An Interview with The Corrigan Brothers formerly known as Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys

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Born in the rich pastures of North Tipperary and living in Limerick, The Corrigan Brothers were forced to sing for visiting relations from an early age. They did however receive enough therapy to continue a musical career through adulthood.

Multi Instrumentalists Gerard, Brian and Donncha Corrigan have individually had varied musical careers. Ger played in a rock band in the 80s and unsuccessfully entered the Irish national song contest on two occasions while Brian and Donny have a folk pedigree that stretches back to the early nineties. The Corrigan Brothers came together four years ago as Hardy Drew and the Nancy boys and came to prominence with a rap in the Irish language called “Cupla Focal” (a few words). They followed this with a song about a tragic yet hilarious relationship that found them appearing on the RTE comedy show Podge and Rodge in a series called Ballydung Idol. They lead the Ballydung Idol competition for eight weeks eventually coming second. 2008 saw The Corrigan Brothers embrace the Irish roots of Barack Obama. They have appeared on TV all over the world with this iconic song. They have featured in countless documentaries and performed the song on election night in Moneygall Co. Officially the ancestral home of Barack Obama.

1) Gerard, Brian and Donncha have all had separate careers. What brought you back together? We have all had separate music careers but we would play together at family events . In 2007 we started recording as Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys, recording humorous songs, and we had a hit with a rap song about the Irish language, it was basically a song that gave simple instruction for speaking Irish through rap. From this we received a lot of radio play and started to get TV appearances. One day in Feb 2008 our Father Martin Corrigan (Martin passed away in Dec 2010) visited me and advised me that Barack Obama had Irish roots. I thought that this was funny and checked the story with Canaon Stephen Neill, a Church of Ireland rector who lived near Moneygall, the ancestral Irish home of President Obama. Canon Neill had helped Megan Smolenyak, one of the foremost ancestry experts in the world with the research to the link and yes, the President’s great great great grandfather Fulmouth Kearney was indeed Irish and came from Moneygall! Once the link was confirmed we sat down and wrote the song in twenty minutes. We posted it on YouTube and then the madness started. It just took off. It got reported by two local newspapers in Ireland, the Nenagh Guardian by Simon O’Duffy and the Limerick Leader by Alana Owens and then it got picked up in the USA and it started to appear everywhere. Chris Matthews played it on Hardball, that was the first US TV appearance and then all TV and Media picked it up. It exploded from there to appearing at the President’s Inauguration, appearances on the today show, mentions in the President’s speech and meeting so many of our heroes including breakfasting with Kevin Spacey. We enjoyed almost nine million YouTube hits, got signed to Universal and Decca records and have appeared all over the world on TV. We have featured on Newsweek and Time magazine, and have performed live on radio all over the world. It has been a great platform to launch many other hits.

2) Why the name Hardy Drew and The Nancy Boys? That name derived from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but when we signed to Universal and Decca our manager suggested we change to the Corrigan Brothers. It made internet searches for us easier.

3) When you recorded “There’s No One as Irish as Barack Obama” in 2008, did you have any idea it would be such a huge success? We knew there would be some interest but nothing like the success it achieved. It is phenomenal, it is so well known all over the world and many artists have recorded cover versions of it. One Irish singer, Shay Black has reached over one million you tube hits with it. We were surprised by it’s success but also delighted. It still endures and it gets regular attention still. Looking back on it was a great opportunity for a humorous song that paid homage to the President’s Irish ancestry.

4) You re-recorded several versions of “There’s No One as Irish as Barack Obama” for the 2012 election. What inspired you to create these new versions? Well we are fans of the President and he has been very kind to us so we felt we would update the song for this campaign and remind the very many American people with Irish roots that President Obama is a good friend to Ireland and values his Irish heritage. We think the new version will gain momentum as we approach November,

5) Describe your experience performing at the Inauguration in 2008. How did it come about that you were invited?We were invited to perform by the Irish American Democrats so a party of eleven of us headed over. The welcome we received was incredible. Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland introduced us on to the stage and we got the warmest welcome ever. It was a joy, just being in that city for the inauguration, the warmth, the joy and the friendliness was inspiring. It still has fully sunk in with us!

6) Finally, you wrote a wonderful tribute to Giovanni Trapattoni, “Faith.” Would it be a fair assumption that The Corrigan Brothers are football fans? The Corrigan Brothers are all football fans and we rarely miss an Irish game. We are big fans of Trapatonni and his style. He is a man who believes in himself and his players and he trusts his team. He has proven this by his results. Ireland will compete in the Euro 2012 finals thanks to Trapatonni and we think Ireland will surprise many people by having a great tournament.

If you would like to know more about The Corrigan Brothers please visit their website.

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