My Dear Ireland Lyrics And Chords
Recorded by Nathan Carter. There's a key change in this song that you can put in if you wish. You can just as easy play the whole song using the guitar chords I give for the first part of the song.
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Lyrics without the chords.
See the Green Grass growing in the fields nearby Purple Heather ed Mountains and a clear blue sky See the old thatched cottages and the rippling stream This is my dear Ireland, what a beautiful scene. Chorus. Your my homeland my dear Ireland And I love you through and through For I was born here and I'll die hear For my dear Ireland I love you. Fisher boats are sailing on the morning tide Hear the seagulls calling from the cliffs nearby Oh the evening sunset with the blood red sky This is my dear Ireland I love you 'till I die. I traveled many lands many sights I've seen They don't compare with my lovely Isle of green For there's something special about this Isle so fine This is my dear Ireland forever on my mind. |
The Guitar Chords
[D]See the [A]Green Grass [D]growing in the [A]fields near[D]by[A][D] Purple Heather ed [G]Mountains [D]and a clear blue [A]sky[D] See the old thatched [G]cotta[D]ges and the [G]rippling [A]stream [D]This is my dear [G]Ireland, [D]what a [A]beautiful [D]scene[A][D]. Chorus. [D]Your my [G]homeland my dear [D]Ireland And I [G]love [D]you [G]through and [A]through For I was [D]born here [G]and I'll [D]die hear For [G]my dear [D]Ireland [A]I love [D]you. G D A D [D]Fisher boats are [G]sail[D]ing on the [A]morning [D]tide[A] [D]Hear the seagulls [G]call[D]ing from the cliffs near[A]by[D] Oh the evening [G]sun[D]set with the [G]blood red [A]sky[D] This is my dear [G]Ireland[D] I love [A]you 'till I [D]die.[A][D] Repeat chorus. [There's a key change here in the Nathan Carter version. You can put it in if you want or continue to play the chords in the previous verses and chorus.] [Eb]I traveled [Ab]many [Eb]lands many [Bb]sights I've [Eb]seen They don't com[Ab]pare wit[Eb]h my lovely [Ab]Isle of [Bb]green[Eb] For there's something [Ab]spe[Eb]cial about this [Ab]Isle so [Bb]fine [Eb]This is my dear [Ab]Irelan[Eb]d forever [Bb]on my [Eb]mind. Repeat chorus Chorus. [Eb]Your my [Ab]homeland my dear [Eb]Ireland And I [Ab]love [Eb]you through and [Bb]through For I was [Eb]born here [Ab]and I'll [Eb]die hear For [Ab]my dear [Eb]Ireland [Bb]I love [Eb]you. For [Ab]my Dear [Eb]Ire[Fm]land [Bb]I love [Ab]you |
Interview with Nathan Carter by Irish Music Magazine
My name is Lar Flynn; it's our first season and our first episode, and our very first guest is the internationally acclaimed musician and songwriter Nathan Carter. He has been instrumental in bringing the genre into the mainstream. He has played venues across Ireland, the UK, and around the world. He has had his own prime-time TV show. He has been loved and respected by many fans as well as by his peers in the industry.
It's my pleasure to welcome him as our first guest on our podcast, the Irish Music Magazine's official podcast. Nathan Cart at night and a very good afternoon to you and thank you no problem it's all thank you so much for having me on and the licensed here that I'm the first guest. Yeah, because when myself and Robert from Irish Music Magazine were putting this together, we said we wanted to start with something explosive, and your -- I don't know what word is a hot property, but you're out there all the time and all the bunnies And it's good to see you again and like I said thank you no bother it's all thank you very much for having me on tell me this I saw post on your Facebook because you are you are prolific on social media as well as it all looks like we're going to be sitting around singing to ourselves for another little while what has I know we spoke earlier on in 2020 are in 2020 in the summer and we were just three months into covid and lockdown and we didn't know what was going to be happening and at that stage you had done a few songs and it was great he had been back in front of light again but your wings have been clipped over since along with most people in the music business so I think I've been hit most hard how have you coped with and whatever being doing and this year has been the last 12 months has been a very different year compared to any any other year before you know for any musicians unfor anyone else out there it's been it's been very tough I've had good months of bad months and months of strain to find Stuff to do another month of being really busy enough to music but they're not the kind of building projects and different stuff going on and but yeah it's been up and down the whole the last 12 months and if one thing it's it's stories to appreciate live music and live Gates because I've missed it greatly now just obviously haven't in the past of done so much live work and being in front of crowds all the time to the last 12 months of not doing any gigs you definitely mess it and you miss the people and the buzz and the music and the band and just the whole whole thing on stage you know yeah and doesn't interrupt a flow that you might have like when you kind of record an album promoted and then going tour it like was that your your go-to kind of
Like so many gigs generally the last 10 years we would be doing hundreds 120 gigs a year so everyone you say all your torn the minutes and I'd be saved I never came off tour for 10 years to be honest we just constantly gave so one thing it did you know I had to readjust my life because my whole life had been you know a few days off and then on the road or fly into the UK or fly into America or doing something or going somewhere to perform live so I had to readjust my life and I've had to you know figure out what you do when you're not giving which is completely new to me or it had been new to me whenever this kicked off so I was there trying to bake it and I was gardening and I was I've got planning permission to do a bit of a building project at the house planning permission to make a few scones I should go planning permission because they were really bad It wouldn't have wanted them anyway, and I think it's working. To be honest, everyone tried to be a little more creative about ways of keeping busy, and even the lads in my band have all taken on different kinds of projects. The fiddle with me now, mercy; he's opened up a coffee van and he's doing that on the side of the road, and the drummer is teaching kids drum lessons online. I don't think you did too much of the Facebook Live stuff that you already wanted to keep away from that, or did you just tip by now and again.
