Jools Holland And His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, The Christians, Ronan Keating, The Staks Band and Geno Washington performing at The Cornbury Music Festival on Sunday 10th July 2022.

Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

Sunday was bound to be an emotional day for both the crowd and the organisers of the Cornbury Music Festival with it being the final day of the last ever Cornbury, so it was a day tinged with sadness but with many musical memories made.

With the first Festival having taken place in 2004, it was all meant to end in 2017. However, promoter and director Hugh Phillimore was persuaded to reverse the decision. It was last held in 2019 before being postponed twice because of the pandemic and it is believed that this had a huge impact upon the Festival’s financial security.

With a forecast that the day would be one of the hottest of the year, the water stands were doing brisk business as were the bars, but there was a huge crowd to witness Geno Washington possibly perform live for the very last time, having indicated that at the age of 78, he will be hanging up his mic.

Washington excelled on the Songbird Stage along with his three piece band, showing that he still has all the banter, gentle humour and professionalism that he has maintained throughout his musical career. He stated that because this was the last Cornbury he was going to sing to the beautiful people in the crowd, but added that the ugly ones could listen in too, and the crowd immediately loved him.

Showcasing his smokey blues voice and his big grin, his performance never stopped giving. The legendary soul man belted out Road Runner, a great version of Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, and Jumpin’ Jack Flash that had the crowd doing just that despite the heat, and his version of I Feel Good which was a real highlight. And when he let rip with a stunning Mojo Ain’t Working, he personified the Blues.

To the sound of the crowd shouting “Geno, Geno”, he left the stage and like the Cornbury Festival, he will be leaving a massive hole to fill.

The Staks Band has been a staple of the Cornbury Festival line-up for many years and so it was fitting that they played the Pleasant Valley Stage on the final day of the Festival. With so many band members on stage, it was impossible to count them all especially since they refused to stand still.

They were a perfect fit for a hot sunny afternoon as the top notch set of musicians including drummer Mike Sturgis, ran the gambit of their soul and R & B classics which had the crowd on side from the off. But the whole thing about The Staks band is that they know how to greatly enhance their set by inviting guests to join them on stage. And this year was no exception.

The lovely Madeline Bell came forward to deliver a fantastic version of You Keep Me Hangin’ On, much to the delight of the crowd, before she introduced Steve Winwood, a real musical legend. Delivering a modest outing of a few songs that enthralled, he also managed to squeeze in the likes of a splendid Higher Love and a clearly emotional Whiter Shade Of Pale in a moving tribute to the late Gary Brooker. Winwood still has his incredible vocals, enhanced by the outstanding musicianship of The Staks Band and when the distinctive organ notes ushered in Gimme’ Some Lovin’, the crowd knew that they were in the presence of a genius.

Staying exactly where they were, the crowd were happy that in the scorching heat they did not have to walk up the hill to the Songbird Stage for the next act. Instead they were allowed to take a breather and wait for what the younger members of the crowd had been anticipating, the front man of boy band Boyzone, Ronan Keating.

With the Dublin singer promising to deliver all the hits, he opened with new song Heyday, but after that he certainly delivered. Having been booked for the 2020 Cornbury Festival he took the time out to commiserate with the crowd and agree that the pandemic had certainly been an uncertain time for everyone.

There was a mass sing along for the likes of Loving Each Day, Breathe and Isn’t It A Wonder before he slowed things right down for a cover of Tracey Chapman’s Baby Can I Hold You, the Bee Gee’s Words and Anne Murray’s You Needed Me, that had the crowd swaying, arms aloft as they sung every word.

With his charismatic between song banter, he really engaged with the crowd. And when he delivered a fantastic cover of Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl, the crowd forgot that they were in a field, under the blazing sun as they belted out the words.

There was not a single complaint when he announced that he was going to extend his set and as he melted into Boyzone’s No Matter What, magnificently coloured hot air balloons ascended above the stage, filling the sky with a cacophony of colour, undoubtedly saying goodbye to what has been an incredible run of Festivals.

Love Me For a Reason and When You Say Nothing At All are highlights on a Keating set list and Sunday night was no exception. Love Me For A Reason filled the Festival arena before Billy Ocean’s When The Going Gets Tough and Life Is A Rollercoaster brought a set that this crowd had been waiting too long for, to a too soon end.

