THE Waterboys are coming to the Subs Rooms in Stroud on June 27.

The band will play an acoustic evening with Mike Scott and Brother Paul. They were supposed to play earlier but Mike caught covid last week and is doing better but still testing positive so can’t take the risk of travelling and infecting others.

The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott.

The band’s membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.

Mike Scott has remained as the only constant member throughout the band’s career.

They have explored a number of different styles, but their music is mainly a mix of folk music with rock and roll.

They dissolved in 1993 when Scott departed to pursue a solo career.

The group reformed in 2000, and continue to release albums and to tour worldwide.

Scott emphasises a continuity between The Waterboys and his solo work, saying that “To me there’s no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions.”

From the days of This Is The Sea through the mix of Celtic and Americana on their classic Fisherman’s Blues, to the brilliant shows accompanying the last decade’s run of in-form albums, The Waterboys have blended inspiration, tightness and improvisation to reach heights of performance few other acts can.  

One of the reasons for this is the constant change in not only the band’s styles of music but in its line-up.  

Over eighty members have served as live Waterboys since their first show in 1984.

This Spring will see yet another iteration: a new and unique two-man version of the band will play a handful of shows in the US and UK to coincide with the release of their new album All Souls Hill.  

The mercurial Scott will be joined by longterm Waterboys keyboardist and Memphis great Brother Paul.

They promise to reconfigure Waterboys music in a new and intimate shape, before rejoining the rest of the current band for full-scale shows through the summer and Fall.