Horslips: arguably the greatest band in Irish rock music history. This five-piece band produced truly special, unique music in the 1970s. By joining literary craft and their cultural heritage with a fusion of traditionally inspired music with rock instrumentation, they created a genre of music which became known as 'Celtic Rock'. Horslips also pioneered an 'in-house' approach to the rock music business, controlling their stage presentation, graphic design, record pressing and concert promotion. Their finest albums - The Tain, and The Book Of Invasions - adapted legendary and historic texts with compelling music. Elsewhere the life and times of Turlough O'Carolan, the famine and emigration provided a conceptual backdrop to Dancehall Sweethearts, Aliens, and The Man Who Built America. AUTHOR: Richard James immersed himself in music as soon as he got his first real six-string at the age of ten. Previously chained to a desk for a living, he broke free, armed with a music degree from the Open University and a Licentiate Diploma in Classical Guitar from the Royal School of Music, and proceeded to roam the East Midlands as a freelance guitarist and music teacher. He lives with his wife in Leicestershire, UK, and when not involved with music, he enjoys foreign travel and playing chess badly.
