Galahad (band)

The band's vocalist Stuart Nicholson described Galahad's early days thus: "...the band was formed just after the so called second wave of ‘Prog’ bands such as Marillion, Pallas, IQ, Twelfth Night, Pendragon etc. of Prog bands came to the fore in the early Eighties. They all started around 1978 – 1981 and we started in 1985 after the bubble had effectively burst, but didn’t really get going seriously until 1990 onwards. To be honest we really did play just for fun in the early days and weren’t really that concerned about record deals etc. It was only after playing with some of the bigger bands when we thought. Actually, we are just as good as these guys so why not give it a go..."[2]

Founder member Roy Keyworth left the band in March 2017. Producer Karl Groom filled in for Keyworth on the band's Quiet Storms album released in May 2017,[3] but will not join the band full time.

Lee Abraham was officially announced as the new Galahad guitarist on 23 October 2017 after having already recorded all the guitar parts for their 2018 Seas of Change album, which was released in January 2018.

In 2020 Galahad released what was, ostensibly, a 21st anniversary edition of 'Following Ghosts. This expansive release brings together all of the ‘Following Ghosts’ related material and consists of a three CD package containing a completely new re-mix of the original ‘Following Ghosts’ album by Karl Groom who used digitised versions of the original 2" analogue multi-tracks in order to create the new 2019 mix. CD2, ‘Alternative Ghosts’, contains alternative versions of every track from the original album, again engineered and mixed by Karl Groom and featuring Mark Spencer playing bass guitar on a Galahad album for the very first time.

Also included is a re-mastered version of the rather experimental ‘De-Constructing Ghosts’ album which was originally a separate companion release to the main album in 1999 under the guise of the ‘Galahad Electric Company’. This CD contains tracks written and arranged by various other musicians, DJs and re-mixers pieced together from the original Galahad ‘Following Ghosts’ multi-tracks resulting in completely different songs in most cases! In all this expanded release contains a whopping 37 tracks!

In many ways this was a comeback album, a fresh start after the difficult trials of the previous ‘Sleepers’ album. An album which seemed to polarise opinion at the time within Prog circles, mainly because of its diverse and, ironically, truly progressive nature. Two decades years later, we think it actually still sounds pretty fresh and perhaps will be assessed in a positive way in today’s more accepting musical climate as far so called ‘Progressive Rock’ is concerned.

This package includes new artwork, rare photos and notes by various band members and others who were involved at the time. The re-mixed version of the original album will also be released as a double LP on 180gm Gold vinyl in a gatefold sleeve at some point in the near future.

2020 also saw the re-release of 'Sleepers' on vinyl for the first time, 25 years after the original CD release, in conjunction with Oskar Records in Poland and including several extra tracks. The album was released as a double gatefold 2xLP on standard black or white vinyl.

October 2020 saw the release of the first 'Galahad Electric Company' album in 21 years which was effectively a 'Covid lockdown' album written and recorded by Dean and Stu at their respective homes. Entitled 'When the Battle Is Over', it is one of the quickest Galahad related albums to have been written, recorded and released, writing having been only commenced in late April 2020. A second GEC album 'Soul Therapy' was released on 20 October 2021.

Galahad's eleventh studio album 'The Last Great Adventurer' features the band's longest-lasting line-up and was released on 24 October 2022. Another new studio album 'The Long Goodbye' has been recorded and will be released towards the end of 2023.

• Stuart Nicholson: vocals (since 1985)
• Spencer Luckman: drums (since 1987)
• Dean Baker: keyboards (since 1997)
• Lee Abraham: bass (2005–2009), guitar (since 2017),[4]
• Mark Spencer: bass & guitar (2012–2014), bass (since 2018)

Occasional member on recordings only: Sarah Bolter: Flute, clarinet, alto and tenor sax, vocals (Since 1994)

• Roy Keyworth: guitar (1985–1998, 1999–2017)
• Paddy O’Callaghan: drums (1985–1987)
• John O’Callaghan: guitar (1985) (deceased)
• Mike Hooker: keyboards (1985–1987)
• Nick Hodgson: keyboards (1985–1987)
• Paul Watts: bass (1985–1989)
• Steve Pearson: drums (1987)
• Mike Hewetson: keyboards (1987–1988)
• Mark Andrews: keyboards (1988–1991)
• Pat McCann: bass (1989)
• Tim Ashton: bass (1989–1992, 2014-2017)
• Karl Garrett: keyboards (1991–1997)
• Neil Pepper: bass (1992–2002, 2009–2011) (deceased)
• Craig Wilson: guitar (1998–1999)
• Peter Wallbridge: bass (2002–2004)
• Mike Kneller: bass (2004–2005)

Timeline

• Official website;
• Galahad discography at MusicBrainz