The online home of Irish singer-songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy. Here you will find all the latest news about Jimmy’s music, recordings and live performances.
This concert, along with the earlier National Concert Hall show and the two Cork Opera House gigs (all of which have sold out) coincide with the upcoming re-release of Jimmy MacCarthy’s debut album ‘The Song of the Singing Horseman’, which will have vocals re-recorded for two tracks ‘No Frontiers’ and ‘Bright Blue Rose’ with the original engineer Brian Masterson.
Reflecting on the process of recording his debut album ‘The Song of The Singing Horseman’ (which was released in 1991) with Oliver Callan, Jimmy said “The thing is budgets get exhausted and by the end of it I had to live with guide vocals for two of the best tracks on the album, and that was No Frontiers and Bright Blue Rose”.
That said, Jimmy is set to re-release the album with those two tracks later in the year. As the Macroom-born songwriter continues “With the magic of new technology and very inexpensive software I re-sang those two songs 6 weeks ago with the original engineer Brian Masterson who did a wonderful job of making that record in the first place”.
The same process will apply to Jimmy’s second album ‘The Dreamer’, which was released in 1994 and is expected to be re-released next year as ‘The Dreamer Awakens’.
“I’ve upped the keys on 6 songs, Sony backed it and I’ve re-sung them” Jimmy noted.
As such Jimmy believes these two albums will sound as good as they should have at the time.
With regard to the upcoming shows at the Cork Opera House and National Concert Hall Jimmy elaborated “We’re going to reproduce the album with many of the players who played originally – Steve Cooney, Nollaig Casey, Paul McAteer, James Blennerhassett and more, and we have the wonderful David Hayes as our MD, a great musician and a very safe pair of hands in every way, and lovely guy”.
The full album is expected to be played at the concerts with a few additions.
As Jimmy continues “We’re going to do the full thing, and I’m going to add to that set ‘The Contender’, which we will give it the same treatment as the other songs, ‘As I Leave Behind Neidin’, and ‘Roll On The Lee’, which I wrote prematurely as my farewell to music”
‘The Contender’ was released on Jimmy MacCarthy’s 1998 single of the same name and 2002 album ‘The Moment’. ‘As I Leave Behind Neidin’ has never been on any of his albums, although it was intended for ‘The Song of The Singing Horseman’ and it has featured regularly in Jimmy’s own setlists. ‘Roll On The Lee’ was released as a promotional single for Enable Ireland in 2017.
Jimmy went on to say the 6 tracks he re-sung for ‘The Dreamer Awakens’ were “wonderful”, and fans can expect Fiachra Trench’s string arrangements, much like on the original album as well as Philip Begley returning as the engineer and co-producer.
Jimmy will then play Dublin’s National Concert Hall on October 14th.
Both concerts will feature songs from his debut solo album The Song of the Singing Horseman, which was released in 1991 as well as many of Jimmy’s beloved classics like Katie, The Contender, As I Leave Behind Neidin and many more.
In exactly one month from today Jimmy MacCarthy and the Electric Horsemen will begin their sold out residency at the White Horse in Ballincollig, Co. Cork.
These concerts, which will be held between May 25th and June 15th will be a treat for both fans of Jimmy MacCarthy’s vast catalogue of classics but also those who saw him perform live with the band Southpaw in 1979 as he will be joined by Declan Sinnott and Johnny Campbell, who were both members of the band.
The other band members of the Electric Horsemen will be Paul Seymour and Brian Calnan.
A representative from the venue said the following in relation to upcoming gigs and how well tickets sold:
“What a response — and a real reflection of what Jimmy’s music means to people.
Jimmy MacCarthy’s four-night residency at The White Horse went on sale last Friday at 11am, and within a few days every single night was completely sold out, with over 450 tickets gone.
No surprise really. This is Jimmy MacCarthy — the songs, the stories, the legacy.
To have him here, with Declan Sinnott and The Electric Horsemen, in a intimate venue like ours in The White Horse … that’s something special.”
Jimmy MacCarthy will return to Cork later in the year for a major show in the Cork Opera House on October 1st followed by a performance in Dublin’s National Concert Hall on October 14th. Tickets for both of these shows are still available.
The classic song about the Cork boxer Jack Doyle will be sung by Mayo Vocal Academy founder Anne Marie Gibbons and John Molloy.
The Contender has been performed by many artists, including, but not limited to Tommy Fleming, Christy Moore, Brian Kennedy, Celtic Tenors, Hubert McCormack.
Jimmy MacCarthy first performed the song himself on Kennedy Live in 1995 before releasing it as a single in November 1998 for the album Celtic Heartbeat : A Winter’s Tale, it was then released on his own album The Moment in July 2002.
The promoter has said “It’s lovely to see such a warm welcome back”.
Jimmy will perform at Cork Opera House on October 1st and the National Concert Hall on October 14th and tickets are available directly from the venues, or from the following links:
