The Reinvention of Jerry Fish
He’s the joker in the Irish music pack, a working class hero who has at once conquered and subverted the mainstream. For his first album in six years JERRY FISH and his MUDBUG CLUB have also roped in some top-tier collaborators including rockabilly queen Imelda May and Carol Keogh.
Peter Murphy, 06 May 2009
The “she” Jerry’s referring to is Carol Keogh, best known for her work with the Plague Monkeys, Tycho Brahe and Autamata, and who has now just embarked on a much anticipated solo career. Keogh’s extraordinary and unearthly vocals grace a handful of tracks on the new album.
“The wonderful thing about going back on the road with Be Yourself was I criss-crossed with a lot of artists,” Jerry explains, “so I’d heard Carol sing a bit, but more as a personality we kind of got on – a very strong spirit there. And when I brought her into the studio I have to say I was just agog, my mouth was open. When she sang ‘Back To Before’, we were like, ‘Did she swap bodies? Who’s that?’ She’s got an uncanny vocal ability, it really is remarkable. We’re closer now and I’m listening to a lot of stuff she’s writing, and I think I caught her at a good time, ’cos she’s actually got a wealth of work behind her. Carpe diem, is that what they say? I really believe everything is in its place. Like Imelda (May), she came early on in the album. I know Imelda a long time, since she was very, very young. I’m nearly Uncle Jerry to Imelda.”
Perfect casting. Dirty Uncle Jerry.
“Yeah, I have this sinister character in me! But Imelda and I… I had three gigs on offer for the Mudbug Club on St Patrick’s Day two years ago. One was Beijing, the other was Montserrat… and I ended up in Cashel! There was a massive fireworks display, and we were part of the Skyfest, and I brought Imelda. This was exactly a year before she won the Meteor award, so it was really nice that we ended up on national television at half six in the day and nobody noticed her. She’s like Cinderella. But she’s been really working hard, she’s far from an overnight success, and her husband Darrel (Higham) is a complete gent and is one of the best guitarists in his genre probably in the world. They’ve really got a good thing going, and they’re really cool people. But she got so busy that she just couldn’t return to the record, so Carol came in.
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