It’s that special day when all the hard work crystallises into a piece of plastic wrapped in a colourful digipak and sitting proudly among some very big names in the New Releases rack. Now it just needs some people to go in and pick up a copy. There are lots of ways of getting hold … Read More

The first single off the new album will be available on all download sites from 26 October. Here’s a pre-order link on iTunes. I’m really fond of the video for the single, which you can enjoy over on my Videos page. I get great enjoyment out of playing around with ancient black and white movie … Read More

My new album Temptation Once Again is released on 9 November. It’ll be available in Tower Records and other good record stores, and also from iTunes and other download sites. All the songs were written since my last album release in 2016, and they’ve all been developed and fine-tuned through constant playing at the various … Read More

I love the recording process. It’s incredibly satisfying to see my songs take on new shapes and feels in the hands of the very gifted musicians with whom I’m privileged to work. The day may run from 10am to 10pm but I never feel I’ve had enough of it! Last week saw the first three … Read More

Today’s singer-songwriters inhabit the world of “Sessions” – the modern equivalent of the folk clubs of the sixties and seventies that gave all the great names their start – safe havens to develop their craft, try out their songs and play original material to a listening audience. Since I returned to music two years ago … Read More

It’ll soon be two years (gulp!) since my three albums were released, so the CDs have now been reclassified as back-catalogue. This means they continue to be available in the stores but at a new, lower price. You can now find them in Tower Records, Freebird and Dunboyne Sports and Leisure for €6 each – … Read More

We all want to do our bit for homelessness so I’ve written and recorded a Christmas single. It’s available from iTunes and the other download sites and the proceeds will all go to Focus Ireland. It certainly got off to a good start – top of the iTunes singer-songwriter charts on November 18th! There are … Read More

How long does it take to write a song? That’s a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. There was a famous conversation in which Leonard Cohen told Bob Dylan that “Hallelujah” took a few years to write, whereupon Dylan responded that one of his songs, which Cohen had said he liked, … Read More

Sidewinder was seen as a Dunboyne band, although only one of the band actually lived there. We did, however, rehearse in a shed beside his house, out the country a bit from the village. That was how I came to know Dunboyne, and a little seed was planted in my mind that eventually saw me … Read More

Hot Press has been the bible for Irish music, going right back to my first time around the block, forty years ago; and Jackie Hayden is a legend in his own right, not least as the man who signed U2 to their first record deal. So, when Jackie Hayden gives An Irish Life such a … Read More