Gerry McAvoy’s Band of Friends are back with a new line up, with two new guitarists joining founder Gerry and drummer Brendan O’Neill

Brian Tambling, grew up in Cork, Ireland and fell in love with the blues at an early age by discovering all the classic guitarists of the 60’s and 70’sincluding Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and of course Rory Gallagher.
Guitarist Andy Taylor grew up in Orkney Island, finding Muddy Waters early in his career, he then discovered all the greats of the 60’s and70’s.

Drummer Brendan O’Neill hails from Belfast. He toured with Rory for ten years from1981 to 1991 whilst also playing on Rory’s final three studio albums including Jinx, Defender and Fresh Evidence. Brendan can also be seen on Live at Montreux DVD.

Rory’s long time bassist Gerry McAvoy also hails from Belfast and performed on every record Rory ever recorded. In 2012 he formed Band of Friends to not only remember the great blues man but to also celebrate his legacy by touring the world playing his music to live audiences – a space where Rory always felt at his best. Over the years Band of Friends have been seen worldwide with various line ups but since the beginning, until his unfortunate death in 2019, featured Ted McKenna on drums who toured with Rory from 1978-1981. Ted can also be heard on Photo-Finish, Top Priority and a live album Stagestruck.

Band of Friends look forward to getting the music out there, playing a mixture of our own material mixed in with Rory Gallagher songs.