SINGER-SONGWRITER and actor Niall McNamee is headlining The Garage, Highbury on St Patrick’s Day.
Some Irish Post readers, will remember that long-established venue as The Thatch.
I can never forget that back in 1985, I was asked by Mick Clerkin, who owned Ritz Records, if I would go there to check out this young lad from Donegal he was thinking of signing.
I went, said I agreed that they should sign the singer, and Daniel O’Donnell went on to sell millions of records.
Let’s hope some record company A&R people are going to The Garage and Niall can repeat Daniel’s success.
Niall McNamee plays The Garage this St Patrick's DayNiall was born in Leicester to parents from Dundalk.
Moving to London to attend drama school, he found it didn’t suit him.
He drifted into working on building sites while developing his other main talent - writing original, narrative-driven songs and playing on the pub scene.
Last St Patrick’s Day, he sold out the Irish Cultural Centre; this year, he’s playing The Garage with a full band. He is building up a solid fanbase.
One of the striking aspects of Niall’s material is his clear evocation of the Irish acoustic tradition.
His songs often have a clear storyline or narrative - ballads that might have been sung by Christy Moore or written by Shane MacGowan - rather than imitating the contemporary pop bands of his generation
“Yeah, it’s funny where you get your influences from,” he said.
“I was listening to what my granddad liked and all that. I was always into Frank Sinatra and then, through my dad, Christy Moore and The Dubliners.
"My mum said that when I was a baby, before I could say and words, I’d be making the notes pitch-perfect to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. So, it was obviously something with playing by ear.”
"Writing songs is what I’ve been most interested in. And to be honest, I don’t think I was majorly interested in learning instruments — but I knew I needed something to sing to.
"So, yeah, I kind of immediately started writing. I suppose when I started playing, that was the style that came out.”
Acting hasn’t been entirely forgotten.
Last year Niall played the lead role in the feature film Love Without Walls, a bleak love story about a young singer-songwriter and his wife trying to make it but falling on hard times.
Niall wrote and performed all the moving songs for the film.
McNamee performs at the National Youth Theatre's annual fundraising gala in 2024He has just finished his first album.
“The folk and Irish influence is in there, like my Westport Song, it's totally nailed-on trad, but I don’t do loads of them," he says.
“My favourite singer-songwriter, and I think this is where my album coming out this year is gonna show, is Billy Joel," he admits.
"And I don’t think you could nail a genre to him. I think the album is kind of similar to that, in a sense—big songs, but all kind of different.
“I have so much respect for musicians in a way that I don’t have for actors, even though I’m both, because there’s so little to be gained at all levels.
"The music industry is in such a bad state because there aren’t many rewards to be had. Whereas in acting, you’re paid well, and they look after you.
“The music industry has changed so much. It’s also debatable now whether a record deal is always worth it... I think I’m delighted with where I’m at now and the fact that we’re starting to sell out gigs all over the UK and Ireland.
“However, it’s taken longer than I think it should have.
"And I think part of the reason for that is how I approached it at the start. When I was 18, I moved to London and was playing in all these pubs, thinking, ‘You’ll build up a fan base that way.’ You do, of course, but not at the speed that you need to. Luckily, it’s coming through now.
“Acting is very linear. Roughly speaking, you go to drama school, you get an agent, and then, when you’re lucky enough, you get paid," he explains.
"Whereas music is the Wild West. There’s something great about that, and something I’m actually quite trepidatious about.
“I suppose the album took a couple of years to make. I started recording it in Belfast and finished it in London over two years.
"I’m really thankful that we’ve managed to tour around and start selling out places where I sometimes felt like I had no right to.
"Paddy’s Day this year, even though it’s a Monday, is the biggest headline gig I’ve ever done.
"The fan base we’re building is amazing, and the album—I’m just so proud of it. It’s truly and honestly me and my life…”
Niall McNamee appears at The Garage in Highbury on Monday, March 17.
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