Joe Hurley
Encyclopedia
Joe Hurley is a singer, songwriter, actor, playwright and voice-over artist. He leads the critically lauded bands Joe Hurley & The Gents and Joe Hurley & Rogue’s March. He is the founder and curator of the Allstar Irish Rock Revue, a musical-literary homage to “The Great Irish Songbook”, celebrated annually around St. Patrick's Day.
Raised Irish Catholic
in London
, Hurley now lives in New York City
. His roots in three distinct heritages inspired his eclectic songwriting, which has been described as a blend of punk
, rock and roll balladry
, and traditional Irish folk Musically, Hurley is oft-noted for his soulful (“whiskey-tinged”) baritone and the storytelling quality of his lyrics.
His ballad "Amsterdam Mistress" is featured on the Sony Records' compilation Whiskey in the Jar: Essential Irish Drinking Songs and Sing Alongs, along with classics from The Dubliners
, Pogues, and Clancys
. In 2011, Hurley was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as one of seventy-five authors who participated in the UN’s International Day of Peace
.
cowrote a song-cycle – “The House That Horse Built (Let the Great World Spin) ” -- based on McCann’s 2009 National Book Award-winning novel, Let the Great World Spin
. The album is written from the perspective of Tillie, a 38 year-old black prostitute from the Bronx, who is reflecting on her tragic life.
The album was recorded with Hurley’s band The Gents and features such musical luminaries as The Chieftains'
Paddy Moloney
, Matt Sweeney
, soul-legend Tami Lynn
, film actress Antonique Smith
, Denis Diken, Joe McGinty
, and Faith Hahn. It was produced by Don Fleming
and Hurley.
, and Keith Richards
narrated the audiobook version of Keith Richards’ memoir, Life
. Life won two 2011 Audie Awards
– Audiobook of the Year and Best Biography/Memoir -- on May 24, 2011. Additionally, the audiobook Life was voted Amazon’s #1 Audiobook of the Year for 2010.
and Colum McCann
. The album's expected release date is late 2011.
), Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith
), and Ken Margolis (Cracker)
, Denny McDermott, Megan Gould, and Jon Spurney. Their first show was reviewed by legendary rock journalist John Swenson, who wrote:
"Lead singer and songwriter Joe Hurley, backed by a sublime group of New York City All-Stars, The Gents, ventured out last week for a pair of shows that offered up a selection of brand new material and some rarely performed Rogue's March songs....The highlight of their sparkling set was a great new song 'Irish Breakfast In a Greek Diner' that boasted a terrific sing-along chorus."
The Gents are home at their favorite NYC venue, Joe's Pub
, and have individually and collectively enjoyed critical acclaim for years.
They've opened for the New York Dolls
and played with the Beastie Boys
, Marshall Crenshaw
, and Debbie Harry
. They've gigged with Ian McLagan
, headlined the Riverside Park
Music Festival for four years, and played festivals with The Waco Brothers
, Justin Townes Earle
, and appeared as themselves in a national TV ad about the rock and roll scene in NY.
They are presently recording a new CD of piano-led ballads, cabaret-influenced rock and roll screamers, and some acoustic tracks, including the songs, "Valentine Blue," "Desiree," and "Rockaway," as well as the glam-tinged "Julie Andrews Says Hello" and their best known song, "Irish Breakfast In A Greek Diner."
called the song "Shut Up and Drink" "a New York Irish Anthem":
"The Rogue's March pub hit was the theme song of defunct dive bar The Village Idiot, and is on the playlist of every respectable watering hole in town. (The tune has also been covered in Germany, Denmark, Canada, and Ireland)".
The ballad "Amsterdam Mistress" is included on the seminal Irish folk-rock collection, Whiskey in The Jar: Essential Irish Drinking Songs and Sing Alongs, released by Sony.
Their sophomore effort, Chaser (2003), was produced by the legendary James Mastro. Hurley's tune, "Madcap Tears" from the Chaser CD has been featured in Captain Morgan's rum TV ads.
