Woof Guide to Obscure Catholic Music: The Conventional Friars

The Conventional Friars are a Catholic novelty band started by six sophomores from the Franciscan College of Sts. Bonaventure and Gussie in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho in the fall of 1992. The ensemble first came together for a school talent show, to a strong response from the assembled students. Despite this, they continued to appear at campus events, wearing their signature chicken suits and performing songs like “Make Me An Omelette of Your Peace” and “They’ll Know We Are Chickens By Our Clucks.”

The Friars remained together for the duration of their college careers, and though they continued to perform and compose new material, little changed about the band’s basic direction. By graduation their repertoire had grown to include “A Mighty Fortress is Our Coop”, “Come Wholly Broast”, and “On Eggs and Wings”, and they had recorded an album, self-published on CD-ROM, entitled “Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Friars.” It became an instant success, as their classmates rushed to buy up and destroy all available copies to prevent them from being played on campus. The few remaining discs are now eagerly sought out by collectors, who value them for their ability to protect table tops from condensation and as props for uneven table legs.

The Friars have not performed together since 1995, and it seems that none of their album tracks are currently available on line, though it is feared that this someday may change.