Belmont’s Brendan makes music debut with festive charity song

Belmont’s Brendan Davis has released his first song at the age of 68 called 'Santa's On His Way.'

Originally from Dublin, he first started playing the guitar in his late 40s and has since turned his hand to songwriting. When the pandemic hit, and people couldn't meet up for Christmas, he decided to write a Christmas song and share it with his family.

Speaking about the new single, Brendan's son Rob said: “It came about two years ago during lockdown. He's a very sociable person and missing out on Christmas with family was a big blow.”

“He has been the life of every family party since. Indeed, in recent years Brendan decided to take things up a notch and turn his hand to writing. To date, he has written in the region of twelve tracks."

Rob added that Brendan first recorded the song on his phone while his wife filmed him and then shared it with family on WhatsApp. “It's very catchy and everyone loved it.”

Rob said that he was lucky to get Ann and David Blake from the Limerick band Brad Pitt Light Orchestra involved and when he told them the backstory they wanted to be involved with the song.

“We had a fantastic time working on the song and recording it,” he said.

Rob produced the song and also performed guitar, percussion and backing vocals.

Brendan said: “During lockdown nobody was meeting up and I had an idea for a song. I had the tune in my head for a while and came up with some Christmas lyrics to go with it.

“I'd never sung in front of a microphone before I went into the recording studio. It was a great experience.

“I am absolutely blown away by the Blakes and Mike (mixing engineer) and how much they brought to my song, the end result is beyond my wildest dreams. They put a lot of extra work into it,” Brendan stated.

The single was recorded by Mike Gavin at TUS studios in Limerick.

Brendan performed live for the first time ever in an impromptu performance of the song at Banagher Shopping Centre recently when a number of local children asked him to sing.

"We were shopping there on Friday (last) and some local kids asked me to perform. I got a great reception from the children and teachers," said Brendan.

'Santa's on his Way' can be purchased on Bandcamp for just €2.

The proceeds raised from the song will be donated to the charity Minding Creative Minds. It is a free 24/7 wellbeing support programme for the entire Irish creative sector.