As Amble gear up to release their debut album, Reverie, and join Hozier for a North American tour, Ross McNerney spoke to Stuart Clark about his previous career trajectory as a GAA player.

Before the folk trio were performing in major arenas as musicians, McNerney was on the pitches of Croke Park, competing in the Leinster championship.

He would leave county football in 2016, followed by a departure from his local club in 2017 to focus on his music - as part of his previous band, Brave Giant.

"I played at senior county level for Longford," McNerney said. "Growing up, football was number one and music second, but then it flipped."

Fellow Amble member Robbie Cunningham agreed with the sentiment, having played for his home county of Leitrim.

"Right up until two years ago when we met, I was playing football at home in Leitrim," Cunningham added. "No one in the team knew I sang or played guitar - but then all of a sudden I was in this band called Amble and gigging in Whelan's and the Róisín Dubh."

Now fully dedicated to Amble, McNerney revealed his excitement at finding some of his sporting heroes were fans of their music.

"My whole life before Amble was sport, so finding out that rugby guys like Jordie Barrett, Robbie Henshaw and James Lowe are fans is massive," he said.

Check out the full interview with all three Amble members in this month's issue of Hot Press, available below.