Change Of heart.
Christy Moore was born in Co. Kildare. He specialises in folk songs and ballads, that affect him personally, or songs that have a big influence on him, therefore bringing a lot of emotion to his songs.
Throughout the years I heard many of his songs but never had a great interest in them. Unknowingly I obtained a likeness for his songs and the energy he presented in his songs to his listeners and audience and the emotion that he uses whilst singing.
Although I always heard his music, unsubconciously didn’t want to like him, until I heard about his life.
He always had a heart for music; his first gig was in the original Embankment in 1965. He moved to England in 1966 and worked on buildings, factories and oilrigs but he knew that wasn’t the life for him. He ended up on the folk club circuit in Manchester 1967, his first gig as a professional folk singer was at the Well Green Folk Club, Manchester on May 4th. In 1969, he was becoming desperate to be a recording artist. He was doing well but he knew he still had a long way to go. He auditioned for Transatlantic- the most desirable folk label of the era, however he was unsuccessful.
He recorded his first album ‘Paddy on the road’ with Dominic Behan in sound techniques, Chelsea. By the end of the 60’s he was focused back on Dublin. Across the 60’s, he was influenced by other folk legends such as ‘The Dubliners’, ‘The Clancy Brothers’, John Reilly and Luke Kelly. He was also influenced by the British folk revival.
He set up a group known as Planxty on the 3rd of January 1972. Their first tour began on April 22nd 1972 at M.S.G, Manchester. Donal left Planxty in 1974, followed by Christy in 1975. But they reformed in 1978.
In recent years during the 2000’s, he started performing with Declan Sinnott. Locally he recorded ‘This is the day’ in Kilkenny in January 2001.
Christy Moore’s exciting life is what has appealed to me and his song choices. Stereotypically when I heard...