Gracing the stages of all the major dancehalls, hotels and theatres must have been a major change for Paddy O’Brien from his young days working in a bacon factory in Cappoquin in West Waterford.
From a young age, his musical influences were Marty Robbins and Slim Whitman and he found their yodelling skills hugely impressive and so, Paddy found the perfect instrument to practice his yodelling in no less than a big steel 600-gallon diesel tank into which he would sing, producing a perfect echo across the valley in Aglish, Co Waterford when the diesel was down to a certain level. Slim Whitman’s ‘Indian Love Call’ was the first song he perfected, and yodelling remains one of Paddy’s trademarks to this day.
There were a number of occasions when his singing very nearly came to an end, the first time as a result of a motorbike accident, the second in 1981 which resulted in horrific injuries, causing his heart to stop beating for all of 18 seconds.
Around this time Paddy was running his own meat business from a shed in his back garden and had re-formed his band ‘Telstar’.
In 1983 Paddy’s big break came when he made his first cassette called ‘Easy Listening’ but his second cassette called ‘Mem’ries’ took him to new heights with promotion by Paschal Mooney on national radio. Operating as The Paddy O’Brien Band, numerous CDs and videos have since followed.
1988 saw him win the Gold Star Award which meany he went on to represent Ireland in the national finals in Holland. A trip to Nashville in 1989 meant Paddy was now firmly established in the world of Country Music.
Paddy is keenly looking forward to March 28 when he will join Mick Flavin, Olivia Douglas, Sandie Gubbins and The Ryan Turner Band in ‘The Best of Country’ at the Palace Theatre Fermoy, a night sure to please fans of good Country music everywhere.
Tickets are just €25 each from the theatre box office (025-32042), from either of the Avondhu offices in Fermoy (025-32227) or Mitchelstown (025-24451) or online from GR8events.ie.
