Flying solo

Hard to believe that the youthful looking man sipping a cappuccino in front of me once toured the world with the likes of The Who, Jethro Tull, Hawkwind and ELP. He even did a John Peel session – long before it became the Holy Grail of the indie brigade. However, it’s all true. Tir Na nOg, the folk-rock duo formed by Leo O’Kelly and Sonny Condell in 1970, enjoyed notable success releasing several albums internationally and touring widely before finally breaking up in 1974.

“People sometimes think we were a traditional group but I don’t think we ever played a trad song in our lives,” O’Kelly says. “We were more into the West Coast stuff like The Byrds and Love. I did an interview on radio recently and the guy said, ‘obviously you come from a traditional background’. I said, ‘er, no, I don’t actually’. ‘But you must’ve played traditional music,’ he insisted. ‘Er, no, never’. We ended up talking about Jonathon Richman and the Velvet Underground!”

O’Kelly who started out with Emmet Spiceland, first met Sonny Condell at a gig in his hometown of Carlow. They clicked instantly and decided to form a musical partnership.

“It all happened so quickly for us,” O’Kelly recalls, “We went to London with £30 each in our pockets and got a residency in Petticoat Lane the first night we arrived. We were invited to a party later that night where we met this sound engineer who worked in a jingles studio. He got us in after hours for nothing and we made a demo. We brought it to Chrysalis and got a deal straight away. A couple of weeks later, we were in the Royal Albert Hall supporting Jethro Tull.”

Tir na nOg released two critically acclaimed albums, 1971’s self-titled debut and Tear And A Smile, both of which have been re-released on CD. But it’s as a touring act that they forged their reputation and made some serious money.

“Apart from the acts we played with, we had some interesting support acts of our own,” O’Kelly reveals. “Supertramp supported us once even after they were quite well-known. I kept that contract for years. Richard & Linda Thompson played support to us one night at Nottingham University. I was a bit embarrassed about that one and I’m sure they were equally pissed off. We supported Wizard once, which was bizarre. It was the time they had hits like ‘Angel Fingers’ and the place was full of teenyboppers.”

The pressures of non-stop touring and the lack of a big breakthrough eventually forced the pair to quit. After a spell in London and Holland, O’Kelly returned to live in Ireland in the early eighties. A regular on the live circuit he still gets together with Condell for Tir Na nOg reunions, including a recent tour of Italy.

After thirty-two years in the business O’Kelly has finally got around to releasing his debut solo album. Entitled Glare and released on the label he formed with fellow maverick Pierce Turner, the album features a wide range of styles showcasing his adept if indefinable songwriting style “It’s quite contemporary sounding,” he says. “It goes though a range of types of material but I think it holds together quite well. It’s received quite a lot of airplay which I’m pleased about. In fact I can’t think of any other album, apart from Moby, who would get played by Dave Fanning, Ronan Collins, Mr Spring and Maxi In the Morning!

Glare is currently on release on Clarinda & 1st Records