Bad Shepherd: an interview with folk musician and comedian Ade Edmondson

Bad Shepherd: an interview with folk musician and comedian Ade Edmondson

24 September, 2011
by: Emma

After three years on the folk circuit, Ade Edmondson and his band The Bad Shepherds are hanging up their crooks. Edmondson speaks to Emma McAlpine about some of the band's highlights and their final upcoming tour.

It's been almost four years since Ade Edmondson bought the mandolin that would inspire him to start a folk band. In 2007, after a boozy Christmas lunch in Soho, he found himself in a musical instrument shop and decided, on a whim, to buy a mandolin. The next day, he abandoned the “torturous play in a day” instructions it came with and instead worked out a few chords to his favourite punk songs. Thrilled with the sound, an idea began to form in his head for a punk-folk band and – after recruiting top Uilleann pipes player Troy Donockley and twice All-Ireland Fiddle Champion Andy Dinan – The Bad Shepherds were born.

Reinterpreting classic 'punk songs with a Celtic feel' they have since released two critically acclaimed albums, toured the country extensively and been nominated for 'Best Live Act' at the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Recently they announced ‘an extended sabbatical throughout 2012’ and a tongue-in-cheek 'First Farewell Tour'. I spoke to Edmondson about some of his favourite times with the band, their special guests line-ups and those rumours about an upcoming sitcom with Rik Mayall...

You’ve called your tour ‘The First Farewell’. Does this mean you’re taking a break or quitting for good?

We're definitely not doing anything together next year. So it's half in jest and also maybe a nod that it might be the end, but we were in the pub last night and we were practically crying into our beers thinking about it. Maybe we should just change some personnel! We've done about 250 gigs so far in the last two or three years which is a lot of gigging and it was necessary to prove that we weren't a novelty band. Now I think we’ve done that and we feel sated.

Have you enjoyed life on the road?

Yes we've had a cracking time. I had the best gig I've ever done in my life a few weeks ago: the Beautiful Days festival in Devon. It was just 'on'. The crowd was on, we were on and the atmosphere was on. The hair was standing on the back of my neck from the minute we started. It was a fantastic feeling.

Did you know Troy and Andy before you recruited them?

I vaguely knew Troy because I'd seen him play with a Finnish heavy metal band called Nightwish and he plays the Uilleann pipes so I knew he wasn't averse to playing cross genres.  I rang him up and we met. Randomly he lives in the village I grew up in and we share a love of Laurel and Hardy. It’s bizarre when you're my age and you suddenly make a new best friend.

Will your upcoming tour feature songs from the last two albums or will it have new stuff in there as well?

Yes, it’s all punk and new age. We're also doing a Fun Boy Three track and a bit of Elvis Costello and Madness are creeping into the set.  They’re just songs I really like. We tried to move the parameters a while ago and try out some Tears for Fears stuff but the lyrics don't suit me. They're too self-regarding. I prefer folk and thrash because they're all protest songs with social commentary.

Have you had good feedback from any of the punk musicians you’ve covered?

Yeah – we had JC Carroll come on with us at Glastonbury and perform The Members’ ‘Sound of the Suburbs’ on his accordion. He said he enjoyed it because in the old days all his energy went into jumping up and down to impress all the girls!

So this time he was able to concentrate on the music?

Exactly! We’ve had Reckless Eric come on with us as well and he's supporting us on the tour. After he’d been on stage with us the first time he said: “That gig was like the geography of my soul”. I don't know what it means but I like it!

How does performing in a band compare to live comedy, have you enjoyed the crossover?

Yes, it's been a complete change for me. When we started this band, I put in a load of shtick. We've gradually got rid of it all and I think the gigs are a lot better as a result. I've actually learned to be me rather than a character, which is a joy and I feel very comfortable up there without having to feel like I'm waiting for a gag. I love it.

What will you be up to in 2012? Is it true you’re working on a new sitcom with Rik Mayall?

No, I keep mentioning that we'll do a sitcom about two men in an old people's home hitting each other with colostomy bags but it's not an imminent idea! I'm actually working on something about an old classical pianist called Percy Grainger. He was into S&M and used to flagellate himself quite heavily and then run across Hyde Park into the Albert Hall and play exquisite music with blood running down his back! I've been reading a lot on it and I'm looking forward to having the time to sit down and work out what I want to do with it.


The Bad Shepherds will be performing at the Union Chapel in Islington on Saturday 26th November.

Click here to buy tickets.

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Emma