Hi and Welcome to the Monorail Homepage.

Monorail has been making music in one form or another for the past 20 years. Starting out as a solo performer with an acoustic guitar and a battered PA system Monorail soon discovered the hardships of being a singer songwriter in rural Ireland. Gigs were hard to come by in those days, not many pubs were willing to have un-established singer songwriters perform when one-man bands playing selection's of country music was the norm. There were a few places however that did give Monorail the platform to perform most notably The Bally Hy in Ballyporeen and The Bodhrán in Mitchelstown. The support of these was all Monorail needed to continue down the track of all things Music.

After listening to the usual "Sing something we all know" for years Monorail discovered a place in Clonmel where songwriters gathered once a month and performed works to an audience of their piers. To Monorail this was a Haven, a place where like-minded people played and more importantly listened to each other. Mick Walsh was the organiser and he continually encouraged and supported Monorail and all others who came. It was there Monorail first heard the fiddle playing of Ali Allen. Ali could join in with anyone and play amazing harmonies and solos. Eventually Monorail and Ali started performing together and this was the start of Monorail as a band.

A chance meeting with Drummer Liam Hickey a sub-sequent Jam, the enrolment of Bass player John Hayes and Lead Guitarist Ray Parle and Monorail was ready to unleash a new sound to the public. After a very encouraging start and some great gigs, more and more covers crept into the set list. By the time the Bands First EP "Lost to You" was ready for release it was obvious that Monorail was not going to progress in its current state. A few months after the release of "Lost to you" Liam, John and Ray formed "Force 10" a 70's rock cover band. Monorail however had now got an idea of what the original songs could sound like with a Band behind them and continued on that path.

With support slots for Gemma Hayes and bookings for The Clonmel Junction Festival and Mitchelstown Indie-Pendence Festival Monorail focused on putting a new line up together. Monorail asked friend David Murphy (who had just produced his first album Murphy Lane) would they join forces and play Pedal Steel on the Gemma Hayes support slots, he did and the tour went very well. Monorail and David then went on to tour Irelands singer songwriter and open Mic venues. Bass Player Don Rothwell became available during this time and Monorail was on the phone straight away. You could imagine the smile on Monorail’s face when Don said he was not interested in banging out covers every Saturday night but would be interested in doing something original. Drummer Dave Tate was also contacted and again joined on the agreement that we would steer clear of the mundane. Because of the talent now in the Monorail Band there was no trouble putting a set together for our first gig…The Mitchelstown Indiependence Festival.