Bargain Time

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

A single for Focus Ireland

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

Brimful In My Soul

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

A Hometown gig

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

A great review in Hot Press

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

Voices In My Head

I’m just an ordinary guy…I watch a bit of football, play a bit of music – my life is ordinary in every way, apart from the aliens who communicate with the world through voices in my head. Now they’ve planted a song, fully-formed, in my brain and insisted I release it as a single. You … Read More

The reviewer nailed it!

In a very crowded market, it’s hard for independent Irish singer-songwriters to get their work reviewed, but one person who has been doing great work in helping to plug the gap is Liam Oragh. Liam is a talented singer-songwriter himself but he also has a real gift for writing, and you’ll find loads of well-crafted … Read More

A very special Christmas gift

It’s not that time of the year already, is it? The annual frenzy of Christmas shopping is underway, and once again you’re wondering where you’ll find something a bit different for friends and relations. Fortunately, Tommy Keyes has the perfect solution and at a bargain price. All three Tommy Keyes albums (which usually retail at … Read More

This one’s from the heart………

The age-old advice to “write about what you know” has guided many of my songs, especially those on An Irish Life. The song to which it most applies is my new single Souvenirs. I hope you like the wonderful video which Peter Salisbury created for the song. A few years ago, my eldest daughter went … Read More