The Blizzards

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Blizzards


Img_capt = The Blizzards in 2008
Img_size = 330
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Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland
Genre = Ska-Pop
Years_active = 2003 – present
Label = Universal Music Ireland
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members = Niall Breslin
Justin Ryan
Dec Murphy
Aidan Lynch Anthony Doran
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

The Blizzards are an Irish indie band from Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland formed in 2003. They have released two albums, "A Public Display of Affection" in 2006 and "The Domino Effect" in 2008.

Members

The band consists of:
* Niall Breslin (lead vocals & guitar)
* Justin Ryan (lead guitar)
* Dec Murphy (drums)
* Anthony Doran (bass)
* Aidan Lynch (keyboards and acoustic guitar)

Career

The Blizzards' indepedently-released debut single "First Girl to Leave Town" went to No. 11 in the Irish charts in 2005. In July of that year, the band performed at the Oxegen festival. [ [http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/lineups.php?hits_seen=75&FestID=902] Official Oxegen 2005 line-up] The following year the band signed a recording contract with Universal Music Ireland with the band's second single "Trouble" reaching No. 6 in the Irish Singles Chart in spring 2006. The single stayed in the Top 40 for four weeks. Follow-up singles "Miss Fantasia Preaches" and "War of Words" were released in August and October 2006 respectively. The Blizzards returned to Oxegen in July 2006, moving up the billing to perform on the NME stage. [ [http://www.rte.ie/arts/2006/0616/oxegen.html] Oxegen 2006 Line-up @ http://www.rte.ie]

The band's debut album, "A Public Display of Affection", was released in November 2006 and debuted at no. 4 in the Irish Albums Chart. [ [http://www.chart-track.com/index.jsp?c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240002&arch=t&lyr=2006&year=2006&week=44] Retrieved from http://www.chart-track.com (week 44, 2006)] Although critical responses to the album were generally positive, [ [http://entertainment.ie/album-review/The-Blizzards---A-Public-Display-Of-Affection/4736.htm] http://www.entertainment.ie] [ [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=15816] http://www.sputnikmusic.com] the album remained in the Top 50 for only three weeks. However, the band's growing popularity saw the album re-enter the charts early in 2007. "A Public Display of Affection" reached No. 21 in the Irish Albums Chart [ [http://www.irma.ie/charts_archive/week6_07.asp] http://www.irma.ie] and remained in the Top 50 for eighteen weeks from January to June 2007. Two further singles, "Fantasy" and "On the Right Track" were released in 2007 before a Main Stage appearance on the Sunday of Oxegen.

In late June 2008, the band confirmed via their official website that work on their second album had been completed. [ [http://www.theblizzards.ie/ MySpace.com - The Blizzards - Mullingar, IE - Pop / Ska / Punk - www.myspace.com/theblizzards ] ] Produced once again by Michael Beinhorn, "The Domino Effect" was released on the 12th September, with a single entitled "Trust Me I'm A Doctor" released in July. [cite web|url=http://www.hotpress.com/news/4685043.html|title="The Blizzards head out on massive nationwide tour…"|date=2008-07-28|accessdate=2008-07-28|publisher="Hot Press"] The single, alongside other new and old material as well as a cover of Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold", was performed during their July 13 hour-long set on the Main Stage of Oxegen 2008. A string of Irish dates have been announced for September and October that take in Naas, Waterford, Carlow, Bundoran, Castlebar, Portlaoise, Cork, Limerick, Drogheda, Dublin and Galway.

The Blizzards released their second album, The Domino Effect on the 15th of September 2008 to mostly postive reviews with entertainment.ie when reviewing the album, said 'does a concrete job in guiding the sextet through their new-found maturity' [http://entertainment.ie/album-review/The-Blizzards--Domino-Effect/5849.htm] . The album peaked at number 2 on the Irish Album Chart, losing out to Metallica's new release. The lead single from the album, Trust Me, I'm A Doctor was released on the 29 of August 2008 and debuted at number 2, again just being beaten to the top spot, this time by I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry. It remained in the top ten for 4 weeks before dropping down to 13 on the 10th of October.

Awards

On February 15, 2008, The Blizzards won in the "Best Live Performance" category for their Oxegen 2007 performance at the Meteor Awards in Dublin.

Live Dates

* Indie-pendence Festival in Mitchelstown Co. Cork, Republic of Ireland on August 3rd

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* [http://www.theblizzards.ie/ Official site]
*
* [http://www.unison.ie/westmeath_examiner/stories.php3?ca=38&si=1564468&issue_id=13695 "Blizzards storm to the big time" - Westmeath Examiner (requires free registration)]
* [http://www.rocklouder.co.uk/articles/4093/The-Blizzards---Fantasy.html 'Fantasy' single review on Rocklouder Music website]