Up the hill to the Songbird Stage to hear the band whose set was half an hour later than planned because of Keating’s extended set. It was The Christians who had been selected to close the Songbird Stage for the final time, and what an incredible choice that turned out to be.

With their vocals and harmonies as smooth as ever, songs like Ideal World, Forgotten Town and When The Fingers Point had all stood the test of time. A funky break-out into Papa Was A Rolling Stone was exceptional and when front man and original founder member, Gary Christian dedicated The Beatles classic, Here Comes The Sun to George Harrison, the hot and sweaty crowd showed their appreciation.

With a set that was all too short, The Christians had bowled over this Cornbury crowd and had made that walk up the hill well worth the effort. Closing the set with Hooverville and The Isley Brothers cover, Harvest For The World, the Songbird Stage was finally and reluctantly retired.

Following a speech from Hugh Phillimore who thanked the fans for their support, it was the boogie woogie supremo that is Jools Holland who was given the task of bringing the Cornbury party to an end. Delivering a master class in how to tickle the ivories, he launched into a couple of numbers that served as a rigorous warm up for his eighteen piece band who exuded talent from every pore.

One of his backing singers, Louise Marshall was given a solo spot and her soulful take on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary really entertained the crowd. Up next was Eddie Reader who delighted with her 1988 Fairground Attraction number one hit, Perfect, which is exactly what it was.

Jools Holland was a former member of punk pop band, Squeeze, and so it was a pleasant surprise that current member, Chris Difford was invited on to the stage where he got the crowd singing with their hits Take Me I’m Yours and Cool For Cats, which was stupendously given the orchestral treatment.

But it was when Holland’s long time friend Ruby Turner stepped onto the stage that the crowd knew that they were in for a fabulous climax to a set that will go into the Cornbury history books. With a voice that is so powerful that it could be heard in another county, the evening was brought to an end with her version of Peace In The Valley.

With a firework display and the playing of The Walker Brothers melancholic No Regrets, the flags at Cornbury were lowered and the fairy lights were switched off for the very last time, leaving the crowd to walk back to their tents with the memories of what has always been a great music festival.

It will be sorely missed.

Ronan Keating performing his All The Hits Tour at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Monday 13th June 2022.

Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

Ronan Keating was back at the Royal Concert Hall on Monday night to celebrate twenty two years as a solo artist and to showcase the release of his lockdown albums, Twenty Twenty and Songs From Home.

As the lead singer with one of the biggest ever Irish boy bands, he needed no introduction. Accompanied by a six piece band, when he walked on to the stage dressed all in white, the screams from the predominantly female crowd were deafening.

Despite the Dublin singer promising all of his hits, he did open the proceedings with new song Heyday, but after that he certainly delivered.

Lovin’ Each Day induced the evening’s first sing along and with everyone on their feet where they remained for the entire evening; he followed up with the likes of Isn’t It A Wonder and the delightful Breathe.

Slowing things right down for a cover of Tracey Chapman’s Baby Can I Hold You, the Bee Gees’ Words and Anne Murray’s You Needed Me, the crowd swayed, arms aloft as they sung every word right back at him.

The set list was peppered with classic hits from his Boyzone catalogue, such as No Matter What, One More Song and Picture Of You, which took the crowd on a trip down memory lane.

With his charismatic between song banter, he really engaged with the crowd and whilst there was a fantastic version of Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl, the show felt a little flat. Keating hadn’t delivered anything different or exciting and although this was a tour to celebrate his greatest hits; some of those hits have been around for twenty two years.

With record sales declining, Keating is undoubtedly a great live entertainer, and with his soft Irish lilt, he had the crowd hanging on his every word. And when he launched into When The Going Gets Tough and set closer Life Is A Rollercoaster, he was rewarded with a well earned standing ovation.

Shane Lynch, singer song writer with Boyzone, chats with Kevin Cooper about Boyzone’s 25th anniversary, being a petrol head, wanting to record a Boyzone hip-hop album and playing Derby’s 3aaa County Ground.

