Reliving the high school dance

If you live long enough, you have those moments in your life that you can’t believe time has gone by so fast that you are now the parent presiding over something that you’re after just doing as a kid yourself.

One of those moments happened to me over the weekend. 

I was sitting in the expansive horseshoe driveway in front of the high school waiting for my daughter to emerge from her first homecoming dance. Wasn’t it just yesterday that my father was sitting in an idling car waiting to pick up my friends from our high school dances? 

On this night, delicate young girls with long, thin legs navigating high heels for the first time gingerly stepped past the span of my headlights. They stepped nervously down the walkway like fawns navigating a frozen pond. 

My daughter Annie approached the car, my headlights no match for the high beam smile framed by the honey-kissed hair painstakingly straightened by an iron.

There was confidence in her strut, and once she got in the car she recounted stories of politely rebuffing suitors and how she danced without a care in the world with her girlfriends. 

Man, was this a far cry from how I disembarked from my high school dances!

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I went to St. Joseph’s High School IN Metuchen, New Jersey. My wife, who was at those same dances prior to us actually meeting in college a few years later, reports that the dances were huge draws for girls in the area because “St. Joe’s was where all the hot guys with a future went.” 

This was true. This all-boy institution drew the cream of the crop academically and athletically from three surrounding counties.  It was an extremely competitive environment, most noticeably when the boys jousted for the attention of the fairer sex at these dances. 

To this day, I still wonder what a kid routinely picked last in gym class with “summa-cum lucky study habits” was doing in a mix like this, but there I was in an environment that just amplified my teenage insecurities!

When you don’t have the brains nor the brawn to bait the hook of love, you resort to desperate measures altogether: that fickle beast called fashion! 

The early eighties saw the birth of MTV, and a barrage of images were defining hot tastes at the time. David Lee Roth was encouraging you to “jump” on that channel, but there was no way I could grow my hair that long without bearing the wrath of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. 

Duran Duran trained us all on about having a “view to a kill” but I had to kill the idea of looking like them because the Good Lord did not bless me with John Taylor’s high cheekbones or Simon LeBon’s lithe moves on the dance floor.

Michael Jackson was quite a “thriller” to the ladies, but my skin wasn’t dark enough. Of course, the King of Pop bleached his skin so many times that I actually became darker than him later in life, but that was no use to me at the time. 

When I arrived at my first high school dance, I was a walking, talking meat grinder of MTV culture.  

Plus-sized grey plastic parachute pants that swished when you walked? Check. One white glove? Check. Red terrycloth headband wrapped around my oversized cabbage head to catch the “working for the weekend” look spawned by the fat dude in Loverboy? Check. Spiked hair with enough salon product to grease a wok? Check! 

White Capezio shoes with the real wood soles? Check. Ready for love? Check! Check! Check! 

There was a real Asian craze going on at this time, and I probably wore a t-shirt with Chinese lettering I didn’t understand emblazoned across my barrel chest and thick gut. If the translation didn’t spell “hopeless douche,” perhaps it should have. 

Do I really need to tell you how the evening went? I hugged the wall like a vinca vine all night, looking forlorn as the swim studs and track stars swooped onto anything with a skirt. 

It was fortuitous that the red terrycloth number on my head came with matching wrist bands because they caught my tears as I watched my future wife do “The Safety Dance” with anyone else but me. 

  

All’s well that ends well in the dance of life. Even though the love of my life was in the same room during those dreary high school sock hops and we never got a chance to slow dance, I have been enjoying a passionate tango with her down the road of life today. 

Many of those jock types now fix my car and make my sub sandwiches. I know I shouldn’t take pleasure in that, but God forgive me, I do. 

I wouldn’t change things for the world today, but I sure wish I had the good sense to trade in those ridiculous MTV accessories for an ounce of my daughter’s natural confidence and enthusiasm! 

(Mike Farragher’s torturous life of Irish Catholic guilt is available in a book of essays just like these. Log onto www.thisisyourbrainonshamrocks.com for more information.) 

Lisa Hannigan is ready for lift-off with ‘Passenger’ - VIDEO

Lisa Hannigan’s new album, 'Passenger,' is building steam among influential radio stations (what’s left of them), and for good reason. 'Passenger' is full of gorgeous, precious alt-folk gems set in atmospheric sonic arrangements that reveal something on each listen.

