As we approach the 15th anniversary of the death of a true rock/blue guitar legend I am reminded of how I first found myself becoming immersed in the music of Rory Gallagher at a young age, and how his legacy encouraged me to try and be just as good with six strings between my fingers…. however impossible that would turn out to be!!


There was nothing new or strange about the rumbling cacophony of noise blasting through the walls of my brother’s bedroom at all hours of the night and through the day, when I was younger. On a given day one could be treated to pounding Jungle bass, crunching grunge guitar, or the four to the floor punch of an early nineties house hit. It was indeed that time in the early to mid 1990′s when you were either a grunge-head, a techno-head or simply just unimpressed with both and listening to REM between episodes of My So Called Life. I however was blissfully unaware of any of this while I strove to watch every episode of Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles on TCC. But one day the music that seeped through my brothers walls was entirely different from what I had heard before…

…at first it seemed like my brothers room was filled with thousands of screaming fans, then, interrupted by what sounded like a very small old man giving an announcement….

….”Ladies and Gentlemen, Rory Gallagher”….

….what followed was pure sensory overload, the opening bars of “Cradle Rock” on what turned out to be the “Irish Tour ’74″ live album would be forever ingrained on my brain from that day on. I was sold.. my innocence out the window along with my childhood.. “who …. or what the fuck was that?” was all i could think, and when I snapped out of my musically induced trance after having unconsciously floated towards my Brother’s bedroom door that was the first question I shouted over the deafening noise..

.. it wasn’t long before I had a guitar in my hands and was slowly realising just how god damn hard it was to be as good as Rory. The longer I tried the more I respected what he had done and what he could do. It was maybe only a few months since he had died when I discovered him. Quietly robbing each album from my brother’s collection and making a tape of it.. then studying that tape inside and out until I knew every lyric and riff.

Over ten years later, in 2006, there was a special exhibition visiting Dublin featuring a number of famous guitars from the most famous guitarists around the world. As part of Dublin’s exhibition Rory’s battered sunburst Strat was to take centre stage. Donal Gallagher, Rory’s brother described this guitar as a “poor orphan” that would never be played the same way again after Rory’s death in 1995. The spirit of Rory Gallagher lives on in this guitar, an extension of his limbs, an icon in itself of rock and roll and with a sound to match.

Needless to say when I saw it for the first time, that same trance that had stunned me ten years previous when I first heard this guitar scream took over my body. I couldn’t look at, nor even see anything else. This was as close as I would ever physically come to my idol. As far as i was concerned this guitar was Rory. Yet there was something so sad about it’s inactivity, encased in glass, eternally preserved rather than used. A guitar after all is a tool, designed to be put to use regardless of the mastery of its owner. Now, as if mummified, its electric sound muted behind glass.. It was as if his guitar had also been laid to rest, encased in its coffin.

Yet i am sure wherever it is now, in Donal’s home perhaps, the guitar has the chance to stretch its legs every so often and once again fill a room with its voice.

So, today I am sitting down again with my collection of Rory Gallagher albums, remembering the first time I heard “out on the Western Plain” or trying to figure out how to play “Too Much Alcohol” on my guitar just like Rory.

I think that is his greatest gift to music: Rory’s disinterest with fame and fortune put the music first. Every set of eyes and ears that ever experienced him came to respect the raw nature of his talent and music. His pure love of music made everyone want to be just as good, his love to perform and his stage presence made everyone want to feel that same feeling and be him.

He is why so much great music grew out of Ireland in the 80′s and 90′s and why it continues today.

On June 15th, music lovers across the globe will once again honour a great man and musician 15 years after his untimely death. I for one will be cranking up the sound system and hoping that some young guitarist hears Rory pumping though the walls and is compelled to ask me the very same thing i asked 15 years ago…

“Who…. or what the fuck was that!?”

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I will be featuring Rory on my next radio show for Dirty Radio this Sunday at 7pm with a few of my favourite tunes from over the years. Be sure to tune in to catch that special.

You can also watch “Ghost Blues” on the RTE Player at http://www.rte.ie/player/ if you are lucky enough to live in Ireland or know some mumbo jumbo to bypass your IP address.

However if not, have a look at this to get a sense of the man and his ability!