Shane Lynch is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor and professional drift driver, but is best known as a member of Boyzone. In recent years he has taken up auto racing, participated in reality shows, and appeared as a judge on The All Ireland Talent Show.

In 1993, music manager Louis Walsh, held auditions in Dublin to find a new boyband to rival British group Take That. Lynch was eventually selected, and before even recording any material, he and five other successful hopefuls made their infamous appearance on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne. Although their performance was criticised by the Irish press, the band became one of the most successful pop bands in Ireland. Lynch quickly became the most distinctive member due to his body piercings and tattoos

Whilst Boyzone never officially disbanded, they failed to release a single after until 1999, when they completed a 29 date reunion tour in 2007 and released their comeback single in 2008, Love You Anyway, which was followed by a Greatest Hits album entitled Back Again… No Matter What released on 13 October 2008.

Lynch has become an actor in recent years. In 2004, he played Eli Knox the chairman of Harchester United in the Sky One football drama, Dream Team. He has also appeared several times in pantomime.

A keen motor racing enthusiast, Lynch raced a Marcos, TVR and then Mosler from 2002 to 2006 for the Eclipse Motorsport team in the British GT Championship, and is now involved in drifting, competing in the British Drift Championship.

Whilst busy preparing for some autumn gigs with Boyzone, he took time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.

Shane good morning, how are you?

A top of the morning to you Kevin. I’m very well thank you, how are you this fine morning?

I’m very well thank you and let me just thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.

My pleasure indeed, thank you sir.

And just how is life treating you today?

I have got to say that life is pretty wonderful right now. I am feeling fresh from the sunshine having just spent the last couple of months over in Portugal on holiday. I am now back in the UK; me and the boys are back in rehearsals getting ourselves ready for the upcoming gigs so I have to say that it is good times right now.

You have mentioned the forthcoming gigs; you will be playing The 3aaa County Ground in Derby on Saturday 16^th September, are you looking forward to that? Is it always fun when you and the boys get back together?

Yes it is. We have been hanging out together over the past couple of days working through songs in an attempt to put together a set list and I have to say that it just keeps getting easier (laughter). We jumped into the rehearsal studios yesterday and before we knew it we had got a ninety minute show all sorted out. We only had to play it twice and we all knew exactly what we were doing. It was so easy, it’s brilliant (laughter).

What can the crowd expect?

I have to say that from my point of view the performance at The 3aaa County Ground in Derby will be nothing short of spectacular. We will be performing all of our hits including No Matter What, Love Me For A Reason, Words, Father And Son, All That I Need, Isn’t It A Wonder, Baby Can I Hold You, Picture Of You and many more. We want the crowd to come along, singalong, feel good and go home with a smile on their faces. If they do that then we will have done a good job.

I have to tell you that I have photographed you three times now and I enjoy the show every time that I see you.

Thanks for that; it’s always good to hear that we are doing something right. However, I have to own up with you and say that we often get very silly and very giddy especially on photo shoots so let me apologise for any nonsense that used to go on because once we are together for more than three hours it all starts to get very silly and from that point we don’t get any constructive work done actually (laughter).

When I was reading your biog I was shocked to see that next year 2018 will be the bands twenty-fifth anniversary. Can you believe it?

(Hysterical laughter) I have to say that I don’t particularly feel as though I have been in the music business for twenty-five years (laughter). I really don’t feel that at all. Boyzone was a blink of an eye back in the 90s for sure, and then rummaging through the noughties into what we are now, the teens and now before you know it next year we are coming out with this twenty five years of Boyzone. It has been a crazy kind of journey for sure and it really doesn’t seem that long at all.

Have you enjoyed the ride?

I think that like any life there should be lots of highs and lows along the way both within the musical side of things and in life in general. But I guess that you can’t really appreciate and understand the highs if you don’t know what the lows feel like if you know what I mean. You have to appreciate both sides of your living and certainly when we lost Stevo back in 2009 there were lots of questions that the rest of us had to face; should we continue or was that the end of Boyzone.

Looking back to 2009, Boyzone continuing without Stephen (Gately) was that the right decision?