Hannigan’s voice was first heard as the longing foil to Damien Rice’s earnest vocals on some of his classic albums. With 'Sea Saw,' the Mercury Prize-nominated and double platinum-selling album, Hannigan found her on voice as a solo artist. 

Like great jazz singers, Hannigan’s aching phrasing becomes yet another instrument on the mix provided by John Smith on guitar/backing vocals, Ross Turner on drums, Gavin Glass on piano and guitar, Donagh Molloy on harmonium and trumpet and Shane Fitzsimmons on double bass.
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The hushed composure in her vocal delivery falls in line with the brushed drums that start “Paper House” before raising to match the ache of the fiddle chorus at the end of the song.

On “Little Bird,” Hannigan gets in touch with her inner Norah Jones, adding breathy, sultry tones to lines like “ Your heart sings like a kettle and your words, they boil away like steam/a lie burns long while the truth bites quick/a heart is built for both it seems/you are lonely as a church/despite the queuing out your door/I am empty as a promise, no more.”

Armed with little more than a shuffling beat and a subdued bass line, Hannigan amplifies the power of her aching vocal on “A Sail.” 

“It's long gone, that carry on from December/it is no matter, if you remember/mulled paper bagged wine/and too much bedside whiskey/I will roll my heart up in my sleeve,” she coos.

On 'Sea Saw,' there was a tendency to comb the lyrics for any word of the alleged bad breakup between the romantically involved Hannigan and Rice. 

The lyrics on 'Passenger' deal more with life on the road, which is good, because Hannigan is a bit sick of addressing the rumors at this point. 

“There’s so much misinformation about me there,” says Hannigan during an interview with Peter Gerstenzang that appeared in this month’s American Songwriter.

“Especially, all the stuff about me and Damien. There was all this speculation about us after I left his band. And all these supposed bad feelings and broken hearts. 

“It was weird, but we sorted it out ages ago. Anyway, I wanted to change all the stuff about that on my Wiki page. But my page lady said, ‘Oh, it’s a conflict of interest for you to write your own stuff. And besides, the amount you want to change is too much!’ So, I’m stuck with all this stuff that isn’t true.”

“What’ll I Do” is yet another example of Hannigan’s versatility, displaying a grasp on blues with a rapper’s timing. 

“What'll I do now that you're gone/my boat won't row, my bus doesn't come/I have the fingers, you've got the thumb/what'll I do without you” she asks, the handclaps and exuberant chorus joining her at the end of the track adding a playful splash to this album’s standout track. 

Just when you thought Hannigan had the market cornered on the breathy and sexy vocal delivery thing, she is joined on “O Sleep” by Maine folk crooner Ray LaMontagne, who owns the market (and charts) on this style. 

Like most of 'Passenger,' the violin of Lucy Wilkins provides that perfect extra smidgen of ache to the longing vocals. 

'Passenger' is a brilliant swirl of the folk, the jazz, and good ol’ fashioned Irish storytelling, giving the listener a most satisfying ride! 

Blink and you missed her -- she did a few showcase gigs here in the U.S. last month and is back in Ireland for the rest of the year. Let’s hope we can coax Hannigan to be a passenger on a flight to the U.S. soon! 

For more information, log onto www.lisahannigan.ie.

Below, check out a live performance of Lisa Hannigan singing "Paper House":

Another great side of Seamus Kelleher

Seamus Kelleher

If you Google the word “risk,” don’t be surprised if Seamus Kelleher’s image stares you on the face on the computer screen. The guitarist left his comfort zone of Blackthorn, a legendary Irish American outfit that consistently sold out venues throughout the Philadelphia area, in order to pursue a solo career. His first album, Four Cups of Coffee, landed on Off the Record’s best of list a few years ago. His new disc, Another Side of Town, may well top this year’s list.

This Salthill native’s performances with Blackthorn have been steeped in the blues, a side effect of a lifelong obsession with the legendary blues great Rory Gallagher. The folksy acoustic picking that anchors the title track on Another Side of Town sets an agenda that something different is in the air.

“There’s a bell ringing out on the other side of town/it’s calling my way but I’m not going down/I recognize the tune but I won’t sing that song,” he sings, a possible sly reference to his commitment never to play it safe. He weaves an intricate acoustic tapestry on the instrumental “The Hugglinger Rag” that is the perfect accompaniment on a lazy Sunday when you have to get your butt in gear to make an editor’s deadline!

“I'm coming to the end of my first year as strictly a solo artist. I still do the crazy blues inspired by Rory Gallagher but I find myself on stage doing drawn to what you might call country blues where I still get to do my guitar work but where I can tell stories with the songs and where I can be a little more melodic with my guitar playing,” Kelleher explains. “Some of this is due to my evolution as a guitar player. I always played acoustic but up until recently, I think most everyone associated me strictly with the electric guitar.

I think The big change in the past few years is that my acoustic chops have improved. I've worked very hard to make that happen by attending multiple workshops and studying with some amazing people like Pete Huttlinger and Tommy Emmanuel. For the first time, I feel equally comfortable with both my electric and acoustic playing.”
For anyone worried that Seamus has dropped the electric guitar altogether, fear not! On the fiery instrumental “Guitar Dreams,” he weaves a moody guitar melody that soars in a way not seen since Mark Knopfler played with Dire Straits.

“You are right on the money,” he says when I mention this reference. “There’s definitely a Dire Straits influence on that track. Mark Knopfler is someone who I look up to a lot in terms of his songwriting and of course his beautiful guitar playing.”

After decades running around a stage with an axe strapped to your midsection, you would expect Seamus Kelleher to make a stellar guitar album and he does deliver. Another risk he’s taken is handling most of the vocals all by himself. There is a marked improvement in his voice from the first solo album, his confidence in that instrument producing a rich, warm tone on tracks like the pensive “Reno Winter’s Sky,” a mournful track about meeting a soldier at the baggage claim in Reno. “Did he leave behind a sweetheart?

Did he leave behind a friend? Did his mother stay awake at night? Did his daddy ever cry?” he wonders.
“I think this is the first time I really explored my vocal range to its fullest,” he says. “I go to extremes on each side of my range and I think it works with my guitar playing. People seem to like it but I was surprised how many people actually picked up on it.”

Seamus uses Another Side of Town to settle some scores, but not toward his old band. He tells of regret over not getting the title track of his last album right, so he took the opportunity to re-record the song “Four Cups of Coffee” with a wickedly playful gospel vocalist.

“I wanted to put a harmony on the chorus but I ran out of time and money,” he explains. “So there’s one reason for the redo. As I said earlier, I also felt my voice had evolved since the recording in Nashville five years ago. The studio owner Jim Salamone told me about Charlene Holloway. Google her and you will see that she has sung with some of the best R&B people in the business. She lives near me and I loved her voice so much that I delayed the release of the CD so I could get her on it. She nailed the harmonies first time around but there was something missing. I went in to the vocal booth and said, ‘Charlene, now I want you to give me one take where you are just having fun with the song.’ That's the take we used on the record.”
Seamus follows his own advice to have some fun on "House of the Rising Sun,” a wildly inventive cover of the Animals’ signature tune that gets an injection of reggae rhythms riddims in the hands of Seamus. “That was the first song I ever played and I have played many different versions of it over the years,” he explains. “Several months ago, I went to see my good friend Scott Wham perform at a club in Philly. He asked me up for a few songs. I did ‘Rising Sun’ and without even thinking about it, I did one verse in my baritone and he did the next verse with his crazy high powerful voice. I knew right then I had another song for the album.”

Seamus presides over a lovely brood of kids with his wife Mary Pat in a leafy Philadelphia suburb, and anyone with mouths to feed and kids to educate knows that there’s not a lot of money left over to pursue the dreams that feed the soul. Therein lies the biggest risk of all. To watch an artist stretch, refuse to walk down the predictable paths of life, and emerge with such a great album is sweet revenge on the naysayers.

“I went out of my comfort zone with this record with my vocals and my guitar playing,” he says. “There's a guitar solo called ‘The Huttlinger Rag which I almost dumped because I could never perform it to the level I wanted to in the studio. I was cursing myself for writing it. I went home and practiced it for hours on end and finally delivered a decent performance. The lesson there is that you need to be prepared when you go into the studio but also don’t give up.”

“I think I was trying a bit too hard with the vocals during the first week of recording. Maybe I was trying to sound like some other singers. After several weeks, I went back and did all the vocals over but this time in my own voice. It’s great to be influenced by people but there is only one “You” and that’s what needs to be heard.”

Seamus Kelleher’s talent demands to be heard. Take a risk yourself and drive to Another Side of Town-- you’ll be glad you made the trip!

Seamus Kelleher’s albums can be found on ITunes and CDBaby.com. For more information on gigs and video, check out www.seamusrocks.com

Susan Boyle’s third disc dropped this week. If I followed my mother’s advice to avoid saying anything if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I would stop my review right here.
But what fun is that?

On Someone to Watch Over Me, fans might question who is watching over their heroine nowadays. The disc is awash in syrup and her vocals sound phoned in on most songs. She takes on Depeche Mode’s electro-disco classic “Enjoy the Silence” by slowing down the heartbeat and over-emoting the words to create perhaps the worst cover version of a song ever committed to tape.

There are a couple of bright spots. When Boyle takes on Join Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” she is clearly in her element. There’s a soft, introspective story that builds into a crescendo that puts this lioness’s roar to the test. You would hope she would rise to the occasion on The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody,” but like most of Someone to Watch Over Me, her interpretation sounds dreary and uninspired.

Writing something bad about Susan Boyle makes you feel inhumane, like killing off animals that have been housed at a shelter for too long. The exuberance the audience feels when they first discovered her voice on Britain’s Got Talent, the rags to riches story, the effervescent personality that bubbles during interviews, and that megawatt smile all factor into a feeling of wanting to have this chanteuse win at this late stage career rise. She’s spunky and fun in the public eye, and I am hoping someone watches over her and encourages her to inject some of that next time she enters into a studio.

The Saw Doctors offbeat Christmas single - 1960s hit ‘Downtown’

The Saw Doctors, those lovable offbeat lads from Tuam, Co. Galway, have announced an offbeat Christmas single that promises to be their biggest single yet. They’ve teamed up with legendary singer Petula Clark on a cover of her massive 1960s hit “Downtown.”

Fans of the band know that their version of the song has made it into their live act over the years, and they decided to record it as a single last month. According to Leo Moran, they were amazed when Clark, 79, agreed to join them in the studio for the recording session in London.

"How it happened was incredible," said guitarist Moran. "Petula lives in Switzerland, but by chance the producer we were working with, Philip Tennant, is a good friend of her manager, John Williams.

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“There were a few phone calls made, and the next thing we were told was that Petula would be joining us in the studio.  She didn't seem fazed meeting us, as she's worked with Muppets before on The Muppet Show!"  

Clarke has also agreed to appear in the video for the new single -- shot on the streets of Paris -- which is released in Ireland on December 9.

'Waterboy's' Mike Scott’s new ablum - WB Yeats poetry set to music - VIDEO

Mike Scott

Mike Scott continues a decades-long love affair with the words of Irish poet WB Yeats on An Appointment with Mr. Yeats, an album of brilliant, mystical music worthy of Yeats’s immortal words. I bought the disc while in Ireland a few weeks ago and have been unable to listen to anything else since!

“The Hosting of the Shee” starts off the collection with a watery piano that fades in and slams into a wave of guitars that is the musical equivalent of a churning Irish Sea.

A soulful electric piano rolls under “The Song of Wandering Aengus,” a poem that Christy Moore and others have also put to song.

“Though I am old with wandering/through hollow lands and hilly lands/I will find out where she has gone/And kiss her lips and take her hands/And walk among long dappled grass/And pluck till time and times are done/the silver apples of the moon/the golden apples of the sun,” Scott sings as a gorgeous flute melody wafts into the mix and brings the song to a close.

As in many spots on Mr. Yeats, he is accompanied by Dublin singer Katie Kim who adds an ethereal, Wiccan vibe that blends perfectly with Scott’s mystical phrasings.

“I walked into a gig in Dublin three years ago and there was a support act with an exquisite-sounding girl singer, though the lights were so low I couldn't see her properly,” he explains on his chance meeting with the singer.

“I stood spellbound, listening to her totally nail every song in this beautiful, witchy, cartoonesque voice. I knew she was the female voice I'd imagined for Mr. Yeats; no doubt whatsoever. Next day I found her band on Myspace and sent her a message asking if she'd get involved in Mr. Yeats.”

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A shuffling bodhran and a muffled blues chord base accompanies “The Lake of Innisfree,” and in a stroke of sheer production genius, a screeching violin bent into notes that sound like they’re blown from a harmonica.

“And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow/there midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow/I will arise and go now, for always night and day/I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore/I hear it in the deep heart's core,” Scott purrs.

Fans of the band will remember a majestic read of the poem “Stolen Child” which appeared on the immortal Fisherman’s Blues. Poems like “Love & Death” and “Song of the Rosy Cross” appeared on other discs.

“The ‘Stolen Child’ track proved to me that I could set Yeats to music successfully,” Scott says in an interview with journalist John Healy that is published on the band’s website.

“I had the fuller concert idea -- that came before the album concept -- in 1991 when I was one of several artists on the bill of a Yeats tribute at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, which Yeats had founded in 1904.

“Specially for the show I set four more Yeats poems to music expecting the other artists to do the same. As it turned out I was the only person who did any Yeats material.

“I can still remember standing in the wings of the Abbey stage thinking that Yeats deserved a whole show dedicated to his poems. That was the first glimmer of the idea, though I didn’t realize then I’d end up doing it with my own band.”

Scott attributes his love of Yeats to his mother, who held the poet in the highest regard.

“The Irish kids get Yeats in school, but not the Scottish,” Scott says when asked by John Healy how he came to love Yeats.

“I heard about Yeats from my mother. I grew up with the impression of this master poet whose name was uttered around the house in hushed, awed tones.

“The very sound of that one syllable “Yeats,” rhyming with “great,” had a gravity, a power. And when I was 11, in 1970, my mum attended the Yeats Summer School and took me along.

“I don’t remember being at any of the lectures – though she assures me I was – but I remember my impressions of Sligo, the strange mountain Ben Bulben, and Yeats’s grave beneath it. We also visited the tower where he lived, Thoor Ballylee near Galway, which I loved.”

Scott left Yeats behind to make pop records but came back to read him a few years later, when he came across the poem “News for the Delphic Oracle” in his mother’s bookshelves.

“I didn’t really understand it, but I loved its invocation of the god Pan,” he says.

Unlike some songs, which are crafted in a studio before they get an airing onstage, Scott performed some of these songs in a series of concerts throughout the U.K. during the past year. He reports that the basic live arrangements were used, though the music evolved again during the recording process.

Mr. Yeats finds Scott collaborating with long-time fiddler Steve Wickham and British songwriter Freddie Stevenson.

“Freddie's a British songwriter of great skill and sensitivity -- and a wonderful singer too -- who lives in New York,” he explains.

“I sent him the lyrics of several poems, edited for maximum musicality, and he set them to tunes and sent them back to me. I made a few changes and wrote the bridges, and we were off.”

Scott has crafted musical soundscapes worthy of this classic prose. His “White Birds” has a majestic chord structure that expands into the open air, the sound of seagulls bobbing atop the guitars.

“A Full Moon in March” has a menacing alt-rock chorus as he describes how “Jill murdered Jack up the hill as the moon shone brightly.”

The track “Mad As the Mist and Snow” has a Celtic mystical blues vibe that is reminiscent of Van Morrison’s “Sweet Thing.”

If there is justice on this earth, this quirky, gorgeous disc will find its way into the same hearts that fell in love with Fisherman’s Blues.

“It’s a stunning experience working with lyrics of Yeats’ caliber,” Scott reports. “I’m well aware I’m sculpting with words of the very highest quality, and this spurs me to write music at the peak of my own abilities and expression.”

An Appointment with Mr. Yeats was released in Ireland and the U.K. but has an unnamed U.S. date.

This music is so good that this is worth tracking down and adding to your collection right now.

A good place to start would be the band’s website. Check out www.mikescottwaterboys.com


BBC interview with Mike Scott speaking about the new album:

Susan Boyle’s ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ Boyle-ing with dullness - VIDEO

Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle’s third disc dropped this week. If I followed my mother’s advice to avoid saying anything if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I would stop my review right here. 

But what fun is that? 

On Someone to Watch Over Me, fans might question who is watching over their heroine nowadays. The disc is awash in syrup, and her vocals sound phoned in on most songs. 

Boyle takes on Depeche Mode’s electro-disco classic “Enjoy the Silence” by slowing down the heartbeat and over-emoting the words to create perhaps the worst cover version of a song ever committed to tape. 

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There are a couple of bright spots. When Boyle takes on Join Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” she is clearly in her element. There’s a soft, introspective story that builds into a crescendo that puts this lioness’s roar to the test. 

You would hope she would rise to the occasion on The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody,” but like most of Someone to Watch Over Me, her interpretation sounds dreary and uninspired. 

Writing something bad about Boyle makes you feel inhumane, like killing off animals that have been housed at a shelter for too long. The exuberance the audience feels when they first discovered her voice on Britain’s Got Talent, the rags to riches story, the effervescent personality that bubbles during interviews and that megawatt smile all factor into a feeling of wanting to have this chanteuse win at this late stage career rise. 

She’s spunky and fun in the public eye, and I am hoping someone watches over her and encourages her to inject some of that next time she enters into a studio.

Here is the audio for Susan Boyle's cover of Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now':

Exclusive: Solo run for Irish tenor Paul Byrom - VIDEO

Paul Byrom

Paul Byrom’s majestic tenor has produced a range of emotions and many a lump in the throats of Celtic Thunder fans throughout the globe. He bid adieu to the show earlier this year and is looking to get his moment in the spotlight with his new CD This Is the Moment.

"Getting to tour the U.S. with a new album as a soloist is the ambition of a lifetime,” he gushes during our exclusive interview.

"After four years of laying the groundwork with Celtic Thunder it is great to get out on my own and show the full range of what I do."

Byrom says he intended to keep his Celtic Thunder fans happy while purposefully grabbing some new fans, and the diversity on This Is the Moment guarantees that there’s something for everyone on the disc.

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Bette Midler's "From A Distance" is one of those anthemic songs begging for a tenor, yet Byrom throws a curve ball with a mournful read of the Beatles cheery “All My Loving.” To satisfy Thunder fans, he turns in an inspired performance of group founder Phil Coulter’s “Scorn Not His Simplicity.”

"With this album, I wanted the range of material to represent the full range of my talent," he says. "Just because I'm a tenor doesn't mean I have to just do classical music."

Byrom's vocal talent drew attention at an early age. Born in Dublin, he began voice study and training when he was just seven years old and went on to study as a tenor under the legendary Dr. Veronica Dunne, Ireland's leading lady of opera and renowned vocal teacher.

A thorough grounding in classical technique gave Byrom a strong foundation as a vocalist. He was a professional singer by his early teens and recorded his first album as a boy soprano, when he was just 14.

A second album, Velvet, was released in Ireland in 2005 and hit number two in the Irish charts. A Christmas album by Byrom even hit the Billboard classical chart.

Now based in Queens, New York, Byrom is ready for an exciting new phase in his career. "I am truly excited about what lies ahead for me," he says, " but I know I've made a lot of friends along the road who will never let me walk alone."

I spoke with Byrom while he was in Dublin getting ready for his first U.S. solo tour, which hits Foxborough, Massachusetts on November 16, BB King in Times Square on the 18th, and Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey on 11/20. Visit http://paulbyrom.ie/ for more information.
 
Celtic Thunder is in the rear view mirror now. What are your thoughts on the show? 

It was an interesting path. The joining of it itself, I was reluctant. I was doing bits and bobs and doing some things on my own. Phil approached me about it and it seemed like a good vehicle in the U.S.

As the show developed, the ensembles became a little bit more and the characters perceived by (Celtic Thunder co-creator Sharon Browne) and Phil that we had to play into. We didn’t have a lot of opinion of what that would look like. Ryan is the bad boy and he’s anything but, and I was the lovey-dovey tenor.

It was fine by me for a while. I soon thought I was a bit watered down.


How would you describe yourself to someone who has never heard of you or the Celtic Thunder show? 

Yes, I fall in the category of a tenor, and yes, I am Irish, but I am really trying to cross over and do some things beyond that. There are musicals in the CD, like “Scorn Not His Simplicity” if you’re into Irish, with one or two originals.

