Jimmy Crowley has been performing since the 60s, but he’s still evolving, seeing every one of his 15 albums as a chance to do something new and different; to express a new side of himself.

Growing up in Douglas, Co. Cork, Crowley formed his folk orchestra Stokers Lodge in the late sixites. After the demise of Stokers Lodge, he formed The Electric Band, whose reggae version of ‘The Boys of Fairhill’ went straight into the charts. Crowley pursued a solo career from the ’90s onwards. Most recently, Crowley recorded an album of Child ballads with Eve Telford, drawn from the rich heritage of Irish Travellers. I talked up to him around the launch…

Hi Jimmy, first of all, congratulations on a remarkable fifteen albums. Tell me about ‘Life’.

Hello James. John Lennon said ‘Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.’ ‘Life’ is my life distilled into 11 songs. ‘Full Fathom Five’ is a sister-song to ‘My Love is a Tall Ship’: a lament to the Asgard lying at the bottom of the sea. ‘The Laughing Laptop’ is a music-hall-esque critique of digitalisation. ‘Going Greyhound’ conjures up long bus journeys of heartache and disillusionment; perhaps my first country song. To hear the rest, buy the album!

I understand the record is grounded in your marriage breaking down, at least to some degree. How does that impact on the feel of it?

I hope I insinuated some of the loss, and the macabre atmosphere of the evening I left the family home for the uncertainty of the roads ahead.

Did you find the whole thing cathartic?

No.

You spent some time in Florida a little while ago. Did the move rubbed off on your music at all?

I left Florida fifteen years ago; I’m based in Cobh now. But yeah, the new continent rubbed off in a small way. I got a few lessons on basic bossanova guitar and it did me a power of good, grounded, as I am, in the songs from my rich hinterland.

Do you find the opportunities to perform are different in Florida, or the reactions to your music?

When I took time to preface the songs, gave a bit a’ social context, etc, the people would listen and absorb the songs. There’s a nice folk scene around Tampa and some good heads based there, emigrants like I was. But I would have to go to New York, Boston and sometimes San Francisco to make a few bucks.

Is there a defined way that your music has progressed in your eyes over the course of all your records?

Great question! I’m a great believer in the autonomy and purpose of the LP. It’s got to be different from the preceding and all others before it. It’s a shame to waste the opportunity to follow a new road with an album. In fact, you’d be better not recording it at all. I hate the way the new music scene has scuttled the primacy of the album; consider the loss of art to the world if there was no Sergeant Pepper.

You’ve worked with a huge number of people over the years. Who has really inspired you once you’ve come to making music with them?

I was knocked out by Micheal O Domhnaill’s production ideas when we recorded the first two albums with Stokers Lodge. He called me aside when we were rehearsing in Limerick. ‘You never told me ye were dog-rough!’he said. ‘But I can see there’s great gold there too. Will ye work with me? But I promise I won’t be an easy coach.’

I had a word with the other Stokers and to a man they said; we’ll work with Micheal. He made the band; all those lovely stops, harmonies and chords on The Boys a’ Fairhill and Camp House Ballads’are his and stood us in great stead. Micheal has passed on, God be good to him; but still when I’m unsure of something on a recording, I always ask myself, ‘What would Micheal do here…?

If there’s a single thing that’s kept you connected to music for all these years, what is it?

Having a sharp memory a’ me time on the building line.

You’re coming back to Dublin to launch the record. What should we expect from your live show?

Ye can expect a selection of songs from my new album, Life; from my recent album with Eve Telford, ‘Hello’ (being Irish Travellers ‘versions of the Child Ballads), and perhaps a sprinkling of my back-catalogue.

What are your hopes for the album and for the future?

Eve and I are planning an album of our own songs called Ambrosia. We have an Irish tour in June. The album, Life, on vinyl and CD, is available from www.jimmycrowley.com, and also can be bought at gigs during the tour.