Niall McCabe’s album Rituals was released in February 2023 to critical acclaim. It featured as RTÉ’s Album of the Week, while the song Rituals topped the RTÉ radio airplay charts for five consecutive weeks. He is live in concert at the Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo on Friday, October 27
What are you up to?
I’m currently packing my van and getting it ready for the boat journey to the mainland ahead of my first ever solo Irish tour!
Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine?
Jealous Heart by Christie Hennessy. It’s a song about Ireland and how it can sometimes feel like a jealous yet unfaithful lover at times.
Which musician has most influenced you?
Too many to pick just one, but if you were to look at the play count on my iTunes and sheer number of albums then you’d have to put Van Morrison up there.
Who would be in your ideal band?
The Band
How did you get started in music?
My granny was a big influence in our house and played fiddle, melodeon and concertina. As a teenager then it was definitely the influence of my older brother Rory that drove us all to play music — he was absolutely the taste maker growing up and opened our ears to a lot of things we would have otherwise missed.
Coming from an island, off the coast of another island — how does that affect your perception of the world?
Yeah, I come from Clare Island. I think it gives you a very outward facing perspective. Sometimes this can make us feel a little like our backs are against the wall, but for the most part I think it makes for a pretty open-minded community.
Football or art galleries?
Art galleries by a country mile
What song being played at a party would make you leave immediately?
It would take more than that to get me out of a party!
What is your favourite place in Ireland?
Clare Island — nowhere else even comes close.
What would be your motto?
I don’t know…what’s the motto with you? (Love the Lion King)
If you were told musicians are no longer welcome in Ireland, where would you go?
I think I’d have to stay put and fight and join the resistance — it would probably make it even more fun if it was outlawed!
Mozart or Motorhead?
Mozart
Which living person do you most admire?
My mammy
Who will you thank in your Grammy award acceptance speech?
After my family and friends, I’d have to thank Guinness for getting me through so many pub gigs
If you weren’t a musician what other job would you be really good at?
I quite like baking and opened up a small cafe/bakery during the pandemic otherwise anything where I get to be creative and make stuff up
What's the worst piece of advice you've been given this year?
‘Don’t worry that’s perfectly safe to walk on.’
In terms of inanimate objects, what is your most precious possession?
My lovely Lowden guitar!
What’s the best thing about where you live?
How wild it is in the winter
. . . . and the worst?
How wild it is in the summer.
What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you?
I’ve learned in the past couple of years to enjoy and cherish gigs that don’t go so well because they’re the ones that I learn from and grow the most from.
What do you believe in?
I’ll give you the same answer I gave Cher: I believe in life after love
Who/what is the greatest love of your life?
Clare Island
