Articles
Paul Brady
Kansai Scene spoke with Brady about his work and experiences playing in Japan.
In 1978, Irish singer-songwriter Paul Brady released his first solo album, Welcome Here Kind Stranger, and was awarded the Melody Maker Folk Album of the Year. From here, Brady decided to delve into pop and rock music, and released his first album of this genre in 1981, Hard Station. Bob Dylan was quoted as saying, “people get too famous too fast these days and it destroys them. Some guys got it down.” One of these ‘guys’ named by Dylan was Paul Brady. Kansai Scene spoke with Brady about his work and experiences playing in Japan.
Some of your songs have been performed or recorded by musicians such as Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, and Tina Turner. Is it true that you don’t specifically write songs for other artists, but that they sometimes just pick-up on your music?
Yes, that’s true. I always write a song for its own sake and for my own artistic journey. It’s a nice bonus when someone else likes it enough to record it.
The live album The Vicar Street sessions Vol. 1 came out in April this year. It’s been five years since the studio release Hooba Dooba. Is there a new studio album on the horizon or will the next release be sessions Vol. 2?
I have enough new songs for a new studio album and some are in fact already recorded. However, I’m struggling with the concept of ‘albums’ in the digital world. Perhaps the online release of individual songs at shorter intervals on a more regular basis is the way to go, and after a year or so putting them on a CD. I’m considering that at the moment. Vicar Street Vol 2 is for later.
On your website back in 2013 you wrote about the experience of performing in Japan. How would you sum it up?
I like the intensity of the relationship between a Japanese audience and my performance. There’s no shared cultural history that can sometimes overly influence or even dilute the experience.
Irish singer-songwriter • Taku Taku, Kyoto • Oct 13 • Folk-rock • 7pm • ¥7,000 • Tel: 07-5351-1321
