Paul Brady

by Leon JacksonTalented and prolific singer Paul Brady has enjoyed a career that has seen him pass through several major bands and on to a successful solo phase. He began performing as a hotel piano player in Donegal, Ireland at the age of sixteen and graduated to being guitarist, during the 1960s, in two rhythm and blues bands: Rockhouse and the Cult. There followed a stint with the Johnstons as a guitarist and singer that ended in 1974, and a shorter one with Planxty that saw Brady touring extensively but recording no albums. In 1976, Brady recorded an album with Andy Irvine that he now regards as his best. Welcome Here Kind Stranger, released in 1978 was the summation of his interest in Irish music and was followed in 1981 by the appropriately named Hard Station, Bradys engagement with commercial rock. From here, Brady recorded a slew of albums and collaborated with Bonnie Raitt and Richard Thompson. His career was ressurrected somewhat when Compass signed him to a deal and reissued his catalog in the new millennium. The impressive collaboration on Oh What A World pushed Brady back into the limelight in 2000. The following year, he issued the Rykodisc collection Nobody Knows: The Best of Paul Brady for Compass. Popularity soared for Brady. The Liberty Tapes, issued in spring 2002, captured a 1978 show at Liberty Hall. Liberty Hall was supreme for local acoustic gigs as well as playing host to the Irish Transport and General Workers Union in Dublin.