L.A. Beat

Irish singer Daniel O’Donnell grew up with music in his soul and a song on the tip of his tongue.

 O’ Donell performs a selection of songs from over his 30 year career at the Enmax Centre, Sept. 13.

 The Lethbridge will be one of 15 Canadian  tour dates including stops in Calgary, Edmonton and as well as Vancouver.

“I usually play in Canada once a year, but this is the most extensive tour I’ve done there in a while. It will be a very good tour,” he said, calling from his home in Ireland.
“ It’s been a terrific, great career, but it’s been a few years since I’ve been to Lethbridge,” said O’ Donnell.

He has be touring all over the world this year from the United Kingdom to the United States, plus Australia, New Zealand and even Sri Lanka.

He is touring in support of a new live album called “Back Home Again,” which he recorded for a PBS special and covers his extensive career including original songs, traditional Irish songs and old American country music.

The Irish singer made record-breaking chart history earlier this year by becoming the first recording artist in the history of the UK Artist Album Chart to have charted at least one new album every year since 1988, an unprecedented and unbroken 30-year span, surpassing everyone from Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Madonna and Irish strongholds U2.  Along with this, Daniel makes regular appearances in the Billboard World Music Chart.

 

 The latest CD, his fourteenth special for PBS, was released in April.

“We recorded it last August over three nights in Dublin for PBS last year,” he observed.

“ It has a lot of really great stories and songs and some great reels. It has some  of the highlights from my career. it is a really quite wonderful collection,” he continued.

 He noticed old country music comes naturally to him.
“ I love old Americana and country music. And there is a connection between traditional music and traditional Irish music  because  a lot of people who came  to America and Canada in the 1900s brought their traditional music with them and started playing it in honky tonks. There is a lot of similarity,” he said, adding storytelling has always been an integral part of both traditional North American and Irish songs.

“Music at céilidhs involves a lot of experimentation and soloing with is very akin to bluegrass music,” he said.

He will be performing with a full 10 piece band including long time vocalist Mary Duff.

“ It will be a lovely evening,” O’Donnell promised.

“I’m really looking forward to  being back in Lethbridge and I hope people will come out to the show,” he said.
Daniel O’Donnell performs at the Enmax Centre, Sept. 13, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $85, $75,and $65 or $105.25 with dinner.