30th Anniversary

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This is the Blackthorn original 3 taken in the WJR studios in March 1986. This was our very first appearance on WJR. Little did we know it would become a Detroit tradition. From left to right: Bob Phillips (guitar, vocals), Richard McMullan (guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals) and Dan Taggart (bass, guitar, vocals).

It's October 1984, the Tigers are in the World Series and, unexpectedly, John Brady, owner of the Old Shillelagh in Greektown, is without a band. Richard McMullan gets a phone call, and with Bob Phillips (guitar) and Dan Taggart (bass) a new band is formed. The trio is eventually dubbed Blackthorn by Brady's daughter and the seed of our sound is sown. Soon we were ready to record our first CD and Fred Klein is called in on a recommendation from the recording engineer because we needed a string section for Dublin in the Rare Auld Times. It was a chance meeting, and suddenly a CD-and a quartet-is born.

Shortly thereafter, Bob leaves and Gary McMullen joins in yet another chance meeting. Gary had never heard us play and we hadn't heard him either. It was pure serendipity-a perfect fit. A few years later Dan leaves and Barry Schigelone steps in. More years pass and in 1993 Dennis Green becomes our new bass man. For the next 17 years it was the four of us-Denny, Fred, Gary and Richard-against the world.

In 2010 we became a quintet with the addition of Wallace Hood. We really enjoyed having him, but he retired to Northern Ireland two years later. David Mosher followed soon after, bringing fiddle, mandolin and an additional voice to our sound. He remains with us to this day and is hoping that there is 30 more years of music in us because he has some serious catching up to do.

But that's only half our story. The other half is you, our audience. We'd have been out of business long ago if you hadn't kept coming to our shows. The simple fact that you show up, listen, sing along, and ask for your favorite song gives us purpose and keeps us going. Collectively you are a delightful mix of humanity representing all age groups and all walks of life. We're very proud that our music appeals to such a broad and diverse audience. Thank you for being so good to us.

There is also another very important group we would like to acknowledge on our 30th anniversary. To all you concert promoters, pub owners, festival organizers, media personalities and musicians we have met along the way, please accept our sincere thanks for all your encouragement and for putting us on your stages. We can't mention you all individually here but you know who you are. You gave us a chance to show what we can do and we appreciate that. We hope that we have never let you down.

Enjoy the few photos we were able to find of us over the years. If any of you have any old photos of us, please send them along... we'd love to see them.