The first exposure to Irish songwriter Darragh O’Dea was coming upon his debut in 2018, titled “The Mary Robinson EP.” The burning question was, who is Mary Robinson, and why did O’Dea name his record (and song) after the woman? It turns out Mary is a bit of a jock, playing defence in Gaelic football (hurling). She’s fumbling over feminine / playing in the county half-back line / She don’t know, she worries all the time / Mary Robinson stole back a yard for our side. There is also a lot of drinking.
O’Dea’s next effort, “Tilly and the Postmaster,” appeared in 2021 and garnered some positive reviews from this publication (and others), lauding his ease with words and storytelling. The album has been described as a love letter to Ireland – all its madness and beauty. Opening with a spoken word prelude from his grandfather and named after his grandparents, the record is full of colourful and engaging indie-folk yarns. One shining example is the uptempo ‘Guerrilla In Your Back Garden’ (featuring Katherine Priddy) about some squabble over land inheritance that could have come from the pen of Kingsley Amis.
His music conveys the moods and elements of his surroundings and is delivered in an honest and alluring manner. A songwriter for more than 15 years, having previously played with rock band Strange Boats, he has been releasing solo music since 2017.
For his AUK mini-gig, O’Dea tells an interesting story about the guitar he is playing. “My acoustic guitar, I picked up in Malaysia 10 years ago when travelling. It was cheap and is a smaller parlor guitar, which was handy for lugging around; it’s still my main guitar. It’s branded as “Custom Acoustic”, and I don’t know much about where it was made, but it plays well and is mahogany, which has always been my favouite. It’s a knockoff of Martin, I suspect. Having a Martin guitar would be nice one day.
“I looked up my guitar and there’s one going online for $165 American dollars! That’s what I’m working with, but it works for me.” And the tone he produces on that little guitar works for us as well.
O’Dea is currently putting the finishing touches on his second album, which was recorded at 123 Fake Street Studio, Galiano Island, British Columbia, with his brother-in-law Rob Butterfield on production duties. You will find out more as the project progresses by clicking on this link. This live acoustic session was recorded in his home studio in Tuam Co., Galway, and O’Dea regales us with impressions of the songs on the video.
- Downy Tree: This song has taken a journey around the world to get to where it is today. First written with my pal Conor Ralph when we were both living in Chang Mai at the same time, almost 10 years ago. I carried the chorus from that first edition with me, knowing it was destined for a record someday. The story in the verses stems from an interaction while on tour in Germany a couple of years ago. I was on a bill with a duo who were much younger than myself. They were brilliant, and while wrapping up the gear and equipment at the end of the night, the front person of the duo exclaimed to me with youthful excitement, “I just signed my first autograph”. For the song story, I imagined them going on to be a big success and losing themselves in the loneliness of fame. I wanted to get the term ‘Downy Tree’ (Betula pubescens) into a song because it sounds like a tree that has the blues, so I imagined them isolating themselves from friends and society, and perching themselves on top of a downy tree, metaphorically perhaps. The song is sort of a letter from their bandmate trying to bring them round and help them to remember the good times and early days of their creative partnership. The studio version of the song was recorded on Galiano Island, British Columbia. So, Thailand, Germany, Ireland, Canada, it’s been a trip.
- Vermolen Boden Carousel: This song takes its name from the oldest functioning carousel in the world, a Dutch carousel that spent a few years in Vancouver. I believe its home is a theme park called Efteling in the Netherlands now. The name of the song was the last to come when looking for a tag line to finish it that would tie it all together. The idea of the song was built up around the word “older”. When writing, I was pondering that no matter what we think we know, or what we’ve learned or perceive to be true, that there is always something older than that idea or belief. Some of the verse lines are factual or historic, and some are just fun. The chorus lyric leans a bit more into the idea that older can be beautiful, like love growing older, or a person growing older. The recording fittingly features Dutch artist Kiki Deirdre on vocals. She is a great songwriter and singer in her own right, and an author having released her first novel recently.
- Black Sheep Boy: I’ve been listening to a lot of Scott Walker recently and fell for the song ‘Black Sheep Boy.’ In turn, I realised it was written by Tim Hardin, which led me to discover his discography and fascinating life story. I’ve been messing around with the song lately, and it just feels good to sing. I came across a Paul Weller version last week, also, which is spot on.
Thanks so much for having me.