Mike Scott of The Waterboys: My singing is raised up a notch when I'm in Cork City!

Mike Scott, founder of The Waterboys and writer of classic songs such as Whole Of The Moon and Fisherman’s Blues, recalls playing at Live At The Marquee fondly. “It was one of the best gigs of that era of the band, around 2015. I remember it clearly and I’ve still got a tape of the gig. A fantastic show, a fantastic audience, a fantastic atmosphere and everything. One thing I remember about it is drawing moustaches on the posters of the other artists backstage, I think it was Billy Idol and Van Morrison who got the moustaches!”

Just after we had our interview Mike and the rest of The Waterboys were starting a 26-date European tour before coming to Cork, but Mike quipped “It’s actually an extended rehearsal for the Marquee. For this particular tour, we are stripped back to be a five-piece band; there’ll be Brother Paul from Memphis on keyboards, he’s been with us for 10 years. James Halliwell, is also on keyboards, he’s been working with me on and off for even longer. Aongus Ralston from Dublin on bass — even though he’s partly a Kerry man really as he is one of the Begley family — and Eamon Ferris from Belfast on drums.”

Mike’s long-standing connection to Ireland is well known, most famously in terms of The Fisherman’s Blues album sessions where he spent the bones of six months in Spiddal House in Galway, with an ensemble of musicians that he had invited to join him. He had already written the songs, but he brought the musicians together to bring these songs to life. The sessions often started with jamming and improvisation, allowing the musicians to experiment and find new dimensions within the music. Scott encouraged an exchange of ideas, giving each musician space to contribute and collaborate, in turn showcasing the individual talents of the band members. The sessions took advantage of the natural acoustics and surroundings of Galway, as well as the more establish Windmill Lane Studio in Dublin. The more unorthodox settings include churches and old buildings, adding much to both the recording itself but also the camaraderie with the band. While based in Galway Mike befriended many other musicians and bands, and gave them help where he could. One such group was The Saw Doctors and he produced their first single, the smash hit N17.

While those times in Galway have long passed, Scott has been living in Dublin for the last decade, with that in mind it is hardly surprising that he has a deep understanding of why he likes playing in Cork. “I’ve never had quite got my bearings in Cork geographically, because the river goes round corners it seems. Some of the streets go round in strange curves, and I’ll never quite know where I am. But I like that, I like being lost in a great city. What I do understand is the atmosphere of Cork and the feeling of Cork, and I always like being here, I like being in Munster, the seat of poetry and music in Ireland. And I deeply respect the Munster poetry and musical tradition, which I’ve encountered it in many different forms. And I noticed when I’m in Cork, the capital of Munster, that my singing is slightly different. I’ve noticed on stage that there’s an extra something there’s something in the atmosphere here that inspires me in a particular way and my singing is raised up a notch when I’m in Cork City. I don’t know exactly what it is. I think it’s because it’s the capital of Munster and I’m sensitive to that and the four provinces each other a value or property. Connaught is knowledge, Ulster is war, Leinster is prosperity or hospitality and Munster is poetry and song. And I feel like when I’m here, I feel them in the land of poetry and songs.”

What I do understand is the atmosphere of Cork and the feeling of Cork and I always like being here

Mike’s association to Ireland predates his own artistic life. “My grandmother was a Gaelic speaker from the Scottish islands, so it’s part of my heritage. And I’ve been told that Donegal Irish is the closest to that Scottish Gaelic of Scottish, so the connection between the two is there.”

While Mike has travelled all over the world as a touring musician, he does make a distinction between those travels and those of when he is off duty. “I’ve been to Cork many times over the years as a ‘Civilian’, I went on holiday to Kinsale when I was 11 years old with my mother. I also remember being in Skibbereen for a week, staying in a rented cottage. And also driving around County Cork, particularly West Cork with my girlfriend at the time, Irene.”

Musically he remembers coming here first in 1986. “I came first with Steve Wickham — one of Mike’s longest-standing collaborators who retired from The Waterboys in 2021 — when friends of ours called We Free Kings were touring Ireland. And they played somewhere in Cork, and we were there, I can’t remember what the venue was called.”

Moving around Ireland and working with different Irish artists has seen him collaborate with Irish singer-songwriter Sharon Shannon when she joined forces with The Waterboys on their album Dream Harder. He has also shared studios or stages with people such as Hothouse Flowers’ frontman Liam Ó Maonlaí, traditional Irish singer Maura O’Connell, and more recently Katie Kim, who was involved with his 2011 album ‘An Appointment with Mr Yeats’.

Indeed the opening act for The Waterboys at Live At The Marquee will be David Kitt — whose new album Idiot Check came out this year, also featuring the vocals of Katie Kim, it was recorded by Kitt himself with his studio equipment as he moved around the world and was finished in an extended period of time ensconced in Ballinskelligs, bringing to mind The Waterboy’s earlier working methods.

The Waterboys concert on Sunday, June 18, is at the height of the summer and that atmosphere is one Mike is looking forward to. “I wouldn’t think too much about the weather when I’m picking the set, but I will think about the venue and the setting. And of course, the season and the weather plays into the events like Live At The Marquee, I will pick the songs accordingly.”

The Waterboys play Live At The Marquee on Sunday, June 18.