The more things change, the more they stay the same for Ray Lynam

Ray Lynam isn’t worried about what’s new or trendy in country and western, but he is happy to experience a resurgence in the popularity of his music, writes Ed Power

RAY LYNAM laughs when I ask if, at the peak his fame, he felt like a rock star. “Rock star probably isn’t the word,” says the veteran Hillbillies frontman, who has just returned with a new ‘best of’ collection.

Then and Now features favourites such as ‘Fool’s Castle’, ‘Saginaw Michigan’ and a cover of ‘The Cost Of Living’, by Don Henley of the Eagles (whose polished country-rock the Hillbillies hugely admired).

“The early ’70s were wonderful for country music in Ireland,” says Lynam. “There were huge crowds. People really responded to what we were doing. It was very exciting. We were driven by a real passion for the music.”

Lynam was one of a new breed of Irish troubadours, indebted to the old-timey traditions of the American south and Appalachia. The Hillbillies arrived at the height of the showband era, yet represented something different and even boundary-breaking. They regarded rock’n’roll as more than merely a steady pay cheque and looked beyond Elvis and the Beatles for inspiration. In the sleepy world of Irish music, this qualified as a radical departure.

“There was a lot of rivalry between country groups,” says the 65-year-old Westmeath native, chuckling. “We all got along and respected one another, but we certainly were rivals, too. Because Ireland was so small we were always running into one another, so you were constantly aware of these other bands. You couldn’t get away from them. We all played the same circuit.”

The Hillbillies fell apart in the 1980s. He reluctantly drifted out of country rock and supported himself playing smaller venues around his native county and occasionally helping run his wife’s bookshop.

However, when the original lineup was coaxed back in 2013 for a brief tour, all involved were stunned by the response. Old admirers flocked to the group’s authentically gritty sound, while they found they were making new fans too.

“I’d kept plodding away through the years to keep the wolf from the door,” says Lynam. “At the end of the Hillbillies, some of the lads had broken away. They had wanted to do their own thing, which was fair enough. I got in some extra musicians and managed to carry on for a while. I was delighted, obviously, when it started up again. A considerable length of time had passed. It was difficult to know whether it would work or not. The welcome we received came as a pleasant surprise.”

There was a problem, however: Many of the Hillbillies master-tapes had gone missing across the decades, denying devotees the pleasure of the original recordings. To remedy this, Lynam returned to the studio, an environment he had not ventured near for decades, and recorded the songs from scratch. The results can be heard on Then and Now.

“It was something I hadn’t done in a long time. Technology has made it easier. I was able to make a lot of the recordings at home.

“That’s quite a change from the old days. I remember once we recorded in Nashville and, because the musician union rules were incredibly strict, we had to hire American musicians. It’s all very different now. You don’t have to step outside your house, never mind go to Nashville.”

He hasn’t really stayed up to date with country music trends, and is happy to stick with what he knows. “It’s a lot slicker and glossier. I prefer something that’s a little bit more old-timey. Modern country music isn’t something I would necessarily listen to a lot of.”

• Then and Now by Ray Lynam and the Hillbillies is out now