Glasgow band Three Blind Wolves are set for one final howl.

The trio will play their final ever gig this Saturday night at St Luke’s, and are calling it quits after a career that brought several well-received releases, tours of America and Europe and gigs in nearly every venue in Glasgow.

However real life has intervened for the band.

“Life has got in the way,” admits their singer, Ross Clark.

“I’ve been fortunate enough that music is how I make a living, through songwriting workshops and things like that, so it’s easy for me to consider myself musical. But we’re all getting near 30 and life has to move forward, so we can’t just up sticks and go on tour for a few months now like we used to.

“We’re still the best of pals and we still enjoy making music together, but it got to a point where we were all drifting apart from it with day to day work – Davie (Cleary) is a full time chef now and Kevin (MacKay) is finishing up at uni, so as much we wanted to keep making music we’re all moving in different directions. It seemed the right time to end the band before we became resentful or anything like that.”

It has been a good run for the band. They’ve been going strong for eight years, a decent figure in the modern age of music, where bands frequently disappear after a year or two, and Ross can point to plenty of good times with the group.

“When the first album came out, going to the States and touring around Europe was a big highlight,” he says.

“The first time in New York we played to almost a full house and people were singing the words back to us, and that sticks in the brain as a ‘what?’ moment. That made me realise how wide an audience we could reach. But just playing to people in general is something I will cherish – being able to do that wherever we were and people having a good time (at their gigs) will stick in the memory.”

However the band’s decision to go their separate ways also spotlights just how hard it is for bands to keep going unless they’re at the top of the financial tree or doing it for hardly anything. Bands in the middle, like Three Blind Wolves, are being squeezed the most.

“It was a lot easier when we were starting out and at uni, because in that 18-25 period you don’t really care about anything else and you can do what you want to do,” says Ross, who lives in the West End.

“But it’s hard when you need to commit to touring so much – I lived at home for a while to save money and so did some others in the band. There’s a lot of things you have to take into account when you are in a band full time.

“I can’t speak for other bands experiences but although you can make headway with the internet there are a lot of sacrifices to make and there’s such a volume of new acts (that it is hard to be seen).”

Having said that, the singer is still pleased to see a thriving local scene, with Glasgow producing both new bands and venues. St Luke’s is a relative newcomer, but Ross is keen to perform there on Saturday.

“We were trying to find somewhere that we hadn’t done a big show in before, and the promoter did say to me ‘where in Glasgow haven’t you actually played’ because we’ve played everywhere,” he adds.

“St Luke’s is an amazing space and should really make for a great last show. It’s great to see new venues still emerging in the city, and the fact that Glasgow has all these bands and venues still developing is fantastic, especially because places like St Luke’s or the Hug & Pint can really help all sorts of bands.”

Saturday might get a bit emotional, too…

“There is a pool going that I am going to greet on the night,” laughs Ross.

“We’ve reworked a few old songs to try and bring even more emotion to them, and when we were rehearsing it I could feel that emotion coming across. But we’re going to be celebrating things more than anything – not many bands can go as long as we have these days, so we want a good time.”

Three Blind Wolves, St Luke’s, Saturday, £10, 7pm

JONATHAN GEDDES