McDermott's Two Hours
The folk-rock band McDermott's Two Hours was formed in Brighton in 1986 from the remnants of two other bands The Bliffs and The Crack and featured a vigorous line up of vocals, fiddles, whistles, bouzouki, acoustic and electric guitars, drums and bass.
Front man Nick Burbridge named the band after Tommy McDermott who gained notoriety for his two hour piece on Radio Free Derry, calling for peace and love during the Derry riots.
The band is currently made up of Nick Burbridge on guitar and vocals, Ben Paley on fiddle and Matt Goorney on bass.
The early years
The original line up Nick Burbridge, Ben Paley and Tim O'Leary spent most of the early years playing gigs and only released one album, The Enemy Within. It was the live performances for which the band were best known.
With the Levellers
The Levellers often cite McDermott's Two Hours as one of their early inspirations and during the 1990's the two bands produced three albums together, World Turned Upsidedown, Claws and Wings, and Disorder.
After the Levellers
At Beautiful Days 2007, McDermott's Two Hours released Goodbye to the Madhouse, their first album without The Levellers since The Enemy Within.
Discography
Albums
- The Enemy Within
- World Turned Upside Down (2001)
- Claws and Wings (2003)
- Disorder (2004)
- Live at Fernham Hall
- Goodbye to the Madhouse (2007)