Brass Monkey (band)

Brass Monkey
Origin	England
Genres	English Folk music
Years active	1982–1987, 1998–present
Labels	Topic
Associated acts	The Watersons Waterson–Carthy Martin Carthy John Kirkpatrick
Members	John Kirkpatrick Martin Carthy Roger Williams Martin Brinsford Paul Archibald Shane Brennan
Past members	Howard Evans Richard Cheetham

Brass Monkey are an English folk band from the 1980s, who reunited in the late 1990s. They were innovative in their use of a brass section which was atypical for English folk music.

The band originally consisted of Martin Carthy (vocals, guitar, mandolin), John Kirkpatrick (vocals, accordion, concertina), Howard Evans (trumpet), Roger Williams (trombone), Martin Brinsford (harmonica, percussion, saxophone).

Carthy was a well established musician at their formation, having been a member of Steeleye Span and The Watersons, as well as leading a successful solo career. Kirkpatrick had also played with Steeleye Span for a time, and worked with Carthy in the Albion Country Band. The two formed an occasional trio with Evans after all three appeared on Carthy's albums Because It's There (1979) and Out of the Cut (1982). Brass Monkey was formed with the addition of Williams and Brinsford after initially being billed as The Martin Carthy Band.

In 1984, after recording their first album, Williams was replaced by Richard Cheetham (born 29 January 1957, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire). The band recorded the two albums Brass Monkey (1983) and See How it Runs (1986). Both primarily consisted of traditional songs and tunes and were later re-issued on a single CD under the title The Complete Brass Monkey (1993). They also guested on Loudon Wainwright III's 1986 album More Love Songs. Unable to reconcile the schedules of its various members, the band reluctantly broke up in 1987.

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