The original Rogue's March line-up was Gary Johannes, Bill Gerstel, Jim Harry, Dan Prater, Ken Margolis and Hurley. J-F Vergel and Chris Nappi joined in 1996. Other members were Ivan Julian
, Adam Roth, Jason Goodrow, and Andrew Goodsight.
rated the Revue "the #2 Star Attraction" in the article "The Best 10 Places to Spend St. Patrick's Season in America".
Hurley, Irish-blooded himself, began the review as a way to honor "The Great Irish Songbook" by playing Celtic classics alongside the tunes of Thin Lizzy
, Morrisey, The Pogues
, The Dubliners
, U2
, John Lydon
, and Van Morrison
, to name a few. Every year, the Revue features different artists from all walks of life. In 2011, the Revue celebrated its 12th anniversary with a sold-out show at the Highline Ballroom. The performance featured the Alice Cooper Group
, Gene Cornish
, Oscar winner Sam Bisbee, Tony-winning actor Michael Cerveris
, SNL's Christine Ohlman
, Joe Piscopo
, Noel Kilkenny (the Irish ambassador to the USA), and NYC guitar greats Adam Roth (Denis Leary
) and Ricky Byrd, who played Gary Moore
's very own Les Paul, in a moving tribute weeks after the Thin Lizzy guitarist's passing.
Past musical guests have included Ronnie Spector, Fountains of Wayne, Martha Wainwright, Gogol Bordello, Garland Jeffreys, Nada Surf's Matthew Caws, Irish sensations The High Kings
,The Crystals' LaLa Brooks, Carrie Rodriguez
, Ellen Foley
, Lenny Kaye
, Faith Hahn, Tony Shanahan and Jay Dee Daugherty
of Patti Smith Group, Oscar winner Mike Viola
, film stars Annie Golden
, Jesse Malin
, Susan McKeown
, Willie Nile
, Kristeen Young
, Ireland's chart-topping Republic of Loose
, members of Irish supergroup Clanaad, the New York Dolls
, Televison, The Dictators
, The Mekons, Cracker
, and Ian Hunter Band.
Gibson Guitars has sponsored the Revue since 2006. Gibson had a customized Irish-flag Epiphone
made exclusively for Joe Hurley and the Irish Revue. It is the only one of its kind in the world. The guitar is played on the show-closing finale, "God Save The Queen
" written by John Lydon (Sex Pistols)
. In 2007, Hurley decided to turn the Revue into a fundraising event for various charities. To date, proceeds from the Revue have gone to Save St Brigid's, The Animal Rescue League, Gilda's Club
of NY, The Bowery Mission
, the Widows of NYPD, and Haitian Relief.
When asked to describe The Allstar Irish Rock Revue, Hurley is quoted as saying, "The Songbook is of Ireland, but for everyone…New Yorkers from all backgrounds singing them. That's what the show is all about. There's no other songbook that translates so well across the world".
, playwright Sam Shepard
, PJ Harvey
, Marianne Faithful, Judy Collins
and Jimmy Webb
, Shane Macgowan
, John Oates
, Prefab Sprout
, Laura Cantrell
, Tami Lynn
, The Waco Brothers
, Faith Hahn, Kristeen Young
, Antonique Smith
, Annie Golden
, Amy Rigby
, Michael Cerveris
, Lala Brooks
(The Crystals), Steve Wynn
, The Nick Drake Orchestra
, cabaret stars Andrea Marcovicci
and Maude Maggart
, Martha Wainwright
, Sally Timms
(The Mekons), Nellie McKay
, and Christine Ohlman
, among others.
His recordings have been produced by Tony Visconti
, PJ Harvey
, Jim Harry, James Mastro, and Don Fleming
.
Hurley's London upbringing led to a life-long love affair with East London's West Ham United Football Club. The song, "Bleeding Claret & Blue" -- West Ham's team colors—was written and recorded by Hurley for his team's appearance in the 2006 FA Cup Final and has been adopted by West Ham supporters' clubs worldwide as their theme song.
Raised Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Hurley now lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His roots in three distinct heritages inspired his eclectic songwriting, which has been described as a blend of punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, rock and roll balladry
Rock and Roll Music
"Rock and Roll Music" is a song written and recorded by rock and roll icon Chuck Berry which became a hit single in 1957 and has been covered by many artists....
