List of Waterboys members
The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of Scottish, Irish, English, Welsh and American musicians, with Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York and Findhorn serving as a base for the group.
[6] For the band's first performance under this name was in May 1983 on the Old Grey Whistle Test, they were joined by Norman Rodger on bass, Karl Wallinger on keyboards, and Preston Heyman covering for Wilkinson on drums.
[7] The band's first ever concert took place in February 1984, and included Scott, Thistlethwaite, Wallinger and Wilkinson, alongside trumpeter Roddy Lorimer, backing vocalist Eddi Reader, bassist Martin Swain and lead guitarist John Caldwell.
[5] In January 1986, Scott and Thistlethwaite relocated to Dublin (where Wickham is from), creating a new line-up with bassist Trevor Hutchinson and drummer Peter McKinney.
[9] In April 1988, the band returned to recording, with new drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, gaelic singer Tomas Mac Eoin and flautist/pianist Colin Blakey.
[9] Despite the success of this line-up (which played profusely and popularly over the next year-and-a-half), Bridgeman was dismissed in July 1990 due to Scott and Thistlethwaite wanting a "tougher" sound, leading to the departure of a dissatisfied Wickham.
Ken Blevins was hired as Bridgeman's replacement on drums but the band then moved away from Irish folk music, causing Shannon and Blakey to also depart.
[10] In August 1993, after failed attempts to put together a full-time Waterboys touring lineup, Scott ended the band altogether and spent seven years pursuing a solo career.
In Summer 2000, Scott reformed The Waterboys with a line-up including Richard Naiff on keyboards and flute, Livingston Brown on bass and Jeremy Stacey on drums.
[15] In May 2005, Scott, Wickham and Naiff were briefly rejoined by Thistlethwaite (on bass) and Breen, as well as Sharron Shannon and Leo Moran for one show.
By the time the band started recording in August 2006, they were joined by Leo Abrahams on lead guitar, Mark Smith on bass and Brady Blade on drums.
[19] In March 2010, the band expanded the line-up featuring Joe Chester on guitar, Simon Wallace on keyboards, Ash Soan on drums, Katie Kim on second vocals, Marc Arciero on bass, Blaise Margail on trombone, Ruby Ashley on oboe and Sarah Allen on flute.
[23] Melvin Duffy (pedal steel, guitar) joined the band for 2011 summer shows, alongside Scott, Hallawell, Wickham, Arciero and Brennan.
[26] For North American dates in 2013, Scott and Wickham were joined by Elizabeth Ziman (vocals), Jay Barclay (guitar), Daniel Mintseris (keyboards), Malcolm Gold (bass), Ezra Oklan (drums) and Chris Layer (flute).
[30] In June 2014, the core trio and Brown were joined by Niall C. Lawlor (lap steel) and Shane Fitzsimmons (bass).
In 2017, the band consisted of Scott, Wickham and Brown, alongside Bart Walker (guitar), Aongus Ralston (bass), Jon Green (drums) and backing vocalists Jess Kavanagh and Zeenie Summers.
Aongus Ralston was briefly replaced by Jeff Adams for a North American tour in the same year,[32] tech Neil Mahony also played bass as he had previously done in 2016.
When the band returned in late 2021, Hallawell rejoined as pianist, performing alongside Brown playing Hammond organ, and Eamon Ferris replaced Salmins on drums.
He pressed to return the Waterboys to a rock music sound after Room to Roam, but did not appear on Dream Harder, the result of that decision.
He and Thistlethwaite took turns leading the brass section of the band, and Lorimer was also a featured soloist, most famously on "The Whole of the Moon" and "Don't Bang the Drum".
[41] Other notable past members have included Ian McNabb, leader of Icicle Works; Sharon Shannon, who became Ireland's all-time best-selling traditional musician;[42] experimental musician Thighpaulsandra, producer Guy Chambers, Patti Smith drummers Jay Dee Daugherty and Carlos Hercules, bassists Steve Walters and Mark Smith who was the band's bassist when he died on 3 November 2009.
