“Well if you had my granny over a bridge by the ankles….” – Decisions, decisions, decisions
When I hear the name “Old Red”, it makes me think of an old man with an ageing acoustic guitar, wise and husky, sitting on the banks of some river in Louisiana singing and playing. What I never expected was that, given a couple of decades, I might not be far off the truth. I also wasn’t too far off when I pictured the kind of music someone with the stage name “Old Red” might play. His own original material is reminiscent of his heroes – among them Neil Young and Bob Dylan – with that unmistakable country/folk/bluegrass mixture that’s all his own. His deep, mature voice does more than just sing throughout his tunes: he tells stories. Rolling melodies and mystical tales into one, his first album ‘Shots in the Dark’ was released in 2008. He’s currently in Canada working on his second album, but found some time to talk to me about music, life, the Soul Festival,and how all his travelling has changed him.
Old Red, also known as Paul Kirwan, was born in Dublin, and his love of music took root as a teenager when he started listening to Bob Dylan. Having played the guitar previously, it was only then that Red decided to dedicate his life to music. He takes a mysterious stance on the subject of how the name Old Red came about, referring me to the opening track of his album for his favourite version of the story. He admits there was another “theory” as to how Old Red came about: “As a massive fan of Neil Young, I got to know he owned a guitar that travelled everywhere with him and still does called Old Black, even when I saw him at Dublin’s O2 in ‘09, Old Black and Neil opened the show with the bowel vibratingly awesome, Hey hey, My My. . . .. So anyway, I had a red guitar, so I called it Old Red as a tribute to Neil’s unparalleled genius and I thought, that wouldn’t be a bad name for me . . .with my down home, spit on your neck, bronzey, folk-bluegrass style of country music and my hippie-esque attire attributed to Neil and Jimi Hendrix! And so Old Red was born . . . but this is merely a theory, I prefer the explanation offered by The Story of Old Red . . .” I start to realize fairly quickly that Old Red is pretty quirky, in a lovable sort of way. I also start to wonder how ones bowels vibrate…His adoration of Neil Young, which he professes openly, is clearly audible in his music style, and his respect for his musical “heavyweights” as he dubs them, is apparent throughout our conversation. He’s quick to quote a Young lyric, or mention some way in which the folk king influenced or inspired him. He’s also quick to make a cheeky joke, like when I ask how he got involved with the Dublin City Soul Festival. “God spoke to me in a dream, he said PAULLLLLLLLLLLL from this day forth you shall be known to all as Old Red and play the Dublin City Soul Festival!!! I woke up then and had an email in my inbox from Chris and so it came to be . . .”
In a lot of ways it does seem that Old Red’s life is led by the kind of spiritual sense of faith of his last statement. He has travelled extensively, performing in the US, Africa, and Ireland among others. In 2007, he landed in America to try his luck with the American people. This proved a success, and within a few months he was supporting the Counting Crows in NYC. “..it was just amazing. The response I got from their fans, that really was the experience of a lifetime” he says, adding: “Adam is such a cool guy, we went out after that night and had a real rock n roll experience in the big bad city, but that info is just for me and him, I learned a lot from him and the boys and so am forever in their debt.”
Old Red still remembers being part of the Dublin City Soul Festival 2009 very fondly: “…the sound was so good, the people there were great and the gig went really well, you know, there’s just so many great times….I was born to play festivals, I just love the atmosphere.” Dublin City Soul Festival gained a lot of attention for Red around Dublin and Ireland. “I loved everything about the festival, it’s hard to pin down one particular part that was best, but if you had my granny over a bridge by the ankles, I’d have to say just hitting that awesome stage!! It was so well done, it just flowed. The sound was great, the audience, the engineers, musicians, everything.” I don’t know about kidnapping Red’s granny, but at least he’s covered all the bases…Something that comes across during our conversation is Red’s humility. For an artist who’s on the rise, he hasn’t let his fame and success get to his head. At the same time, Red is wonderfully confident and friendly.
Red endears himself to me completely when he expresses despair over the predictability and soullessness which has possessed the charts of the past few decades. His favourite decades for music are “the 60s n 70s folk /bluegrassy story-telling era. I should have been born then, today’s music seems just to be regurgitated crappy love songs about some dopey teenager talking about love?? I’m 29 and I haven’t a clue about love? I know I love my wife, but that whole area is too big to know as these teeny boppers seem to, who get famous on Daddy’s name or Simon Cowell’s say so.”
This cements my impression of Old Red. The “Old” part of his name, while not literal in meaning, certainly holds some truth in terms of his wisdom and maturity. That same wisdom comes across strongly when listening to Shots in the Dark. Many of the songs give the feeling of sitting around a camp fire, listening to his story as he strums on his guitar. In truth, of course, Old Red plays all of his own instruments. This, he admits, makes playing live a little difficult: “like Dik van dyke in Mary Poppins?” but he’s comfortable and happy being a solo artist. Spending time laying down all the music tracks to form his songs is something he truly enjoys. Plus, he adds “with other people in the band it always leads to bickering and difference of opinion, and that’s fine for some people like U2 or the Beatles, but me, I have to have it my way.”
So with a hopeful heart and lots of future plans which range from
working on his new album to making comedy skits and writing novels, Old Red is loving his life at the moment. He sums up by quoting one of his musical heroes, Bob Dylan: “keep on keepin’ on…”
Old Red, what a character. A real gentleman and true poet. An inspiration to all aspiring musicians. If you ever get a chance to see him live, please do so, you will not be dissapointed.
Great interview Paul and best wishes you don’t need look with the new album
Nice review Paul. Best of luck with the new album! I’m heading over to iTunes to get “Shots in the Dark” now.
Hope everything is going great for you in Van City!
Love this guy!!! What a voice… brilliant