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Jerry indulged in his other passion, restoring old motorcycles, only popping up as a guest vocalist on material
from artists like Juliet Turner and Maria Doyle Kennedy. He then upped sticks and travelled to Nepal,
where he fell head over heels in love. However, it wasn’t until the birth of his daughter, Ella Joy,
that The Mudbug Club’s bandleader felt he had to follow his heart and return to the thing he loves most in the world, music.
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In the long run, though, Jerry wasn’t going to remain exiled from his main passion.
So he set up his own independent record label and set about recording new materiale for 'Be Yourself', aided by an amalgamation of Irish and foreign talent
and with a little help from his former bandmates in An Emotional Fish, as well as a veritable who's who from the Irish music industry,
including Damien Rice, Anuna, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Bronagh Gallagher, Josie Doherty, and an international
brass section comprised of Mischa Langemejer, Felim Gormley and Stefano Muscovi.
The Mudbug Club were born. One of the most celebrated bands this country has seen in some time.
The rest, as they say, is history…
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What do you get when you cross Tom Waits with a Circus Showband, when you mix Jacques Brel with Mink DeVille,
when you lock Dr John, Dean Martin and The Fun Lovin' Criminals in the same room?
The answer, my friends, is Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, the most eclectic bunch of musical chameleons
ever to share a stage, all guided by the beatific gaze of chief Mudbug, Mr. Jerry Fish himself.
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Their debut album, Be Yourself, described as 'lounge lizard schmooze and mariachi passion' is a
spectacular concoction of soul, jazz, lounge, swamp blues and good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll,
filled to the brim with songs to snuggle up to, fall in love with and shake your booty to.
From the infectious swing of 'My Friend Jim' to the sweet melancholia of 'True Friends',
the addictive swagger of 'Upside Down' to the emotional honesty of the title track.
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This is a record that's as warm as an open fire: an album to cherish for many years to come.
Some of the new songs, played sometimes from AEF in their last gigs, now took a quite different look and sound.
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It's the Mudbug Club way with its leader Gerard which gave to the tracks a complete new order and organization,
a new musical vision.
By the way I'm a lucky man, because I can talk to my sons that I listened live these songs
played in all the ways !
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The ever-expanding band have been busy touring the length and breadth of Ireland throughout 2003,
including sell-out shows at Dublin's famous Olympia Theatre, and a jubilant performance at this
summer's Witnness Festival, where The Mudbug Club delivered a storming set to the assembled masses,
and were widely hailed as one of the hits of the entire weekend, which also featured The Flaming Lips,
Coldplay and David Gray.
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Jerry Fish is the new presenter of Philip King's music television programme Other Voices'
currently being broadcast by RTE, featuring 'The Handsome Family' 'Simple Kid' 'Paddy Casey'
'Gemma Hayes' 'Glen Hansard' 'Christy Moore' and many more.
Jerry Fish appears on the 2003 Christmas cover of Hot Press music Magazine.
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It’s fair to say that one can’t but be impressed with the enigma that is Jerry Fish and The Mudbug Club.
With music so varied and technically astounding, they’ll be a band who should be making the headlines for years to come
(from UCC Express).
As they would say about themselves, "It’s a swamp thing, but it’s got real soul."
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