Four to the Bar

Four to the Bar
O'Neill, Kelleher, Yeates, Clifford
Background information
Also known as	4 to the Bar
Origin	New York City, US
Genres	Celtic Folk rock Celtic fusion Folk
Years active	1991–1996
Labels	Independent
Associated acts	Patrick Clifford, Turlough
Website	http://www.FourToTheBar.com

Four to the Bar was a "well loved and well respected" American band from New York City during the early to mid-1990s.

Four to the Bar was formed in the working-class/immigrant Irish community of Woodside, Queens, New York City, in 1991. The initial lineup was Martin Kelleher (from Cork) on bass guitar, David Yeates (from Dunboyne, County Meath) on vocals and flute, David Livingstone (from County Monaghan) on mandolin, and Gerry Singleton guitar.

That August, Kelleher switched to guitar and the band placed a classified ad for a bass player in the Irish Voice newspaper. Patrick Clifford (from New York City) answered the ad, was hired, and completed the Kelleher-Yeates-Clifford nucleus that would hold for the remainder of the band's existence.

Four to the Bar immediately began to tour regionally. It was during this time that the band gave an opening act for then-rising star Sharon Shannon at the Bog in Jamaica Plain, which brought attention.

In 1992, Livingstone abruptly left the band and returned to Ireland. For a number of months, the lead-instrument slot was filled by various fiddlers and mandolin players, most notably Chris Murphy and John Farrell (later of the Prodigals and Fathom).

In October 1992, Four to the Bar found and retained fiddler Keith O'Neill.

Soon after this, the band completed its first commercial recording, a four-song EP and titled simply Four to the Bar (1993). This was available only on cassette.

During the next 12 months, the band would begin to build its name in New York, sharing the marquee with acts as diverse as Frank Patterson and Susan McKeown's Chanting House, and begin to test the bounds of the trad repertoire with such covers as Phil Ochs' "I Ain't Marching Anymore." Four to the Bar headlined regularly at Tommy Makem's Irish Pavilion and Paddy Reilly's Music Bar, and on one occasion served as Pete Seeger's backing band.