Galahad (band)
Galahad is an English progressive rock band formed in 1985 in Bournemouth. They should not be confused with the German medieval folk rock band of the same name. They have released 12 studio albums, six live albums and three rarities collections, as well as two offshoot project albums under the names Galahad Acoustic Quintet and the Galahad Electric Company. Over the past 40 years they have played with the likes of Pendragon, IQ and Twelfth Night. Galahad have performed their own shows and at festivals in Europe and North America, and have sold tens of thousands of albums despite never having had a major record deal.
History
The band's vocalist Stuart Nicholson described Galahad's early days as follows: "...the band was formed just after the so called second wave of 'Prog' bands such as Marillion, Pallas, IQ, Twelfth Night, Pendragon etc. of Prog bands came to the fore in the early Eighties. They all started around 1978–1981 and we started in 1985 after the bubble had effectively burst, but didn't really get going seriously until 1990 onwards. To be honest we really did play just for fun in the early days and weren't really that concerned about record deals etc. It was only after playing with some of the bigger bands when we thought. Actually, we are just as good as these guys so why not give it a go..."In 2012, Galahad released their first ever vinyl LP 'Battle Scars' in conjunction with Ritual Echo Records, on high quality 180-gram vinyl, in a gatefold sleeve, as a limited edition pressing of 300.
Since then the band has released several more albums on vinyl i.e. 'Beyond the Realms of Euphoria', 'Empires never Last', 'Seas of Change' and in 2020 'Sleepers' on a double gatefold LP. All releases are on their own 'Avalon Records' imprint other than some re-issues which are released in association with Polish label 'Oskar Productions'.
Founder member Roy Keyworth left the band in March 2017. Producer Karl Groom filled in for Keyworth on the band's Quiet Storms album released in May 2017, but did not join the band full-time.
Lee Abraham was officially announced as the new Galahad guitarist on 23 October 2017 after having already recorded all the guitar parts for their 2018 Seas of Change album, which was released in January 2018.
In 2020 Galahad released a 21st anniversary edition of 'Following Ghosts'. The expansive release brings together all of the 'Following Ghosts' related material and consists of a three-CD package: a newly mixed version of 'Following Ghosts' taken from original tapes, 'Alternative Ghosts' featuring alternate versions of original album tracks, and the experimental 'De-Constructing Ghosts' which had accompanied the main album.
2020 also saw the re-release of 'Sleepers' on vinyl for the first time, 25 years after the original CD release, in conjunction with Oskar Records in Poland and including several extra tracks. The album was released as a double gatefold 2X LP on standard black or white vinyl.
October 2020 saw the release of the first 'Galahad Electric Company' album in 21 years, which was effectively a 'Covid lockdown' album written and recorded by Dean and Stu at their respective homes. Entitled 'When the Battle Is Over', it is one of the fastest Galahad-related albums to have been written, recorded and released, as writing only started in late April 2020. A second GEC album, 'Soul Therapy', was released on 20 October 2021.
Galahad's eleventh studio album 'The Last Great Adventurer' features the band's longest-lasting line-up and was released on 24 October 2022. Another new studio album 'The Long Goodbye' was released in October 2023 on CD and November 2023 on LP and digital platforms.
Members
Current members
- Stuart Nicholson – vocals
- Spencer Luckman – drums
- Dean Baker – keyboards
- Lee Abraham – guitar, bass
- Mark Spencer – bass, guitar
Former members
- Roy Keyworth – guitar
- Paul Watts – bass
- Mike Hooker – keyboards
- Nick Hodgson – keyboards
- Paddy O'Callaghan – drums
- John O'Callaghan – rhythm guitar
- Steve Pearson – drums
- Mike Hewetson – keyboards
- Mark Andrews – keyboards
- Pat McCann – bass
- Tim Ashton – bass
- Karl Garrett – keyboards
- Neil Pepper – bass
- Craig Wilson – guitar
- Peter Wallbridge – bass
- Mike Kneller – bass