PAUL BRADY’s long association with US legend BONNIE RAITT has been one of his most successful, particularly in terms of enhancing his reputation as a world ranking songwriter
On the eve of his unprecedented 23-night run at Vicar St., PAUL BRADY reflects on a dazzling career and describes the long and sometimes difficult process which has led to a new and resounding declaration of independence.
Interview: JACKIE HAYDEN
If there was one album that convinced Bob Dylan to include Paul Brady in the club of “secret heroes” he listed in the liner notes of Biograph— and let’s not forget the only other members of this somewhat exclusive coterie were Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen— then it was 1981’s Hard Station.
According to my calculations, Paul Brady celebrates forty years as a professional musician this year. You certainly wouldn’t think so – looking at the fresh-faced (and decidedly blonder than usual) chap staring out from the cover of his first album since 2001’s Oh What A World. And if his gruelling touring schedule is anything to go by (he treks around the US in Feb followed by an Irish/UK tour) the man from Strabane shows little sign of slowing down.
Paul Brady and Eddi Reader are raving about his work, and his album is surging up the charts – but Ireland’s latest singer-songwriter sensation Declan O’Rourke is still making his own breakfast.
PAUL BRADY has had an embattled career. In the course of it, he has made great music, won new fans and lost old friends. He has written powerful songs, locked horns with his record company, even contemplated quitting the business entirely. Now finally, he has come to new realisations about himself and about the enduring power of love. Interview: JOE JACKSON.
Home-grown acts more than held their own over the weekend, with the big names Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Hothouse Flowers and the ever-popular Mundy proving just as popular as the visitors.
Music Review | Live
52% | 28 Oct 2003
Jackie Hayden
A decent night’s work, with Brady’s voice sounding as mightily impressive as ever.
The story of how Paul Brady was transformed from a superlative folk artist into a superlative rock artist in a blinding flash of light (well, fifteen years actually). Today's reading is by Niall Stokes.
Are you ready for another massive David Gray hit that gets rotated to death by every mid-afternoon DJ on the planet? Well, we’re quite sure you’re going to be hearing a lot of ‘The One I Love’ when it hits the airwaves later this August. Instantly catchy (if suspiciously like Paul Brady) and featuring one of David’s most uplifting choruses to date, this power-ballad has the potential to be even bigger than ‘Babylon’ was back in 2000.
Formerly, by his own admission, a perfectionist, an arch-worrier and an all-round uptight individual, Paul Brady is slowly but surely learning how to relax. As his Full Moon album rises, John Waters takes a long, close look at Paul Brady in a new light.
After his celebrated band the blades failed to make a breakthrough in the 1980s, PAUL CLEARY more or less turned his back on music for 15 years. But now unexpectedly, he’s back with a terrific solo album crooked town and more than a few tales to tell.
Interview: LIAM MACKEY
Available to download freely on his website, Lynch’s follow up to his decent debut ‘The Storm’ shows an altogether different side to his normally restrained musical palate. Gone is the traditional singer-songwriter fare – in its place stands a raucous, blues-driven back-bar stomp much in the vein of the Killiney man’s heroes Paul Brady, Springsteen and Dylan. A taster, perhaps, for what gems may lie ahead on his forthcoming A Whisper In The Riot LP.
Next week's Jimmy Faulkner tribute gig, which takes place in the Olympia on September 22, will now feature an appearance by Jimmy's friend, guitarist Gary Moore.
Not since The Bothy Band in 1976, has an Irish traditional group signed to a major international label. By linking up with Virgin, ALTAN have confirmed their status as the pr-eminent force on the Irish scene and signalled their readiness to take on the world. Of course, theirs has been no overnight success story and, with the tragic loss of Frankie Kennedy, one that has also involved an immense amount of emotional courage. Interview: BILL GRAHAM. Pics: COLM HENRY
On the evidence of this, his debut album, he may well have a point, for it’s as good a collection of material as I’ve heard in recent times, inviting comparison with better known names like Paul Brady and – from a vocal perspective – Liam Reilly.
It s been a long, long way from there to here and DONAL LUNNY has been at the centre of things every step of the journey. He has achieved enormous acclaim and considerable success with Planxty, The Bothy Band and Moving Hearts. Now with the launch of his latest band and their eponymously titled album COOLFIN, he takes time out to reflect on all of the major figures who have contributed to the extraordinary revival of folk and traditional music that has taken place over the past 30 years. He also recalls the highs and the lows the heartbreak, the good times and the great music that he himself has enjoyed as one of Ireland s finest and most influential musicians. Interview: Niall Stokes. Pics: Colm Henry
Yes, it’s another Irish singer-songwriter. Running Dog is Nick Kelly’s second album, following on from his acclaimed solo debut Between Trapezes, which saw him pip the likes of Van Morrison and Paul Brady to the coveted ‘Best Solo Artist’ gong at the 1998/1999 hotpress Irish Music Critics awards.
