The Waterboys

With their cross-pollination of literate, soulful rock ’n’ roll and folk traditions of the British Isles, the Waterboys have tread a multitude of musical paths since singer/songwriter Mike Scott formed the group in London in the early Eighties. From the grandiose “Big Music” of their early classic, This Is the Sea, on through the rich Celtic-inspired folk-rock of their 1988 highlight, Fisherman’s Blues, the mercurial Scotsman has made dramatic sea changes a regular occurrence, swapping lineups and chasing stylistic whims on an almost album-to-album basis. Across nearly four decades of work, Scott’s sonic and spiritual explorations have been shared by literally dozens of bandmembers, though only fiddler Steve Wickham—and to some extent early mainstay Antony Thistlethwaite—has maintained his post as a Waterboy for a significant portion of the band’s existence.