The Prayer Boat

The Prayer Boat are an Irish folk/indie band formed in 1987 in Blessington, Co. Wicklow. They are a band who have endured a lot of misfortune in a commercial industry whose main priority is to sell records, often seeming to be 'out of time' with the contemporary music scene, whilst nevertheless achieving almost universal acclaim from music reviewers for their meticulously crafted songs. After a short period of playing in local bars and clubs, The Prayer Boat had attracted a cult following in Dublin.

After a short period of playing in local bars and clubs, The Prayer Boat had attracted a cult following in Dublin. Their two albums, Oceanic Feeling and Polichinelle received high praise and commendation from music journals but unfortunately sales were meagre.

Despite not having performed for several years, The Prayer Boat still have a website which is visited by afficionados of the band. The band's achingly beautiful music has found devotees around the world and frontman Emmett Tinley regularly receives emails from passionate lovers of his voice and The Prayer Boat's unique music. Emmett is a truly gifted singer and songwriter, and Melody Maker summed this up when they said of him, 'the man can make a cat's cradle of your heart strings.'

As Emmett has now embarked upon a solo career, releasing his first album, Attic Faith in 2005, and only occasionally sees the other members of The Prayer Boat (with the exception of his brother Patrick) it remains doubtful whether the band will play together in the near future. However, this has never been ruled out, and fans of The Prayer Boat continue to remain steadfast in their loyalty to this highly talented Irish band.

Band members are:-

Emmett Tinley (vocals, guitar, piano, hammond organ)
Patrick Tinley (guitar, charango)
Tony Byrne (bass guitar)
Tim Houlihan (drums)