Christy Moore was born this day in 1945 in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. As he demonstrated so well in his autobiography ‘One Voice’ (Hodder & Stoughton Books, 2000), which featured 500 songs he’d sung throughout his lifetime, he’s a true man of song. In that book he used those songs to talk about moments in his life, an approach which suited the him down to the ground. It felt like you were sat with man in a bar and he was listening to the jukebox then relaying stories that they triggered from his fascinating past. These were not all his songs of course, although he written loads, there were also songs from other singers and close friends that he had included in his performances over the years including Ralph McTell, Hamish Imlach, Shane McGowan and many more. Humble and honest is how it read from a man who is not prepared to take any crap and just say it how it is. I’d vote for him if he was in politics!
The song I’ve chosen as Song of the Day is ‘Black is the Colour’, a traditional song that Christy learned from Hamish Imlach. He met the Hamish in 1967 whilst he was living in Manchester. While he was lined up for one of his gigs Hamish spotted Christy’s guitar case and invited him in as his guest. They became good friends and he managed to get many gigs through Hamish’s ‘generosity of spirit.’ There’s a lot more to this story but I encourage you to go and buy the book, believe me, it’s worth every penny!
Here is Christy & Declan Sinnott performing live from the Barrowlands, Glasgow.
In the words of the man “Let the music keep your spirits high.” Never a truer word spoken.
Happy Birthday Christy!
Christy is on Tour this month:
Christy Moore Tour
Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott
May 10th – BRISTO, COLSTON HALL
May 11th – COVENTRY, WARWICK ARTS CENTRE
May 13th – BASINGSTOKE, THE ANVIL
May 14th – CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGE CORN EXCHANGE
May 16th – CARDIFF, ST. DAVIDS HALL
May 17th – LLANDUDNO, VENUE CYMRU
Christy Moore with Maírtín O’Connor, Cathal Hayden, Seamie O’Dowd, Jimmy Higgins
June 5th – BELFAST, WATERFRONT
June 6th – BELFAST, WATERFRONT
June 11th – ENNISKILLEN, KILLYHEVLIN HOTEL
June 12th – DUNGANNON, DUNGANNON
June 19th – DERRY, MILLENNIUM FORUM
June 20th – DERRY, MILLENNIUM FORUM
Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott with Jim Higgins
July 4th – CORK, LIVE AT THE MARQUEE
July 5th – KILRUDDERY HOUSE, WICKLOW, GROOVE FESTIVAL
July 17th – BUNDORAN, GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL
October 23rd – BUXTON, BUXTON OPERA HOUSE
October 24th – LIVERPOOL, PHILHARMONIC
October 26th – NEWCASTLE, SAGE GATESHEAD
Christy Moore
October 27th – EDINBURGH, USHER HALL
October 29th – GLASGOW,ROYAL CONCERT HALL
October 30th – GLASGOW, BARROWLAND
His website states “Just heard that I’m to play Glastonbury on Fri June 26th.”
Get the full dates and details on his website: http://www.christymoore.com/