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).