Tony Reidy was born in Aughagower near Westport, Country Mayo in the wild west of Ireland. Aughagower is an historic village where Pagans walked and St Patrick followed on his way to climb Croagh Patrick. He was reared on a small farm and his songwriting is very close to the soil. Tony Reidy is a man who has spent his life close to the land and its nature. It documents the plight of the people who work the land in Ireland, and maybe the plight of those people all over the world.

"I can still remember when first I heard Bob Dylan's "Like A rolling Stone", I was cutting thistles that day on my father's farm, and I couldn't get over it! The words, the music, the power of it all"! "I also remember Sweeney's Men who brought Irish, English and American old timey music together in one brilliant piece of vinyl".

Tony has been writing songs and poems ever since. "Once I got the songwriting bug I found I couldn't stop".

Tony's first CD, The Coldest Day in Winter (also available from Copperplate) was released in 2002, it featured many varied songs concerned with the land and the people. His classic song, Like A Wild Thing was taken from The CD to be the title track of another fine CD, by the Mayo based group, Ceide.

Now in 2006 Tony comes up with his second CD, A Rough Shot of Lipstick, more brilliant insightful songs about life in Mayo, the land, love, clowns, lipstick, an informer, a priest and himself.

The album was recorded in Paul Gurney's studio in Longford and produced by ex Dervish member, brilliant musician and producer, Seamie O'Dowd.

Copperplate is very proud to have this title on our roster and to help it achieve its full potential will be supporting this release with a full-scale promotional mail out to media and retail.

Also available from Copperplate: TRCD 001 TONY REIDY: The Coldest Day in Winter

Press Reviews

Songs about love, lipstick and clowns from Co Mayo

Like an earthier, more rural version of Damien Dempsey, the Mayo singer-songwriter's slightly wayward approach may grate with some. But on this second album- produced with striking intimacy by former Dervish multi-instrumentalist Seamie O'Dowd - he's written a mighty selection of songs that he delivers with almost leisurely understatement. O'Dowd contributes a nimble variety of arrangemenmts and instruments to add relative sophistication to what's essentially an old school singer-songwriter album.

It's very Irish and it may even sound dated, except heartfelt story songs of the quality of The Boy in the Gap, Sean sa Saggart, God Knows and Seventh Son will never date, shrouded as they are in a compelling, oblique sense of history, mystery and menace that's invariably offset by a keen ear for melody and chorus. Colin Irwin

Folk World #33

Tony Reidy, I do remember writing a review of his 2002 cd The Coldest Day in Winter. I liked that cd; it's sober and pure sound in the best singer-songwriter tradition. Now, five years later I find his new cd on my desk ready to get reviewed. The opening song immediately reminded me why I liked his music so much. No intro, he just starts singing and catches my attention from the first second. The boy in the Gap, as the song is called, is a strong piece of music for a reason I can't explain. I don't really understand the lyrics, but they do intrigue me terribly. Besides this kind of powerful songs, Tony Reidy also recorded some easier songs to listen to without loosing any of the quality. Fool for You is one of my favourites in that style, a love song that gives me a happy feeling. Followed by God Knows, which shows his Dylan side, a bit more melancholic and darker. Besides his strong vocal work, this cd is well produced and the musicians (Seamie O'Dowd, Paul Gurney and Kevin Doherty) are of high quality and add many extras to Reidy's songs. So Tony Reidy did it again, A Rough Shot of Lipstick is a great follow up on his earlier cd The Coldest Day in Winter and shows that he is ready for a much bigger international audience. Eelco Schilder

Irish Music Magazine May 07

I had the pleasure of reviewing Tony Reidy's first CD, The Coldest Day in Winter, which I enjoyed a lot, and it's great to see him back again with this new album, A Rough Shot of Lipstick. The songs are all his own, not only in words and music, but in their unique style of expression and music. If you are unfamiliar with Tony's songwriting, well, you can get an idea of his distinctive way with words in what he says of himself and his music. "I gather the seeds of these songs close to home," he says, "and around the West of Ireland. The sounds and words may fall on fertile

ground or on wasteland, it does not matter."

