Articles by Martin Kielty, Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time TeamRock Online News Editor Martin an established music journalist, having written for The Daily Record, The Sun, The Herald, The Scotsman and many others, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. For Louder, Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog on the print side, and at one time had written more articles for Louder's websites than any other writer on our books (and he's still not far off that top spot, if you're asking). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.

Articles by: Martin Kielty

“I was always the lowest common denominator… but occasionally less can be more”: Jeffrey Hammond’s five years with Jethro Tull

By Martin Kielty published 30 July 24

Bassist contributed to some of the band’s most definitive works – but ultimately couldn’t resist the call of another art form

“I tried to persuade Steven Wilson we should give that one a miss on the remix series!” Ian Anderson still detests the mindless sax of Jethro Tull’s A Passion Play

By Martin Kielty published 13 July 24

Horrified by sessions in a French chateau, they went home, dumped the work they’d done on their Thick As A Brick follow-up and started again. The result was a Marmite production that inspired split rumours

“We were sure A Whiter Shade Of Pale would drop out of the charts, but it just stuck there!” See Emily Play became Syd Barrett’s last stand as Pink Floyd took flight

By Martin Kielty published 16 June 24

Their second single remains their second-biggest hit, and will always be significant in their history

Syd Barrett in 1967, his face lit by psychedelic lights

“Everyone’s story is different… All I can say is he was definitely there, and it was weird”: Syd Barrett’s surprise visit to Pink Floyd‘s studio

By Martin Kielty published 5 June 24

Five years after they’d felt forced to dump him, the band’s original leader shocked his former colleagues at Abbey Road in 1975

“I said, ‘What’s this – “Run For Home?’ He said, ‘Oh, that’s just shite’”: Lindisfarne’s biggest-selling hit, like so many, was a happy accident

By Martin Kielty published 28 May 24

If Back And Fourth producer Gus Dudgeon had arrived early, Ray Laidlaw wouldn’t have been looking through Alan Hull’s lyric book beside a piano

"Leslie said to the audience 'There’s a technical hitch,' and he touched the microphone and the guitar. And that was it": The tragic story of Stone The Crows, Scotland's great lost band

By Martin Kielty published 29 February 24

With musical talent to spare and Led Zeppelin’s manager behind them, Stone The Crows should have been a success story. Instead it’s one of tragic death and unfulfilled potential

“The film is so shocking that as soon as you hear any of the music, you’re thinking about maniacs running around causing havoc”: Mogwai’s favourite progressive movie soundtracks

By Martin Kielty published 13 January 24

Stuart Braithwaite and Dominic Aitchison struggle to keep their list down to five

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band performing on stage at Reading, Festival, Reading, United Kingdom, 23 August 1974.

"If you haven’t been ripped off, you haven’t been in the music business”: How personal tragedy, the demands of touring and the pressure to make money destroyed Alex Harvey

By Martin Kielty published 30 July 23

In 1977, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band played the Reading Festival. Harvey was being acclaimed as a punk pioneer and the future looked bright. But it was to be their last ever gig…

Steve Hackett previews Foxtrot At Fifty live album with Watcher Of The Skies video

By Martin Kielty published 14 July 23

16-track release was filmed in Brighton during 2022 tour

Bassist Mo Foster, who played on over 400 albums and singles, dead at 78

By Martin Kielty published 4 July 23

Foster worked with Phil Collins, Jeff Beck and many others in a live and studio career spanning seven decades

William Shatner - Ponder the Mystery Revisited

Beam me up again! William Shatner revisits his prog all-stars album Ponder The Mystery, starring Steve Vai, Rick Wakeman and others

By Martin Kielty published 28 June 23

Star Trek icon releases new version of title track with Steve Vai in full flow, mixed by Jurgen Engler

"We show no mercy!” 10cc announce the Ultimate Ultimate Greatest Hits Tour

By Martin Kielty published 27 June 23

Well, what else do you call the 2024 follow-up to last year’s Ultimate Greatest Hits tour?

Now that's what I call demented: Watch Focus play Hocus Pocus stupidly fast on Midnight Special

By Martin Kielty last updated 16 June 23

The song was nearly seven minutes long – but the Dutch prog jesters only had four minutes to play it. The solution? PLAY IT FAST!

Robert Fripp went to war in 1976: It's a battle he's still fighting

By Martin Kielty published 23 November 22

King Crimson downed tools as Robert Fripp's battle with Universal Music escalated. It’s a war he’s waged since the 1970s, he says, on behalf of artists everywhere

Clannad group photo from 2020 against rocks on a beach

"Youth is a funny thing, isn’t it?" Clannad: their final chapter

By Martin Kielty published 17 October 22

In 2020, Clannad released the career-spanning anthology, In A Lifetime, and announced they would soon be calling it a day. From Harry’s Game and Robin Of Sherwood, to drugs and miscarriages, vocalists Moya and Pól Brennan run through the highs and lows of the last 50 years