Where are you now and what are you doing?
I’m in Chicago with my family, meeting extended family.

First record to send a shiver up your spine?
Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms on vinyl. The tone when the guitar hits in the intro!

First gig you attended?
Bryan Adams with my mom for my 10th birthday.

First gig you played?
Joe Wattys on a busy Saturday night with my dad and brother.

Most memorable gig?
Playing a set to a group of Yanks in Aran this summer, when my partner Ciara came up to play a tune. Our little girleen wanted to come up and play too (she’s two and a half) – she just stood there with the tin whistle!

What has been the most ‘pinch me’ moment of your career so far?
Definitely this year’s Galway Arts Festival gig with the Saw Doctors, having thousands singing along with us the night before Galway played in the All Ireland. Having Ciara and fam there too made it all the more special.

 

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Most embarrassing thing you’ve done either drunk or sober?
I arrived to a friend’s wedding just as mass was starting and didn’t know I was meant to be playing at the church. Long story, but this actually happened.

What shite jobs have you had in the past?
Some mind-numbing computer networking stuff I did on college placement.

Last record you bought, borrowed, or blagged?
Lynn Saoirse’s The Seas Are Deep. I picked it up for my cousins in America last week in Opus II in Galway.

Who’d be in your dream band line-up?
A touring band of myself, Richard Thompson, Prince, Emmylou Harris, Davy Spillane, Anthony Thistlethwaite and Sting on bass.

Sexiest musician on the planet?
George Michael and Enya.

What song would you have played at your funeral?
John Mellencamp’s ‘Longest Days’.

These Shores is out now. Padraig Jack plays the Unitarian Church, Dublin (October 25); Bridge St, Castlebar (November 1); and The Seantí, Co. Kilkenny (November 15).