Christy Moore, Paul Brady and Paddy Moloney to publicly oppose Section 21 of new Arts Bill, which proposes to financially separate traditional music from the rest of the Arts Council's remit
U2, Simon Carmody and Kila have led a collaboration on a special tribute to Ronnie Drew, which was recorded in Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, over the past few days.
This 23-track compilation includes material from five albums recorded during their 1968-1972 heyday, presented in chronological order so that one can trace the band’s musical evolution
Most people slow down a bit when they turn 60, but not trad legend Andy Irvine. Colm O’Hare hears about his latest collaboration with Donal Lunny, the Planxty reunion and the perils of being stranded in small German towns.
Going on the road with Chris Rea was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Derry blues virtuoso Paul Casey. Here he opens his tour diary to Hot Press readers.
The pop landscape becomes ever weirder as Ronan Keating's new Nashville career goes from strength to strength: a cover version of his and Paul Brady's 'The Long Goodbye' currently sits at US Country Number One
Lunar Records supremo Brian Molloy has enlisted the help of such luminaries as Bertie Ahern, Eamon Dunphy and Bono in the making of voices and poetry of Ireland, a one-off CD being released to benefit the homeless this Christmas.
English folk singer KATE RUSBY has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. She tells Colm O'Hare about sad songs, her Bon Jovi phase, and attracting praise from Blur s Graham Coxon
There was a large turn-out of luminaries of the entertainment industry for the funeral service of Brian Molloy, which took place today at Foxrock church. Molloy, who was the founder of Hawk Records and later Lunar Records, and also a partner in Westland Studios, died after a long battle with cancer.
Somebody up there likes us -that's for sure! Slane Castle 4pm on Saturday 25th August 2001 and the sun is shining down through deep blue skies like it hasn’t done all summer.
In a near-surreal recent development, Ronan Keating is looking like cracking the American market via, wait for it, country music songwriting. Yee-ha, etc
Despite sharing a home with fellow troubador Paddy Casey, singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke isn’t one for late-night acoustic sessions. You’re far more likely to find him kicking back with a Coen brothers box-set and musing on the early exploration of Antarctica.
By now one of the most esteemed events on the Irish cultural calendar, the Galway Arts Festival 2003 will once again bring you the best in contemporary theatre, literature, comedy and music
During a career spanning almost forty years as a professional musician, Van Morrison has created an extraordinary body of work. A masterful musician, songwriter, producer, arranger and musical director, he possesses one of the most uniquely recognisable and powerful voices in music. His influence on contemporary music has been profound but far from resting on his laurels, his latest work Back On Top ranks among his finest albums to date. For Van Morrison, the search goes on. It was particularly appropriate, therefore, that he was chosen to become the first inductee into the Hot Press Irish Music Hall of Fame, at a special ceremony there last week. Report: Niall Stanage.
Looking for a guitar/ bass/ amp/ drumkit/ keyboard/ sampler (circle as appropriate)? hotpress.com does the hard work of finding the best deals, so that you don't have to
All over Ireland, at any time of the day or night, hundreds of musicians are at work in recording studios, getting their sounds down for your delectation. So which are the trailblazing facilities? COLM O HARE reports.
One of Ireland’s premier singer/songwriters whose work has been covered by Christy Moore and the Corrs, Jimmy MacCarthy’s latest album The Moment illustrates a lighter side to his character. Below Jimmy gives us the inside track on the songs, the singers and the craft of writing
There was a time when the associations of Irish culture were such that those of a radical, progressive outlook automatically turned the other way. Not any more. Irish culture is alive and kicking. Report: Chris Donovan.
Teen prodigy George Murphy followed in the footsteps of some of the biggest names in Irish music when he recently performed for the inmates of Wheatfield prison in Clondalkin. Danielle Brigham reports. Photos: Cathal Dawson
From pioneering ambient-trad with Clannad, through to her brand new concept album 'Two Horizons', Moya Brennan can now look back on 30 years of lending her voice and harp to some of the most distinctive music ever to come out of Ireland.
On the face of it, the Fleadh Mor in Tramore had it all: blistering sunshine, hairy hippies, a stall selling glow in the dark condoms and a line up of rock 'n' roll legends that would be hard to match.
