The Real McKenzies is a CanadianCeltic punk band founded in 1992 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are considered the founders of the Canadian Celtic punk movement, and were one of the first Celtic punk bands, albeit 10 years after The Pogues.[1] Founding member Paul McKenzie has been the only continuous member of the band since its inception.
The band released their debut album, "the Real McKenzies" in 1995, a cheeky collection of short punky originals, interspersed among celtic classics, & deeply tongue-in-cheek, punk-infused covers like "My Bonny", "Pliers" (Jimi Hendrix's "Fire"), "Kilt" (Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias's "Kill"), and "Outta Scotch" (the Pointed Sticks's "Outta Luck").
Their 1998 follow up Clash of the Tartans popularized Scottish-Canadian punk-rock, with solid singles "Thistle Boy", "Pagan Holiday", "Mainland", "Kings O' Glasgow", & the old celtic classic "Wild Mountain Thyme".[3] Frontman Paul McKenzie claims as many as 100 different musicians have performed as members of the band,[4] including (now-deceased) bassist Rich "Rock" Priske (Matthew Good Band, Bif Naked; drummer Glenn "McKruger" Kruger (Bloody Chicletts, the Paperboys, Mudgirl, Carly Rae Jepsen); & piper Alan "Raven" MacLeod, of the pioneering '70s Scottish folk band The Tannahill Weavers, and 90s duo Bourne and MacLeod. In 2012, they delved deeper into covering songs from popular Canadian singer-songwriter Stan Rogers with their version of "Barrett's Privateers" appearing on their album Westwinds.
McKenzie said in 2014 that he "fired all the Americans" in the band, and returned to a full Canadian lineup.[5] Despite that claim, Aspy Luison is from Cambre, Galicia, Spain.
In September 2014 the band announced they would be recording their next album for Fat Wreck Chords at Motor Studio in San Francisco.[6] Michael "Fat Mike" Burkett will be producing the album.
On April 7, 2015, Fat Wreck Chords released The Real McKenzies' 11th album, Rats in the Burlap.
On March 10, 2022, it was announced that former War Baby drummer Kirby J. Fisher had joined the band.[7]
In popular culture
Their song "Tae the Battle" appeared in the 2008British-Canadian film Stone of Destiny.[8]
Their song "Wild Cattieyote" appeared in the 2004 straight-to-video release of Vampires vs. Zombies (also called Carmilla the Lesbian Vampire).[9]
Their cover of the Turbonegro song "Sailor Man" appeared in the 2003 video game Tony Hawk's Underground[10] and the first volume of the Elementality skateboarding videos. Each year, The Real McKenzies version of "Auld Lang Syne" is used as the countdown music on the New Year's Eve edition of Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman's live podcast Hollywood Babble-On.[11]
Their song "Chip" was used in the TV series Billions in 2018.
Also, in 2018, Paul McKenzie contributed vocals to the song 'Foreman O'Rourke' by Sydney, Australia's The Rumjacks
Band members
Current members
Paul McKenzie – vocals (1992–present)
Aspy Luison – bagpipes (2012–present)
Kenny Lush – guitar (2022–present)
Barry Higginson – bass (2021–present)
Paul Patko (Paco) – drums (2022–present)
Mario Nieva – guitar (2013–2015 & 2019–present)
Former members
Kirby J. Fisher - drums (2022)
Dan Garrison - guitar (2015-2018)
Dan Stenning - drums (2016-2018)
Andrew Pederson - guitar (2017-2018)
Tony Walker (Tony Baloney) – guitar, occasional bass (1992–1999)
Rob Esch – drums (1992–1995)
Aaron Chapman – bass (1992), tin whistle (1992–1994, 1994–1997)