Home for Tony is Aughagower near Westport, Co. Mayo. He writes about home in one of the numbers, I'm a Mayo Man. You will possibly note that the title is an echo of the self-deprecating line a lot of Mayo people use when asked where they're from: "I'm from Mayo, God help us." So, assuming one knows about this line, he has fun with the song words, using self-mocking put-down lines like the following: I've come from the bogs of north Mayo / I come with the turf between my toes / I'm as proud a man as you could meet / I've swept many a woman off her feet. So the Mayo bog man has the last laugh!

He says he doesn't care on what sort of ground the seeds of his words may fall: "What matters is the continuation of the tradition of the bards, poets, storytellers and songwriters telling stories real and otherwise."

Tony's I'm a Mayo Man song is one of the 'real' songs he refers to, while the opening track, The Boy in the Gap, is an 'otherwise', a dreamlike and day-dreamy: She took to the bed / She'd given up the Ghost / Sayin' novenas for us all / Now and at the hour and livin' on toast. Of this song and some of the others, he says in his CD notes: "The boy in the gap still listens and waits. Sean na Sagart was an informer during penal times. The island boys come from Inisturk off the Mayo coast. The scarecrow and the wild goose are still around and still holding hands. The man with the soft heart is my friend. The fool, the clown and the seventh son are exchanging views and thankfully still doubting the truth." The album was recorded in Paul Gurney's studio in Longford and produced by Seamie O'Dowd, who, along with Paul, is also one of the session musicians. Kevin Doherty plays double bass. I wrote of Tony the songwriter in that first review: "He is a gifted painter of word pictures, and a dab hand at fitting lyrics to a well structured tune." Well, he's still at it, and like a good wine, improving with age. Aidan O'Hara

Froots April 07

Tony Reidy from Co Mayo is a highly promising singer-songwriter whose debut album The Coldest Day in Winter signified the arrival of a fine talent.Compositional kudos is bathed in an assured sense of delivery and timing with the lyrical emphasis on finely honed observations.

A Rough Shot of Lipstick, Reidy's second album, is shot through with his particular sense of vision. I'm A Mayo Man is an anthem for his locality as well as personal statement of ethnic pride. Island Boys recalls the local emigrants dislocated from home in the search of work abroad and If This Is Progress captures the instance of a maverick who is not afraid to stand up and be counted. Reidy's gravely vocals and seasoned delivery are framed in a sympathetic canvas from producer Seamus O'Dowd.

A lyricist of power and diversity - Tony Reidy stands out from the pack with another quality effort. John O'Regan

The Irish Democrat

TONY REIDY'S second album is packed full of well-crafted, perceptive songs of Mayo life, work, exile, love and betrayal, delivered in a style which, while unmistakably rooted in Irish folk traditions, displays a host wider musical influences, ranging from Dylan to Tex Mex and bluegrass.

Recorded in Paul Gurney's studio in Longford, the album is produced by ex-Dervish multi-instrumentalist and producer Seamie O'Dowd. Gurney (keyboards/piano/accordian) and O'Dowd (guitars/harmonica/mandolin/fiddle/bassvocals) accompany Reidy throughout as does Kevin Doherty (double bass).

He may not thank me for it, but there's much in Reidy's vocal and lyrical style which reminds me of Christy Moore.

By that, I do not mean that Reidy is in any way derivative or a pale imitation of the great man. His warm west-of-Ireland vocal sound is most definitely his own, while the songs, many of which display a bitter-sweet quality, represent as fine and original a collection as this reviewer has heard in a good while.

'Island Boys', for example, captures the mixed emotions born of feelings of inevitability and loss, tinged with transformation, brought about by the need of a small and remote island community to send its young across to the Irish mainland for schooling.

And there's something distinctly sinister about the priest in 'Seventh Son' with his "direct line to the man above" and claims to be able to "heal" all manner of ills while at the same time 'preying' on his flock's weaknesses and laying hands on their pockets as well as their ailing bodies and souls.

By way of contrast, the priest in Sean na Sagart, a song about spying and betrayal at the times of the penal laws, is treated with less ambiguity. But, while he is able to forgive the murdered traitor, those around him "the people" continue to reek their vengeance by digging up the the betrayer's bones and throwing them into the river.