I did one or two of them, but it's just not the same. You know if anyone has been to the well as possession yeah I've been to my life gigs I'd like to think there's a big buzz there and there's a show and the lights and the whole thing of being underlife gig and you definitely can't recreate that on Facebook Live you know doing any sort of live stream but I kept in a lot of the farms were asking me to do one and I am going to be doing on this St Patrick's Day actually we're gonna do for Belfast Crumlin Road jail and we're gonna stream it live there's no audience there on the night I don't think because of covid restrictions but yeah I'm gonna do it but I just don't like doing them that often to be honest they're not the same so but you know I do want every three or four months that's what I've done really suppose you aren't keeping relevant in your posting songs in your Facebook and your fans are in touch with you and of course and the reason they got your 2021 calendar as well Fully enough, we'd welcome a lot of them back in. I don't know zip codes when only start ordering the next years calendars in months like June or July, and at that stage I was like, Oh, we're definitely going to be on the road by like, Marty, you know, when I was January and I'm not going to say the things saying, Oh, we're definitely not. So I had to start shifting all these calendars that we ordered last year.
We had a bit of a sale yesterday, but they've all sold out, so we're getting shots at them. How do you how do you cope with that the night and you know when you're saying you're hung for a couple of days with your own pike in, you might do a little bit of laundry and then you're out again and the excitement that excitement has gone, would that have had an effect on you personally? Yeah, I definitely do. I mean, what I do for a living is not a job, you know, and it's great for me. And on the road, meeting people, you know, traveling away with the band, they were all your friends, and it was great to be able to
Form and good times, and you know you take that away from someone, it's pretty tough to deal with for a while, you know, but I've got to accept it now, you know, it's the world when I win; we can't operate the way we do anymore and the way we used to, you know, so we just as I said, it's a year of adapting and changing to suit what's going on around us at the minute; it's probably like taking away one of your senses I suppose almost yeah for sure made them disappear. I know you've had a book out as well; we'll talk about that in a little while, but I want to go right back to Liverpool if it's okay. I know it's okay with you because I know you love talking about Liverpool, growing up, and things like that. Your parents were from Newry County Down.. Yeah, my mom's side of the family originates from a place called Warrenpoints.
I haven't been there for many years to be on a state visit, but I did visit there whenever affairs moved over to Ireland. I did visit there whenever He came from that side of the family; my nan's won a 10, and all our brothers sang and played instruments, and a lot of them would do Kaley dance to them or say dancing, and we got whenever I was very young, you know, and your grandad there was instrumental in bringing the accordion to you; yeah, that was me around there; only on dad's side he played the accordion and Economic faced everybody my name is about five years old and he taught me first ever tune which was Danny boy and I haven't played it in years to be honest Danny boy I'm not sure whether it's still remember it or not but yeah that's really Where The Music came from and in the family typical I suppose Irish family which are Nan and things like that would they have had all those CDs like from the Furies like from Christie that all the Black family all that would that kind of things you might have been listening to yeah definitely when it was a kids it was The Dubliners and the chieftains and the Clancy Brothers all that stuff you know I was probably a very strange kids at the age of seven or eight singing all these Old Dubliners songs and Clancy's songs and the knitted sweaters and all and I always wanted one of them and yeah surrounded by that stuff growing up but it's it's obviously taking it you know I'm now singing probably a lot more folk stuff than I ever sang before so I love that stuff Though I always have and think I always will, so in school and things, did you stand out a little bit where you're different in that you're listening to Irish stuff like other kids weren't?