, and traditional Irish folk Musically, Hurley is oft-noted for his soulful (“whiskey-tinged”) baritone and the storytelling quality of his lyrics.
His ballad "Amsterdam Mistress" is featured on the Sony Records' compilation Whiskey in the Jar: Essential Irish Drinking Songs and Sing Alongs, along with classics from The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
, Pogues, and Clancys
The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
. In 2011, Hurley was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as one of seventy-five authors who participated in the UN’s International Day of Peace
International Day of Peace
The International Day of Peace, also known as the World Peace Day, occurs annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to peace, and specifically the absence of war, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone. It is observed by many nations, political groups, military...
.
The House That House That Horse Built (Let The Great World Spin)
2010 was marked by Hurley’s collaborations with two bestselling books. Hurley and author Colum McCannColum McCann
Colum McCann is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He is a Professor of Contemporary Literature at European Graduate School and Professor of Fiction at CUNY Hunter College's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing with fellow novelists Peter Carey, twice winner of the Man Booker Prize,...
cowrote a song-cycle – “The House That Horse Built (Let the Great World Spin) ” -- based on McCann’s 2009 National Book Award-winning novel, Let the Great World Spin
Let the Great World Spin
Let the Great World Spin is a novel by author Colum McCann about New York City. The book received the 2009 National Book Award for fiction, and the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, one of the most lucrative prizes in the world.-Plot:...
. The album is written from the perspective of Tillie, a 38 year-old black prostitute from the Bronx, who is reflecting on her tragic life.
The album was recorded with Hurley’s band The Gents and features such musical luminaries as The Chieftains'
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney is one of the founders of the Irish musical group The Chieftains and has played on every one of their albums.He was born in Donnycarney in Dublin. His mother bought him a tin whistle when he was six and at the age of eight he started to learn the Uilleann pipes. He also plays button...
, Matt Sweeney
Matt Sweeney
Matt Sweeney is a guitarist, vocalist, and producer who has worked with various musicians and groups.-Biography:Sweeney's high school band Skunk released two albums on Twin/Tone records...
, soul-legend Tami Lynn
Tami Lynn
Tami Lynn is an American soul singer. She scored a Top Ten hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1971, with the song, "I'm Gonna Run Away From You"....
, film actress Antonique Smith
Antonique Smith
Antonique Smith is an American Broadway, film actress and singer.-Life and career:Smith was born in East Orange, New Jersey. Smith is best known for her starring roles as Maureen and Mimi in Jonathan Larson's Broadway production of Rent. She was also the poster girl for Rent, displayed on taxi...
, Denis Diken, Joe McGinty
Joe McGinty
Joe McGinty is a composer, keyboardist and arranger who was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey.-Background:McGinty is most widely known for his five years as the keyboardist for The Psychedelic Furs ....
, and Faith Hahn. It was produced by Don Fleming
Don Fleming (musician)
Don Fleming is an American musician, best known for being the frontman of Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L., and Gumball.-Biography:...
and Hurley.
Life by Keith Richards
Also in 2010, Hurley, Johnny DeppJohnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, and Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
narrated the audiobook version of Keith Richards’ memoir, Life
Life (book)
Life is a memoir by The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, written with the assistance of journalist James Fox. Published in October 2010, in hardback, audio and e-book formats, the book chronicles Richards' love of music, charting influences from his mother and maternal grandfather, through...
. Life won two 2011 Audie Awards
Audie Awards
The Audie Awards are annually bestowed annually in the USA for outstanding audiobooks. The Audies have been granted by the Audio Publishers Association, a not-for-profit trade organization, since 1996. The nominees are announced each year in January, and the winners are announced at a gala banquet...
– Audiobook of the Year and Best Biography/Memoir -- on May 24, 2011. Additionally, the audiobook Life was voted Amazon’s #1 Audiobook of the Year for 2010.
