Behind the music – The Tumbling Paddies

Fermanagh trad pop six piece The Tumbling Paddies play the 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin on 6 February 2025. We asked the band’s accordion player Martin Tracy the BIG questions . . .

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The gig announcement follows the release of their latest single For You and the 3Oympia gig will be their biggest Dublin headline show to date.

Tickets from €26.90 are available now.

The Tumbling Paddies released a 12-song album of original songs, The Way We Are, which they co-wrote with their manager Andy Cox, while their second album, The Journey So Far – Live, is an in-concert album of twelve well known cover songs.

Tell us three things about yourself . . .

Lived in Fermanagh all my life. Started playing accordion at the age of eight. Studied business studies in university.

How would you describe your music?

Vibrant and energetic but also with a number of classic ballads.

Who are your musical inspirations?

I would say bands like De Dannan and The Saw Doctors here in Ireland would have influenced me greatly, outside of Ireland, I love the American country singing of George Strait, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.

What was the first gig you ever went to?

A Mike Denver open air gig on a wet Summer’s day in Riverstown, Co Sligo.

What was the first record you ever bought?

Danny O Mahony’s In Retrospect. One of the best accordion albums I’ve ever heard.

What’s your favourite song right now?

I’m listening to a lot of Luke Kelly at the moment, I love his version of The Sun is Burning.

Favourite lyric of all time?

Possibly the name of the great Phil Coulter song, The Town I Loved So Well. I think all of us can relate to a town or place we have great memories of.

If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

On The Road Again by Willie Nelson.

Where can people find your music/more information?

We are on all Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Spotify, iTunes and we also have our website where you will be able to access all our dates and merch.

Alan Corr