A rock singer who was forced to trade the stage for a delivery round during lockdown says playing online has made him a better artist.
Ory Gallagher, from Co Donegal, said his pandemic job delivering Amazon parcels lasted a day when he decided to make a living by performing online.
Gallagher, 43, the former frontman of indie band The Revs, said the move paid off as he was able to earn more during a two-hour gig on Facebook than he would have earned from the van for a week.
The father-of-two, who went viral in 2012 with his homage to Jimmy’s Winning Matches to Donegal’s winning football championship campaign in All Ireland, is now embarking on another live tour while promoting a new album.
I saw a lot of musicians on Facebook doing live performances so I gave it a try and made more in two hours than I would have driven the van all week. The Amazon job took a dayRory Gallagher
His album Center Falls Apart will be released on March 11th on the Voices of the Sea label.
The pandemic has hit Gallagher particularly hard because when Covid-19 hit, he and his Scottish wife Cara had just taken over a music bar in Edinburgh, The Wildcat.
The couple had to give up this business when pubs in Scotland were closed due to lockdown.
Gallagher, not related to the late Irish guitar legend Rory Gallagher, said at the time he was trying his hand at being an Amazon driver.
“I noticed on Facebook that there were a lot of musicians doing live performances, so I gave it a try and made more in two hours than I would have driven the van all week. The Amazon job took a day,” he said.
“So online gigs provided our income, we moved to Scotland and that paid the rent, it kept us going all year round and I started to enjoy it, it was so much more intimate and quiet and I think it has made me a better artist.
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“On Facebook we have 700 live viewers every week, but sometimes it’s 40,000 to 50,000 views after a few days.”
Former The Revs frontman Rory Gallagher is back on tour with Irish and UK tour dates and new album Center Falls Apart, the first to be released on March 11th on the Voices of the Sea label. Much of the album, he says, was born out of the struggles of lockdown and the resilience it took people to face it. Image: Tom Honan.
Gallagher, who performs under the stage name Rory and the Island, reached #1 on the Irish iTunes chart in November 2020 with When The Lights Go Down.
Earlier this year, he had an eight-hour marathon appearance on Facebook.
His first post-lockdown performance was at The Dublin Castle in Camden, London last August.
“The first gig was magical, I had forgotten the feeling – it feels like surfing when a large crowd sings the lyrics back to you, it becomes a ripple effect in the room, you’re actually carried by them,” he said.
Gallagher’s tour, which includes dates in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England and Scotland, begins March 11 in Opium, Dublin.
For more information visit: roryandtheisland.com/tour/
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/rory-gallagher-back-on-the-road-after-brief-lockdown-stint-as-delivery-driver-41416707.html Rory Gallagher is back on the road as a delivery driver after a brief lockdown stint