Mundy
In March 2014, Mundy received one of the highest honors for an Irish musician when he was invited to the White House to perform for President Obama as part of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations and also played for Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny in the same month. It was a long road to get there: born and raised in the small town of Birr, Co. Offaly, in Ireland, Mundy first performed in his parents' pub, guitar in hand. In 1992, at the age of 17, he moved to Dublin, where he was able to hone his performances and vocals as a street musician on the famous Grafton Street. Grafton Street was also the place where he met many contemporaries from the Irish music scene such as Glen Hansard, Damien Dempsey and Paddy Casey.
During this time, Mundy began writing his own songs in earnest and in 1995, at an open mic show he regularly attended, he was discovered and signed by Warner Chappell Publishing and Epic Records. His first album "Jelly Legs", released in 1996, was well received by the major record companies and received considerable critical acclaim. The song "To You I Bestow" from this album made it onto the soundtrack of Baz Lurhmann's film adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet", which sold more than 11 million copies worldwide.
Mundy's second album "24 Star Hotel" was released in 2002 as the first release of his own label "Camcor Recording" after lengthy legal disputes. The album, which includes the hits "July", "Mexico" and "Linchpin", has been certified platinum several times over.
"Raining Down Arrows", his third album, rose to the top of the Irish charts in May 2004. Recorded in Austin, Texas, it features a strong new Americana influence and ensured Mundy's continued success.
Two years later, the live CD/DVD "Live and Confusion" was released, featuring Mundy's version of Steve Earle's song "Galway Girl" with Sharon Shannon. This performance became the most downloaded song in Ireland for two consecutive years, while the studio version of it went to number one in the charts, won two Meteor Awards and the CD achieved multi-platinum status. Since then, the YouTube video of the song has received more than 2 million clicks.
Following the success of "Galway Girl", "Strawberry Blood" was released in 2009. The album features an impressive cast of contributors including Shane McGowan ("Love is Casino"), Gemma Hayes ("Fever") and Fergus O'Farrell of the band Interference ("Pepper in My Dreams"). Several songs from this album have appeared in popular TV series and many have become fan favorites.
"Shuffle", Mundy's fifth studio album, is a tribute to the American songwriters and songs that have accompanied and inspired him throughout his career as a musician.
Mundy is currently mixing his sixth studio album, which will be produced by Youth, who was also responsible for his first album. One of the UK's most creative current producers, Youth has produced a string of hit albums including The Verve's "Urban Hymns" and is Paul McCartney's sole collaborator on McCartney's side project "The Fireman".
Mundy is constantly on tour in Ireland, the UK, continental Europe, Australia and the USA.