Pat Gallagher

About Pat Gallagher's songs are firmly set in the soil of Donegal Joe Jackson. The Irish Times. Donegal singer/songwriter Pat Gallagher's musical life started early. At the age of eleven he won two gold medals at the Ulster Fleadh Ceol for English and Irish singing. Together with three sisters the Gallagher family played for four years, touring Ireland, England and Scotland. Pat went on to join several local bands: Double Vision, the Cream Buns, Witch Hunt, 3PM and Roaring Meg. It was in the middle of this period that Pat's talent as a songwriter came to light. Four Minutes to go, a song from his first demo, was sent to the Ballina Song Contest by one of his sisters. Here he won second prize and gained the attention of two of the judges, Shay Healy and Dave Fanning, who encouraged him to send his songs to a Dublin record company. A year later they released 3PM's first single, Picture on the Wall, a song about the late Grace Kelly which received national airplay for four weeks.After a period in America he returned home to form the rock band roaring Meg, which released an album in 1988, containing 11 of Pat's songs. In the winter of 1988, he and a group of friends started playing an informal session in a local bar. It was purely for fun, Pat explains. The walls of the bar were decorated with instruments; you simply chose your weapon and joined in. From these sessions Goats Don's Shave emerged, who were to become phenomenally successful at home and around the world. It was around this time Pat wrote the Anthem Las Vegas in the hills of Donegal There followed top five singles, top ten albums, sell-out shows, prime TV appearances in Ireland, England, Scotland and the US, with the band headlining the acoustic stage at the massive Glastonbury Festival, and the main stage with Van Morrison and the at the Fleadh in Finsbury Park and Cambridge Folk Festival. Voted Best Band for 1993 by Time Out magazine. After seven years Goats Don't Shave decided to take a sabbatical. Pat returned to Donegal and continued writing; he signed a recording deal with Cooking Vinyl in London and a publishing deal with Carlin Music. He subsequently recorded TOR, his first solo album. Hot Press commented, he fully explores both human weaknesses and strengths with a writers eye for detail, while his love for the Sea and his native Donegal comes shining through on the opening tracks Claim and Gola, and on the final track A Returning Islander. His new Album released this year sees Pat explore the world of Country, the title track .When I grow up. was an instant hit with local and national radio stations . He tours both In Ireland and abroad. His songs have been recorded by many other artists, Dates for 2010 will be posted shortly.