Upcoming CD
Hurley is recording a new CD with his band The Gents, featuring songs co-written by Steve WynnSteve Wynn (songwriter)
Steve Wynn is a songwriter based in New York . He led the band the Dream Syndicate from 1981 to 1989 and afterward began a solo career.- Career in bands :...
and Colum McCann
Colum McCann
Colum McCann is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He is a Professor of Contemporary Literature at European Graduate School and Professor of Fiction at CUNY Hunter College's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing with fellow novelists Peter Carey, twice winner of the Man Booker Prize,...
. The album's expected release date is late 2011.
Joe Hurley and The Gents
Joe Hurley currently fronts the band Joe Hurley and The Gents. The Gents are James Mastro (Ian HunterIan Hunter (singer)
Ian Hunter Patterson is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974, and he again fronted them at the time of their 2009 reunion. Hunter was a musician and songwriter before Mott The Hoople, and...
), Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
), and Ken Margolis (Cracker)
Cracker (band)
Cracker is an American alternative rock band featuring founders/songwriters singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. They are best known for their platinum-selling 1993 album, Kerosene Hat, featuring the hit songs "Low", "Euro-Trash Girl", and "Get Off This".Founders Lowery and Hickman...
, Denny McDermott, Megan Gould, and Jon Spurney. Their first show was reviewed by legendary rock journalist John Swenson, who wrote:
"Lead singer and songwriter Joe Hurley, backed by a sublime group of New York City All-Stars, The Gents, ventured out last week for a pair of shows that offered up a selection of brand new material and some rarely performed Rogue's March songs....The highlight of their sparkling set was a great new song 'Irish Breakfast In a Greek Diner' that boasted a terrific sing-along chorus."
The Gents are home at their favorite NYC venue, Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub at Public Theater is a nightclub that hosts live performances regularly. The venue, which is a non-profit operation, is located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City...
, and have individually and collectively enjoyed critical acclaim for years.
They've opened for the New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
and played with the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
, and Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
. They've gigged with Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan is an English keyboard instrumentalist, best known as a member of the English rock bands Small Faces and Faces.-Small Faces and Faces:...
, headlined the Riverside Park
Riverside Park
Riverside Park may refer to:* Riverside Park , New York City* Riverside Park * Riverside Park , Buffalo, New York, former baseball park* Riverside Park, California, a community* Riverside Park, Ottawa, a neighbourhood...
Music Festival for four years, and played festivals with The Waco Brothers
The Waco Brothers
The Waco Brothers are an alternative country band in Chicago, Illinois, formed by Jon Langford of the Mekons. The group grew out of Langford's wish to play more country-influenced music as the Mekons concentrated more on a punk sound. They were originally put together simply for local Chicago...
, Justin Townes Earle
Justin Townes Earle
Justin Townes Earle , son of Steve Earle, stepson of Allison Moorer, and named for songwriter Townes Van Zandt is an AMA winning, Americana musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. Earle is signed to Bloodshot Records and has four released albums from 2007–2010...
, and appeared as themselves in a national TV ad about the rock and roll scene in NY.
They are presently recording a new CD of piano-led ballads, cabaret-influenced rock and roll screamers, and some acoustic tracks, including the songs, "Valentine Blue," "Desiree," and "Rockaway," as well as the glam-tinged "Julie Andrews Says Hello" and their best known song, "Irish Breakfast In A Greek Diner."
Joe Hurley & Rogue's March
Joe Hurley fronted the New York-based, Irish-tinged rock and roll band Rogue's March from 1995-2004. They released two critically acclaimed CDs, Never Fear and Chaser. Their debut album, Never Fear (2000), includes the hits, "Shut Up and Drink," and the Christmas heartbreaker, "Amsterdam Mistress." The New York PostNew York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
called the song "Shut Up and Drink" "a New York Irish Anthem":
"The Rogue's March pub hit was the theme song of defunct dive bar The Village Idiot, and is on the playlist of every respectable watering hole in town. (The tune has also been covered in Germany, Denmark, Canada, and Ireland)".
The ballad "Amsterdam Mistress" is included on the seminal Irish folk-rock collection, Whiskey in The Jar: Essential Irish Drinking Songs and Sing Alongs, released by Sony.
Their sophomore effort, Chaser (2003), was produced by the legendary James Mastro. Hurley's tune, "Madcap Tears" from the Chaser CD has been featured in Captain Morgan's rum TV ads.
