• Joe O'Callaghan - vocals/harmonica
• Bill O'Brien - lead guitar
• Johnny Rice - bass
• Brian Callnan - drums
  
  
  above: Joe O'Callaghan in Harvey-esque shirt

Bio:

The Hot Guitars were a late 70s/early 80s bluesrock band from Cork.

Lead guitarist Bill O'Brien started out on bass with Cork bands Wild Oaths, Essence and Gaslight before moving to guitar with Sleepy Hollow in 1971. Sleepy Hollow became one of the hottest bands in Ireland in the mid 70s. They toured extensively with Rory Gallagher in Ireland and the UK and released a single in 1975. When they split sometime in the late 1970s, Bill moved to London and played in Sunwheel with Johnny Campbell, touring as support for Rory Gallagher once again. He also backed Chuck Berry on one of his European tours.

On his return to Ireland Bill formed the Hot Guitars with ex Sleepy Hollow bandmate and Johnny Rice and frontman Joe O'Callaghan. O'Callaghan had been with an early Cork band called Boothouse. The Hot Guitars played rock, rock & roll, bluesrock, garage rock, etc, and included Stones and Alex Harvey covers in their set as well as cover of songs like "Route 66" and "Wild Thing". Alex Harvey was a great influence on the band. During the punk era they were respected by local young bands in Cork for their spirit and energy. They released a single on the local Circa Records label in 1978. On Sunday 18 March 1980, Circa Records organised a live showcase of local rock bands including Hot Guitars at Cork City Hall. This show was recorded and presumably live tapes must exist somewhere. Hot Guitars split circa 1981.

Joe O'Callaghan and Johnny Rice had a roots rock & roll band called Idle Hands active in 1982.

Hot Guitars reformed in 1983 with Arty Lorrigan on drums (as Brian Callnan was then in Moving Hearts). The band has undoubtedly had a long and complicated history since then and if anyone can fill me in please do! There is a Hot Guitars still playing today, still fronted by Joe O'Callaghan, with Tom Stephens (ex Small Change) and Tony Burke (ex Chapter Five) on guitars, Pete Brennan (ex Boothouse/Small Change) on bass and Brian Calnan (drums).

Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic.