duggup

I was just chatting with my friend Ian and he asked if I had heard of Damien Dempsey, so like a twit I said “nope” and he told me to rectify this omission in my musical appreciation.

Actually he was a tad more forthright than that, but this as they say “is a family show” and besides would you believe anyone who actively likes country music? Me neither.

But I did stroll over to www.myspace.com/damiendempsey and was amazed. The guy is brilliant. There is a track there called “Apple Of My Eye” which is a live recording from a show he did at the at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre in 2005. All I can say is I wish I had been there. This is the Irish music I remember from sitting in pubs up in the North. Strong voices that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Dempsey has been around since the late Nineties and has amassed a huge following. I have to admit I am going to have to track down his back catalog (oh dear the credit card is whimpering in the corner already). But I really want to hear more of this guy’s material.

Dempsey’s fifth studio album, a covers album entitled The Rocky Road, has been scheduled for a June 6th, 2008 release in Ireland via Sony BMG, with a UK release via IRL on June 9th. The lead single “A Rainy Night In Soho”, a cover of the Pogues’ original, will be released on May 30th

and that brings us back to Ian, because that’s the song he heard at Basement records and just bought the album on the strength of it.

I found a performance of “It’s All Good” at YouTube and just to make my day it has Emor Mayock on pipes… Like the man said “It’s All Good”…

All the songs at MySpace are just killers. If you haven’t heard him before I suggest you “rectify this omission in your musical appreciation”. If you have, just look smug.

Highly Recommended (and not a country song in sight)

Websites at www.myspace.com/damiendempsey and www.damiendempsey.com/

thatch is fascinated by guitars, music, guitars, production, silly noises, guitars and used to be a musician. Did I mention the thing about the guitars?
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