The original Rogue's March line-up was Gary Johannes, Bill Gerstel, Jim Harry, Dan Prater, Ken Margolis and Hurley. J-F Vergel and Chris Nappi joined in 1996. Other members were Ivan Julian
Ivan Julian
Ivan Julian is a guitarist and bassist, founding member of the seminal Punk/New Wave group Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Outsets and Lovelies.He has performed with the Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, and Shriekback....
, Adam Roth, Jason Goodrow, and Andrew Goodsight.
Allstar Irish Rock Revue
The Allstar Irish Rock Revue is an annual musical-literary collaboration founded and curated by Hurley. The Revue takes place in New York City in celebration of St. Patrick's Day and is a famed New York City event. The Revue has been called, "The most celebrated musical event of the St. Patricks's season in New York" and '"[It] draws rave reviews every year as the biggest St. Patrick's party in town". National Geographic TravelerNational Geographic Traveler
National Geographic Traveler is a magazine published by the National Geographic Society in the United States. It was launched in 1984. Local-language editions of National Geographic Traveler are published in Armenia, Belgium/the Netherlands, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Latin America,...
rated the Revue "the #2 Star Attraction" in the article "The Best 10 Places to Spend St. Patrick's Season in America".
Hurley, Irish-blooded himself, began the review as a way to honor "The Great Irish Songbook" by playing Celtic classics alongside the tunes of Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
, Morrisey, The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, John Lydon
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
, and Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, to name a few. Every year, the Revue features different artists from all walks of life. In 2011, the Revue celebrated its 12th anniversary with a sold-out show at the Highline Ballroom. The performance featured the Alice Cooper Group
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Gene Cornish
Gene Cornish
Gene Cornish is an American guitarist and harmonica player. He is an original member of the popular 1960s blue-eyed soul band the Rascals. From 1965–70, the band recorded eight albums and had thirteen singles that reached Billboard's Top 40 chart...
, Oscar winner Sam Bisbee, Tony-winning actor Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
, SNL's Christine Ohlman
Christine Ohlman
Christine Ohlman is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, recording artist, music scholar. Her nickname "The Beehive Queen" refers to her distinctive platinum beehive...
, Joe Piscopo
Joe Piscopo
Joseph Charles John "Joe" Piscopo is an American comedian and actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
, Noel Kilkenny (the Irish ambassador to the USA), and NYC guitar greats Adam Roth (Denis Leary
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...
) and Ricky Byrd, who played Gary Moore
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
's very own Les Paul, in a moving tribute weeks after the Thin Lizzy guitarist's passing.
Past musical guests have included Ronnie Spector, Fountains of Wayne, Martha Wainwright, Gogol Bordello, Garland Jeffreys, Nada Surf's Matthew Caws, Irish sensations The High Kings
The High Kings
The High Kings are an Irish ballad group. They were formed on Carick on Suir by Fibarr Clancy and Martin Furey.Brian Dunphy , and Broadway/pop/country singer Darren Holden were later recruited having wowed the world with their own solo careers on broadway in musical reviews, such as Riverdance...
,The Crystals' LaLa Brooks, Carrie Rodriguez
Carrie Rodriguez
Carrie Luz Rodriguez is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Texan singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and well-known Texas painter Katy Nail, and is the granddaughter of prolific Texas essayist Frances Nail. She sings and plays the fiddle, mandobird and tenor guitar...
, Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley is an American singer and actress, who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the sitcom Night Court. In music, she has released three solo albums but is best known for her collaborations with the singer Meat Loaf.- Early life and career :Foley was born in St....
, Lenny Kaye
Lenny Kaye
Lenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.- Early life :...
, Faith Hahn, Tony Shanahan and Jay Dee Daugherty
Jay Dee Daugherty
Jay Dee Daugherty is an American drummer and songwriter most known for his work with Patti Smith. As a member of the Patti Smith Group, he has been nominated twice to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.- Biography :...
of Patti Smith Group, Oscar winner Mike Viola
Mike Viola
Michael "Mike" Viola is an American singer-songwriter best known as singer, songwriter and "musical architect" of a team he called the "Candy Butchers", a pop-rock band from New York City that recorded three critically acclaimed albums for Sony. A native of Stoughton, Massachusetts, Mike began his...
