Brother is a rock

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 band incorporating Celtic rock

Celtic rock

Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock and a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context...

 (with bagpipes

Bagpipes

Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...

), mongrel rock, Australian rock

Australian rock

Australian rock, sometimes called OZ Rock is used to describe the various rock and many pop bands and solo artists from Australia. Australia has a rich history of rock music and an appreciation of the roots of various rock genres, usually originating in the United States but also Britain, Ireland,...

, didgeridoo

Didgeridoo

The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...

, and vocals. They record on their own Rhubarb Records label, and have gained a worldwide following with their meld of Celtic music and dress with alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 and style.

Band history

The Richardson brothers - Hamish, Angus and Fergus - grew up in Bathurst and attended the Scots School, where they participated in the School's pipe band. The band formed in 1992 around the nucleus of the Richardson brothers and began touring pubs in Sydney, Australia. After releasing their first album Black and White, they scored a spot opening for Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh

Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...

; a number of albums followed, as well as placement of a song, "An Daorach Beag", on the soundtrack to the movie Baraka. A live album, 2000's This Way Up, was met with critical acclaim and an opportunity to perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

.

Fergus left the band in 1996 to work in filmmaking. He is currently based in Arizona, running boutique production house with his wife. In March 2007, Hamish left the band to live on the south coast of New South Wales, working in journalism and running a 50-member secular gospel choir.

In 2007 the song "Photograph" by Brother appeared on a compilation CD containing songs associated with Bathurst.

Today, the band mainly plays in the USA but returns to play in Bathurst regularly. They have undertaken numerous tours around the United States and the world. They have played Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

's Summerfest

Summerfest

Summerfest is a yearly music festival held at the Henry Maier Festival Park along the lakefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The festival lasts for 11 days, is made up of 11 stages with performances from over 700 bands, and since the mid-1970s has run from late June through early July, usually...

 and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...

's Musikfest

Musikfest

Musikfest is a music festival that has been held each August in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA since 1984. The festival begins on the first Friday in August and ends on Sunday ten days later....

.

In 2011, Brother served a British band, also named Brother, with a writ

Writ

In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...

 asserting trademark infringement; the Australian group won the legal case, and the British group changed its name to Viva Brother.

Albums

• Black White (1992)
• Pipe Dreams (1994)
• Exit From Screechville (1995)
• Black Stone Tramp (1996)
• Digging Bone (1997)
• Your Backyard (1998)
• This Way Up (2000) (live)
• I You You Me (2001)
• Urban Cave (2003)
• Pax Romana MMV (2005)
• One Day (2008)
• out from under (2010)
• As You Were (fans' choice 2006)
• The Terrain Around Here is Far Too Dangerous (live - Two Roads Theatre 02.26.06)
• Live in Melbourne...BROTHER & Claymore (11.16.06)

External links

• brothermusic web page
• Yahoo bio
• [ allmusic]