Paul Brady singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and one of Ireland’s most enduringly popular artists, is appearing at The Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone on June 12.
Born and raised in Strabane, Northern Ireland, he was into a wide variety of music from an early age. His first sounds were the swing, jazz, and show tunes of his parents’ generation. Then 50s rock 'n’ roll, 60s pop and Motown, blues, R'n’B, and country & western. Through all this ran the flavour of Irish traditional music and song.
Learning to play the piano pretty much by ear, his early heroes were Jerry Lee Lewis, Winifred Atwell, and Fats Domino. By the age of 11 he had begun to play guitar, spending hours learning every tune The Shadows and The Ventures recorded, every lick Chuck Berry played. Mid-teens saw him take summer jobs playing piano and guitar in Bundoran, a seaside resort in nearby county Donegal. But it was around 1965 in Dublin, at college, that he began to develop as a singer and performer joining a succession of R'n’B/ soul bands including The Inmates, The Kult, and Rootzgroop, covering the songs of Ray Charles, James Brown, Junior Walker, and blues legends like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Chuck Berry.
The 60s in Dublin saw the renewal of interest in Irish traditional music and gave birth to the first wave of Irish ballad groups like The Clancy
Brothers, The Dubliners, Sweeney's Men, and The Johnstons. Soon Paul became swept up in this current and joined the latter band with whom he recorded seven albums.
In 2001, Paul formed his own record label, PeeBee Music. The first release was a CD The Missing Liberty Tapes, featuring a live recording of a Paul Brady concert in Dublin in 1978, the tapes of which were lost for 23 years.
This record, hailed as a classic by the Irish traditional music community, also features Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Liam O’Flynn, Matt Molloy, Paddy Glackin, and Noel Hill.
Also in 2001, Paul undertook a record-breaking, celebrated run at Dublin’s premier music venue, Vicar Street. Playing 23 sold-out shows over the month of October, he revisited much of his by now extensive repertoire and was joined on stage by several of the many artists he has worked and collaborated with over the previous 30 years.
In August 2002, RTE filmed a six-programme series featuring Paul’s music, called The Paul Brady Songbook. Shown to acclaim in Ireland, there followed a CD of a selection of the recordings and a DVD of the entire series, both also called The Paul Brady Songbook.
In 2004 Paul recorded in Nashville, the result of which was the 2005 released album Say What You Feel, an organic and fresh sounding record. Mostly cut live and in one or two takes at most per song, this record has further enhanced his reputation as a songwriter and performing artist of the highest calibre.
Paul Brady continues to push out the boundaries, not only of his own talent but of Irish contemporary music in the new millennium.
Paul Brady plays in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone, on Friday June 12. To book tickets visit www.deancrowetheatre.com or call (090 ) 6492129.