It was a very hard time for us when Stevo passed away. It was definitely hard for the rest of us to make that decision. If we decided to carry on then just what was the right way for us to do that. However, I personally am delighted that we went forward as a four piece and continued Boyzone and in our eyes Stevo will always be there; he will always be with us. Regardless of whether you see him physically standing with us on stage or not, he is still very much in our music.

I recently asked Ronan (Keating) about Stephen’s passing and he said that in his opinion it came very close to calling time on Boyzone.

Yes it did, it really did. We were all just so unsure what life without Stevo would be like. It was a very difficult decision for us all to make.

Would I be correct in saying that it was Stephen himself who finally helped you make the decision to carry on?

Yes you would, that is perfectly correct. We were at that time in the process of making a new studio album and in fact we were mid-flow and had already recorded Stevo’s vocals. So we decided to finish the album in honour of him, completing the album which was eventually called Brother. Completing that album gave us all strength and we realised that we were in fact all better together and reminded us of all the great times that we have whenever we come together and all of the fantastic stories and memories being together bring. Nowadays we all get together for Stevo more than anything else. So in answer to your question I have to say that if we had not been working on a new studio album when Stevo passed away, that would have most definitely been the end of Boyzone.

And as you have quite rightly said, Stephen is always there with you.

Yes he is, he is always in our music and he always will be. Whenever I am in the studio I will always say “wouldn’t it be great to have Stevo on that part of the record” so yes, he is forever there.

Ronan assured me that 2018 is going to be a very special year for Boyzone, would you agree?

(Laughter) yes it is, it really is but I can’t tell you what (laughter). We are currently working everything out at the moment, exactly what we will be doing and let me assure you that the negotiations are in really good hands. There is a lot of really positive stuff being discussed at this moment in time. It was only the other day we did a photo shoot for the new album which we are currently making, so it is all going really well. We are pushing forward with a whole new Boyzone sound, Boyzone album, Boyzone tour and a Boyzone 2018 (laughter).

Will you be coming to see us here in Nottingham next year?

Listen, we will take in everywhere that we can possibly get. It’s easy for an artist not to come to a place but that’s not the case with Boyzone. The problem is that if the venue is not available then we can’t kick someone out. We love to play live and we most certainly love to play there in Nottingham. Our tours will continue as long as we can possibly make them but at the end of the day it all has to be logistically possible as well. In many ways the record industry has at this moment in time gone very silly and that is one of the reasons why it is difficult nowadays to tour. We love playing the arenas and if the arenas are available then we have to try to tour that year. However, if they are not available at that given time then unfortunately we cannot play those particular towns. That is why planning a tour can be difficult.

I know that you like cars but just how did you get involved in drifting?

Back in the late nineties I started to get back into my heritage. You have to remember that I was a car mechanic long before I got involved in music. I had received an offer from Ford Motor Sport to drive one of their rally cars and that kind of sparked my interest into getting into motor sport. However, I wasn’t particularly interested in rally cars, the car could certainly go faster but I personally didn’t really want to go faster. I was quite happy being at the level where I was, driving as fast as I felt comfortable and enjoying the experience. However, I knew that I was never going to win any championships so I left the rally cars behind, moved over to circuit racing and really enjoyed it.

However, when it came to the fun of motor sport, drifting came into my life around about 2005 or 2006. I have to say that it just blew my mind, the capability of a car and a driver, so that is what I have been doing now for the past ten years. It gave me great enjoyment together with great pleasure in the world of motor sport. There was no chequered flag business, it is the extreme of motor sports. It is a big show, a big party and it is crowd participation to the point where you are there to entertain, not just win but to entertain and I think that’s what I like about it.

So you really don’t mind being called a petrol head?

No, not at all, I was most definitely born to be a petrol head without a shadow of a doubt (laughter). I am a petrol head before I am a musician.

You have more recently been seen on National Geographic’s Supercar Megabuild and being a self-confessed petrol head that must suit you down to the ground?

(Laughter) yes it does, it really does and what a great opportunity for me. I appeared on Series One as a guest and the channel themselves really enjoyed my episode so much that they asked me to go along and appear in Series Two. And without a shadow of a doubt I grasped that opportunity with both hands. The experience of building cars for clients together with me having a boss was something that I loved doing and it was a totally enjoyable experience for me. I was totally impressed that the National Geographic Channel were prepared to take a chance on me. Here I am stood covered from head to toe in tattoos and I imagine that I am not their normal type of presenter for their clientele but it worked globally and the show has been a huge success.

