Going through some files on my hard drive, I came across this biography of the Blue Chieftains, a sadly defunct -- but forever great in the hearts of its fans -- New York City bar band from the early '90s. It was written as a writing sample for a job I didn't get, and so has been gathering e-dust for several years. On the off-chance that someone remembers the Blue Chieftains, here's my take on the World's Greatest Bar Band.

During the early 1990's, the Lower East Side was home to a burgeoning country music scene, one that reached back past the commercial panderings of the current wave of