Mudmen are a Canadian celtic rock band. They are best known for their singles "5 O'Clock", "Saturday", and "Drink and Fight" as well as their covers of Spirit of the West's "Home for a Rest" and AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top ".
History
The Mudmen formed in Alvinston/Petrolia in 1998. The original band members were vocalist Zoy Nicoles, guitarist Lonny Knapp, bassist Tommy Skilton, drummer Ryan McCaffrey and bagpipe-playing brothers Robby and Sandy Campbell who were the founding members, who had previously been signed with the EMI label under the name The Campbell Brothers. In 2001 the Mudmen performed at the Snow Jam festival in Halifax. That year the band released a self-titled studio album; a second album, Overrated, was released in 2003. The band then toured across Canada with Bif Naked, and played at many festivals, including Edgefest. In 2004 Zoy Nicoles, Lonny Knapp, Tommy Skilton and Ryan McCaffrey were replaced with Steve Gore, Anthony Albanese, Mario Bozza and Jeremy Burton. A further album, Defending the Kingdom, was released in 2005. In 2008 Robby & Sandy Campbell were called in to help out in CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Anthem Challenge, in which they played the Bagpipes on Colin Oberst's "Canadian Gold", the winning anthem. The Mudmen released further studio albums—The High Road, Another Day, Donegal Danny, "Where I Came From", "Train", and "Old Plaid Shirt. The band's music has been featured in popular culture—their single "Lost", from their self-titled debut, was featured in a promotional video for the NBC television show The Black Donnellys, and their single "Animal" was featured in the soundtracks of the video games and MX vs. ATV Unleashed. The Campbell Brothers "founding members" appear on the Bob and Dougs 24 anniversary special and have music featured on Don Cherry's hockey videos 9,19,20. The Mudmen have recently recorded the music for the Edmonton Oilers TV show Oil Change 3. As of 2018 the Mudmen are continuing to perform together. The Brantford Blast are currently using the Mudmen's song "Go team Go" as their entrance theme.
Name and background
The band's name comes from the Campbell Brothers "founding members" occupation prior to forming the band. They were mixing mortar and carrying bricks for bricklayers. The band's music is influenced by traditional Scottish music, as well as hard rock groups such as AC/DC. Mudmen have opened for many well-known bands, including ZZ Top, Tool, Dropkick Murphys and Bowling for Soup, as well as fellow Canadians Nickelback, Sum 41 and The Guess Who.