At the end of the last decade, Philip King was best known as a founder member of Scullion and writer of the music to the Frank O’Connor translation of the Irish lyric ‘I Am Stretched On Your Grave’. However, since setting up Hummingbird Productions with his partners Nuala O’Connor and Kieran Corrigan in 1987, he has established himself as one of the country’s leading makers of films about Irish music and culture, including acclaimed series such as Bringing It All Back Home, A River Of Sound, and Sult. Here he talks to Peter Murphy about the current Irish climate for independent film-makers, his stop-start relationship with RTE, and post-Riverdance Irishry. Pics: Cathal Dawson
An estimated 100,000 people showed up in the Phoenix Park for the O2 sponsored gig that featured Samantha Mumba, Ronan Keating, Mundy, Six, David Kitt and Kells' rock outfit Turn. Would one of the local scenes hottest contenders shine brightly enough to win the hearts of the nation’s pop kids?
It’s been an unusually tough year at IMRO, with the organisation being involved in a number of controversies. with elections to the board looming, however, chairman Mike Hanrahan and chief executive Adrian Gaffney believe that it’s time to look to the future.
Having made his name in the folk arena with Emmet Spiceland, Planxty and The Bothy Band, DONAL LUNNY went electric with the ground-breaking Moving Hearts. In the second part of a wide-ranging interview reflecting on all of the major characters and plots in Irish music since the folk revival blossomed in the '60s, he talks about the demise of the Hearts, the impact of Riverdance, Shane MacGowan, Sharon Shannon, Altan, Coolfin – and what he'd like to do with Sheryl Crow. Tape: NIALL STOKES
Why have one of the most successful Irish bands of the past decade decided to split up? And who's going to get custody of the Fender-Rhodes keyboard? STEVE WALL tells STUART CLARK where it all went wrong – and right! Pic: CATHAL DAWSON.
Tom Walsh has been a fixture on the Dublin traditional music scene for the past three decades, playing alongside bouzouki player and luthier guitarist Joe Foley in the bands An Beal Bocht and Rattlin’ Strings.
Promoter Jim Aiken, who passed away recently, was a hugely important and universally admired figure in the Irish music scene. Here, leading industry representatives pay tribute. (free content)
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
He began working in music as a drummer, but Dave Pennefather's greatest success has been as MD of Universal Music. Hot Press looks back over the life and times of a man with a larger than life reputation.
While the great unwashed will be familiar with the voice of Eddi Reader from the Fairground Attraction radio staple and TV-commercialised 'Perfect', more learned students will have gloried in her contribution to Donal Lunny's Coolfin album.
The rise and fall of chef CONRAD GALLAGHER was Icarus-like – one moment the toast of Dublin’s glitterati, the next a virtual pariah.
but unlike Icarus, Gallagher has fought his way back, bloodied but unbowed and determined to pay off all his debts
Interview: OLAF TYARANSEN
To celebrate their 10th birthday, The Ruby Sessions have organised four weeks of celebrations including performances from some of the best acts Ireland has to offer.
June 1998, the World Cup is in full swing and the Saw Doctors are on their tenth visit to the US of A. Leo Moran of Tuam’s finest kept a diary. Now read on . . .
Basking in the warm glow of that first day's successful recording may tempt you to imagine that it's all over but for the fame and fortune. Wrong, and double wrong. JACKIE HAYDEN considers music marketing and PR.
He may not be your average indie kids dream ticket, but Brian Kennedy has lived in very interesting times. An initially promising career was scuppered by record company machinations, but, under the stewardship of Van Morrison, he matured into a remarkably successful solo artist, as well as a respected novelist. Then there were the small matters of performing at George Best's funeral, the recent Eurovision controversy - and his current run at the helm of RTE's flagship summer Saturday night entertainment show.
When the offer came to produce the new Rolling Stones album in Dublin what answer could Don Was give but a resounding ‘Yes’. Mick, Keef & Co. are the latest in a long and impressive list of the man’s studio credits which includes Bob Dylan, The B-52’s, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and Paula Abdu. But throw in the small matter of the career of Was (Not Was) and the musical rehabilitation of errant Beach Boys’ genius Brian Wilson and we’re talking major industry player here. Bill Graham takes up the story . . .
NIALL STOKES takes a very personal journey back through the music and memories of a friendship with a man he was proud to have known
THE DRIVE to Cork was a lonely one. Ry Cooder on the deck, that sweet slide guitar shooting off tracers: the memories, stacked up like a vast
rack of on-line CDs, kept slipping in and out of the engagement slot. No need ever to press the play button. Now and then I had to hold back the
tears as the music of past friendship flooded the car and, with it, a terrible awareness of all the things that might have, but hadn't, been done.