, film stars Annie Golden
Annie Golden
-Career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Golden began her career as the lead singer of The Shirts . During the early 1990s she performed as part of the duo Golden Carillo with Frank Carillo. They released three albums,Fire in Newtown, Toxic Emotion, and Back for More. She then returned to The Shirts...
, Jesse Malin
Jesse Malin
Jesse Malin is a rock musician. He has played with Heart Attack and D Generation. He is currently a solo recording artist.-Biography:...
, Susan McKeown
Susan McKeown
Susan McKeown is an Irish songwriter, folk singer and producer.-Early years:Susan McKeown was born on February 6, 1967 to John Ryan and Jane Ann McKeown in Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. She was greatly influenced by her mother, an organist and composer who died in 1982...
, Willie Nile
Willie Nile
Willie Nile is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980 Nile released his self-titled debut album which according to one critic remains “one of the most thrilling post-Byrds folk-rock albums of all time”...
, Kristeen Young
Kristeen Young
Kristeen Young is an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist from St. Louis, Missouri. She is noted for her aggressive style and four-octave vocal range....
, Ireland's chart-topping Republic of Loose
Republic of Loose
Republic of Loose are an Irish funk rock band from Dublin. Formed in 2001, the band currently consists of lead vocalist Mick Pyro, bass guitarist and vocalist Benjamin Loose, keyboardist Darragh, guitarists and vocalists Dave Pyro and Darach O' Laoire and drummers and percussionists Andre Lopes...
, members of Irish supergroup Clanaad, the New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
, Televison, The Dictators
The Dictators
The Dictators are an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Critic John Dougan said that they were "one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth." The Dictators are represented in the "Punk Wing" of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland, Ohio...
, The Mekons, Cracker
Cracker
Cracker may refer to:* Cracker , a type of biscuit, usually salted or savory edible* Cracker , a mountain peak in Glacier National Park** Cracker , located in the Lewis Range, Glacier National Park in the U.S...
, and Ian Hunter Band.
Ian Hunter (singer)
Ian Hunter Patterson is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974, and he again fronted them at the time of their 2009 reunion. Hunter was a musician and songwriter before Mott The Hoople, and...
Gibson Guitars has sponsored the Revue since 2006. Gibson had a customized Irish-flag Epiphone
Epiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
made exclusively for Joe Hurley and the Irish Revue. It is the only one of its kind in the world. The guitar is played on the show-closing finale, "God Save The Queen
God Save the Queen
"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...
" written by John Lydon (Sex Pistols)
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
. In 2007, Hurley decided to turn the Revue into a fundraising event for various charities. To date, proceeds from the Revue have gone to Save St Brigid's, The Animal Rescue League, Gilda's Club
Gilda's Club
Gilda's Club, named in tribute to the late comic actress Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989, is a community meeting place for people living with cancer, their families and friends. There are 22 open clubhouses and nine in development in North America...
of NY, The Bowery Mission
Bowery Mission
The Bowery Mission is a rescue mission in Manhattan's Bowery that was started in 1879 by Albert Gleason Ruliffson. It was the third rescue mission established in the United States.The Mission gives homeless men a place to sleep overnight.-History:...
, the Widows of NYPD, and Haitian Relief.
When asked to describe The Allstar Irish Rock Revue, Hurley is quoted as saying, "The Songbook is of Ireland, but for everyone…New Yorkers from all backgrounds singing them. That's what the show is all about. There's no other songbook that translates so well across the world".
Collaborations
Hurley is known for his striking collaborations with a wide-range of musicians and authors. He has sung and/or recorded with Ian HunterIan Hunter (singer)
Ian Hunter Patterson is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974, and he again fronted them at the time of their 2009 reunion. Hunter was a musician and songwriter before Mott The Hoople, and...
, playwright Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
, PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, Marianne Faithful, Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
and Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
, Shane Macgowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
, John Oates
John Oates
John William Oates is an American rock, R&B and soul guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer best known as half of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates ....
