He was one of the biggest comedy figures of the 1980s and 90s, in telly programmes like The Young Ones and Bottom. Now he’s in a band playing punk tunes on mandolins, pipes and fiddles. But don’t dare call Ade Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds a novelty act.
“Most people think it’s a novelty, and they’re kind of surprised when they see us and realise it’s not,” Ade told Rocktalk ahead of a performance in Dunfermline on Saturday. “The Bad Shepherds play punk songs on folk instruments. Not as a gag, but because we really like the noise.
“We think the songs are better than people remember and we love folk instruments. It works.
“We do songs by The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Stranglers, The Jam, Sham 69, The Undertones, The Buzzcocks, The Ramones, The Specials, Talking Heads, Squeeze and others, even Kraftwerk!
“Alright, they’re not all punk, but they come from roughly the same era. We’ve mostly given the songs a kind of Celtic feel, and we’ve stuck in the odd reel and jig here and there. But occasionally we just thrash!”
Ade and the Bad Shepherds have been gearing up for their trip north to Dunfermline with a few gigs over the past few weeks.
“We had a really cracking gig the night before last, one of these nights when it goes brilliantly,” he said. “It goes really well about 50% of the time and quite well a lot of the time.
“When you get a roar at the end, we really like that!”
Given their fantastic performance at Loopallu last September, when they brought the house down with some amazing playing allied to their great tunes, Dunfermline music fans are in for a treat.
“The thing is they are great songs, people don’t know how good they are, you quite often don’t actually hear the lyrics in punk songs. I don’t play anything I don’t really love.”
Ade Edmondson and The Bad Shepherds are at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, May 28.More information at www.attfife.org.uk, or phone 01383 602302.