Vicar Street - Gigs - Damien Dempsey

From Event details at indublin.ie!: Damien Dempsey’s 5th studio album “The Rocky Road” marked a departure for this critically acclaimed, No. 1 selling singer and songwriter who released this collection of traditional Irish songs and modern classics to critical acclaim and which went straight to No.1 in the Irish charts. The album includes collaborations with his heroes John Sheahan and Barney McKenna of The Dubliners and Sharon Shannon. To coincide with this Damien is back on tour in Ireland this December and will perform live @ Vicar St. on December 17th. Tickets are €31 on sale this Friday Sept 5th @ 9am through Ticketmaster and other usual outlets nationwide. Booking Line: 0818 719 390.

The Rocky Road comprises new arrangements of many well-loved and familiar songs including The Rocky Road to Dublin, The Foggy Dew, The Hot Asphalt, and Ewan MacColl’s Schooldays Over and Shane MacGowan’s Rainy Night in Soho.

Damien’s collection of Meteor Awards include both Best Irish Male and also Best Traditional / Folk and his roots in Traditional music can be clearly felt in his own compositions on his previous albums. Damien says; “Ballads are my roots, it was the first music that turned me on, and the first songs that I heard being sung in my home by friends and family”. “I would have over two hundred ballads in my head, and I used to sing them regularly in pubs around Dublin in the 1990’s. I reckoned I had a good feel for these songs, and as I studied Irish history, I felt I could really tell their story and do them some justice on an album….I’ve always been an advocate of the sing-song, and I have a lot of very young fans, so naturally if I do this album, these kids are gonna hear all these timeless songs that they may not have heard otherwise”. “I want to give the young kids an alternative to the new MTV generation, gangster rap, Britney Spears and maybe get them interested in their own history through music”.

Damien has spent the first months of 2008 touring the US and Australia but returns to Ireland for his first tour dates this year, playing smaller venues around the country to showcase this intimate album. He will also be playing several festivals and appearing as a guest of Sharon Shannon, singing with her Big Band. More dates will be added soon and full worldwide tour dates can be found at www.damiendempsey.com

From Event details at Ireland.ie!: Vicar Street is one of Dublin newest venues, situated in Thomas Street, opposite the church.