New chapter for hard-working John Spillane

With a new book, an Irish opera on the way and the re-release of his Irish Songs album, John Spillane is busier than ever, writes Colette Sheridan.

THE tribal wars between the rockers, the folkies and the punks makes for entertaining reading in Cork balladeer, John Spillane’s newly published book, Will we be Brilliant or What?: Songs and Stories.

Spillane, a youthful looking 55-year-old, has put together the lyrics of his songs and their inspiration, proving that as well as being a talented lyricist, he can write fluid prose. Drinking coffee in a Cork city bar, Spillane recalls the glory days of the Cork music scene in the early 1980s.