Who the hell is Paul Casey? You’re staring at the picture and wondering: am I supposed to know this guy? Well, to illuminate, he’s been described as Ireland’s best kept secret. And we’re here to let you in on the news: not for very much longer.

Back in 2020, Hot Press curated Rave On, Van Morrison, a celebration of the work of the legendary Irish songwriter, where 75 (80 actually!) of Ireland’s leading singers and musicians – Bob Geldof, Hozier, Sinéad O’Connor, Damien Rice, Dea Matrona, Bronagh Gallagher and Glen Hansard among them – performed Van’s songs to camera.

Derry singer, songwriter and guitarist, Paul Casey delivered an absolutely mighty rendition of ‘In The Days Before Rock ‘n’ Roll’, featuring legendary music magus Terri Hooley and a cast of boss musicians, including Liam Bradley, Nicky Scott and Rod McVey – all one-time band members of Van the Man. Paul takes up the tale.

“Not that I’d ever thought to play Glastonbury, but it’s taken me 30 years to get there!” he begins. “It came out of Hot Press. Niall Stokes sent the video of us covering ‘Days Before Rock ‘n’ Roll’ to Paul Charles, who books the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury. Last year, Paul got in touch. He just thought, ‘I’m going get this guy to play Glastonbury’, which is amazing. That’s how it happened.”

Paul Casey joins a wonderful roster of acts playing the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury 2024, including Ocean Colour Scene, Judy Collins, Albert Lee and Bernard Butler. Hell, even Mr. Gladiator himself, Russell Crowe, is on the bill!

So, the cover of Ireland’s best kept secret is soon to be blown, playing as he is one of the most prestigious stages in music. However, for the good folks in Derry and surrounds, the only head-scratcher is why this hasn’t happened sooner. For them, Paul Casey has long been a total legend.

Billy Doherty – drummer with favourite sons of Derry, The Undertones – has known Paul since the early days of the band.

“When the Fleadh came to Derry,” he recalls, “myself, Paul and Gino Lupari did a night in the Guildhall. It was absolutely terrific and that’s how I got to know Paul professionally. I always knew he was a very good guitar player, but it’s only in the past couple of years that I’ve actually started to work with him and God, he’s an exceptionally good guitar player. He’s a terrific guy to work with, full of great ideas.”

The Undertones in the early days, with drummer Billy Doherty on the right

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

So let’s go back to where it all began – all the way back to when Paul was a guitar-noodling kid on the streets of Derry.

“I started playing guitar when I was about eleven,” Paul relates. “I grew up listening to my dad’s record collection, which was mainly Chris Rea, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton and JJ Cale. The one that stood out for me was Chris Rea. I loved the sound of his slide guitar, his lyrics and his voice. I ended up being fascinated with Chris’ music.”

The subsequent Chris Rea tale that Paul tells is wild and wonderful.

“Many years later, I was working in the More Than Music record shop in Derry and I got to know the rep from Warner Records,” he explains. “He got me backstage at a Chris Rea concert in the King’s Hall, Belfast. I was around 18 at the time and I told Chris I was a slide guitarist. He spent a lot of time with me that night, telling me about his guitar set-up and the type of pedals to get.

“It spurred me on. A few years later, through the same rep, I met him again at a concert backstage in London. But this time I had a demo tape and I gave it to his drummer Martin Ditcham, who had drummed with everyone from Sade to Mary Black. I thought no more about it. But I came back from lunch one day and the guys in the record shop said, ‘Paul, your ma called and said Chris Rea rang!’”

It’s an incredible yarn. Chris Rea is a huge star, with nine UK Top 10 albums, including two No.1s, to his credit. He’s sold more than 40 million records worldwide. Chris recalls that first meeting with Paul in Belfast in 1993 vividly.

“He was very inquisitive,” he remembers. “He wanted to know absolutely everything about my pedal box… he even wrote down where all the settings were.”

Regarding the demos that followed five years later, Chris waxes eloquent.

“His first demos were absolutely amazing,” he enthuses. “I was immediately surprised at how the slide guitar sounded. It was quite an eerie feeling for me, because it was as if I’d played it. It was so accurate.”

And so began a decades-long relationship. Chris and Paul worked in the studio together, while Casey also toured extensively as a member of Rea’s band, and performed as a special guest to sold-out arenas across Europe.

Paul Casey and Chris Rea live on BBC Radio 2 circa 2006

“He loved my voice and guitar playing,” says Paul. “He ended up writing an album for me and I went over and recorded it at his studio. That’s how I started working with Chris. I joined his band as a guitar player, and then I ended up being an engineer at his studio.”

Rea recalls those first recordings with Casey.

“I don’t know how he managed to handle it, to be honest,” he says. “He comes over and he’s in a studio and there’s my band. I mean, I felt sorry for him – I thought, ‘This poor guy’! But I was impressed at the way he held it together.”

More than 20 years ago, a series of label showcases were set up for Paul in New York. A week of shows in the Big Apple culminated in a major performance at The Living Room. There was a real buzz – all the major labels were there to check him out. Atlantic Records loved the live set and invited him to their NYC HQ the next day to play for the staff. Talks continued for months after he returned to Ireland, but in the end, they informed Paul’s management they were passing. They were going instead with a then-unknown artist called James Blunt.

Chris ruminates about the vicissitudes of what can be a brutal industry.

