Over a decade ago, on a cold, snowy January night in 2002, three complete strangers met in a Dover, New Hampshire pub. Record collections were compared, bands were discussed and beers were consumed; by the end of the night, fueled by alcohol and a shared dream of playing Celtic punk music full-time, The Pubcrawlers were born. A year passed, more members were added and, on the strength of their uncompromising DIY ethics and an early demo that they now pretend doesn’t exist, the band soon started seeing their name popping up on punk rock blogs and Celtic / Irish punk music message boards all across the Internet. It wasn’t long before they were in the studio recording their first full-length album, 2005′s Another Night on the Floor, which was released to the international punk rock circuit to great critical acclaim. Shortly thereafter the Pubcrawlers made their first overseas trip where they played a set at the legendary Holidays in the Sun Festival in Morecambe, UK, where they shared the stage with such legendary punk acts as The Business, Cock Sparrer, Sham 69 and many more, as well as contemporaries such as Neck, the Dead Pets and others. The story almost came to an end in 2007 when two founding members, Kevin (mando/vocals) and Chad (guitars), as well as Tony (bass), all left the band at the same time for various personal reasons. Unwilling to see all of their hard work go to waste, however, the few surviving members set about replenishing the ranks with what slowly solidified into the band’s current lineup. With the addition of Travis on bagpipes, Brian on vocals, Dana on guitar, AJ on bass, Ron on guitar/banjo/vocals, Tyler on mandolin and Emily on fiddle, the band returned stronger (and larger, at a whopping ten members) than ever, and marked the occasion with the release of 2008′s One Too Many Again, the band’s second studio effort. Once again the record was very well-received, appearing on several “best-of” lists around the world and garnering a great deal of critical praise. In January of 2012 the Pubcrawlers celebrated their 10th anniversary by releasing their third album, Vintage Brews and Punkabilly Blues, a split record with Portland-based punkabilly band and good friends The Outsiders. They are currently in the studio, hard at work on their fourth full-length album, Rogues, Outlaws & Drunks, which they firmly believe is going to be their strongest album yet. The Pubcrawlers have spent the past decade carving out a solid niche for themselves in the Celtic folk punk world and the next ten years are looking just as promising. LEAVE YOUR POLITICS AT THE DOOR The Pubcrawlers are not without their individual political views, but their mission from day one has been to provide a respite from the stresses of day-to-day life; they want nothing more than to create a place where anyone – regardless of personal politics, religion or ethnicity – can go, have a good time, throw their arm around their neighbor and their fist in the air and forget about their differences, if only for a little while. That’s why you won’t find any sort of political messages within The Pubcrawlers’ music, aside from those that come with friendship, family, unity, free-flowing booze and working class pride. In short, if you’re looking to be preached at about anything other than drinking, fighting and good times, look elsewhere.