Red Plaid Productions are bringing Canada’s Celtic rock warriors back to Studio Theatre Perth for two concerts this year —an evening show on Saturday, December 27, and a matinée on Sunday the 28th. Mudmen are no strangers to the area, having sold out at Studio Theatre for the past two years, as well as appearing at the Hollyrood Country Jamboree with Jason Blaine, guesting with Johnny Reid at several local shows, and headlining numerous theatres, Legion halls, and fairs. Mudmen have guested and opened for The Guess Who, ZZ Top, George Canyon, Gord Banford, Johnny Reid, Loverboy, Glass Tiger, 54-40, Honeymoon Suite, Natalie MacMaster and Sarah McLachlan, to name a few.
Career highlights include meeting and performing for Queen Elizabeth, playing at a dozen Canada’s Walk of Fame ceremonies, performing at the Edmonton Oilers ‘84 Stanley Cup reunion gala as well as seven Grey Cups, an appearance on Bob & Doug McKenzie’s Two Four Anniversary on CBC, as well as many others.
Their distinctive mix of Celtic, country and rock has led to commercial success for the band. Their music has been featured on Hockey Night in Canada, HBO’s Shameless, NBC’s The Black Donnellys, and even WWE Wrestling. But they have a particular fondness for their live music fans, explains founding member Robby Campbell. “The small towns and farming communities have really kept Mudmen alive,” Robby says, “and we Mudmen will never forget that. We have an original song called Old Plaid Shirt that goes over well, with fans show up wearing their own plaid shirts. It’s great to see a sea of fan support with the audience singing along to well-known Mudmen songs.”
In their 27 years together, Mudmen have played over 3000 shows in eight different countries, building a legion of fans from young to old. They have been described as some the last of the stubborn survivors — the band that just keeps going. Johnny Reid has described them as “Canada’s best kept secret”, Don Cherry called them “good Canadian boys”, and Ron MacLean says “Mudmen — we love ‘em!”
Their Perth concerts will feature music from their 11 albums, with a few new songs thrown in that will most likely show up on the next one! Tickets are only $35 from TicketsPlease (TicketsPlease.ca, 485–6434). This is a non-LLBO Mudmen Inc. event. For more about the band, please visit mudmen.ca.