Well, I was the only kid in our class or in our old school that looked at playing the accordion anyway, and I'm the only kid that would be playing trap music, so yeah, I was definitely the odd one out. But you know what was great? It was outside of school; I had a completely separate life. At so many people back then I'm still friends with to this day you know but that's actually what I was going to touch on because everybody has their own social circles even at a young age and I was going to ask you that like the people in the kids and the boys and girls that you grew up with probably all the same Irish instruments are probably had Irish backgrounds in the family so you kind of stuck together and I'm happy to hear that you're still friends with some of them yeah yeah no definitely some of my best memories growing up a sneaking into pubs wherever they all island was we'd go over for the full summer and you know taking your first paint and smoke behind the whatever it was you know of course memories have gone up I was only six of this great memories tried music concessions and just yeah great forum surrounded by music I just before I don't want to move off music at all but Liverpool Of course there's world fame for soccer; was really sport interesting; you're like Liverpool or Everton?
I was a bit at the time yeah would have been to the few Liverpool games and sat in the cup and watched a few of the matches but it never come anywhere near to my lover music football was always very secondary if not feather on down the line but my family are all big support support I don't think you could come from Liverpool or not be associated with football and some sort of the way you know but I definitely what was not good sports either I was in the Houston say you can play left back on the bench that's what you know so what I said stuck to the music so I know one of the places used to visit often and probably with your family around to uncle was a pop called the liffey in Liverpool was that when you first I'm all the Irish social clubs from me was that when A young Nate and character discovered that some of these people give me a few quid for playing music, which is kind of good, yeah, yeah, I mean they gigs in old people's homes and stuff, and I'd go and do that for free, and then I got the offer of the gag in this poke, and at the end of the gig I wasn't sure what kind of money there was or if there was any money, so I just said I'll go in there for the Kraken, and he handed me a hundred quid at the end of the night. It could have done it this year to be honesthere's no truth in the rumors they're still doing the pipe around no Two hours so a little spark kind of triggered as I love music but I love it even more now so I'm getting paid this sort of money to do it so decided to be school and friends friend my admits at that time nicoty James he who was also a singer and played all these venues he says I'll serve your diary for you if you serious and if you want to do this I'll get you all the gigs and so you don't have to give me anything but I'll make you as busy as you want to be so I did my left school and I gave them all the pubs social clubs Irish centers and after doing social dances whatever I did tomorrow you know for about four or three or four years solid it was great you know I enjoyed every minute of it and I was there in a good wage So with all that you were buying instruments or you were born certainly speaking and having sound systems, what was the goal always—to record an album? Yeah, that would be yeah, yeah.
It was always a record of, you know, getting some original songs and some, you know, all the songs I wasn't too tough about at first because I didn't have to write them. So with all that you were buying instruments or you were born certainly speaking and having sound systems, what was the goal always—to record an album? Yeah, that would be yeah, yeah. It was always a record of, you know, getting some original songs and some, you know, all the songs I wasn't too tough about at first because I didn't have to write them. Set up, got great musicians, and recorded now.
The first year was pretty tough. We didn't go on some nights because there weren't enough people. You know, it was a great learning curve, being on the road, but thankfully, you know, they kept on and on and on and playing the gigs and playing the dance halls and the and started building up a following. You know, a lot of the same lads the starter rubbed me back then, and there will be now, so John John Furry was a big influence and a big change in your life, I suppose. Yeah, it was great to meet them at the time, and he kind of gave me the kick that I needed to move over to Ireland.
You know, I played so many gigs—you know, just met so many people that kind of started to form the fan base, which is Station that's all then was getting daytime play and got me on the Late Late Show and got me on a lot of different artsy shows and BBC shows and opened up so many doors and it was a song that seemed to appeal to every age group from kids to get played in nightclubs to grannies and grandads you know so it's a great song and still is I haven't performed it much this year now that I will look forward to performing it whenever I can do and like was that time I suppose everything I suppose bookings go up the numbers are conference go up for that was it wasn't like you know kind of 19670s kind of vibe where you forget everything do you remember exactly and you know the highs of that from from wagon wheel and yeah no I didn't remember the time John is saying you don't seem to be enjoying he says you need to be Be moved that didn't really stand back to enjoy you know but I still remember it I remember the gates didn't remember the height at the time was was not you know and why were you so pedantic about everything about gigs and timings and recordings and everything was that was that probably from when you were young you were doing a solo all your life really so it was just natural yeah basically yeah I did everything myself and off my own bath since I was left school so I'm probably find it hard to trust managers and you find it hard to trust people around you know made out of his kind of sets the kids if you want something dirty yourself you know so probably took that on board a bit too much stuff myself you know I think I start I think and and just day and age I think a lot of people starting out young maybe as young as you were even knock nothing before you're ordered 17 18-year-olds They're not going to get a manager again, so it is coming around and probably quite an experience for you as well. You know, it's definitely going to be hands-on, and that means even down to social media.