It’s perhaps your ideal job when faced with life after Boyzone?

Yes most definitely. I think that cars are something that I will forever be involved with. I currently own a few workshops not just here in the UK but dotted around the world. I also build race cars and custom build cars for other people so that is what I kind of do.

On the subject of outside interests you have recently opened The Elk & Clipper, a 1920’s themed Barber Shop. How is that going?

(Laughter) that is going really well at the moment, so well in fact that we now have five branches of The Elk & Clipper. I also have an online shoe store called Amen Shoes and I am just about to open my own tattoo shop so as you can see at this moment in time business is good for me. I am forever getting myself involved in new ventures.

But I have to say that at this moment in time you are not a very good advertisement for your own product are you?

(Hysterical laughter) for me I think that in terms of barbers shop’s I am forever changing my looks with my beard, my hair, going from a skinhead to long hair (laughter). With the greatest of respect in terms of my tattoo shop there is not much skin left on me to tattoo any more (laughter).

You are well known for your tattoos so I have to ask you, are there any that you wish you hadn’t had?

No, I really don’t think that there are any that I wish I hadn’t got. However, I am certainly tattooing over tattoos at the moment but that is generally to do with faded art work. I have been getting myself tattooed since I was fifteen years old so as you can imagine some of my tattoos are a bit old and out of date so I am just getting tattoos on tattoos now (laughter).

Will you be appearing in panto this year?

Yes I am doing panto this year which is up in York at the Barbican Theatre where I will be playing The Sherriff of Nottingham. This year is just a short run, I will be there from 20^th December until the 31^st and it is going to be so good.

Being based here in Nottingham I have to tell you that The Sherriff wasn’t all bad (laughter).

Well thanks for that advice (laughter). I have to tell you that I’m not all bad either (laughter). I played The Prince in panto for many years now; it must be fourteen years now so playing The Sherriff is not my first big job (laughter). I have been in them all, Snow White, Cinderella, Aladdin, Hook, all that kind of stuff but this is the first time that I have played The Sherriff of Nottingham so I am really looking forward to it.

What was the first record that you bought?

The very first album that I ever bought was Straight Outta Compton by the American hip-hop group N.W.A. back in 1988.

Who did you first see playing live in concert?

That was UB40 at The Point in Dublin around 1990.

What was the last song or piece of music that made you cry?

Wow I didn’t see that coming. I have to say that I honestly don’t know. A lot of hip-hop doesn’t make you cry (laughter). I will let you into a secret, I’m personally not into that kind of love song kind of ballads even though I have been in Boyzone all my life (laughter). I don’t really get that stuff (laughter).

So now you have let the cat out of the bag Shane, will there be a change in musical direction for Boyzone, and will we be seeing a reggae or hip-hop album being released next year (laughter).

Listen, if I could get my way the boys would be coming straight out of the American hood (laughter). They would be deep into rock central (laughter). However, it’s never going to happen is it (laughter).

On that point Shane let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me today, it’s been fantastic.

Thank you so much Kevin, you have a good day. Take care and bye for now.

Ronan Keating performing his Time Of My Life tour at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Thursday 22nd September 2016

Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

As the lead singer with one of the biggest ever Irish boy bands, Ronan Keating has been a familiar face on the music scene since the early 90s, and the Royal Concert Hall was packed to capacity last night, proving that there is still very much a following for the Dublin singer.

With a six piece backing band kicking off the set with a musical introduction, Keating appeared on stage to the first excited screams of the evening, and unleashed the title track of his latest album, Time Of My Life. As audible shouts of “I love you Ronan” were heard throughout the auditorium, proving that older women can scream just as loud for their musical heroes as any teen; Keating kept them on their feet with his early single, Lovin’ Each Day.

Dressed all in black with a scarf hanging from his back pocket, Keating still looked every inch the boy band heartthrob. He has been releasing his own solo material on and off since the early 2000s, and during that time he has done a lot of maturing. Showcasing nine tracks from his latest album, which he explained he had spent most of 2015 writing, might have been a mistake. But luckily for Keating most of this lively audience had heard the new songs before and were not shy at singing along to them.

