Jimmy Crowley is learning the piano and finding the going none too easy. Coming from a famous balladeer and troubadour of the old school, this might seem disheartening to young hopefuls trying to get their hands operating differently, though in unison, on the keyboard. But now is the time for them to persevere, he says.
The singer-songwriter's new CD, The Coast of Malabar, will be released at the Cobblestone Inn in the Smithfield Market in Dublin on December 6th, by RTE's marine affairs correspondent, Tom McSweeney. The connection isn't accidental - the album is a homage to the sea and seagoing matters.
Crowley, who repopularised the great ballad Salonika, once again shows his love for unearthing long-lost or forgotten songs, one of which is The Girls of Ballytrapeen, a Cork seafaring song he stumbled across in the UK.
British folksinger Cyril Tawney heard it 50 years ago in the Cork Harbour area. He passed it on to Crowley, who will now bring it to a new audience.
Original Jimmy Crowley songs are on the album, too, such as My Love is a Tall Ship, a celebration of the national sail training vessel, the Asgard. Titanic Queens- town speaks for itself and East Ferry reflects the singer's own love for sailing and the sea.
The guest singer on the album is Triona Ni Dhomhnaill.
But why should an accomplished instrumentalist like Crowley want to take up a new instrument?
"Because I was learning the piano as a young fellow and packed it in. I suppose it wasn't the thing in those days. Now I find it a bit harder than I thought I would, especially the maths aspect of timing etc.
"My advice to young people would be to stick at it. Learn it when you're young, that's the best time," he said.