By Jonathan Bowen
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Jim Corr of the Irish band The Corrs. We spoke about a range of topics which included their upcoming gig at the Hope Town Vinery in the Hunter Valley, NSW Australia, how the Corrs got their start in the music business and how the band developed that unique Irish Trad Pop sound that exploded onto the music scene in the mid-nineties.
Jim Corr thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me. It is great to see The Corrs playing live again, what was the reason or motivation for the band coming back to Australia?
We are catching up on the things we couldn’t do during the Covid period. Coming back to Australia was something we wanted to do for a while and when the promoter got in touch with our manager and presented the opportunity to play again in Australia, we couldn’t resist the opportunity.
The band are playing a one-off gig on the 26th of November at the Hope Town Vinery in the Hunter Valley, NSW, tell me why did the band agree to play this venue?
When the promoter offered us the chance to come to Australia and mentioned that it would be a one of gig at Vinery, it seemed like a very novel idea to us, something we hadn’t done before. The fact that we had been off the touring scene for a while it seemed like a great idea to allow us to play live again and in such a beautiful location.
Australian audiences haven’t had the chance to see the Corrs live in a while, what can people expect to see at the show?
It is going to show where we play all our hit songs that the audience will be familiar with. We will also do a few acoustic sets where we will play just the basic musical instruments. We love the trad rock songs that we do, so there will be a heavy focus on those songs as well.
Andrea Corr has been known as lead singer of the band however Sharon has released a few vocal solo albums in the past. Is Sharon likely to sing a few songs during the show?
It is entirely possible that she will, Caroline and Sharon used to sing a lovely song written by Jimmy McCarthy and sung by Mary Black called ‘No Frontiers’, so there is every chance the two of them may do that song together. We are starting rehearsals today and I am going to mention it to the others, I think it is a good idea that the two of them do a song each or something like that!
Australia was the first country that The Corrs found success in after Ireland and the UK, what are your memories of touring Australia back in those early days?
It was a very special time. As you can imagine we had a lot of rejection as a band when we were starting off. So, when the band’s music started to bear fruit and we found some success in Australia it was extraordinary. I have to say the record company in Australia who was looking after us at the time did a fantastic job for us because when we arrived in Australia for the first time, we were practically a household name.
It was also amazing for us because after all that hard work that we had done writing songs and establishing our sound that it was finally starting to pay off for us. It will always be a special place to us, we love the people and the cities, and we cannot wait to come back later this month.
I believe your parents Gerry and Jean had their own band by the name of Sound Affair doing covers of Abba and The Eagles songs around the bars of Dundalk, how did they inspire you to forge a career in music?
Gerry started off in music by himself initially and he had a great love of organ music. As a band we were heavily influenced by organ music and jazz music, Oscar Peterson especially comes to mind as an early influence. Jean wanted to join him on his musical journey and would sing a few numbers with him during the gigs he use to do. I remember a story they told me when the two of them did their first gig together. They only had a repertoire of about ten songs and they were supposed to play for about two hours, so I think a few songs may have been played more than once that night! They had so much fun doing that first show together, so that was the beginning for the family journey into music.
The inspiration they provided us with, to find a career in music came first from our love of music that they had instilled in us. I started my musical journey by playing live with my parents which I loved doing. I also played with various bands at the time doing both cover songs and writing my own music. I really believe if you can make an occupation out of a hobby that you love then you are very lucky person indeed.
We were very aware that the success rate of making it in the music business is tiny and we came up against several obstacles on our journey. Hitting these obstacles led us to the point where we almost gave up multiple times. The large number of rejections we received from record companies being an example of these obstacles.
A funny story, when we were starting out, one of the record executives that knocked us back also knocked the Cranberries back as well! We still laugh at that one.
How did appearing in the movie The Commitments lead to bringing the band together?
So, I was working as a freelance musician at the time, and I met with John Hughes (who would eventually become our manager). I was producing some songs for John at the time who was also a writer and a performer himself. I told John I intended on getting a band together with my very talented siblings and John’s sister was the casting agent for the movie, so I said to John, I want you to get us an audition for that movie. So, John arranged for us to do an audition which we did in front of Alan Parker (director of the movie) Ros Hubbard (casting director), and we all ended up getting parts in the movie.
Andrea of course got a significant part playing Jimmy Rabbit’s sister. So, through that experience when we started The Corrs, we were able to get a development deal which meant a bit more finance to buy better equipment, we were able to sound a little better and of course it was wonderful to be able to work with the legendary man himself Alan Parker during the movie.
I haven’t watched The Commitments movie with my son yet, it is something that I will be doing with him.
The Corrs are quite obviously a band made up of family members, what has kept the group together after all these years?
It is a very valid question, even if you are not siblings spending 24 for 7 with anyone is going to test your patience not to mind being with your own family. I think the fact we are siblings and the fact that because we have that love for each other we can be open and honest with each other is what keeps us together. It can be highly stressful experience being in a band. There is the constant travel, jetlag, doing promotion activities, interviews which can all be great fun don’t get me wrong but can also be a lot of work.
Life on the road can lead to a little bit of a powder keg moment from time to time and yes there is bound to be the odd explosion. However, at the end of the day we love each other and it’s our joint love of the music and the fact that we had done the hard work together to make the band a success that is what keeps us together as a band.
You have been known in the past as the driving force behind The Corrs sound, how did you work with your sisters to formulate that very distinctive Celtic pop sound?
I had the privilege and pleasure of playing for several years with Dolores Keane, so between my parents and the type of music I was doing with Dolores listening to music by the legendary musicians Steve Cooney, Martin Hayes, and Denis Cahill, this was where my love of traditional Irish music came from. I loved at the time how certain musicians where bring in contemporized backing tracks into the traditional music they were writing.
There was also an element of pop sensibility as well, we grew up listening to tracks that were in the charts at the time. I also loved a bit of AC/DC as well, being the band was from an Irish Scottish background and that hard Celtic sound they had on tracks like ‘It’s a long way to the top (If you Wanna Rock’ n’ Roll)’ found its way into The Corrs trad rocks songs like ‘Toss the feathers’.
It took us a few goes at trying to find our sound it didn’t come easily for us. The first few songs we tried to write; you probably wouldn’t want to listen to. They were not the best. Gradually through continuing to refine our trad music sound we got to a point where we didn’t sound too bad and said to each other lets go with this.
What is next for The Corrs? Are you working on any new material?
Who knows what on the horizon, we haven’t sat down and discussed it yet. There is always a possibility of new music on the horizon, and we may look at touring America again in the future. All options are on the table.
Jim Corr thank you so much for making the time to talk with me today. Hopefully we will get to chat again sometime in the future.