Damien Dempsey has landed, and there’s no shortage of songs, stories or craic when he sits down with Gerry Browne and Mick O’Brien.
Damien takes us right back to the early days, long before packed Christmas shows at Vicar Street. Gerry remembers first hearing a tape of Damien around 30 years ago, only for someone to confidently declare that a singer with a Dublin accent like his would never work outside Dublin.
Damien had other ideas.
He talks about the criticism he received for singing in his own accent and why the more people complained about it, the more determined he became to sing his own way.
Mick remembers seeing Damien play the Isaac Butt to around seven people, with Damien performing as though thousands were watching. The confidence on stage didn’t always match the nerves beforehand. Gerry and Brendan O’Carroll once offered him an Olympia gig and Damien turned it down because he didn’t feel ready.
Then Christy Moore asked him to sing at the Point.
Damien was so nervous on the way to the venue that he considered stepping in front of a slow-moving car and getting himself a broken leg. Unfortunately, all he could see were large Jeeps. Going on stage suddenly looked like the safer option.
There are a few other gigs Damien would rather forget, including Beat on the Street, where a crowd waiting for boy bands wasn’t exactly delighted to see him. Add some flying bottles into the story and you get a fairly accurate picture of life before Vicar Street.
There’s plenty of music along the way too.
Damien performs three songs during the episode. “Let It Go” leads into a conversation about carrying pain from the past and learning to deal with it. “The Sacred Sing Song” brings Damien back to the houses of his childhood, surrounded by family, neighbours, songs and music. “The Apple of My Eye” takes us across the Atlantic to his time living in New York and the story behind one of his best-known songs.
Damien also shares some lovely memories of Sinéad O’Connor, who sang on his records and brought him on tour across Europe, Australia and America. He remembers her generosity, her incredible voice and, most of all, her sense of humour.
Gerry has a Sinéad story of his own involving a television green room, a spliff and somebody trying to explain the smoking rules. You’ll have to hear the rest.
The conversation moves through Christy Moore, Luke Kelly, Bob Marley, songwriting, Damien’s early work in Finglas, his new ballad project and the gradual rise from tiny gigs to those famous nights at Vicar Street.
And running through the whole episode is a shared love of the Irish sing-song.
Songs learned from parents and grandparents. Songs heard in packed sitting rooms. Songs passed around without anyone worrying too much about who was supposed to be the star of the show.
Damien grew up in the middle of all of that, and you hear how much those nights still mean to him.
Three live songs, some brilliant stories, plenty of laughs and Damien Dempsey in full flow with Gerry and Mick.
Stick this one on and enjoy the craic.
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEqF7GEWvT0c
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