I've never had anyone do my social media; I've always done it myself, with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and all that stuff, and you know, if you're doing it yourself, you can control the content; you can control everything, and as you say, today is totally different from what it was even when I started 12 or 14 years ago. It's changed so much with social media and now streaming and iTunes. Spotify, etc. You know it's true, and we're all learning constantly. It's a forever-changing industry.
You just have to move with it. I don't know if other people want to appreciate it as well. I was trying to think of things to ask you, and something you know when you're walking around—what would you ask Night and Carter? It's something I asked as a comedian years ago. You don't have record contracts anymore.
I think everybody has to be their own self-promoter. Brendan O'Carroll from Mrs Brown's Boys yeah he always struck me as somebody who always knew from a young age that he was gonna do well I was gonna be well known or renowned are known whatever it was did you always know this was always an inkling in your brain that said I'm going to be well known one day I will have big armour was I will have been you know a TV show did you know and when did you know if you did I think it did remember like as a kid sitting daydream and in school thinking about you always knew music was was gonna be involved I was gonna be involved in music no matter what nothing else really and it may bring just so I guess I guess if you are if you think like that as a kid and if you determ then off you'll make it happen no matter what you do and I definitely was probably one of them kids that kind of knew their paths in life some new because so many my other friends never knew what he wants to do they know what he wanted to be a belt or A bank when you know it's a great thing for somebody like yourself was it necessarily seeking Fame or were you just do it for the love I know you're still doing for a little bit would you come up tomorrow and still do it for the love I would yeah I mean even if I was doing a 95 job behind a desk it still be doing music at the weekend or cure you know on the nighttime when I get home so I would the business side did definitely takes over sometimes your head you have to then make yourself realize it's just a bit of music at the end of the same day it's Entertainment and it's music is meant to be enjoyed and shared and that's what it does and yeah I mean as I say I've always Bangkok tomorrow that still be the music of the weekend and do you enjoy the Fame and the notoriety and being recognized and things and I do I mean this sometimes when you haven't dinner and you try to quiet I don't you get once coming up can I Get a picture while you've got a bit of chicken, and you know that's the best time for them, but on the whole, yeah, it's enjoyable and it's nice to meet people, and you know people come up and tell you stories about where the first kiss was, or about where they heard their first song, or about how they met their partner at a gig, or something that's real, and so 99% of the time it's good. So all the time you spent working forward on the album recordings and appearing on TV, you eventually got your own RTE television show.
Tell us about your guests and how you chose them. Did you have a wish list first of all? Yes, her own production got in touch with me, and they've done a lot of shows with RTE through the years. They asked me what I considered doing for a TV chat show, which I was kind of nervous about because I've never been interviewed before; I've never interviewed people; I've only ever been interviewed. So they worked with me, and I was pretty nervous at the start, but I had a wish list, and I got some of the
Of obviously we couldn't get most of the axe because there are not to learn or they're not doing interviews or they don't want to travel to Ireland and when we got a lot of the people a good few people that I've written down and from different genres I mean like a Finbar Furey and Mary Black and you know I lost in the folk side of things Shannon was on the show and doing great friends and a lot of them since and then there was like you know some of the pop acts like Mel sea from the Spice Girls and Billy Ocean Paul Carrick a couple of the last from Westlife Shane and Mark and Brian Kennedy and you know a lot of different the Irish acts and pop acts as well that I really enjoyed performing with and interviewing and hear all about so it was a great movie we did two series actually Bond to back them all and greeting audience and Really good fun and something I always enjoy watching back, you know you'll probably go back to it, I mean, two series were probably an offshoot of it anyways for the time being, you know there's only so much people can take of not going to my ugly house more every Sunday. Two series was definitely time to park it after that for a while, but who knows up ahead? Maybe your interview skills turned out better when you were way more Terry Wogan or Alan Partridge I was probably more Valentine's Day, to be honest; that was late and made more mistakes than I did. You know lines for getting better out anywhere?
You know it's just about being there. Like you know, delights This podcast stuff is so much, you know, that when I look at it now, it's a lot easier. It's just a conversation, really. Back then, they would give me the exact questions to ask, and I'd be studying in the car, and I'd be there. This isn't exactly right, you know; whereas it's just a conversation, it's a lot easier and a lot more natural.
Yeah we've been contacted by TBS to have ran shows from Daniel O'Donnell to Celtic Thunder Celtic women and river dances so forth and I guess they'd seen something that I've done on RTÉ and said would you do a show for us so we don't know and recorded two shoes for maxi and that led to do in a tour out to the States we were meant to go back this year let's be the Big Year we did a big tour but I've seen so maybe next year we're not comes around we'll try and get to the states again and do a few more venues I was actually a new that was the last giga did last year was New York it was my first ever music rooms and we did that in January of last year because I think you had your gigs lined up in Germany and Spain and of course the States as well the festivals like from going from you know from pubs and Liverpool to venues here when you're standing on a festival stage and you're looking out at like in A sea of tens or thousands of people as well—that's a different game altogether, isn't it? I see yeah, it's somebody's now to be fair, and it's something that you don't ever just become, it's never the norm, you know what I always say whenever you get to play some of those big festivals, it's a big definitely treasurer whenever I'm up there doing it, you know, and something that badly missed this year now that it's been a long time since we've done it, so who knows maybe later on this year we might be able to do some sort of outside sort of festival sort of thing to look forward to, and have you done any songwriting by yourself and John The end of this year and Wings to Fly, which is a zombie in genre, were written in memory of the guy who told Nicky James, a really close friend, that he got the only first kid, and we wrote this of him. It did really well, with a lot of views online and a lot of streams on it, and now it is going to the UK and going to England in February to try and release it.
So yeah, the songwriting is still active and something I enjoy doing every now and then. It was a difficult song to write, just because it was so close to my heart and he was such a good friend.
To try and write this all about him was pretty difficult, but I was glad when it was done.
I think he'd be glad that if he can hear it up there somewhere, we took this opportunity at night and played that song, and this is Wings to Fly, dedicated to Nikki James, and this is Nathan Carter.
My name is Lar Flynn; it's our first season and our first episode, and our very first guest is the internationally acclaimed musician and songwriter Nathan Carter. He has been instrumental in bringing the genre into the mainstream. He has played venues across Ireland, the UK, and around the world. He has had his own prime-time TV show. He has been loved and respected by many fans as well as by his peers in the industry.
It's my pleasure to welcome him as our first guest on our podcast, the Irish Music Magazine's official podcast. Nathan Cart at night and a very good afternoon to you and thank you no problem it's all thank you so much for having me on and the licensed here that I'm the first guest. Yeah, because when myself and Robert from Irish Music Magazine were putting this together, we said we wanted to start with something explosive, and your -- I don't know what word is a hot property, but you're out there all the time and all the bunnies And it's good to see you again and like I said thank you no bother it's all thank you very much for having me on tell me this I saw post on your Facebook because you are you are prolific on social media as well as it all looks like we're going to be sitting around singing to ourselves for another little while what has I know we spoke earlier on in 2020 are in 2020 in the summer and we were just three months into covid and lockdown and we didn't know what was going to be happening and at that stage you had done a few songs and it was great he had been back in front of light again but your wings have been clipped over since along with most people in the music business so I think I've been hit most hard how have you coped with and whatever being doing and this year has been the last 12 months has been a very different year compared to any any other year before you know for any musicians unfor anyone else out there it's been it's been very tough I've had good months of bad months and months of strain to find Stuff to do another month of being really busy enough to music but they're not the kind of building projects and different stuff going on and but yeah it's been up and down the whole the last 12 months and if one thing it's it's stories to appreciate live music and live Gates because I've missed it greatly now just obviously haven't in the past of done so much live work and being in front of crowds all the time to the last 12 months of not doing any gigs you definitely mess it and you miss the people and the buzz and the music and the band and just the whole whole thing on stage you know yeah and doesn't interrupt a flow that you might have like when you kind of record an album promoted and then going tour it like was that your your go-to kind of
Like so many gigs generally the last 10 years we would be doing hundreds 120 gigs a year so everyone you say all your torn the minutes and I'd be saved I never came off tour for 10 years to be honest we just constantly gave so one thing it did you know I had to readjust my life because my whole life had been you know a few days off and then on the road or fly into the UK or fly into America or doing something or going somewhere to perform live so I had to readjust my life and I've had to you know figure out what you do when you're not giving which is completely new to me or it had been new to me whenever this kicked off so I was there trying to bake it and I was gardening and I was I've got planning permission to do a bit of a building project at the house planning permission to make a few scones I should go planning permission because they were really bad It wouldn't have wanted them anyway, and I think it's working. To be honest, everyone tried to be a little more creative about ways of keeping busy, and even the lads in my band have all taken on different kinds of projects. The fiddle with me now, mercy; he's opened up a coffee van and he's doing that on the side of the road, and the drummer is teaching kids drum lessons online. I don't think you did too much of the Facebook Live stuff that you already wanted to keep away from that, or did you just tip by now and again.
I did one or two of them, but it's just not the same. You know if anyone has been to the well as possession yeah I've been to my life gigs I'd like to think there's a big buzz there and there's a show and the lights and the whole thing of being underlife gig and you definitely can't recreate that on Facebook Live you know doing any sort of live stream but I kept in a lot of the farms were asking me to do one and I am going to be doing on this St Patrick's Day actually we're gonna do for Belfast Crumlin Road jail and we're gonna stream it live there's no audience there on the night I don't think because of covid restrictions but yeah I'm gonna do it but I just don't like doing them that often to be honest they're not the same so but you know I do want every three or four months that's what I've done really suppose you aren't keeping relevant in your posting songs in your Facebook and your fans are in touch with you and of course and the reason they got your 2021 calendar as well Fully enough, we'd welcome a lot of them back in. I don't know zip codes when only start ordering the next years calendars in months like June or July, and at that stage I was like, Oh, we're definitely going to be on the road by like, Marty, you know, when I was January and I'm not going to say the things saying, Oh, we're definitely not. So I had to start shifting all these calendars that we ordered last year.
We had a bit of a sale yesterday, but they've all sold out, so we're getting shots at them. How do you how do you cope with that the night and you know when you're saying you're hung for a couple of days with your own pike in, you might do a little bit of laundry and then you're out again and the excitement that excitement has gone, would that have had an effect on you personally? Yeah, I definitely do. I mean, what I do for a living is not a job, you know, and it's great for me. And on the road, meeting people, you know, traveling away with the band, they were all your friends, and it was great to be able to
Form and good times, and you know you take that away from someone, it's pretty tough to deal with for a while, you know, but I've got to accept it now, you know, it's the world when I win; we can't operate the way we do anymore and the way we used to, you know, so we just as I said, it's a year of adapting and changing to suit what's going on around us at the minute; it's probably like taking away one of your senses I suppose almost yeah for sure made them disappear. I know you've had a book out as well; we'll talk about that in a little while, but I want to go right back to Liverpool if it's okay. I know it's okay with you because I know you love talking about Liverpool, growing up, and things like that. Your parents were from Newry County Down.. Yeah, my mom's side of the family originates from a place called Warrenpoints.
I haven't been there for many years to be on a state visit, but I did visit there whenever affairs moved over to Ireland. I did visit there whenever He came from that side of the family; my nan's won a 10, and all our brothers sang and played instruments, and a lot of them would do Kaley dance to them or say dancing, and we got whenever I was very young, you know, and your grandad there was instrumental in bringing the accordion to you; yeah, that was me around there; only on dad's side he played the accordion and Economic faced everybody my name is about five years old and he taught me first ever tune which was Danny boy and I haven't played it in years to be honest Danny boy I'm not sure whether it's still remember it or not but yeah that's really Where The Music came from and in the family typical I suppose Irish family which are Nan and things like that would they have had all those CDs like from the Furies like from Christie that all the Black family all that would that kind of things you might have been listening to yeah definitely when it was a kids it was The Dubliners and the chieftains and the Clancy Brothers all that stuff you know I was probably a very strange kids at the age of seven or eight singing all these Old Dubliners songs and Clancy's songs and the knitted sweaters and all and I always wanted one of them and yeah surrounded by that stuff growing up but it's it's obviously taking it you know I'm now singing probably a lot more folk stuff than I ever sang before so I love that stuff Though I always have and think I always will, so in school and things, did you stand out a little bit where you're different in that you're listening to Irish stuff like other kids weren't?
Well, I was the only kid in our class or in our old school that looked at playing the accordion anyway, and I'm the only kid that would be playing trap music, so yeah, I was definitely the odd one out. But you know what was great? It was outside of school; I had a completely separate life. At so many people back then I'm still friends with to this day you know but that's actually what I was going to touch on because everybody has their own social circles even at a young age and I was going to ask you that like the people in the kids and the boys and girls that you grew up with probably all the same Irish instruments are probably had Irish backgrounds in the family so you kind of stuck together and I'm happy to hear that you're still friends with some of them yeah yeah no definitely some of my best memories growing up a sneaking into pubs wherever they all island was we'd go over for the full summer and you know taking your first paint and smoke behind the whatever it was you know of course memories have gone up I was only six of this great memories tried music concessions and just yeah great forum surrounded by music I just before I don't want to move off music at all but Liverpool Of course there's world fame for soccer; was really sport interesting; you're like Liverpool or Everton?
