London’s calling for Damien Dempsey

EARLIER this week, singer Damien Dempsey stood on stage at Trafalgar Square, in London, under the stern gaze of Admiral Nelson’s statue.

“It was part of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. I sang ‘Colony’, a song about European colonisation,” he says. “People sang it back. I thought to myself, ‘This sounds really good’. I was going to dedicate it to Jeremy Clarkson. In the moment, I forgot.”

Dempsey has been in the UK for much of the past month. He’s built his British audience one gig at a time — and takes immense pride in the fact. “We have no big marketing budget, no media behind us,” he says. “It’s word-of-mouth. I’ve toured with The Levellers, with The Proclaimers. People see you, tell their friends. Word gets around,” he says.