Polwart was a social worker, Byrne a student of Scottish Studies, Dunlop a town planner with the city council, and Patterson a computer programmer.

[1] Amidst the plethora of good young instrumental bands on the scene, Malinky stood out owing to their almost exclusive concentration on Scots traditional song, as well as Polwart's burgeoning songwriting talent.

In early 2001, Edinburgh-born Jon Bews, formerly of Bùrach, replaced Patterson on fiddle, and later that year Tyrone button box and whistle player Leo McCann was asked to join to expand the band's largely string-driven sound.

Byrne, Dunlop and Bews continued the band with new members Fiona Hunter from Glasgow (vocals, cello) and Liverpool-born Ewan MacPherson (guitar, mandolin, mandola, tenor banjo, jaw harp, vocals), and a series of crossover concerts in January and February 2005 took place, featuring both old and new line-ups, including a sellout show at Celtic Connections in Glasgow.

The Unseen Hours line-up toured Germany and the Netherlands in 2006 to great acclaim and in 2007 performed with Swedish ballad band Ranarim at the Celtic Connections festival as well as making their first sojourn to the US and Canada.

In December 2007 MacPherson left the band to pursue other projects to be replaced by guitar and bouzouki player David Wood from Grindleford in Derbyshire, formerly of CrossCurrent.

In late 2012, the band – minus guitarist Dave Wood – announced that they would start to perform again from January 2013, with a concert at Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival.