Damien Dempsey: Still Listening To
Damien Dempsey has a nice interview in the Dublin People, Northside and Southside united apparently.
Update: I get to interview Damo
For all his rapping and reggae, Dempsey was influenced in a traditional manner: When I was six or seven, I used to have a tennis racquet and I would stand at the mirror and play along to Christy Moore
Although Dublin Town was the breakthrough for Damo, it also had a negative impact:
Damien admits that the song gave some people a chance to write him off and label him the man with that song, Dublin Town.
Regardless of what others thought, this song was a stepping stone for Damien and featured on his first album, They Don’t Teach This Shit In School in 2000.
Destiny took over when Damien met John Reynolds, a music producer and former husband of Sinead O’Connor, at a party in London.
John went along to see Damien support the Hot House Flowers. Unknown to Damien at the time, John had a copy of his album sent over to him in London.
He liked what he heard and so did Sinead
All of which reminds me that I also meant to share this interview with Damien in the London Times back in May, with you, well, back in May. It’s impossible not to like the young pup, oozing integrity, talent and passion. Refreshingly he even admits to writing tons of lousy songs as he plays the numbers game. If he writes two hundred songs then he might come up with five or so good enough for an album. Makes you wonder about a box set down the road though. A big box set.
I’ve been listening to Damien almost non-stop since I got my hands on Shots last year, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Just go to Damien on MySpace and listen to Hold Me or Party On from Shots, as well as Apple Of My Eye from the more recent - and highly infectious - live CD recorded in Dublin.
Damo is actually in the US right now, but the nearest he gets to Kansas City is Cleveland, Ohio - just a bit far for a bicycle
See Also:
• Shamrocks, Shenanigans & Smiling
• Feast or Famine: Emigration Assistance
• Songs I learned in School in Ireland
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