The Walker Roaders are James Fearnley (accordion and lead vocals), Ted Hutt (guitar), Marc Orrell (banjo, mandolin, etc.), Brad Wood (bass) and Bryan Head (drums). James was a founding member of The Pogues, Ted Hutt a founder member of Flogging Molly, and Marc the guitarist in Dropkick Murphys. They released their first self-titled album in 2019 on Ginger Man/Beverly Martel Label Group. Produced by Hutt, the tracks were co-written by Fearnley, Hutt and Orrell, with Fearnley supplying the lyrics. 

Their music combines accordion, mandolin, banjo, guitar, bass, and drums, played by musicians who are both originators and renowned practitioners of the genre of music established by the Pogues. The band formed in the U.S., with Fearnley and Hutt  writing together, later to be joined by Orrell, whom Fearnley had known since Dropkick Murphys supported The Pogues on their 2005 Christmas tour. The band took their name, The Walker Roaders, from a street gang from Fearnley’s childhood in Manchester “who would slice your thumbprint with a penknife if they came across you and felt like it.”

James Fearnley was the last guitarist for the Nipple Erectors, the London punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan. In 1982, MacGowan brought Fearnley in to play accordion for a group performing Irish traditional music fueled by punk ethos. The Pogues quickly rose to international acclaim before disbanding 12 years later following the ejection of their lead singer. Fearnley left the band in 1993 to immigrate to the U.S., where he formed The Low and Sweet Orchestra (with Joe Strummer collaborator Zander Schloss of L.A. punk group Circle Jerks), releasing the critically acclaimed Goodbye to All That on Interscope Records in 1996. He later co-founded the “band of one-man-bands,” Cranky George, whose album Fat Lot of Good was released in 2016.

Ted Hutt, originally from Croydon, Surrey, was a founding member of Flogging Molly—their original guitarist, songwriter, and producer. After leaving the band in the late 1990s, he produced more than fifty albums for artists including Dropkick Murphys, Gaslight Anthem, Old Crow Medicine Show (earning a Grammy), Devil Makes Three, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Violent Femmes, Skinny Lister, and many more.

Marc Orrell, from Worcester, Massachusetts, joined Dropkick Murphys at age 17 as a multi-instrumentalist. After four albums and eight years on the road, he left the band and moved to California. A prolific songwriter and fearless recording artist, Orrell has released several projects and is known for his energetic performances.

The Walker Roaders’ 2019 self-titled album, produced by Hutt and written by the trio with lyrics from Fearnley, runs the full Celtic-punk gamut—from the scathing, breakneck ballad of defiance and dread “Lord Randall’s Bastard Son” to the tolling waltz “The Blackbird Only Knows One Song,” reminiscent of the well in The Pogues’ repertoire that produced classics like “Kitty” and “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda.”