After five decades Paul Brady is still taking care of business
VETERAN SINGER/SONGWRITER SET TO BRING HIS NEW ALBUM TO THE CORK OPERA HOUSE
WHILE has been one of the most successful Irish singer/songwriters of his or any other generation, Paul Brady still clearly not ready to hang up his boots quite yet.
This month the veteran troubadour, whose music has influenced countless artists that have emerged in his wake, released his fifteenth studio album and his first since 2010’s critically acclaimed ‘Hooba Dooba’.
Brady will bring the album, aptly entitled ‘Unfinished Business’ on the road later on this year, with his Irish tour set to call at the Cork Opera House on Friday, November 17.
The album features nine brand new songs fresh out of the wrapper and two re-imaginings to traditional folk songs, all of which mirror the eclecticism that has been a central element of Brady’s long, varied and illustrious musical journey.
The album was mostly recorded at his Dublin studio, with Brady engineering the, record himself and playing the majority of instruments. Five of the new tracks were written with Stockholm-based musician/producer Sharon Vaughn, three with Irish poet Paul Muldoon and one with Canadian songwriter and producer Ralph Murphy.
The two traditional tracks are ‘Lord Thomas And Fair Ellender’, which Brady has been singing since he heard Mike Seeger’s version back in the 1960’s and ’ The Cocks Are Crowing’, a song he learned from the singing of the late Eddie Butcher from County Derry.
Brady first came to attention as a teenager in the mid ‘60s, in a series of classic Dublin rock/soul bands.
The world-wide folk boom of the time produced seminal groups like The Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, Clannad and The Johnstons, with Paul soon joining the latter.
He recorded seven albums with the Johnstons and moved to London then the USA, returning to Dublin in 1974 to join premier Irish folk band Planxty.
Following the band’s demise, Paul played as a duo with fellow member Andy Irvine; their “Andy Irvine and Paul Brady” album still considered one of the greatest of the genre.
The late 70’s saw Brady heralded as a superlative interpreter of folk songs, with his definitive versions songs such as ‘Arthur McBride’, ‘Mary & The Soldier’ and ‘ The Lakes Of Pontchartrain’ influenced countless singers.
Among them was Bob Dylan who covered all three and famously wrote - ‘people get too famous too fast these days and it destroys them. Some guys got it down- Leonard Cohen, Paul Brady, Lou Reed, secret heroes.’
After acclaimed solo album ‘Welcome Here Kind Stranger’ (1978) was voted Folk Album of the Year by Melody Maker, Paul surprised most observers with ‘ Hard Station’ in 1981. All his own songs, the album reflected personal changes amid a highly original combination of rock, blues, soul and pop and became a classic of modern Irish music.
His work soon came to international attention and other artists began to cover his songs: Tina Turner, Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Art Garfunkel, Cher, Cliff Richard, Phil Collins, Joe Cocker and Eric Clapton, to name but a few.
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Brady toured widely around the world ,with albums including ‘ True For You’ (1983), ‘Back To The Centre’ (1985), Primitive Dance (1987), ‘ Trick Or Treat’ (1990) and ‘Spirits Colliding’ (1995) further cementing his reputation as a songwriter and dynamic performer.
Along the way he has won numerous accolades including Lifetime Achievement awards from The Irish Recorded Music Association and BBC Radio 2; was inducted into the British Composers and Songwriters Academy and the IMRO (Ireland’s Performing Right Society) Songwriters Academy, and honoured by the President of Ireland with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015,
He is also widely admired by his peers, with the recent double live album ‘ The Vicar Street Sessions’ featured duets with Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Bonnie Raitt, Sinead O’Connor, Ronan Keating, Curtis Stigers, Gavin Friday, Mary Black, Moya Brennan, Maura O’Connell and Eleanor McEvoy.
Tickets for Paul Brady at the Opera House from the venue on 021 427 0022.