In 'If This is Progress', Reidy is at his most caustic. The song is a indictment of the hypocrisy, greed and betrayal of politicians and church in modern Ireland, "... a nation that has nothing to say".

Tinged in the faded hopes of 60s radicalism the song points to the growing divisions between rich and poor and laments the bland corporate takeover which has accompanied the era of the so-called Celtic Tiger.

Yet it's not all doom and gloom and the love songs 'Fool For You' and the album's title track 'Rough Shot of Lipstick' are full of tenderness, humanity and subtle imagery.

Then there's the tragic-comic humour of 'Job as a Clown', where the subject gets turned down for the job despite having gone to circus school and being able to eat fire, walk on stilts, juggle and dance. "They could see it in my face/There's more to being a clown than clownin' around".

As with his debut album, The Coldest Day in Winter, several of the songs refer affectionately to his roots and life in Co. Mayo. The boys in 'Island Boys', come from Inisturk, off Ireland's west coast, Reidy informs in his liner notes, and you can almost feel the rain in the air and smell the peat bogs in 'The Boy in the Gap' and 'I'm a Mayo Man'.

This is a beautifully produced album from a fine songwriter who deserves to be better known. If he continues to produce albums of the quality of this, he surely will be. David Granville

Rock'n'Reel

For his second album, the Mayo singer-songwriter carries on singing about what he knows, and like fellow countrymen The Saw Doctors he makes no apologies for his rural background, instead rejoicing in the imagery and idiosyncrasies of rural living. His earthy vocals, and the rhythmic drive of his guitar on the statement-of-intent 'Mayo Man' supplement the warmth of his delivery and lyrical content: 'I've come from work in Ceide fields, I come with Michael Davitt 's dream'.

This is unmistakably the work of a singer-songwriter from Ireland, as the title track, a Gallic accordion-flavoured grower demonstrates, rather than something from the Irish tradition. His influences offer a nod Stateside in the direction of Mr Zimmerman on the appealing 'God Knows1 while he!s darker and accusatory on the insistent 'If This Is Progress' which goes hunting that mythical Celtic Tiger with a vengeance.

He sings in praise of the other side of Ireland's 'economic miracle1 on the nimbly picked grower, 'Hard Hat Soft Heart', and closes with the decidedly odd Job As A Clown' on which a grumbling double bass and mandolin vie for your attention over Reidy's doleful delivery. A refreshing take on the singer-songwriter genre. Danny Moore

Taplas, The Welsh Folk Magazine

A slightly more contemporary feel to Tony Reidy's second CD, A Rough Shot of Lipstick: this time only Ceide's double bass player Kevin Doherty is in evidence; otherwise instrumental duties are mainly fulfilled by producer and ex Dervish man Seamie O'Dowd and sound recordist Paul Gurney (both of whom were responsible for Ceide's recent Out of their Shell). Many of the songs here are destined to be covered by others.

The Living Tradition Jan/Feb 07

The follow-up to 2002's 'The Coldest Day In Winter by this distinctive Co Mayo singer and guitar/mandolin player, Reidy's damascene moment came on hearing Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone. There's no doubt he's also heard 'Girl From The North Country and Not Dark Yet' but he's nothing to fear from such influences; his take on matters singer/songwriterly is twisted and left field enough to make everyone sit up and take notice.

Produced by Seamie O'Dowd with a sure touch that playing with Dervish and Mary McPartlan has honed. Lipstick is an album to spark the imagination and says a lot about the time and space its creator comes from. A windswept, desolate north-west coast of Ireland is reflected in this CD- it's dark hours and small triumphs. The view from Reidy's window is surely a bleak one at times.

With emotive phrasing, and an affecting lyricism the album gives voice to a series of personal narratives that are at once unsettling and insightful. His grounding provides a potent base of traditional sounds, highlighted in these intense, almost claustophobic tales of informers, small town romance, dreamers, losers and yes, a failed clown!

