An interview with Terry Walsh of the Belfast Cowboys and St. Domnic's Trio on 11/26/08

By: David de Young

Terry Walsh - Photo by Alexa Jones

HowWasTheShow: How and when did your Van Morrison tribute band, The Belfast Cowboys get their start?

In 2001, four of us spent several months learning a bunch of Van Morrison songs before adding the keys and horns. We played our first gig on St Patrick's Day, 2002. I spent the rest of that year booking any gigs I could find, while simultaneously recruiting more musicians so that we wouldn't have to turn down shows. Once Rob Rule started giving us some good weekend gigs at the Turf Club, people started showing up to see the band, and we were off and running. 

HWTS: Music seems to be in your blood.  Was there something in the water at the Walsh household in your youth?

Dad played a mean boogie-woogie on the piano, and our Mom always encouraged us to be musical. I wonder if she ever regrets that now. My brother Jay was our pied piper. The first of six kids, he had a huge, impeccably tasteful record collection. We were all free to flip through the long rows in the boxes by his bed and play anything that caught our fancy. (In high school, when I read that Rolling Stone had named something called Astral Weeks [a 1968 album by Van Morrison] the second best album of all time, I went to Jay's stereo to try it out. It sounded too mellow and slapdash, so I gave up after two cuts and put "Born To Run" on the turntable for the umpteenth time. Oops.) Jay was the arbiter of cool, quietly dismissing anything too sappy. He never fell for John Denver or Barry Manilow, and kept even Jackson Browne at arm's length. Jimmy was more of a softie, and being kind of a wuss myself, I was glad that one of my older brothers shared some of my more embarrassing tastes.  Musical obsessions were generally tolerated, at least at first. In later years when anyone got too far out of line - as I did when I hung a "Saturday Night Fever" poster on my bedroom wall - the human bullshit detectors would let their wayward sibling have it, in this case by burning the offending poster in the fireplace.

So you're releasing two debut albums by two different bands at the same time.  What are some similarities/differences between the two?

Cover art for "The Belfast Cowboys" by Kim Sheehan Cover art for St Dominic's Trio's "Switch" by Leah Rule

The instrumentation of the bands are generally the same. St Dominic's Trio became a ten-piece at one point. The approach we took to recording each CD was very different. The Van Morrison songs are cleaner and recorded digitally, which made it possible to pull songs apart and repair small problems on an otherwise good take. On Switch we went for a more organic feel, rolling a lot of tape, sometimes making up songs on the spot, trying to catch lightning in a bottle. 

What was it like working with Minnesota music legend Rich Mattson?

I was a little intimidated at first, even though I've known Rich for a while. I went gaga over "Sounder" when Ol' Yeller first put it out a few years ago. "Good Luck" was great too, and all of a sudden I was a big fan instead of just a well-wisher. But Rich is really unassuming, and after a short time up at his studio I was able to forget that he is who he is. Then he'd pick up a guitar to record a track, and I’d suddenly remember. Hearing him singing backups on "Bike Ride on 35W" is genuinely thrilling for me. 

This show is coming just under a year after you played the whole of Van Morrison's Moondance in the First Avenue Mainroom in December, 2007.  That was an awesome, over the top, holiday extravaganza.  Can we expect more of the same this year?

We've never played the same set twice, and there are never any guarantees, but I strongly suspect we'll all have a boffo time once again. I know the bands will be excited. Playing First Avenue is surreal, looking at a room you know so well, but from an angle you've rarely or never seen before. 

I’ve heard some critics call Ray LaMontagne the “new Van Morrison,” and I have at least found Van Morrison fans do normally dig his music. Are there any other artists you really like right now or feel other Van Morrison fans might enjoy?

Most of my listening time over the past year has been devoted to the music we're about to release, so I'm probably not the best person to ask. Bon Iver has won me over, and I think our pals from Romantica are on the right track. But there's only one Van Morrison, and he's still going...."Keep it Simple" is really good.

Artist Info: The Belfast Cowboys

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