“I am living proof that you can come back from pretty much anything,” says Steo Wall, and it’s hard to argue with. Having had an adverse start to life, with time spent in and out of detention centres and prison, Wall has an indomitable soul that shines through in his spirited folk tunes.

Wall is a proud Traveller, who grew up close to his grandmother, his earliest musical influence.

“She’d listen to a lot of American folk singers,” he says. “Artists like Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. My earliest memory is actually Patsy Cline singing ‘Three Cigarettes In An Ashtray.’”

But it wasn’t just the musical realm where Wall’s grandmother had an influence.

“The stories she told me would have been probably hundreds of years old,” he says. “Stories from around the land, from her people – some of them were ghost stories. She had a story for every occasion. We used to do markets all over, like the Hill Market.”

Wall nods behind him, towards Cumberland Street where the Hill Market once used to be.

“Everywhere we travelled in Ireland she would have a story for that area.”

Wall’s grandmother died when he was 11, and it was around this point that he started experimenting with drugs, beginning with weed. By the time he was 16, he had progressed harder substances and, eventually, heroin. When you encounter Wall, he is clean shaven and tidy, with light brown eyes and an earnest face. You would have no idea of the circumstances that led him to music.

“When I left school, I fell through the cracks,” he says. “I left school unable to read or write or tell the time – the essentials”.

The first real chance Wall got to access these “essentials” was in Mountjoy.

“When I went into prison I sought out education,” he continues, “because there was nothing else to do. I was always kind of thirsty for knowledge: books, reading, and writing.”

Speaking about Mountjoy, Wall remarks, “It’s weird, I remember doing this interview the first time and shying away from all this stuff, but now it’s all in the open.”

Music was one of the few outlets available to Steo at the time.

“I accessed music while inside, I started doing guitar lessons,” he explains. “We used to record on a little MP3 recorder. We were doing covers of Bruce Springsteen and Mumford & Sons. I remember saying, ‘Why don’t we write our own songs?’”

Steo had a teacher in Mountjoy who had a Mac.

“He gave me a beat and I took it away and I wrote to that. The Pikey Rap Song off the first album is what came of it”.

When Steo Wall served his time, he wanted to keep the momentum of both his music and education.

“I wanted to further the music,” he says, “so when I got out, I worked in a Christian Church. I had to clean toilets and buff floors and then they paid for my education. I was looking for ways of change.”

It was in this spirit that Wall decided to relocate to West Clare.

“I used to think Dublin was the capital of music but now I think Clare is. It’s been pretty good for my career”.

Does Wall think he would be sober if it weren’t for music?

“It’s a huge factor in my mental wellbeing,” he says. “For me, music is all about healing. It’s about trying to make a little bit of peace with my past. If anyone takes anything from what I create, they take a bit of comfort, and that’s a huge part in my recovery.”

What does Wall want listeners to take away from Street Wisdom For Lost Souls?

“That there is always hope,” he replies. “There’s a reason it’s called Street Wisdom For Lost Souls. I was trying not to give away much of my past with the first record, but a lot of my past was in it. I was a bit green behind the ears. With this one, I learnt what I wanted – it’s family, recovery and hope. For people who are lost or feel like they don’t have a shot in life, I am living proof you can come back from pretty much anything.”

• Steo Wall plays The Workman’s Club, Dublin on February 18. He also plays the Castle Hall at Dublin Castle with Niamh Dunne and Sharyn Ward for TradFest 2024 (January 25).