I was a bit at the time yeah would have been to the few Liverpool games and sat in the cup and watched a few of the matches but it never come anywhere near to my lover music football was always very secondary if not feather on down the line but my family are all big support support I don't think you could come from Liverpool or not be associated with football and some sort of the way you know but I definitely what was not good sports either I was in the Houston say you can play left back on the bench that's what you know so what I said stuck to the music so I know one of the places used to visit often and probably with your family around to uncle was a pop called the liffey in Liverpool was that when you first I'm all the Irish social clubs from me was that when A young Nate and character discovered that some of these people give me a few quid for playing music, which is kind of good, yeah, yeah, I mean they gigs in old people's homes and stuff, and I'd go and do that for free, and then I got the offer of the gag in this poke, and at the end of the gig I wasn't sure what kind of money there was or if there was any money, so I just said I'll go in there for the Kraken, and he handed me a hundred quid at the end of the night. It could have done it this year to be honesthere's no truth in the rumors they're still doing the pipe around no Two hours so a little spark kind of triggered as I love music but I love it even more now so I'm getting paid this sort of money to do it so decided to be school and friends friend my admits at that time nicoty James he who was also a singer and played all these venues he says I'll serve your diary for you if you serious and if you want to do this I'll get you all the gigs and so you don't have to give me anything but I'll make you as busy as you want to be so I did my left school and I gave them all the pubs social clubs Irish centers and after doing social dances whatever I did tomorrow you know for about four or three or four years solid it was great you know I enjoyed every minute of it and I was there in a good wage So with all that you were buying instruments or you were born certainly speaking and having sound systems, what was the goal always—to record an album? Yeah, that would be yeah, yeah.
It was always a record of, you know, getting some original songs and some, you know, all the songs I wasn't too tough about at first because I didn't have to write them. So with all that you were buying instruments or you were born certainly speaking and having sound systems, what was the goal always—to record an album? Yeah, that would be yeah, yeah. It was always a record of, you know, getting some original songs and some, you know, all the songs I wasn't too tough about at first because I didn't have to write them. Set up, got great musicians, and recorded now.
The first year was pretty tough. We didn't go on some nights because there weren't enough people. You know, it was a great learning curve, being on the road, but thankfully, you know, they kept on and on and on and playing the gigs and playing the dance halls and the and started building up a following. You know, a lot of the same lads the starter rubbed me back then, and there will be now, so John John Furry was a big influence and a big change in your life, I suppose. Yeah, it was great to meet them at the time, and he kind of gave me the kick that I needed to move over to Ireland.
You know, I played so many gigs—you know, just met so many people that kind of started to form the fan base, which is Station that's all then was getting daytime play and got me on the Late Late Show and got me on a lot of different artsy shows and BBC shows and opened up so many doors and it was a song that seemed to appeal to every age group from kids to get played in nightclubs to grannies and grandads you know so it's a great song and still is I haven't performed it much this year now that I will look forward to performing it whenever I can do and like was that time I suppose everything I suppose bookings go up the numbers are conference go up for that was it wasn't like you know kind of 19670s kind of vibe where you forget everything do you remember exactly and you know the highs of that from from wagon wheel and yeah no I didn't remember the time John is saying you don't seem to be enjoying he says you need to be Be moved that didn't really stand back to enjoy you know but I still remember it I remember the gates didn't remember the height at the time was was not you know and why were you so pedantic about everything about gigs and timings and recordings and everything was that was that probably from when you were young you were doing a solo all your life really so it was just natural yeah basically yeah I did everything myself and off my own bath since I was left school so I'm probably find it hard to trust managers and you find it hard to trust people around you know made out of his kind of sets the kids if you want something dirty yourself you know so probably took that on board a bit too much stuff myself you know I think I start I think and and just day and age I think a lot of people starting out young maybe as young as you were even knock nothing before you're ordered 17 18-year-olds They're not going to get a manager again, so it is coming around and probably quite an experience for you as well. You know, it's definitely going to be hands-on, and that means even down to social media.
I've never had anyone do my social media; I've always done it myself, with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and all that stuff, and you know, if you're doing it yourself, you can control the content; you can control everything, and as you say, today is totally different from what it was even when I started 12 or 14 years ago. It's changed so much with social media and now streaming and iTunes. Spotify, etc. You know it's true, and we're all learning constantly. It's a forever-changing industry.
You just have to move with it. I don't know if other people want to appreciate it as well. I was trying to think of things to ask you, and something you know when you're walking around—what would you ask Night and Carter? It's something I asked as a comedian years ago. You don't have record contracts anymore.
