‘I was too busy for music before I got my cancer diagnosis … now I’m launching an album in Whelan’s’

Despite music always being a big part of his life, the Cavan musician said he never really had the time to pursue what he loved, until he got diagnosed.

Having successfully navigated two difficult years of treatment for stage four colon cancer, he is now in good health with family life and music taking centre stage.

“When you go through something like that, you reflect on life and you see where you can make changes. I had lived a very good life; I travelled all around the world, but there were two regrets,” Mr Magee said.

“I wanted to do something with my original music and go back to playing Gaelic football with my local club for one year, which was a strange one at 40 years of age.

“When I started going through treatment, I began playing a lot of guitar and writing again. I’ve been writing for 20 years. I said if I come out the other end of this, I’d love to do something with my original music.

“I went through two surgeries, chemotherapy, and I’m currently still on immunotherapy treatment. After my first clear scan, I booked a night in the town hall in Cavan to perform my original music.

“I had no band, the songs were half written, some of them were completed 20 years ago, some of them I wrote through the experience.

“I got a band of friends together. Some of them hadn’t played in 10 years. Three months before the gig we started going through all the music and it just took off from there. Now it’s a seven-piece and my wife is in the band as well.”

Along with Darragh Slacke (electric guitar, banjo), Ben Folkman (bass), Mark Brady (drums, percussion), Julie Magee Karlshøj (vocals, shruti box), Ronan Brady (flute), and Rafal Szydlowski (violin), they took to the stage for what they thought was a one-off gig.

“The reaction that we got kept us going. It was for family and friends,” Mr Magee said.

“It was a night of storytelling, but it was also a way of talking to the community about my experience without them having to say anything back or feel awkward.

“Sometimes it can be tough for people to talk about, or even to ask how you are. They’re probably afraid you’re getting these questions all the time.

“That was part of my way of getting better as well, just being completely open with my music. The first night sold out very quickly, so we decided to put on a second night. Word of mouth, it went around, and they were asking when our next gig was.

“This wasn’t what we expected, we were delighted. My music, some of it is deep, some of it is happy. I was always conscious before putting it out because some of the music was a bit darker than my personality, but people really got into the story.

“The feedback was very positive, so we decided to put on more gigs. Then we recorded an album.”

Rising from the Hollaw, recorded in Jam Studios in Kells, Co Meath, will be launched in Whelan’s in Dublin on July 18.

“Whelan’s is a dream for me. We’ve just been extremely excited about how everything has played out,” Mr Magee said.

“We played the Sugar Club, so we sent in an email and got accepted to play at the main venue of Whelan’s. We couldn’t believe it, it’s something you never dreamed of doing. Our own original music and a crowd for us in Whelan’s.

“The history in that venue and the link that it has to the type of music that we play, it’s something we’re really, really looking forward to.”