Roy Buckley

Roy Buckley interview 15th Nov 2010

This week saw me chatting with local singer songwriter Roy Buckley on Youghal radio. Roy Buckley was born in Cork City, Ireland on November 6th, 1986 and from a very early age he had a great interest in Irish and folk Music. Growing up in a musical family, Roy was constantly surrounded by folk songs and music with many of his family all active in playing music. He got his first guitar at 14 and since then has never looked back.

When I asked him how it all started and what his main influences were he responded by saying “my main influences are mostly folk groups and balladeers of Irish origin, such as The Dubliners, Luke Kelly, Jim McCann, Paddy Reilly, Ronnie Drew, Liam Clancy & Tommy Makem, The Fureys and Christy Moore among others, although he does think the likes of Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, The Eagles and Rod Stewart and The Beatles are brilliant! As he says himself, “a person or group can influence me in a few ways, it doesn’t have to be as passionate as Luke Kelly or brilliantly written by Phil Coulter or Jimmy Mac Carthy, it could be the style of the song or how a group can make it sound so unique.”
Roy is in constant demand, getting great acclaim for his live performances. Roy’s album “City By The Lee”, was a great success in 2009! Featuring a duet with George Murphy, who was one of the finalists on Your a Star on RTE TV, and collaborations with Irish Folk/Rock group the Black Donnelly’s, the album has some original songs as well as some old classics which Roy has made his own. The album was launched at a sold out Half Moon Theatre, in Roy’s hometown of Cork City.
Roy Buckley’s music has been dubbed as passionate and real and he creates an amazing atmosphere with the audience with his own unique sound of modern day folk. Roy’s knowledge of folk songs and the stories that go with them, combined with the vast amount he has in repertoire, have earned him affectionate names such as “The Human Ballad Book” and “The Irish Song Book” among friends in the music business!
Roy Buckley has been in the music scene for almost a decade now and has worked with and shared the same stage as some of the best the Irish music scene has to offer, including The Fureys & Davey Arthur, Aslan, George Murphy, Johnny McEvoy, Finbarr Furey, Bagatelle to name a few. He is currently working on putting a new album of songs together so keep an eye out for Roy or check out his website on www.roybuckleymusic.com