When critically acclaimed songwriter Simone Felice was making his self-titled debut solo record at the start of the decade, the Catskill Mountains native had been through the wars. He’d exited Americana trail-blazers the Felice Brothers, suffered poor health and underwent emergency open heart surgery. Mercifully, his misfortune was ultimately short-lived. He tells us that sessions for his March '14 released second solo LP Strangers involved only good times and great bourbon. Lots and lots of great bourbon.

“Man it was a lot of fun,” he beams. “I’m blessed to have some really brilliant people in my life. My brothers came up to record with me, which was fun, as did some of my friends in The Lumineers and a great singer called Leah Siegel from New
York City. It was fun, we cracked open some bourbon and got to it.”
A compelling new chapter in Simone’s continuing musical tale, Strangers sees the songwriter in a contemplative mood.
“I’m at this moment in life where I have the ability to look back and have a retrospective view on things,” he explains. “Time has flown by and I can crane my neck backwards and go ‘Wow, where did that person go? Or that one? These people you were once intertwined with – whether it’s a lover or a friend – they can ultimately end up strangers.”
In a few days time, Felice rekindles his long-standing love affair with Ireland when he returns to perform at Sligo Live on October 26.
“Like every mutt from New York, I’ve got an Irish grandma. I grew up singing a lot of traditional songs around the holidays and it was always a dream for me to get to visit Ireland. I got to go for the first time when I was 22/23 and I came and rambled around myself. I was a poet and would go into pubs and listen to traditional music. This was before I ever dreamt about being able to do my own tours and my own music. I’ve been back many times since and the fact that my songs mean so much to the people there is a dream come true for me.
“I want to check out as much as I can when I’m in Sligo,” he continues. “I want to soak up everything. Especially the traditional stuff. This tour is going to be an acoustic, stripped down affair.
"I’m bringing an amazing singer/musician friend of mine over called Anna Mitchell. She’s actually from Cork. In the set we’re doing some songs we didn’t get to do on the last tour and also reinventing older works that I did with the Felice Brothers.”
A relatively new dad, we ask Simone if fatherhood has made him change the way he approaches touring.
“There was days when was in the Felice Brothers, before my daughter Pearl was born, when I’d be gone for three or four months straight without ever coming home. I guess we had to pay our dues out there on the road. This year I’ve made a pact with myself. I’m only going to do the shows where I really love to be and where people understand my work. Ireland will always be on my list, of course.”

Simone Felice plays Sligo Live with the Barr Brothers on October 26.