Martin Hayes on Rory Gallagher: "The conquering Irish hero"

When I was a young teenager growing up in East Clare, I was mostly consumed with traditional music and didn’t have much interest in anything else. I used to play music in the near by town of Tulla with my concertina-playing friend Mary McNamara, whose younger brother Andrew also played traditional music.

However, he didn’t listen to much traditional music but was instead mostly locked away in his room listening to very loud rock and roll. I didn’t get it at all, had no sense of what was going on: it sounded like the antithesis of what I wanted musically. Turns out Andrew was a huge Rory Gallagher fan and that was what he mostly listened to.

During the times when I’d visit Tulla to play with my friends, Andrew was always pushing me and suggesting to me that I needed to understand more than just traditional music and so he set about educating me on Rory’s music. We went on to spend many hours in the coming years listening to all of Rory’s records – and became good friends in the process. Andrew knew all the recordings, what to listen for, when a good solo was coming up, how the live version might vary from the studio one and so on. Through this guided introduction, I eventually grew to fully appreciate the enormous energy, passion and freedom that was the music of Rory Gallagher.

ENORMOUS POWER

Years later in 1991, when I was living in Chicago, I heard that Rory was giving a concert in a venue called Park West. The concert was sold out by the time I found out about it, but since I’d never managed to see him live, I felt compelled to go and see if I could somehow get in. I did eventually, after much pleading and effort, but I had missed the first twenty minutes in the process of trying to talk my way in.

By the time I got into the venue, an incredible atmosphere had built up in the room. Rory was in full command of the evening, it was an amazing display of pure charisma, energy, and passion, with nothing held back. The great blues town of Chicago embraced Rory Gallagher and his music with wild enthusiasm and he was for me, on that night, the conquering Irish hero that my teenage imagination had always envisioned.

I remember saying to myself, this is how the stage should always be approached: give everything, hold nothing back and be completely yourself. That occasion showed me the enormous power that one individual with a deep commitment could generate.

The special Rory Gallagher 25th Anniversary Issue of Hot Press is available to order below – featuring reflections on Rory's legacy from President Michael D. Higgins, Imelda May, Johnny Marr, Mumford & Sons, Mick Fleetwood, Steve Van Zandt, Slash and many more.