No Frontiers

Even though Irish singer Tommy Fleming recently underwent major back surgery for prolonged and bothersome back pain, that was later discovered to be a ruptured disc, he will still be making the long journey to Australia for his October concert tour.

The literary critic in me can’t help but see the irony of the fact that with the literal backbone or rather ruptured disc, on the mend the figurative backbone is, like his voice, as strong as ever. Australian’s have the chance of seeing again, one of Ireland’s greatest singers with the moniker ’the voice of Ireland’.

Tommy was born and lives, in Sligo in the west of Ireland, the place Yeats called ‘country of the heart’. Other famous Sligo personages include Spike Milligan, Harpist Mary O’Hara and in these days when the vampire franchise is culturally cool, Sligo was also the birthplace of the mother of the father, of the world’s most famous vampire, Dracula! It was the ghost stories surrounding the city’s abbey that had a strong influence on a young Bram Stoker.

From this mix of excellence in poetry, literature, humour, and beautiful music comes a man with an incredibly emotive voice.

When I asked Tommy what song he hadn’t but would like to record he cited ’No Frontiers’ made famous by Mary Black. Tommy is (a bit humble and) hesitant in recording it himself because he believes Mary’s version a definitive one.

Record it or not, and without sounding too corny the feel of the song fits in well with some of the events of Tommy’s life.

There have been no borders for Tommy, no border or barrier effecting his recovery after a frightening car accident which left him wearing a corrective brace called a Jerome halo for an extended period of time, and no barrier preventing Tommy in shark diving in South Africa and desiring to do the same in South Australia, and no barrier preventing him from bringing care and compassion as a field officer in Sudan and of course no musical borders for a man that can sing the whole gamut of musical genres.

As his musical director, piano player and friend, musician David Hayes describes Tommy:
“My line on him is that he could make the naffest Irish ballad sound un-naff he has 700 years of downtrodden underdog pain in his voice and it really seems to strike a chord with people”.

That is some compliment but anyone who has heard Tommy sing would agree with its accuracy. Yet, Tommy has much more than just a beautiful and expressive voice.

Just when things were starting to move in regards to Tommy’s singing career he was involved in a terrible accident which he literally walked away from with a broken neck requiring the employment of a Jerome Halo. It is by all accounts a very constricting contraption which holds in place for mending, the broken bones. After reflective recovery and with his singing career back on track it was then time for Tommy to wear a different kind of halo, the one of care and compassion.

And it was in this other role away from music that I was first drawn to Tommy.

Tommy was approached by Irish aid agency ‘Goal’ http://www.goal.ie/ to spend six months in Sudan and take part in a documentary of the humanitarian and famine relief agency’s work. Tommy gained much from his time in Sudan and said he would return at the drop of a hat. He spoke of things that I have long attempted to fathom, the smiling faces of those in crisis, hunger and sickness. The incredible strength and positive attitude displayed by people living through difficult times or as Tommy sings in another of his songs ‘Hard Times’.

The Irish themselves (and perhaps this is some of what David Hayes was referring to as the ‘700 years of downtrodden pain’ in Tommy’s voice) are no strangers to hunger. Indeed a famine monument stands in Sligo town as a reminder of this terrible part of Irish history.

Tommy cites his time in Sudan as a life changing.

In an extraordinary time Tommy was a field worker taking part in food drops, feeding 2,000 children a week with a maize mixture and assisting those with Malaria and AIDS. Why was his time in Sudan such a treasured time? … As Tommy said himself ‘because it was about other people’ and given the time in what is now a busy schedule as a singer he would like to do it all again, perhaps the fact Tommy cites one of his songs ‘Jubilee’ as his present favourite (although like all of us, his favoured songs change depending on where he is at and what he is experiencing in life) is indicative of Tommy’s attitude to life.

He likes Jubilee because it is a positive uplifting song that talks about seeing the glass half full rather than half empty. The kind of attitude we see almost daily in our immigrants from Sudan and other countries.

If Tommy hadn’t been discovered by Irish singer Phil Coulter perhaps he would have been working for GOAL in another capacity as doctor! Tommy says his long time ambition up to when he completed his university entry requirements was to study medicine. However, he has carried his power for healing into his music.

I should mention that I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Tommy is a very strong supporter of Irish as the national language of Ireland, even if he is a bit rusty : )

Tommy has collaborated with many people in his career so far but cites Barbra Streisand as someone he would like to work with as well as Australia’s own John Farnham.

This will be the third year in a row that Tommy is visiting Australia so it must be almost like a second home to him! Previous to that he was in Australia with Irish group De Dannan. Now with a successful solo career and with a national tour coming up in October it is a good opportunity to introduce Tommy to the Tasmanian public. There is no tour date for Tasmania yet because as is the catch 22 case with many overseas acts, an audience must be established for them to tour.

You can visit Tommy’s site to hear and see a sample of his music and his guestbook to leave a comment if you would like to see him include Tasmania in his upcoming tour

www.tommyfleming.com
PaulaX