The Rogues

The Rogues and Clandestine share roots as Texas-based Celtic ensembles whose histories intersect at multiple points. What performed in 2001 under the Rogues banner had begun life in 1987 under the name Clandestine, with founding members Lars Sloan, E. J. Jones, Randy Wothke, and J. W. McCormick concentrating on traditional pipe-and-drum repertoire along the Renaissance Festival circuit. Jones departed in 1993 to enroll at Carnegie Mellon University, prompting Thomas Campbell’s arrival; shortly afterward both Sloan and McCormick exited, the former retaining future rights to the Clandestine moniker. The remaining musicians adopted the Scottish Rogues at Sharon Wothke’s suggestion, forming a quartet of Randy Wothke, Tom Campbell, the returning E. J. Jones, and Paul Rendon. No recordings emerged during that first year together, though Bryan Blaylock began sitting in on bodhran. By summer 1995 Paul Rendon and E. J. Jones had departed; Jones then recruited Jennifer Hamill, a Carnegie Mellon acquaintance, and together with Lars Sloan they revived the Clandestine name. Wothke and Campbell, now the sole Scottish Rogues, enlisted Jimmy Mitchell and Bryan Blaylock, cutting their debut album on tape in August 1995 and selling it exclusively at Texas Renaissance Festival while widening their itinerary to Scarborough Faire, Castle at Muskogee, Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, and Victorian Christmas in Austin. A CD edition of the self-titled debut appeared in March 1996 and went on sale in Houston on St. Patrick’s Day. Jimmy Mitchell exited after Scarborough Faire concluded that season; Lars Sloan rejoined, and the revised lineup debuted at the Maryland Renaissance Festival and Kansas City Renaissance Festival in fall 1996. The group also tracked its second album that summer, issuing Hollerin’ for Haggis at Texas Renaissance Festival in the autumn. Early 1997 brought additional dates at Norman Medieval Faire and the USCO Highland Games in Oklahoma. Tom Campbell left in late June 1997 to relocate to Oklahoma City and help establish the 32nd Street Pipe and Drum Corps; Jimmy Mitchell returned, and the ensemble formally shortened its name to the Rogues. New engagements followed at Bristol Renaissance Faire, Great Lakes Medieval Faire in Ohio, and a fresh festival in Ontario, Canada, where the band linked with the Tartan Terrors—previously encountered at the Maryland Renaissance Festival the prior year. Their inaugural joint Ceilidh, staged in August 1997 in Burlington, Ontario, yielded the live album Live in Canada, Eh? In January 1999 the Rogues recorded Off Kilter for a late-March release and, in partnership with Hamilton Productions, organized a Celtic Caribbean cruise beforehand. The album received Grammy nominations in the Best New Artist and Best Contemporary Folk categories yet failed to reach the final ballot. March 2000 saw a second Celtic Cruise, again coordinated with Hamilton Productions, this time featuring the Blarney Brothers and Six Mile Bridge. The following year the band journeyed to Scotland while maintaining its established Renaissance Festival schedule.