The rise of Troy
Music with Eddie Rowley
HE’S one of Irish country music’s rising stars, and tomorrow you can catch Ben Troy performing in the Irish Independent stand at the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Co. Offaly.
A native of Magheracloone, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, super talented Troy was a big hit at Country to Country in the 3Arena earlier this year.
He first made an impact on the national scene when he performed on The Late Late Show as a member of young country music group The Wee Amigos.
“We had three great years with The Wee Amigos and played countless festivals, including Detroit over in the States,” Ben points out. “It was a great stepping stone to what I’m doing now.”
It was songwriter and singing star Derek Ryan who also gave Ben an education in country music when he signed him to his Ryan Records label and released his modern country album called Gravity.
“I really served my apprenticeship with Derek because I was his support act for two years, so I had the chance to learn from him at close hand and also to study how he worked as a songwriter,” Ben reveals.
“I was with him one night when a friend put up a post on social media that said, ‘Let’s get on the wrong side of sober.’ Two weeks later, Derek had a song with that title written, recorded and ready to go. That’s how clever and creative he is.”
One of Ben’s favourite memories was meeting one of his country music idols, Big Tom, when he was just nine years old.
“Big Tom was definitely one of my influences, even at that young age,” Ben says. “I remember him telling me, ‘Never sing a song you don’t like because you’ ll never enjoy it.’ I’ve always stuck by that.”