Music
13 Dec 10

Tupelo and beyond

Wild nights on the town inform the fire and brimstone folk of newcomers Tupelo. Here they explain the origins of their ‘us against the world’ gang mentality.

Dirty Money, the debut long-player from Dublin band Tupelo, is an acoustic roots soundtrack to many a long night. According to singer and songwriter James Cramer, the band have lived the record’s lyrics. “Yeah, it’s influenced by all that. Nights out and fighting! Sure what was it Brendan Behan said? ‘Fighting is better than loneliness’. I think I’d go with him on that. And of course, personal experiences make for the best songs. They’re the ones that click with people.”

Tupelo have been knocking around quite a while, conjuring up the kind of traditional Irish music that is scarce on the ground. Cramer feels they’re something unique.
“We are. Without a shadow of a doubt. No one’s doing what we’re doing in the country.”
There may be heritage acts running through all the old ballads but what sets Tupelo apart is the pride they take in succeeding with their own material.
“The original thing people said was ‘you won’t make any money, you need to throw in 15 covers’. Because we didn’t do that we never succumbed to the easy money route. We decided we were going to stick to our guns. The funny thing is, now we’re proving those people wrong because we’re busier than most cover bands.”
Central to the band’s resilience has been the strong relationships within it. They’ve fostered that ‘us against the world’ attitude through years of friendship.
“Myself, Paul Murray and Dave McCann have been playing together since I was 14. When you build up a relationship with people like that and they believe in what you’re doing as a songwriter, you’re very lucky. Normally you get people pulling the other way but we’re not like that. We spend more time together as a group than we do with our girlfriends and families. I remember Phil Lynott talking about that gang mentality. It has to be that way otherwise you’ll run into trouble.”
Cramer had an affection for the roots music he now writes himself from an early age, particularly a certain Northern Irish grump.
“I’m a big Van Morrison fan. I’ve been listening to him since I was twelve and the first time I heard him, that was it. He’s the holy grail. He brings you back to gospel, rhythm and blues, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Ray Charles... So I suppose Van would have been my music teacher.”
Van’s aural lessons led Cramer to create an album that’s received much credit from his peers.
“We’ve gotten good word off people in the game, other musicians are enjoying it. I gave a copy to Damien Dempsey and he got back to me saying he really liked it. It’s nice to hear that from someone you admire and who is doing well. People who like his music are going to like our music.”
It is true that both acts share traditional musical values, while a strong sense of patriotism is evident in each. For Cramer, Tupelo’s Irish identity is important.
“I’m big into my Irish music. Luke Kelly would be a massive influence. With the song ‘Irish Man’, I’d been reading Last Words by Piaras F. MacLochlainn. It’s the letters and the statements of the leaders who were executed after the Rising. I know a lot of ballads have been written about that but the best songs are streams of the unconscious. The muse comes when it comes.”
Like Dempsey, Cramer also believes that when they come, the songs have much to say about social issues, that music can change opinions and offer comfort when times are tough.
“Absolutely,” he says, finally. “You can’t hide from a song. In every time of recession, good music always rises from it. We could have thrown the towel in loads of times but it’s a message to anyone, whether you’re an artist, a songwriter or a teacher, if you really want to do something, it can work out in the end.”