The news of Rory Gallagher s tragic death has sent seismic shock waves through the music world. Here was a man who managed to combine the gift of being an authentic creative genius with the even rarer gift of being a genuinely decent, honourable human being. Over the next six pages, Hot Press pays tribute to both the legend and the person, with contributions from the stars, friends, fans and colleagues who were touched by the Gallagher magic, and takes a trip through the backpages of an extraordinary career.
U2, Elvis Costello, The Pogues, The Waterboys, Emmylou Harris, Hothouse Flowers, The Everly Brothers, Christy Moore just some of the dozens of artists who contribute to an adventurous new five part TV series which traces the extraordinary return journey that Irish traditional music has made to America and beyond. Here, Liam Fay previews the programmes, talks to Philip King who originated and nurtured the project and hears many of the participants explain how they discovered the importance and influence of Irish music.
So it proves – in Mickey Harte we have a writer of significant talent, who takes his inspiration from the likes of Rodney Crowell, Ron Sexsmith and Josh Ritter
Singer and virtuoso folk guitarist Martin Carthy was one of the key figures in the English folk revival of the sixties and seventies. This collection is culled from his '65-'71 period, a time when folkies were still singing songs that told stories rather than serving as therapy sessions to ease their inner pain.
Seldom do you encounter recordings that are both as scholarly and lovingly honed as this. More seldom still do you trip across a debut as assured and considered as Fair Dawning.
Tim O’Shea is a singer and guitarist from Killarney.
The Crossing may well be Tim O'Brien's finest moment to date. Always possessed of a fine voice and an inventive writing style, he is not afraid to expand the boundaries of the folk/bluegrass/old-time music he explores. Add to that the obvious Irish/Celtic elements introduced here and you have an album that genuinely has a foot in both traditions, while at times transcending both.
It’s getting rather crowded round at Singer-Songwriter Towers, but Declan O’Rourke’s first full album suggests he’s too good not to be given his own room.
Over 50 artists came together to pay their respects to Jimmy Faulkner in an unforgettable show of more than four hours of emotionally-charged performances.
This reviewer’s problem is with the ‘Hits’ part of the title. It means that all the songs are necessarily singles, and therefore not necessarily the work of bands at their musical best
The makers of the internet broadcast show Balcony TV may recently have found themselves in the middle of a controversial copyright battle between YouTube and Viacom.
Garth Brooks, Michael Flatley, John Hume and Paul Brady were among the mourners today at the funeral of Jim Aiken, the pioneering Belfast concert promoter who died on Tuesday aged 74.
THE BALLOT–BOXES HAVE BEEN OPENED, THE VOTES SCRUTINISED UNDER THE STRICTEST OF SECURITY AND NOW THE RETURNING OFFICER STEPS UP ONTO THE STAGE TO ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF THE 1993 HOT PRESS READERS’ POLL
Siobhán Long was at the Olympia Theatre to hear Ireland’s finest musicians
pay their respects to the much lamented Altan flautist who died last September.
The event, sponsored by Smithwicks/Hot Press, was a truly memorable and moving occasion.
Casting a cold eye on 1986, one must be frank that, although it was a good year, the absolute pinnacles that have marked previous years were absent. Perhaps ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ and ‘Born In The USA’, and their respective tours in 1985, not to mention Live Aid, drained a lot of emotion.
You look up 'skiffle' in the Chambers 20th Century Dictionary and it says "a strongly accented jazz type of folk music, played by guitar, drums and often unconventional instruments etc. popular about 1957".
One of the most useful lessons re-learned during the Heineken Green Energy Careers In Music seminars in Dublin, Cork and Galway is that while those in the business have a reasonable grasp as to how it works and why, from the stand-point of a seventeen-year-old would-be, the Music Industry can appear like one ginormous complex monster.
...here's the Hot Press Irish Music Awards, and a massive bash avec much live music is pencilled in for Belfast in April. Read on for the categories and nominees in full
ACCORDING to All Eyes and Ears, they are a band that create atmosphere but don’t sond like Phil Coulter! The opening track ‘Wishing Your Life Away’ maps out the route that follows.
For 25 years Music Maker have been a central force in the Irish instruments industry, their premises in Exchequer Street in Dublin a veritable musical mecca for international and Irish customers alike. Latterly they have expanded into distribution with MIDI (Musical Instrument Distribution Ireland) and were also involved in the initiative to create the permanent memorial to Rory Gallagher being unveiled this week. Jackie Hayden talked to the key players about the Music Maker success story, and even heard the one about the man with the child's organ!
