The Pilgrims

Hubert Murray

Hubert Murray (vocals, guitar) is an extraordinary singer and guitarist from Galway, Ireland. Having cut his teeth on the Irish pub circuit for many years, he moved to London to perform his own beautifully crafted folk and blues songs. He discovered bluegrass music in 2011, since then he's worked tirelessly on his musicianship, taking lessons from the likes of Grant Gordy, Courtney Hartmann, Michael Daves and David Grier. In a short period of time he has become one of the best bluegrass singers and guitar flatpickers in the country. When he's not playing with the Hot Rock Pilgrims, he performs with Irish/Bluegrass fusion band Lands End with his own Hubert Murray Band or as a solo singer/songwriter.

Dan Edwards

Dan Edwards (vocals, banjo, guitar) fell in love with the banjo when he was studying at the University of Texas at Austin. Since moving back to the UK he has established himself on the London and Brighton music scene as a well-renowned musician and a prolific teacher. When he is not on stage with the Hot Rock Pilgrims, he is gigging nationally and internationally with the Ben Somers Bluegrass Band and with Ben Paley's Long Hill Ramblers.

Kieran Towers

Originally hailing from the Lake District, Kieran is deeply rooted in Appalachian mountain music and is equally well versed in both old-time and bluegrass fiddle styles. He has been very active in the UK scene for many years, playing with acclaimed bands such as the Loose Moose Stringband, Charlotte Carravick and Kieran Towers duo and the Propane Brothers. Kieran has performed on stage with world-renowned fiddle luminaries such as Rayna Gellert and Bruce Molsky and he is the most recent winner of the FOATMAD old time fiddle competition. He is a magnificent fiddle player, a powerhouse of talent, and we're delighted to have him on board as one of the the Hot Rock Pilgrims.

Sam Rose

Sam Rose (double bass) was raised in Britain’s Bluegrass capital Helsby under tutelage from Stuart and Russ Williams and has been a regular at Sore Fingers Week since he was only 14 years young. He has recently graduated with first-class honours in Guitar Performance (BMus) from The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London. He is in high demand as a session musician and teacher and regularly performs with London electric rock outfit The Yacht Club.

Bruno Pichler

Our lineup Is changing...

A message from Bruno to friends and Fans of the Hot Rock Pilgrims:

"As you may (or may not) have noticed, I have been absent from some of the recent Hot Rock Pilgrims gigs. Over the past 5 years, I've been playing a lot of gigs with Hubert, Dan, Sam and Kieran. It's been great fun and it still is! But I'm also rather passionate about my other job as a microscopy consultant (https://www.inss.org.uk/about/) and balancing music and microscopes can be quite exhausting at times. I would really like to catch my breath, put the music on the back burner and concentrate on microscopes and family for a little while. I don't really think of it as "quitting the band", but rather as "becoming a dormant band member". I still have two more Hot Rock Pilgrims gigs in the calendar for this summer (https://twinwoodevents.com/ and http://www.bunkfest.co.uk/), and I certainly hope that I will be able to join the guys occasionally during the 2019 festival season. However, I will not join them for the October 2018 tour up North, and generally speaking, if you see any future Hot Rock Pilgrims gigs announced somewhere, you should assume that it will be without me."