He treated this eager audience to both singles from the new album; Let Me Love You and the delightful, Breathe. Landslide was followed by the Nashville inspired As Long As We’re In Love, before an effort was made to replicate Keating’s kitchen, with six stools for himself and the band members brought to the front of the stage as they delivered The Way You Make Me Feel and another new track, She Knows Me.

The set list was peppered with classic hits from his Boyzone days including Father And Son and One More Song. If Tomorrow Never Comes had the crowd singing along as did When You Say Nothing At All. There was a fantastic cover of Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl, which went down a storm before he closed the main set with Life Is A Roller Coaster.

With a voice that like the man is showing none of its age, and with his charismatic on stage banter, he left this audience wanting more. On this showing it was pretty safe to assume, that this Nottingham crowd had had the time of their lives.

Ronan Keating, singer songwriter and member of Boyzone chats with Kevin Cooper about the 25th anniversary of Boyzone, working with Burt Bacharach, his latest album The Time Of My Life and his forthcoming tour

Ronan Keating is an Irish singer songwriter, and musician. He debuted in 1994, alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the lead singer of Irish boy band Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999 and has spawned nine albums. He gained worldwide attention when his single When You Say Nothing At All was featured in the film Notting Hill and peaked at number one in several countries. As a solo artist, he has sold over twenty million records worldwide alongside the twenty five million records with Boyzone, and in Australia he is best known as a judge on The X Factor and now a coach on The Voice.

Keating is active in charity work and has been a charity campaigner for the Marie Keating Foundation, which raises awareness for breast cancer and is named after his mother, who died from the disease in 1998.

Recently back from Australia he took the time to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.

Hi Ronan how are you?

I’m good Kevin are you well?

I’m very well thank you and let me thank you for taking the time to speak to me.

Not at all Kevin it’s a pleasure.

How is life treating you?

Life is good and we have just got back from Australia a couple of days ago. I was down there doing The Voice and I have hit the ground running now that I am back in the UK. I am getting myself ready for the tour; it’s going to be a frantic six months (laughter).

So you are going to be very busy?

Yes big time man, really busy. But that’s good though as I don’t mind working.

Let’s talk about your latest studio album The Time Of My Life. I absolutely love it.

Thanks man that’s really good of you to say that. It took me a year to make the album and I am really proud of it.

My favourite track is She Knows Me.

That’s great. I have to say that I am really proud of the album and I love that track too.

Are you pleased with just how well the album has been received?

Yes I am. It is a very personal record for me and putting it out there whilst wearing my heart on my sleeve was for me a very big commitment. It has been such a personal journey for me. It was a big risk but hopefully the fans have accepted the album.

I would go so far as to say that it is your best solo work to date. Would you agree with that?

I would actually yes. It is the first time that I have cleared the decks like that, taking a whole year out to make a record. It just poured out of me and I was very much inspired to create something that was new and fresh and this album came from that. I have to say that it was a very rewarding process. I have learnt a lot about myself over the last two years as a writer, a performer and as a singer and I think that because of that I was able to come up with that piece of work.

What is it like having your better half working with you?

(Laughter) oh man, what a treat that was. I have to be totally honest with you and say that it happened by accident. It was very organic really and it certainly wasn’t planned. I was writing the album in the house and Storm was there in the kitchen humming harmonies and singing backing vocals so we just started putting down some demos. Before I knew it she was on the album (laughter). It was great and it was wonderful how it happened.

Now that the album has been well received and you are about to embark upon the forthcoming tour, when do you start thinking about the follow-up album. How far ahead are you looking?

To be honest I am writing all of the time. Next year I want to clear the decks and I want to travel. After this crazy year I feel that the whole family should take some time out and do some travelling. I would love to travel with the family; take my guitar with me and do some writing while we are travelling. That sounds like heaven to me (laughter). It will be a perfect environment for me to write the new album.

Do you still get that buzz out of touring?

Yes, very much so it’s my favourite thing to do. I can’t wait to get out there on the tour bus and spend six exciting months out there on the road performing. I am honestly very much looking forward to it.