In a way, it’s a mixed album and it says a lot of me as a performer. I like doing all kinds of music.

I have noticed a lot of tenors on the scene lately.  Il Volo are these Italian teens being marketed to teens and soccer moms on the likes of American Idol. Do you feel that it’s a good time to be a tenor? 

I think so.  This has been building momentum in recent years. I first saw Pavarotti and the Three Tenors in 1990 when they performed at the World Cup. People didn’t realize why they loved them -- they didn’t understand the words, but something moved them.

Josh Groban and Bocelli have also done their bit to bring this kind of music to the average Joe, and I think that creates a great time for tenors. There’s a lot of bloody awful singers out there and there are music fans looking for good songs sung by good singers.

Any temptation to just do an Irish album and ride the show’s wave a bit? 

The obvious choice would be the Irish tenor thing and do an album of Irish songs. I didn’t want to be boxed off to just Irish Americans. I wanted to appeal to everyone.

Maybe that is a big ambition but you have to spring from the fences.

Was there a worry you’d leave some fans behind when you left Celtic Thunder? 

The support I’ve got from fans in America and Canada is overwhelming. I know that sounds like a cliché that all singers say, but I really mean it.

What they’ve done for me since I left the show is so moving -- doing street team work, calling radio stations, etc. I’m sure some fans would rather I stay, but I think most are excited by something new.

At 32 years of age, I would have been complacent to just stay there and milk this cash cow.

What were some of the high lights and low lights of being in Celtic Thunder? 

The audience. Working with the likes of Phil Coulter. He’s an amazing songwriter and producer. To perform in front of Obama was a huge honor.

Sharon always ensured a good standard of touring -- good food, great buses, good hotels, etc. You miss those things when you are on your own.

Every time you are away from home for a long time is a low point as well. There are also highs and lows about being a solo performer as well and on balance, you take the good with the bad.

I read in your bio that you’re living in Queens now. Are we making a Yank out of you? 

I don’t know about that. Myself and my girlfriend have been there for a year now. We’re home a lot between weddings, recording the albums.

So, you have gone back and forth for these weddings and I assume they ask you to sing. Do you get excited to give your voice to the bride and groom, or is it a drag? 

A bit of both sometimes if I am being honest (laughs). Sometimes a bit of a drag to fly back, and you have to rope other things to do when you’re over there. I voted, did visa stuff and did the wedding while I was here this time, so I am having a very productive trip and all of these weddings are involving good friends and family. I wouldn’t have missed these for the world.

What do you think of Damian McGinty’s star turn on Glee? 

It’s great for him. It’s an exciting time for the young lad. Myself and him were always close. To this day, we’re good buddies. It’s a great opportunity.

I’m a firm believer in progressing, and in order to do that you have to move. It’s a great time for him to move on from Celtic Thunder, and I don’t mean any disrespect to the show by saying that. It’ll be an interesting year for him.

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You really slowed down the Beatles’ “All My Loving” on this disc. What was the motivation behind covering that song?

These song choices, each and every one, was highly personal. Mom was a huge Beatles fan and they always had great romantic, slow songs that I obviously could have done.

When I heard the song I thought the words were contradictory to the upbeat feel. You’re away from your loved one -- I know what it’s like to be in a relationship with a person and you’re on the road. So, I thought I’d try that on.

Were there any songs that you did that you had a new appreciation for when you re-worked them? 


“From a Distance” is such a great song -- you don’t have to do much for it. Julie Gold (songwriter) thanked me for recording it. I thanked her for writing it!

Recently, my sister had children, and Billy Joel’s “Lullaby” takes on a new meaning.  I always loved the song but now I have a relationship with these young children and I could imagine me singing this for them.

The house is on fire and you have to get your favorite CD -- what’s in your hand? 


Older by George Michael. Beautiful stuff. Great, mature songs. I would also have some Billy Joel in my hand as well.

Friends are coming over for dinner and you have to hide the most embarrassing thing in your collection. What’s in your hand? 


Spice Girls. Wow. Can’t really defend that one.

Check out Paul Byrom's "This is the Moment":

Paul Byrom - This is the Moment from YOU4REELproductions on Vimeo.