The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
A bright future for Tralee’s Seamus
Fergus Dennehy talks to up and coming Tralee talent, Seamus Harty, about his early forays into the music world, how music helped him to deal with a long term injury, his belief in his own ability, why he believes its important to write your own songs and
HE may only be 17, but speaking to Tralee’s Seamus Harty on Friday, what strikes me most about the local musician is his confidence.
Sitting in his school uniform, he was relaxed, telling jokes and articulate as he answered all of my questions with ease.
Still only a fifth year student in Mercy Mounthawk, it’s been a busy couple of months for the young man.
From performing in front of a 300 strong crowd at the launch of Paul Galvin’s latest fashion line, being invited onto Louise Duffy’s Today FM show, gaining thousands of views through his online videos and appearing in a number of national newspapers articles to boot , Seamus has taken it all in his stride.
Like all young Irish children, he joked that he started out in music by being sent to lessons as a child by his mother; at first, he tried his hand at learning the piano, he quickly realised that the guitar was the one true instrument that he loved.
“The guitar was always the one instrument that I had a fascination with and so I plagued my mom to let me do some lessons in it and it’s all taken off from there,” said Seamus, speaking in The Kerryman offices on Friday afternoon.
“I went to James Kennedy for one or two years when I was about 10 or 11 and he obviously must have seen or heard something in me that he liked because he went and recommended me to a singing coach. Noelle Whelan in Tralee is the coach that I’ve been with now for the last few years and she’s been fantastic. She’s really helped me go a step further,” he continued.
“My dad had Johnny Cash CD’s, he had Elvis, David Bowie and I would always be listening to these guys, but then in complete contrast then, I’d always throw on someone like Pavarotti or Eminem. I just had a big love of all types of music, as you can see!” he laughed.
For all of his recent success, it’s hard to believe that none of it might have happened if not for a sneaky well-placed phone in his bedroom. Confused? Read on.
“I was in my room with one of my friends and I just picked up my guitar and started playing away and sure, didn’t my friend sneakily take a video of me playing and put it up on Facebook for my birthday,” he laughed.
“I was very nervous at first because singing and performing was not something that I was noted for at this stage. I wasn’t confident in my ability at this stage but whenthat video went up, it got a nice reaction and gave me a litle boost and made me think ‘hey, maybe I have something here’” he said.
With this boost of confidence about his music, came a renewed sense of passion for what, after a long term injury lay off from sport, became his main oulet.
Speaking about the difficulties he faced when injured, Seamus said that losing sport made him feel like he was losing a piece of himself in the process.
“Sport had always been my thing. If you asked me when I was 13 where I saw myself in 10 years time, it would have been playing football and pulling on that green and gold jersey for Kerry. Playing for Kerry and being a teacher, that was the dream,” he laughed.
“It had been my passion and
With the injury came a lengthy period of free time for Seamus and so this, coupled with the new found knowledge that people out there liked the way he sang and his music, he said that he set out to see how far he could take this.
“I took all the time I had and put it all into music. I practiced singing and playing as much as I could and I gradually started to learn all these little bits about myself and the style that I wanted to follow,” he said.
Inevitably, with all this practice, there came the time for Seamus to perform in public for the very first time - a nervewracking experience for all musicians, but for Seamus, his first gig is just that little bit different than most.
“My dad had obviously seen that I had taken a real, real interest in music but I think that he was very conscious that for someone so young, having my first ever gig in Tralee, in front of my friends and family, that it all may be a bit daunting for me. He was probably worried about how it would go and what people might say.”
“So, for a confidence boost, we went over to random pub in Spain with another Tralee musician called Pat Pierce. Pat had a show in the pub and he let me come on stage and play for 20 minutes; I think the pull factor for me and my dad was that I knew nobody in the bar and that no matter what happened, nobody in the bar would remember me, unless I gave them something to remember.”
“I got up and just played the music that I had been playing in my room for the last few months and they all seemed to really enjoy it.,” he continued.
After this gig, public shows came thick and fast for Seamus, culminating in shows last year at the Rose of Tralee festival and more importantly, the launch of Paul Galvin’s fashion line at the Brandon Hotel.
“Playing the Rose of Tralee festival was a huge thing for me. It gave me the experience and opportunity to play to a nice crowd, to get my name out there a little bit more and it helped to get a feel for performing. It was a really beneficial experience,” he said.
“People seem to like what I do and I really enjoy doing it. With little stepping stones, such as playing at the Rose of Tralee festival, the Paul Galvin Fashion Line show, the-Louise-Duffy-show–even my parents and others have started to think that this could be something that I do long term.”
With regards to Seamus’ future, without going into too much detail, he said things seem to gathering pace.
“Hopefully this doesn’t sound too arrogant or anything but since the Paul Galvin show, there’s been a bit of hype growing in some areas of the music industry about what I’m doing. I can’t say too much about it yet, but the idea of me making something out of music seems like a much stronger possibility for me now than it did, say, six months ago,” he finished.
I’ve always had a love for music from a young age. Even when my parents used to go into Dunnes or Tesco for a bit of shopping, I just always liked to stay in the car and listen to the radio or some CD’s.