Stepaside Feature (1974
- 1982?)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
After leaving the Sands showband in 1972, Bobby Kelly spent some
time traveling before returning to the music scene in his native
Dublin. He also spent time in and out of many local Dublin groups,
which was the norm in the city throughout the beat group era and
beyond. In 1974, he hooked up with bass player Bob Bolton and they
started rehearsing with different musicians. The original lineup of
what would become Stepaside included Shay Murphy (drums), Bob Bolton
(bass), Bobby Kelly (guitar) and Brendan (Brenny) Bonass on guitar.
Stepaside is area/village located about 14 km (8.5 miles) south of
Dublin.
After lots of rehearsing, the band
never quite got it together and took a break until June of 1974. When they reformed,
they brought in Robbie Brennan on drums and the lineup was set.
There were several ideas about what the band should call itself,
each member had their own favourite. In fact, they used different
names for each gig they played (usually to poor crowds according to
Bobby Kelly) until a packed night in which they had used Stepaside
and the name stuck.
The four piece band featured
guitar oriented country rock covering bands like the Eagles. They
played a regular residency in Toner's in Dublin and garnered a lot
of attention once they tightened up their sound. Soon they added
keyboards in the person of Chris Meehan. Now a five piece, the band
continued to grow their reputation and secured a series of major
support gigs to major acts like Kevin Johnson and Rory Gallagher.
By 1975 Chris Meehan left left the
band to go solo and was replaced by Dave McAnaney on keyboards. Like
most Dublin groups of that era, they continued to play weekly
residencies across the city. For a short time in 1977, the band
increased to a six piece when they added Deke O'Brien on guitar.
Shortly after this, Bobby Kelly would leave to rejoin Tony Kenny
after a short spell with Dirty
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
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Bobby Kelly - RIP: After
leaving Stepaside, Bobby
played a 15 week stint with the Freshmen
before joining the Tony Kenny Band in the late 70's. He eventually went on to join Chris Meehan's
Redneck Friends with whom he still plays from time to time. Bobby relocated to Strandhill, Co. Sligo
in the mid-90's and played with a variety of
bands. His last band was the Rock n' Roll Circus which
featured Francie Lenehan (ex Cotton Mill Boys/Ranchers), Liam Gilmartin (ex Hennigan's Blooze Band/Ray Lynam Band)
and Tom Jameson (ex Auto de Fay). The band broke up
at Christmas, 2006. Bobby continued to play with Chris until
2018 when he retired from performing. He sadly passed away
on September 5th, 2019. |
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Bob Bolton: |
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Brenny Bonass: |
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Shay Murphy: |
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Robbie Brennan: |
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Paul Ashford - RIP: After
leaving the Stepaside he played with the likes of The Furey Brothers and Dave Arthur, Mike
Hanrahan from Stockton's Wing, Ronnie Drew and spent two
years touring with Jerry Lee Lewis. Paul had numerous song
writing credits along with his own records (One In Every Town, Jenny,
etc.). He played bass with Paul Brady, Mark Knopfler,
Dire Straits, Joe Elliot of Def Leppard, Dolores Keane and
Barbara Dickson, as well as numerous sessions. In the recent
past he had his own Paul Ashford Band which was one of the
country's top wedding and corporate function bands. Sadly
Paul
passed away on January 10, 2011. |
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Deke O'Brien: |
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Dave McAnaney: |
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Mark Costigan: |
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Mick O'Hagan: |
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Niall Power: |
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Denis Woods: |