, Prefab Sprout
Prefab Sprout
Prefab Sprout are an alternative English pop rock band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham, England who rose to fame during the 1980s. Eight of their albums have reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, and one of their singles, "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", peaked at number seven in the UK...
, Laura Cantrell
Laura Cantrell
Laura Cantrell is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. She used to present a weekly country and old-time music radio show on WFMU in New Jersey called The Radio Thrift Shop...
, Tami Lynn
Tami Lynn
Tami Lynn is an American soul singer. She scored a Top Ten hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1971, with the song, "I'm Gonna Run Away From You"....
, The Waco Brothers
The Waco Brothers
The Waco Brothers are an alternative country band in Chicago, Illinois, formed by Jon Langford of the Mekons. The group grew out of Langford's wish to play more country-influenced music as the Mekons concentrated more on a punk sound. They were originally put together simply for local Chicago...
, Faith Hahn, Kristeen Young
Kristeen Young
Kristeen Young is an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist from St. Louis, Missouri. She is noted for her aggressive style and four-octave vocal range....
, Antonique Smith
Antonique Smith
Antonique Smith is an American Broadway, film actress and singer.-Life and career:Smith was born in East Orange, New Jersey. Smith is best known for her starring roles as Maureen and Mimi in Jonathan Larson's Broadway production of Rent. She was also the poster girl for Rent, displayed on taxi...
, Annie Golden
Annie Golden
-Career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Golden began her career as the lead singer of The Shirts . During the early 1990s she performed as part of the duo Golden Carillo with Frank Carillo. They released three albums,Fire in Newtown, Toxic Emotion, and Back for More. She then returned to The Shirts...
, Amy Rigby
Amy Rigby
Amy Rigby is an American singer-songwriter. After playing with several New York bands she began a solo career, recording several albums which had only modest sales despite enthusiastic reviews. She settled into a career of touring small venues and private parties while raising a daughter, then...
, Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
, Lala Brooks
The Crystals
The Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron " and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead...
(The Crystals), Steve Wynn
The Crystals
The Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron " and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead...
, The Nick Drake Orchestra
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, cabaret stars Andrea Marcovicci
Andrea Marcovicci
Andrea Louisa Marcovicci is an American actress and singer.- Biography :Marcovicci was born in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Helen , a singer, and Eugen Marcovicci, a physician and internist of Romanian descent. In her teens, she decided that she wanted to be a singer, but instead...
and Maude Maggart
Maude Maggart
Maude Maggart is an American cabaret singer and recording artist who performs throughout the United States and Europe, but most often in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City.-Biography:...
, Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American folk-rock singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of American folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle...
, Sally Timms
Sally Timms
Sally Timms is an English singer and songwriter. Timms is best known for her long involvement with the Mekons whom she joined in 1985....
(The Mekons), Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay , is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and former stand-up comedienne, noted for her critically acclaimed albums, and for her Broadway debut in The Threepenny Opera , for which she won a Theatre World Award...
, and Christine Ohlman
Christine Ohlman
Christine Ohlman is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, recording artist, music scholar. Her nickname "The Beehive Queen" refers to her distinctive platinum beehive...
, among others.
His recordings have been produced by Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
, PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, Jim Harry, James Mastro, and Don Fleming
Don Fleming (musician)
Don Fleming is an American musician, best known for being the frontman of Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L., and Gumball.-Biography:...
.
Festivals
Joe Hurley has headlined and performed at a variety of American and international musical and literary festivals. Noteworthy performances of recent years include:- Festival America—headliner—Vincennes, France - September, 2010
- International Literature Festival BerlinInternational literature festival berlinright|alt=alt text|logo ILB|thumb|ILB logoThe International Literature Festival Berlin also known as ILB,is an annual event based in Berlin. The festival takes place in early autumn and its purpose is to present contemporary developments in prose and poetry from all around the world...
-- -- musical artist-in-residence—Berlin, Germany—September 2010 - West Belfast Festival -- headliner—Belfast, Northern Ireland—August, 2010
- Irish Consulate in New York City -- Joe Hurley performs The House That Horse Built (Let The Great World Spin) for Irish President Mary McAleeseMary McAleeseMary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...
