Within a few years, Brendan was bitten by the traveling bug and headed off to London, where he joined the Donnie Walsh Orchestra. The band was the resident group at The Oranmore, a popular Irish Club in the London suburb of Balham. When the Irish showbands would come across to play, the Orchestra would play the first two hours of the night and the showband would play the last two. On one occasion in late 1964, the Jim Farley Showband came to town.

While we were doing our show I noticed three members of the Farley band paying a lot of attention to our show. To make a long story short, they were looking for a bass player for the new band they were forming and they offered me the job! It was the chance I was waiting for to get back home, and they formed The Express Showband."

The Express stayed on the road through 1967, playing a program which consisted of material from groups such as the American Drifters, the best of the Top 20 pop charts, throwing in some Herb Alpert and Dixieland jazz for good measure.
Line up: Joe McEntyre (trumpet), Ken Gibson (Sax and clarinet), Shay McEntyre (trombone), Tony Woods (vocals), Des Moore (guitar), Peter Ainscough (drums) and Brendan (bass).

Des Moore, brother of famous singer Butch Moore, went on to be one of Ireland's top session guitarists. Tony and Shay went on to play the English cabaret scene. Joe also went on to play with many greats, but sadly passed away in 1981. Peter played drums with the world famous Louis Stewart Trio, who also passed away 23rd Oct. 2004. Definitely a band with a great musical

From Dublin, Brendan moved "down the country" to Tuam, where he hooked up with Gerry and the Ohio, one of Ireland's best known bands. The band was managed by Pat Creighton, brother of famous promoter  Andy Creighton and took the country by storm. In fact, the band continued on the road until well in the 1980's. Sadly, Gerry passed away in 1988. Brendan continued on his quest, which brought him back to his home in Limerick.

Once back at home, Brendan joined forces with former band mate, Billy Brosnan, with whom he had originally played in The Ambassador 7. They formed the Wee Four Showband, which played around Limerick and the surrounding countryside, but as a four piece didn't really play the showband circuit.

Around 1971, the local Parkway Hotel was in the process of expanding its function room to attract larger dinner dances. Paddy Ryan, then bar manager for the hotel, realized there was a potential to draw bigger crowds with bigger names. Paddy then decided to form the Parkway Orchestra. Over the years, its members included the late Mick Henchy, Tommy Cantillon, Frank Phelan, Joe Cantillon, who is now a parish priest in the US, the late Aidan Darcy, Declan Bourke, Charlie Foley, Gerry Ryan, Micky Sheedy and Brendan on bass.            
The Parkway started to book larger and larger acts, and eventually attracted stars like Roger Whitaker, Rolf Harris, Val Doonican, Lonnie Donegan, and The Bachelors. Recounts Paddy, "it is a tribute to the talent of the Parkway Orchestra that many of these acts came without any musical director or their own backing.