Newbridge folk singing legend Luka Bloom opens up about past as a struggling young artist

Irish folk-singer and Newbridge native Luka Bloom has opened up about his struggles as a young artist.

In a candid chat with Ruairí McKiernan on the Love and Courage podcast, the younger brother of Christy Moore said that he was forced to leave Ireland in search of success in the music industry.

“I never wanted to leave Ireland. I was forced into it by the lack of success that I had right up to 1987 when it was desperation stakes and I got the hell out of here,” says Luka Bloom speaking about his early years in music and his decision to seek success abroad.

“Nobody was coming to my gigs. It was really, really tough. I’d made 3 albums and I needed to grow up,” he tells Ruairí McKiernan in a deeply personal interview on the Love and Courage podcast.

Forty-one years since his first album and with over 20 albums under his belt, Luka Bloom has been making music since the age of 14 and is regarded as one of Ireland’s most loved artists.

Now in his mid-sixties, the Kildare man has been living on the west coast of Clare since 2012 while continuing to tour throughout Ireland and internationally. In June of this year, he captured the hearts of the nation with his rendition of On Raglan Road, which went on to win the title of “Ireland’s Favourite Folk Song” as part of the RTÉ series by the same name.

“I was so lonely. I was so sad and so fearful that I was never going to be able to do the right thing for my family, and that’s a tough way to be,” he says speaking about his move to New York in the eighties.

“I had no idea would anything happen. There was nothing to suggest from my experience that anything good was going to happen. The only thing that existed that suggested that anything good might happen was that I was probably a bit mad and I just had this strange sense of determination.”

He shares that when he first went to the United States he struggled to get established.

“When I went to New York, the first couple of weeks I slept on a sofa. I’d no agent, I’d no manager at the time, I’d no gigs. I gave myself this stage name, Luka Bloom. I had decided I wanted to start from the beginning again – literally – and I said to my family, give me 2 years. If I’m not earning a living in 2 years’ time, I’ll either go to college or I’ll go lookin’ for a job but this is what I have to do. This is what I want to do.  I believe I have something, I just haven’t found a way yet to manifest it.”

“It was terrifying. It was lonely. I really missed my family. I missed Ireland.”

Bloom persevered and he was eventually spotted by a scout from Reprise Records, the iconic label that signed Tom Petty, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and so many other greats. Signing to Reprise set in motion a career that has seen him travel the world, continuing to regularly sell out large venues in places like Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. 

Luka Bloom’s songs often express a real love of nature and a strong sense of social awareness. It’s perhaps no surprise that he is a fan of Greta Thunberg and the climate action movement. “Her voice is like an arrow,” he adds while pointing out his own sense of responsibility.

“I’m part of the problem of climate change because I fly to Australia to do gigs. I increasingly feel that the only hope we have is to figure out a way to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and to acknowledge the pain we’re all in because of what’s happening in the world. This is an important time to be vulnerable, particularly for men. I think it’s what the world needs. It’s a beautiful thing as an older man and it’s one of the things I like about getting older. I like this business of being at peace with my vulnerability and with my frailty.”

You can listen to Luka Bloom’s conversation with Ruairí McKiernan on the Love and Courage podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud and on all major podcast apps. www.loveandcourage.org