The Mahones were formed at the end of the bar at the Toucan Irish Pub in Kingston, (Ontario Canada), over a few pints of Guinness and plenty of Jamesons Irish Whiskey. It was the brilliant idea of Dublin-born Finny McConnell and his musical mentor Barry Williams to put together a band that sounded like The Clash, The Pogues, The Who, The Waterboys, Husker Du and The Dubliners with a dash of The Replacements and a name that rhymed with The Ram ones. Once the stew was complete, a one off gig was booked, March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. Go figure. The world has never been the same since that day!! AAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Seven cd's have now been released (Draggin' The Days, Rise Again, The Hellfire Club Sessions, Here Comes Lucky, Live At The Horseshoe, Paint The Town Red, and Take No Prisoners) and The Mahones have been on too many tours to count. Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and North America have been the usual stomping grounds for these Irish Punk Legends.

Always enjoying a rotating line-up of fantastic musicians, this Irish gang of rockers led by singer/songwriter Finny McConnell have played at many major concerts and festivals in Europe (Folkwoods, Huntenpop), Australia (National Celtic Festival) and North America (Guinness Fleadh, NYC, Molson Park Canada Day - Toronto, etc.) alongside legends such as Van Morrison, Shane MacGowan, The Band, D.O.A., The Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Steve Earle, Sinead O'Connor, Flogging Molly, and Christy Moore, to name a few. More recently, Terry Woods and Phil Chevron of the Pogues joined The Mahones on stage for a tour of Central and East Coast Canada!

Over the years the music of The Mahones has appeared in several places other than their previously mentioned cd's, including the title track for the Hollywood Pictures movie "Celtic Pride" (featuring Damon Wayans, Daniel Stern, and Dan Akroyd) which the Mahones composed specifically for the film. The song 100 Bucks was showcased in the movie "Dog Park", featuring Natasha Henstridge, Luke Wilson, Janeane Garofalo, as well as Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney from Kids in the Hall. The Mahones also made a special St. Patrick's day appearance to sing the Canadian and American national anthems at the Air Can ada Center for the Toronto Raptors, and then there was the time that they blah blah blah...
Catgut Mary - A high energy seven piece hailing from the bluestone streets of Melbourne City, Australia,Catgut Mary is a trad/punk band devoted to a short, fast and loud musical ethic. Strongly influenced by bands like The Pogues, The Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly, Catgut also incorporate a strongly Australian folk sound into their style.

Carrying a swag stuffed with their own originals, the band also throws in a few Scots, Irish and English tunes for good measure. With members hailing from Melbourne, Northern Ireland, Sydney, Brisbane and the bush, Catgut Mary is an uncompromising live act that looks, feels and sounds like the most raucous night of the year at the local in any town in Australia and is probably what music would have sounded if amplification and punk spirit had arrived on the colonial goldfields 150 years ago; roaring vocals, riotous energy and, most importantly, rampaging fun.