“Paul definitely came up at the wrong time, from a music business point of view,” he says. “Four years earlier and he would have been there. But the music business is so fast and fickle. So I’d look at it the other way: it’s amazing that he’s still making records now.”

Paul Casey in New York

BEAUTIFUL WORK

Paul has ploughed on regardless – he’s never ceased gigging and making music at his Cable Junction studio in Derry. When it comes to describing Paul, Derry singer and actress, Bronagh Gallagher is effusive.

“Paul Casey is one of the greatest, sweetest, most gentle, talented musicians in the country,” she says. “He’s a phenomenal guitar player who has worked with many great artists over the years, obviously Chris Rea being one of the biggest. Paul is also a self-produced composer; he has written so much beautiful work over the years for television and film scores. And he is a beautiful soul.”

Bronagh is on a roll.

“He’s just one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with, so humble and extremely generous, one of the good guys. He has kept going throughout the last 30 years and gets better and better. When Derry was the city of culture, myself and Paul set up a little group called The Creative Village and started putting on concerts together, trying to unify people in the city who didn’t have any outlet to perform.

“Paul’s just a socially engaged, right-on guy, I have nothing but the utmost respect and love for him. He’s a dote.”

Bronagh Gallagher. Credit: Kathrin Baumbach

And a prolific one at that – for his recent album, Paul produced a video for every single track!

“When I was growing up, I wanted to be Steven Spielberg,” Paul laughs. “I’m an ’80s kid, so I grew up watching Jaws, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Star Wars. I think that’s why Chris Rea’s music appealed to me, because it was quite cinematic. So I just started making videos, and on the last album, I made a video for every song because it was fun to do.”

One of those tracks is ‘Peace Bridge’, about two guys from different sides of Derry meeting on bridge and sharing a cigarette. It was written by Rea, with Casey in mind.

“It’s that thing with songwriting, sometimes you just can’t explain it,” Chris reflects. “You can spend days and days on a song – or some of them just come immediately, the whole picture of the song: it’s like a video of the song. It’s a nice analogy of two guys, a bit worse for drink, and there’s a snow storm. And it sells Derry – the idea of two guys on two sides of a bridge, and the pair of them meet in the middle. It’s almost like a little play.”

GLASTO SLOT

With Glastonbury looming, Paul Casey has scheduled a warm-up gig at St. Columb’s Hall, Derry – not to mention the release of a new album, Life In Reverse: The Studio Recordings Of The Glastonbury Setlist, which was preceded by the release of single ‘You Are’, with the video premiering on hotpress.com recently.

“As soon as we got the news that we were confirmed for Glastonbury,” Paul explains, “we recorded an album. We’re putting it out on June 21st. It has the songs that form the setlist we’re going to play at Glastonbury.”

Casey’s band are some posse of heavy hitters, as Billy Doherty elaborates.

“I really love working with Casey, I really wish we had Paul Casey whenever we would be The Undertones,” he says. “I can’t praise him highly enough. I was saying to the guys in The Undertones that Paul is doing Glastonbury and everyone’s delighted for him. I think he will absolutely blow the socks off people there. The musicians in his band are really top-notch guys. These guys are completely different to The Undertones. We struggle with what we do, but these guys know exactly what to do!”

Paul profiles his band:

“Liam Bradley (drums) is one of my best friends,” he says. “Liam gave me the best piece of advice. He said, ‘This is a people business – if you get on with people and people get on with you, you’ll do well, you’ll always work, you’ll always be busy’. I tell young bands coming through the studio the same thing. I feel very lucky to be working in music every day.

“Liam introduced me to Nicky Scott (bass) and Johnny McCullough (piano & Hammond) – those three guys are the real core of the band. Damien McGeehan got involved during that Van Morrison video: he’s an amazing fiddle player. Lauren Doherty – in my opinion she’s the best singer in Derry – is doing backing vocals for the Glastonbury gig. And then there’s a friend of mine from Derry, a good guitarist called John T. Doherty. He’s joining us for the gigs as well.”

Chris Rea is delighted for his old pal.

“It’s great news,” he says. “I think it’s a great opportunity, it’s been a long time coming… He’s like a younger brother. I’ve always seen it as ‘Young Paul’. And he’s helping me now. Because I’ve had a stroke, so I can’t really play and sing anymore. But he’s now been my inspiration to get some songs done.”

Paul Casey

Bronagh Gallagher concurs.

“Paul has the talent, the songs, the band and the musicianship to be as big as anybody,” she says. “Paul doesn’t have a give-up button. It’s just great to see somebody that has such longevity, finally getting slots at the festivals. He deserves it. It’s quality music.”

Paul quips, “Chris actually said to me the other day that he’s never played Glastonbury and I replied, ‘Well, that’s the only thing I’ve beaten you to!’”

I mention that on all the Glastonbury line-up publicity, under Casey’s name, there is the tag, ‘Please Don’t Miss!’

“It’s incredible, right?” Paul replies. “I think they always have an act on the weekend where they really want to get people to focus on. Somehow, we’ve ended up being that act and it’s amazing. It’s some opportunity. I’d love to get this band on the road more, and maybe Glastonbury will open the doors for that.”

• Paul Casey’s new album, Life In Reverse – The Studio Recordings of the Glastonbury Setlist is out on 21 June, ahead of his appearance on Glastonbury’s Acoustic stage on Saturday, 29 June.