-- New York, NY—2009 - Public Theatre Gala Concert Fundraiser—Joe Hurley with Jimmy WebbJimmy WebbJimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
, Judy CollinsJudy CollinsJudith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, and Shawn ColvinShawn ColvinShawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
-- New York, NY—2008 - ChicagoFestChicagoFestChicagoFest was a summer music festival in the city of Chicago,started in 1978 by Mayor Michael Bilandic. It was held annually at Navy Pier, and lasted for roughly two weeks. It featured sixteen separate stages, each sponsored by a national retail brand and a media sponsor compatible to the stage's...
-- Joe Hurley with The Waco BrothersThe Waco BrothersThe Waco Brothers are an alternative country band in Chicago, Illinois, formed by Jon Langford of the Mekons. The group grew out of Langford's wish to play more country-influenced music as the Mekons concentrated more on a punk sound. They were originally put together simply for local Chicago...
and Justin Townes EarleJustin Townes EarleJustin Townes Earle , son of Steve Earle, stepson of Allison Moorer, and named for songwriter Townes Van Zandt is an AMA winning, Americana musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. Earle is signed to Bloodshot Records and has four released albums from 2007–2010...
-- Chicago, IL—2008 - Central Park Summerstage -- Joe Hurley with Teddy ThompsonTeddy ThompsonTeddy Thompson is a British folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk-rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson...
and Josh Max, conducted by Robert KirbyRobert KirbyRobert Kirby was a British born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He is best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, but has also worked with Elton John, Ralph McTell, Strawbs, Paul Weller and Elvis Costello.-At Cambridge:Patrick...
-- New York, NY—2006 - "Gimme Shelter: Animal Rescue Benefit" at Hiro Ballroom—Joe Hurley & The Gents with Beastie BoysBeastie BoysBeastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, Debbie HarryDebbie HarryDeborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
, Blue Oyster CultBlue Öyster CultBlue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
, Nellie McKay, and Marshall CrenshawMarshall CrenshawMarshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
-- New York, NY—2006 - Warped TourWarped TourThe Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
-- North American Tour—2001
Television
- French TV's "La Grande Librairie" with Salman Rushdie, Philip RothPhilip RothPhilip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
, William KennedyWilliam Kennedy (author)William Joseph Kennedy is an American writer and journalist born and raised in Albany, New York. Many of his novels feature the interaction of members of the fictional Irish-American Phelan family, and make use of incidents of Albany's history and the supernatural...
, and Colum McCannColum McCannColum McCann is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He is a Professor of Contemporary Literature at European Graduate School and Professor of Fiction at CUNY Hunter College's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing with fellow novelists Peter Carey, twice winner of the Man Booker Prize,...
-- September 2010
Albums
- The House the Horse Built (Let The Great World Spin) -- Joe Hurley and Colum McCann—2009 (Hurley Records)
- Live at the Loser's Lounge -- Joe Hurley with The Loser's LoungeLoser's LoungeLoser's Lounge is an ongoing tribute project which performs music by songwriters and bands like Queen, Serge Gainsbourg, Neil Diamond, Paul Williams, Lee Hazlewood, Devo, and David Bowie. Each show explores greater- and lesser-known works by a single artist, or pits two musical forces against one...
-- 2006 (Arabon) - Chaser -- Joe Hurley & Rogue's March—2003 (Arabon)
- Never Fear-- Joe Hurley & Rogue's March—2000 (Arabon)
Singles
- "Bleeding Claret & Blue" - 2007 (Arabon)
Hurley's London upbringing led to a life-long love affair with East London's West Ham United Football Club. The song, "Bleeding Claret & Blue" -- West Ham's team colors—was written and recorded by Hurley for his team's appearance in the 2006 FA Cup Final and has been adopted by West Ham supporters' clubs worldwide as their theme song.
Compilations
- "Amsterdam Mistress" -- Whiskey In The Jar: Essential Irish Drinking Songs & Sing Alongs -- 2006 (Sony Records)
External links
- http://www.roguesmarch.com/
- www.facebook.com/joehurleymusic