MUSIC Paddy Casey to play in Aughagower

Paddy Casey to play in Aughagower


Ciara Moynihan

Paddy Casey, one of the country’s best-known singers, is to play an intimate concert in the Westport Country Lodge Hotel, Aughagower, on Sunday night, August 1.
Casey might have become emblematic of the ‘yet-another-moany-guy-with-a-guitar’ trend that has marked so much of homegrown music over last 15 years, but his voice and style are undeniably all his own. And there is a catchiness to his songs, despite the frequently gloomy subjects explored.
Casey’s debut album, Amen (So Be It), recorded in just eight days, made the Top 20 in the Irish album charts and earned the singer a Best Album award at the Irish World Awards. Many of the album’s tracks, have become staples on the airwaves, with songs like Whatever Gets you True and Sweet Suburban Sky still getting plenty of airplay. The 2003 follow-up album, Living, saw a new raft of successful releases, including ‘Saints and Sinners’, ‘The Lucky One’, ‘Bend Down Low’ and ‘Want It Can’t Have It’. As if to prove Paddy Casey’s staying power, Living spent the bulk of 2003 in the Irish top ten, finally climbing to the top of the charts 21 weeks after its initial release.
The next year, Casey won his first of two consecutive Meteor Irish Music Awards for Best Irish Male, garnered rave reviews for a performance at Oxegen, enjoyed a week-long residency at the Olympia Theatre and played a sold-out concert at Dublin’s RDS.
Casey’s third studio album was recorded in Hollywood. ‘Addicted To Company (Part One)’,  released in Ireland on September 7, 2007, was written with a will to break fresh ground. The singer was going for a ‘Sly and the Family Stone meets Simon Garfunkel’ sound, songs that would embrace blues strains, funky guitar and big-band trumpets, still remaining true to his earlier more poignant and personal songs.  He wanted a ‘strong and bold album’, and, while not consistently so throughout, there are definitely strong and bold moments.
His appearance on the high-profile ‘Late Show’ with Dave Letterman in 2008 notwith-standing, Casey seems to have spent the last few years playing lower-key gigs around the country. The gig in Westport Country Lodge falls into that category, and promises to be a real treat for his many fans.

To book tickets, contact the hotel on 098 56030, or drop into Market 57, Downtown Records, Empowerium or Enoteca in Westport.

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