After touring with Boyzone for many years what was it like the first time that you stepped onto a stage on your own?

It was quite a daunting thing because I was used to having that security of a band around me and then all of a sudden that was gone. I really did feel exposed. It was to be honest pretty frightening. With Boyzone I had created a band around me but now being out there on my own I feel that I have got stronger and stronger as a solo artist and I really do love it now.

Which do you prefer, solo or with the band?

To be honest they are totally different things; totally different animals and so I would have to say that I enjoy them equally. I now enjoy being out there as a solo artist just as much as I enjoy being out there with the band.

On the subject of Boyzone is there anything on the horizon?

Next year will be the 25^th anniversary of Boyzone and we are looking at celebrating that somehow whether it will be a tour or a new album, we are not sure just yet but we will definitely be doing something.

Staying on the subject of Boyzone, when Stephen Gately sadly passed away was there ever a time when you felt that Boyzone were no more?

Yes there was, and to be honest with you we all thought that would be the end of the band. However, we realised that we had to do something in his memory so that is why we recorded the album Brother for him and on the back of the album did some shows. It will never be the same again; Boyzone will never be what it was, with Stephen not being there it is a very different dynamic.

Taking you back to 2011 you worked with the legendary Burt Bacharach on your When Ronan Met Burt album. How was that experience?

Oh yes, I have to be totally honest with you and say that it was the most unbelievable experience. What a moment for me as an artist who has been around for twenty odd years to be given the opportunity to work with possibly one of the greatest songwriters of all time was an honour. Not only that but to have Burt Bacharach and Greg Wells produce the album was for me a dream come true. The whole experience of recording the album at The Capital Studios over in Los Angeles was totally unbelievable. Having said all of that, Burt was a real taskmaster, and he didn’t think twice about cracking the whip big time (laughter).

What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?

Looking back over my career it is very hard for me to pick one thing as there have been many amazing moments. I have been fortunate enough to have been able to sing with the likes of Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti and as we have just been speaking about, record with Burt Bacharach. There have been so many wonderful moments that I simply couldn’t pick one, it wouldn’t be fair.

What was the last song that made you cry?

When we were recording the music video for the latest single In Your Arm’s we used some of our wedding footage in the video and when I sat and watched it back it was a very emotional moment for me and I found myself crying whilst watching the video. So that was probably the last song that made me cry.

What was the first record that you bought?

That would have been Last Christmas by Wham (laughter). I thought that would make you laugh (laughter).

Who did you first see performing live in concert?

One of the first live concerts that I went to was to see the band Extreme. Do you remember them?

Yes I do, it was Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone. As I recall they had two hit singles here in the UK, Hole Hearted and More Than Words both back in 1991.

(Laughter) well that has well and truly put me in my place Kevin, you certainly know your stuff.

Was it always going to be a career in music for you?

This might surprise you but when I was younger I was a fairly good sprinter and that was something that I was pursuing as a younger lad. My older brother had got himself a scholarship and a place over in America and I honestly thought that was the next step for me. And then music came along. Music has always been a very important part of my life.

Who has inspired you?

My mother, my kids, and my wife Storm.

Are there any ambitions left to achieve?

I have lots of ambitions left to achieve; I think that we should all have ambition’s to strive to achieve in life. Anything from climbing Mount Everest to recording another album; my ambitions change constantly.

I once heard an artist say that they wanted to record the perfect album. Does it exist?

(Laughter) I honestly don’t know. I suppose that everyone’s version of the perfect album is different. Everyone’s version will be totally different. To one person it will be a Beatles album while to another it will be a Radiohead album. The world is such a diverse place that it would be almost impossible to say what the perfect album is (laughter).

Is there anyone coming out of Ireland who we should be looking out for?

Yes, there is a band called Wild Youth and they are very cool, five young lads from Dublin, a very talented bunch. They are the ones to look out for as I think that they are going to be big. They have an electronic rock alternative kind of sound. Let’s just say it The Killers meet Coldplay.

Is Ronan Keating’s glass half full or half empty?

It is most definitely half full.

On that note let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me and I am looking forward to seeing you here in Nottingham.

Oh good on you Kevin, thank you very much for your time. It’s been a pleasure. See you in Nottingham.