Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Sinead O’Connor, and more, feature on PAUL BRADY: THE VICAR STREET SESSIONS VOLUME 1

VicarStCD400Proper Records, April 27th

Take a veritable galaxy of stars…Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler, Van Morrison, Sinéad O’Connor, Ronan Keating, Curtis Stigers, Gavin Friday & Maurice Seezer, Eleanor McEvoy, Moya Brennan, Mary Black, Maura O’Connell to name but a few…and then add one more… Paul Brady.

Paul Brady. Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist. Revered Irish talent of some 40 years.

The one ingredient that coalesces the mix, the common factor, the king pin, the thread that pulls warp and weft together.

Fourteen years ago Paul Brady did 23 gigs at Vicar Street, Dublin. Many artists have sung Paul’s songs over the years and in October 2001 he decided to invite some of them to play with him. The response was overwhelming. The result an inspired mega coupling.

Joining Paul and his band was a different artist every night, sometimes several. Indeed, as he says himself  “At times I was a spectator in my own show as my guests, my friends, took the roof off Vicar Street. I knew then we’d captured something special.”

This unparalleled set of musical evenings soon became the stuff of legend. And it always remained at the periphery of Paul’s consciousness. Now, finally, a first volume of these remarkable nights is to be released.

Out on Proper Records on April 27th it comprises some of PB’s best loved songs featuring some of the world’s best loved artists. It captures a taste of what it was to have been there on the night – intimate, funny, powerful and above all gloriously musical.

With 16 solo albums already to his credit as well as a fist of collaborations, Paul Brady’s writing effortlessly straddles folk, pop and rock (not to mention his enviable reputation as an interpreter of traditional music).

His songs have been sung by a huge array of stars over the last four decades. Tina Turner, Cher, Carole King, Art Garfunkel, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker, David Crosby, Cliff Richard, Trisha Yearwood and Phil Collins amongst them and, closer to home, Ronan Keating, Joe Dolan, Dickie Rock, Maura O’Connell, Liam Clancy and Mary Black.

The Vicar Street Sessions provides a great tribute to one of Ireland’s finest artists.

1. I Want You To Want Me
2. Baloney Again (feat. Mark Knopfler)
3. The Soul Commotion
4. Nobody Knows (feat. Gavin Friday and Maurice Seltzer)
5. Believe In Me
6. In This Heart (feat. Sinead O’Connor)
7. Irish Heartbeat (feat. Van Morrison)
8. Not The Only One (feat. Bonnie Raitt)
9. Don’t Go Far (feat. Curtis Stigers)
10. The Long Goodbye (feat. Ronan Keating)
11. Last Seen October 9th (feat. Eleanor McEvoy)
12. The World Is What You Make It (feat. Bonnie Raitt)
13. Forever Young