I think everybody has to be their own self-promoter. Brendan O'Carroll from Mrs Brown's Boys yeah he always struck me as somebody who always knew from a young age that he was gonna do well I was gonna be well known or renowned are known whatever it was did you always know this was always an inkling in your brain that said I'm going to be well known one day I will have big armour was I will have been you know a TV show did you know and when did you know if you did I think it did remember like as a kid sitting daydream and in school thinking about you always knew music was was gonna be involved I was gonna be involved in music no matter what nothing else really and it may bring just so I guess I guess if you are if you think like that as a kid and if you determ then off you'll make it happen no matter what you do and I definitely was probably one of them kids that kind of knew their paths in life some new because so many my other friends never knew what he wants to do they know what he wanted to be a belt or A bank when you know it's a great thing for somebody like yourself was it necessarily seeking Fame or were you just do it for the love I know you're still doing for a little bit would you come up tomorrow and still do it for the love I would yeah I mean even if I was doing a 95 job behind a desk it still be doing music at the weekend or cure you know on the nighttime when I get home so I would the business side did definitely takes over sometimes your head you have to then make yourself realize it's just a bit of music at the end of the same day it's Entertainment and it's music is meant to be enjoyed and shared and that's what it does and yeah I mean as I say I've always Bangkok tomorrow that still be the music of the weekend and do you enjoy the Fame and the notoriety and being recognized and things and I do I mean this sometimes when you haven't dinner and you try to quiet I don't you get once coming up can I Get a picture while you've got a bit of chicken, and you know that's the best time for them, but on the whole, yeah, it's enjoyable and it's nice to meet people, and you know people come up and tell you stories about where the first kiss was, or about where they heard their first song, or about how they met their partner at a gig, or something that's real, and so 99% of the time it's good. So all the time you spent working forward on the album recordings and appearing on TV, you eventually got your own RTE television show.
Tell us about your guests and how you chose them. Did you have a wish list first of all? Yes, her own production got in touch with me, and they've done a lot of shows with RTE through the years. They asked me what I considered doing for a TV chat show, which I was kind of nervous about because I've never been interviewed before; I've never interviewed people; I've only ever been interviewed. So they worked with me, and I was pretty nervous at the start, but I had a wish list, and I got some of the
Of obviously we couldn't get most of the axe because there are not to learn or they're not doing interviews or they don't want to travel to Ireland and when we got a lot of the people a good few people that I've written down and from different genres I mean like a Finbar Furey and Mary Black and you know I lost in the folk side of things Shannon was on the show and doing great friends and a lot of them since and then there was like you know some of the pop acts like Mel sea from the Spice Girls and Billy Ocean Paul Carrick a couple of the last from Westlife Shane and Mark and Brian Kennedy and you know a lot of different the Irish acts and pop acts as well that I really enjoyed performing with and interviewing and hear all about so it was a great movie we did two series actually Bond to back them all and greeting audience and Really good fun and something I always enjoy watching back, you know you'll probably go back to it, I mean, two series were probably an offshoot of it anyways for the time being, you know there's only so much people can take of not going to my ugly house more every Sunday. Two series was definitely time to park it after that for a while, but who knows up ahead? Maybe your interview skills turned out better when you were way more Terry Wogan or Alan Partridge I was probably more Valentine's Day, to be honest; that was late and made more mistakes than I did. You know lines for getting better out anywhere?
You know it's just about being there. Like you know, delights This podcast stuff is so much, you know, that when I look at it now, it's a lot easier. It's just a conversation, really. Back then, they would give me the exact questions to ask, and I'd be studying in the car, and I'd be there. This isn't exactly right, you know; whereas it's just a conversation, it's a lot easier and a lot more natural.
Yeah we've been contacted by TBS to have ran shows from Daniel O'Donnell to Celtic Thunder Celtic women and river dances so forth and I guess they'd seen something that I've done on RTÉ and said would you do a show for us so we don't know and recorded two shoes for maxi and that led to do in a tour out to the States we were meant to go back this year let's be the Big Year we did a big tour but I've seen so maybe next year we're not comes around we'll try and get to the states again and do a few more venues I was actually a new that was the last giga did last year was New York it was my first ever music rooms and we did that in January of last year because I think you had your gigs lined up in Germany and Spain and of course the States as well the festivals like from going from you know from pubs and Liverpool to venues here when you're standing on a festival stage and you're looking out at like in A sea of tens or thousands of people as well—that's a different game altogether, isn't it? I see yeah, it's somebody's now to be fair, and it's something that you don't ever just become, it's never the norm, you know what I always say whenever you get to play some of those big festivals, it's a big definitely treasurer whenever I'm up there doing it, you know, and something that badly missed this year now that it's been a long time since we've done it, so who knows maybe later on this year we might be able to do some sort of outside sort of festival sort of thing to look forward to, and have you done any songwriting by yourself and John The end of this year and Wings to Fly, which is a zombie in genre, were written in memory of the guy who told Nicky James, a really close friend, that he got the only first kid, and we wrote this of him. It did really well, with a lot of views online and a lot of streams on it, and now it is going to the UK and going to England in February to try and release it.
So yeah, the songwriting is still active and something I enjoy doing every now and then. It was a difficult song to write, just because it was so close to my heart and he was such a good friend.
To try and write this all about him was pretty difficult, but I was glad when it was done.
I think he'd be glad that if he can hear it up there somewhere, we took this opportunity at night and played that song, and this is Wings to Fly, dedicated to Nikki James, and this is Nathan Carter.
