlds End.
Throughout the early 2000s Prendergast and Waulker steered Bluehorses, thrilling international crowds with their high-octane concerts. They cut the Skyclad mini-album alongside Nathan Waulker on bass and Jakey Graupner on guitar; Graupner later ceded live duties to Jay MacDonald.
Albums