The Swiss Family Orbison
Saturday 26 September 2026
7.30pm – Pay What You Can £23.00 / £20.00 / £17.00
PLEASE NOTE the Byre bar is open throughout.
Tipped for success following the release of their 1997 debut album, The Swiss Family Orbison built a loyal following with their distinctive songwriting and richly melodic sound. And although the band’s trajectory took some unexpected turns, work on their second album, Thick as Pop, continued to completion, only to then be shelved for more than two decades. Rediscovered, remastered and released by Assai Records in January of this year, it has finally received the acclaim many felt it always deserved.
The band now only very rarely perform together – usually only every seven to twelve years – either as a full-on electric power-pop outfit, or as they appear tonight, in a quieter, more introspective acoustic form. Whatever the format, it’s always about the songs.
Formed around the acclaimed songwriting partnership of Kit Clark (Danny Wilson), Keith Matheson (The Pearlfishers) and Gregor Philp (Deacon Blue), the band are joined by ‘stunt guitarist’, Ross Nicoll (Andrew Wasylyk, Kyle Faulkner, Gael’s Blue Orchestra).
Tonight, exclusively for the Byre, they will be performing two full sets, including 12 specially selected, often requested, but never before recorded or released songs from their extensive live back catalogue.
Once described as a scuzzier, yet somehow more mainstream Teenage Fanclub, The Swiss Family Orbison have counted Nick Hornby, Terry Hall, Manic Street Preachers and Garbage among their admirers. Melody, poetry, honesty, wit, harmonica and harmonies.
Swiss Family or Bison? You decide.