Music for a messed-up Celtic Tiger then? Well at the very least, a lesson in the power of sincerity and one for all those who have a weakness for beauty when it's bruised. Clive Pownceby

Irish Dancing & Culture Feb 07

The thing that strikes you most about this CD is the presentation.The CD itself is designed like an LP, It's a great design!Tony Reidy was born in the North West of Ireland In County Mayo. This CD is insightful in the way it has been composed, the album evokes emotion: Tony clearly writes his songs from the heart about his homeland and people he has met along the way. The songs are lyrical, poetic; ultimately they are different. This is the kind of music that will be cherished by those who know Tony, along with those who don't- For the people of Mayo this compilation tells a story of an ordinary lad from their county, it will be around for years. Worth a listen! Leanne Nelson Fab Rating * * * *

The Irish World 24th Dec 06

REIDY WITH A ROUGH SHOT OF LIPSTICK

DESCRIBING his second offering, singer-songwriter Tony Reidy from Westport, Co Mayo says: "I gathered the seeds of these songs close to

home and the West of Ireland.

The sounds and words may fall on fertile ground or on wasteland, it does not matter. What matters is the continuation of the tradition of the

bards, pilots, storytellers and songwriters telling stories, real and otherwise."

A Rough Shot of Lipstick' was recorded in Longford, in the studio of Paul Gurney and, savs Reidy, "has songs about Mayo, an informer, love,

lipstick, clowns and myself". Produced by ex Dervish member Shamie O'Dowd, the album contains arrangements and vocal's that echo Tom

Waits, Dylan (in fact the first piece of music that moved Reidy was 'Like A Rolling Stone').

These songs don't fit neatly onto the 'fiddly-dee' shelf and reveal not only Reidy's diverse influences but his musical spirit of adventure.

A lyrical and expansive collection by an accomplished storyteller.

www.netrhythms.com

Born in a small village near Westport, Co Mayo, Tony's introduction to songwriting came on hearing Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone and he's been writing ever since!

But his first CD didn't appear until 2002; The Coldest Day In Winter was an impressive debut by any account, featuring an attractive body of work that focused thoughtfully and compellingly on human interaction with country life.

Album number two here continues that strand of writing, with if anything a little more in the way of contemporary edge, on 11 brand new typically insightful songs. Tony's particularly strong suit is the heartfelt, as on Seventh Son and Hard Hat Soft Heart, both of which in subtly different ways explore and lay bare the emotions that hide not far beneath the surface of an outwardly strong character, and the touching (if ultimately ambiguous) quasi-love-song Fool For You.

Perhaps Tony's darkest thoughts on this disc come with the desperate meditations of If This Is Progress and God Knows. But he's also a master of quiet observation, as Sean Na Sagart, the tale of an informer against priests (with an apt and appealingly modal setting) and Island Boys, which simply yet sensitively examines the emotional situation of local lads sent to school on the mainland, both prove. Tony can let his hair down too though, as on the delicious "bog bayou" of I'm A Mayo Man, which takes a different (more humorously self-deprecating) slant on his sense of local pride.

Tony's got a distinct talent for finding a natural musical rhythm in his lyrics (does this emanate from his gaining inspiration from Dylan I wonder? - the title track sounds a bit like His Bobness essaying a Parisian chanson style), but I also hear shades of Al Stewart in Tony's facility with melody and overall approach to phrasing, as on The Boy In The Gap. Not only is Tony's way with words very attractive, but his fluid and conversational expression of those words (he has a naturally musical singing voice) will instantly win him admirers I'm sure.

Instrumental support for Tony is extremely effective, albeit from just three fine musicians: the multi-skilled Seamie O'Dowd (guitars, mandolin, fiddles, harmonica), Kevin Doherty (double bass) and keyboardist Paul Gurney (who's also responsible for the wonderfully clean production). This is another of those CDs whose easy appeal is deceptive and belies the depth of the craftsmanship within; it's also a very satisfying disc to revisit, which I've done often in spite of more pressing engagements! David Kidman

WWW.IRISHMUSICREVIEW.COM

this new album is still underpinned by heartfelt moments of existential angst (and nobody in Ireland writes these better than Reidy), Geoff Wallis

HOT PRESS

"If at least one of these thoughtful, well-crafted original songs doesn't take root and grow into lasting life, there's no justice". Sarah McQuaid Eight/Ten

The Irish Times

"Songwriting with "attention to detail that hints at a task lovingly undertaken" Siobhán Long

The Mayo News

"Tony Reidy knows his roots