Mundy headlines July Fest in Birr this weekend
Renowned singer/songwriter Mundy will headline his own music festival at July Fest this Sunday in Birr.
The music festival will take place in the County Arms Hotel in Birr and feature music from Paddy Casey, El Mush, Dara Molloy from Birr, Ger Eaton and Brownie Guinan from Ferbane. Mundy used to be in a band with the members of El Mush a number of years ago and Ger Eaton is in his band and will be performing his own original material at the event.
Speaking ahead of the festival, Mundy said: “I got approached by the County Arms to do a gig on my own. I've always kind of wanted to do something and bring something back to Birr. I ended up going to a charity dinner up in the County Arms one night, and I was sitting there and I was going, wouldn't it be amazing to invite some of my friends that I've met around the country and then some of the local acts that I'm still friends with and have a kind of a bash some night and see if it would grow some wings.” He told comedian Deirdre O'Kane about the festival and she told him to go for it.
The local singer added that his own song 'July' has grown every year since its release. “It's one of these things that kind of has had a life of its own, naturally, without any kind of push. It just kind of became an organic hit.”
Mundy will be playing for 90 minutes and Paddy Casey will perform for an hour whilst the remaining acts will take to the stage for about 25 minutes each.
“You're going to hear loads of songs, originals, covers. Paddy Casey has a great repertoire of albums with loads of hits and he's one of Ireland's biggest selling, artists ever."
“I've got a great line-up of musicians in my own band. I've got different people in my band that have played with me over the years from Jelly Legs (his first album) all the way up through to today.” Mundy's fiddle player Sarah Lynch has also performed with Ed Sheeran.
Mundy has close ties with many of the musicians and singers performing at Julyfest including Dara Molloy from Birr as Dara offered Mundy a gig during lockdown at the rugby club by the Camcor River in the town. “That part of Birr is where it was kinda like the playground of our youth. All sorts of shenanigans would've happened down that area in Birr and when I get stuck for inspiration, I can always go back to the well which is Birr.” Mundy added that the song 'Urban Dreams' from his newest album is all about Birr and life in a small town.
Speaking about his growing up in Birr, Mundy said that his parents owned a pub on the Main Street in Birr and then moved to another pub in Emmet Square when he was around 14 years old.
“Definitely, having grown up in the pub, it would've helped my sense of humour or turn of phrase.
“I would've picked up a lot of funny stories and met a lot of characters, good and bad. I think that gave me a free reign to kind of let loose and write my own lyrics and not be afraid that what I was saying wasn't perfect English.”
“When I started playing the guitar at 14, I kind of wandered the streets listening to what was good and what wasn't good and some bands kindly would let me up to play. “There was actually a market in Green Street in Birr that used to sell vinyl. I remember picking up a few albums, early Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, stuff like that, the Doors, so those bands were really a big influence on me.”
He also cited Bruce Springsteen as a major music influence who he met recently when he was performing in Ireland.
“I just went in to meet him and ended up having a very simple conversation about Dr Martens, believe it or not.”
Throughout Mundy's career there have been many highlights such as playing his own music in the White House in America for Barack Obama and Joe Biden back in 2014, playing support for Bob Dylan twice and Neil Young on one occasion and collaborating with Shane McGowan and U2 on different projects over the years. “I had a full blown chat with Joe Biden, not knowing who he was before he got introduced. I thought he was a security guy.”