The Mighty Bard

The Mighty Bard is an English Progressive Rock band. Members of the band are Dave Clarke, Benj, Mark 'Cad' Cadman, Mark Parker, Tom Mear and Luke Gerrish.

Released in 2014, The Mighty Bard's first album was called Blue God and Other Stories and featured Gavin Webb on vocals. The Mighty Bard's second album, Beyond The Gate was released in June 2023 and features two new band members - drummer Tom Mear and Benj on vocals.

The Mighty Bard was formed in 2004 by Dave Clarke and Neil Cockle, original keyboard player with a band formerly known as 'Silmarillion'. Dave and Neil spent some time bringing their ideas together and writing material before recruiting Mark Cadman on bass and Gavin Webb on vocals, with all four shaping the core of the band's material in Neil's loft studio.

Ably assisted by Aleem Saleh, Ian Sands and Andy Dovey on drums, The Mighty Bard embarked on a series of festival and gig appearances around Europe including Guilfest, GranitArena and support slots for Prog royalty, the Enid.

The band released its first album in 2014: Blue God and Other Stories. Featuring epics Blue God, Heart of the Strangelove and Bird and the emotive and powerful No Flesh is the New Dream, the album's unique yet classically progressive sound proved a hit with critics and audiences alike on release.

Following a couple of departures during the writing and recording of the band's upcoming second album, a line-up change now sees The Mighty Bard feature Tom Mears on drums and Mark Parker on violin, with Benj replacing Gavin as lead singer.

Illusion and first single, Magician, will feature on the band's second album, Beyond The Gate, which was released in July 2023 and brings a whole new dynamic to The Mighty Bard sound. Featuring a nuanced blend of light and dark textures, innovative rhythms, time signatures and song structures, the album's other tracks include Guarded Secret, Compound the Problem and Secret Garden, title track Beyond The Gate and Last Orders.

With the genre enjoying something of a renaissance as people the world over look for more substance than style in their music, Beyond The Gate showcases the impressive talents of the revitalised The Mighty Bard – a band that takes its inspiration from the past to define a unique sound for our times.

With the departure of Neil, the band has warmly welcomed the multi-talented Luke Gerrish on keyboards to bring the band back up to full touring strength, ready for a number of dates in 2025, including Fusion in March.