In yesterday’s interview for RTÉ Radio 1 Jimmy MacCarthy discussed what fans can expect in the coming months in addition to the gigs.
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 MacCarthy is set to perform with “The Electric Horsemen” between May 25th and June 15th for four sold out shows at the White Horse in Ballincollig, Co. Cork, one sold out show each for the Cork Opera House and National Concert Hall in Dublin for October 1st and 14th respectively. Tickets are still available for the second Cork Opera House date on October 20th.
Jimmy MacCarthy 