TV talent shows have been the start and end of many a musical career. Brendan McCahey, winner of the most recent series of The Voice Of Ireland, knows just what he’s up against.

“There’ll always be a lot of preconceptions,” says the affable Cavan man. “Radio DJs, before they introduce the song, will say ‘This guy, well, er, he’s from one of those shows’.”
McCahey, though, breaks the mould of the average product of ‘one of those shows’. The 38-year-old is a veteran of sorts, after a decade of touring, writing and recording before his big break arrived.
“I played pubs, weddings, functions, whatever,” McCahey recalls. “The Voice came about because my wife told me about the wildcard auditions. She’d heard about them on 2fm. I thought, ‘What do I have to lose?’ All that time I was recording and sending demos, but God knows if anyone was listening to them. The treat this time was I could send RTÉ a YouTube clip and know that they’d watch it.”
It might have come a little later than McCahey would have hoped — “I would’ve killed for this 10 years ago,” he laughs — but with the benefit of hindsight, he’s happy things have worked out as they have.
“I think it’s better this way,” he reasons. “Some people get instant fame, but don’t understand what most people have to do to get to that stage. All along I was working day-jobs; panel beating, working in a hotel, always doing something. But the music was always t here. I’m one of those stubborn people who just won’t give up. I’m really headstrong. It’s just how I’m built.”
The persistence paid off when, under the guidance of Bressie, McCahey emerged victorious from the TV series. His performances of classics from the likes of Roy Orbison, David Bowie and Bo Diddley won over both the judges and the audience; an audience that McCahey recognises as being key to the success of his new album, To Where I Begin.
“The television audience is important. It would be silly of me not to acknowledge that when recording an album. The people listening to the album are going to be of mixed ages, so it had to be accessible.”
The up-tempo rock has been left behind, for what McCahey describes as a ‘slow-burning’ style. A number of the songs were written long before The Voice came along, while a few are inspired by television of a very different nature.
“The opening track ‘The Otherside’ was written in response to Darren getting shot in Love/Hate,” McCahey reveals. “He was trying to change but he just couldn’t do it because it was in his blood. That’s something a lot of people can relate to. When writing songs you want a commonality; something that everyone would understand. A lot of the time, ideas just gel in my head.”
This level of clarity is perfect, of course, for a solo artist. When Bressie proposed working together, though, it caused a little trouble; he recently revealed the collaborative effort with his new protégé lasted a single day.
“It was only half a day, actually,” McCahey laughs. “He gave me a song, called ‘Chase The Shade’. In itself, that’s a great leap of faith, to let me into his world and his music like that. His method of working, though, is different to mine. I said ‘Let me take it home’. I rewrote the lyrics, re-recorded it, and he loved it.”
With his mentor’s stamp of approval, McCahey is looking forward to sharing the new record with a fanbase who already feel like they know him.
“It’s lovely, because people aren’t intrusive. Sometimes, everyone wants a piece of you, but it’s usually nothing more than being friendly.” He pauses, and grins, “Either that, or a full-on ‘You were shit!’ Thankfully, I don’t get that one too much.”

To Where I Begin is out now.