Kick Up the Dust began life in 1986, as a shambolic collection of university friends (including founding members Dave Fishwick and Peter Dyson) who happened to share both a love of making music of various types and a love of beer of most types. The nights that occurred as a result of the combining of these two passions were memorable, at least in a slightly hazy sense.
For several years we played our own brand of Irish and English traditional music at venues all over London on an infrequent, part-time basis. The most active period came in the late 1980s, as several members shared a house in the Isle of Dogs in the East End of London. It was during this phase that the music and our playing developed into something much less of a shambles.
Members of the band subsequently journeyed off to the far ends of the planet to pursue various interests and careers. This brought to a close the period of regular performances. Periodically, though, there has been a coming together of some members of the band, at various venues around the world. It is testimony to the music and the atmosphere it creates that these occasional performances are as much fun as ever. Importantly, we have managed to retain the spirit of our earlier efforts, with an obvious enjoyment of the music and of live performances, even with an ever changing collection of musicians. We hope you enjoy our music as much as we enjoy playing it.