Belfast, like Dublin, is getting a bit frisky with the promise of spring. Loads of music initiatives are being planned and the landscape is looking better than ever. The difference between the two social diaries is that Belfast stops having fun at the end of June, to allow the marching season to have its ruinous way. By the time we pull out of that regular mess, the summer is packing up and it s time to go indoors again.
Belfast, like Dublin, is getting a bit frisky with the promise of spring. Loads of music initiatives are being planned and the landscape is looking better than ever. The difference between the two social diaries is that Belfast stops having fun at the end of June, to allow the marching season to have its ruinous way. By the time we pull out of that regular mess, the summer is packing up and it s time to go indoors again.
Belfast, like Dublin, is getting a bit frisky with the promise of spring. Loads of music initiatives are being planned and the landscape is looking better than ever. The difference between the two social diaries is that Belfast stops having fun at the end of June, to allow the marching season to have its ruinous way. By the time we pull out of that regular mess, the summer is packing up and it s time to go indoors again.
On Tuesday 23rd November, at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Church & General Insurance Company present The Celebration Concert, featuring an extraordinary array of Ireland's finest contemporary songwriting and composing talents. In this four-page special, Jackie Hayden explores the background to the event and we profile the leading players.
It's been called the "Exploding Plastic Inevitable Turnip", but don't let that put you off: the Flat Lake Festival is rapidly becoming a highlight of the folk calendar.
The Electric Picnic couldn’t have been any more inspiring (weather excepted). Now, roll on the Music Show....
Electric Picnic. It marks the end of the summer, and the beginning of the academic year when people start to trudge back to schools and college. It is a moment when you start to anticipate the darkness falling down around us, the days getting shorter and then shorter again, till the watershed weekend arrives when the clocks go back, and the winter comes stealing in.
“There’s no sense running for election unless first you suspend all sense of shame.” From that starting point, Eamonn McCann went on to exceed all expectations in the Northern Ireland election. Here, he recalls the highs and lows of the campaign.
“There’s no sense running for election unless first you suspend all sense of shame.” From that starting point, Eamonn McCann went on to exceed all expectations in the Northern Ireland election. Here, he recalls the highs and lows of the campaign.
The foot-and-mouth crisis plunged the Irish live music scene into one of its most difficult phases. Now, however, the business is back – and flourishing. Report: COLM O'HARE
There is a huge wealth of music talent in Ireland today. In this economic meltdown, the government should help the industry live up to its potential through the introduction of initiatives that would make Ireland a better environment for musicians.
Last week in Dublin, a highly ambitious new independent label was launched. LODGE RECORDS will reflect the diverse musical interests of its founder pat dempsey – as well as reflecting a funamental commitment to the song. Report: Colm O’Hare
It may not seem as glamorous as appearing on Top of the Pops but it can be a hell of a lot more lucrative. That’s right, publishing is one of the most widely misunderstood and underestimated aspects of the music industry. The message for Irish songwriters: get weaving! There’s classics that need writing . . .
IT’S BEEN a strange month. Hot Press has been at the centre of controversies before – but never quite like this! Elsewhere in this issue, we cross swords with Eoghan Harris and the Sunday Times regarding an issue of defamation.
The first day of The Music Show saw some hot debates, great music and Glen Hansard in stirring form.
Reporting: Peter Murphy, Celina Murphy, Niall Stokes, Stuart Clark and additional Hot Press reporters
Now that American rock ’n’ roll has succumbed to its self-destructive urges and with its British counterpart reduced to self-indulgent navel exercises, the stage is now set for the radical rejuvenation of Irish music both as an international commercial viability and as a cultural touchstone for the new generation at home. Bill Graham meets philip king, the captain of the flagship of the latest revival river of sound, and finds that in the wake of the Riverdance phenomenon, it’s full steam ahead for Irish trad. Pix: NUTAN.
...it was a year like any other year at Féile - except that there were dozens of extra acts on show, on not just two but three stages. There was also the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, the Chris de Burgh stripper incident, Michael Hutchence dispensing condoms...and a rather loud Little Red Rooster that nearly got itself strangled. And the crack Hot Press team of reporters who attempted to keep up with it all? Words: Bill Graham, Stuart Clark, Tara McCarthy, Lorraine Freeney and Chris Donovan. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
It reads like a scene from Twin Peaks but turns out to be far stranger than any fiction. Bill Graham dons his best John Travolta strides and eavesdrops on the American slants being given to Irish traditions at the Green Linnet Folk Weekender.
Pix: DAVID NEWTON.
That’s the philosophy behind Cross Border Media, a label which has had a remarkable impact on Irish music since its foundation just three years ago. A special report by Colm O’Hare and Jackie Hayden
