Singer David Gray has detailed the reasons why he loves the island of Ireland.
The Babylon singer, who is bringing his tour back to Ireland next year, spoke about this while shedding light on a chance run in with a Belfast busker, who was performing This Year's Love in the city centre, with footage of this going viral.
This took place in 2022, prior to Gray's first live show in over two years, with the singer in question named John Garrity, who was performing Gray's song, badly.
“That was a sweet moment", Gray said. “It was the day of the very first White Ladder anniversary show, with the extraordinary circumstances leading up to that gig of having had the whole tour cancelled and rebooked and rebooked".
He continued: “Finally the very first show was Belfast and I was just out for a walk to clear my head and this guy was singing".
“I went to check him out and I think there was a lyrical error and I’m quite pedantic, I made a correction. He won’t make that mistake again", he added. “So that was a sweet spontaneous thing, and the perfect thing that day. It lightened my load in a sweet way just before the gig!".
Speaking about Ireland, David Gray had nothing but love for the place, crediting the Irish fans for taking to him during his initial struggles to make the breakthrough.
Other struggles included being dropped by record label EMI, and having to record White Ladder at his home, before releasing it under his own label.
Gray's much celebrated album 'White Ladder', had struggled to become a hit initially, only bursting onto the scene when he rereleased it in 2000. It went down a treat in Ireland, selling 100,000 copies here, featuring hits like Sail Away. The album was also named in the UK's top ten bestselling albums of the 21sth century in 2019.
“I’d never been to Ireland until I came over to play my very first Irish show at the beginning of 1994,” says the singer. “I’d been recording with these musicians and said ‘I’m going over to Ireland’. They said ‘Dave you’re going to love it, this will change your life’.
“How little did I know how true that was. The shows just hit in a way they hadn’t hit anywhere else".
“Ireland has become such a big place for me. I think something exists in Ireland, north and south that doesn’t exist to the same extent in other western countries. I think there’s a passion and earthiness and connection to music and storytelling and poetry".
During his moments of uncertainty, Gray had wondered if he should give up music altogether.
“I was getting to the point before the White Ladder moment where I was thinking, ‘god this is hard work now. Banging my head off a brick wall for the next ten years, is this the path I want to take, do I want to go back to painting or something that’s less arduous’.
“But the bottom line was I thought I can do better. I can write better songs, I can make a better record, I can play better shows, the buck stops here so let’s just calm down and get on with this.
“It was hard and soul destroying at times but obviously it didn’t destroy my soul. I just carried on,” he added.
Now, Gray has released 13 albums, including the recently released, Skellig, which was inspired by Skelling Michael in Kerry.
2025 has been a busy one for Gray generally, having played 68 shows in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland as part of the Past & Present tour. He will also head over to Dubai and Australia, before picking it up again next year.
He said, “Looking back to that moment before it all came good, the bits that were sweet, the gigs in Ireland north and south were so special because in America and the UK it was hard".
“You have to play the long game. I’m going to do what I believe in and if it comes good for me again then it comes good for me again, and if it doesn’t then I’m still doing what I believe in".
David Gray will play at Belfast's SSE Arena on June 16, and Dublin's Fairview Park on 17 June next year.
