Questions and answers with Ryan Kelly

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What was the best advice Ryan Kelly ever received? What advice would he give to others? What was his most embarrassing moment … we have the answers here.

Irish Music Daily caught up with Ryan Kelly and threw 12 questions at him. Here’s what he had to say.

What’s your favourite job within Celtic Thunder?

Ryan Kelly
On songwriting

I’ve always said that performing live has always been what makes me happiest, whether it be to a few thousand at the CT shows, or more intimately on the Cruise, on the Acoustic By Candlelight stage or playing my own songs in my kitchen to whomever is good enough to listen in during one of my many video chats! 🙂
Ryan Kelly. Image Copyright - Irish Music Daily

Are the ABC shows with Neil more relaxed because they’re smaller events…or more difficult because there’s only two of you?

I think they’re definitely more relaxed because they’ve a much more intimate feel than naturally a much larger show would have. There really is no better feeling than hearing the crowd singing back on every word. That’s something that’s more difficult in a larger arena, but, when the majority are within touching distance of me, it’s impossible not to enjoy the instant feedback! 🙂

Who’s the most amusing person in Celtic Thunder off stage?

You know, everyone really does hold their own! It’s something that I learned from the very early days of Celtic Thunder, back, over six years ago, that you’ve got to be pretty quick-witted and thick-skinned in equal measure to survive! 😉

What is your favourite film and TV show, and why?

Favourite film is “In The Name of The Father” and TV show is pretty much any NFL game! 🙂

Do you have a favourite song you like to perform?

I do love performing both “House of the Rising Sun” and “Carrickfergus” with CT, but I feel that there’s always something extra special about performing one of my own songs, that I’ve written myself, whether it be from “Life” or “In Time.” Knowing exactly the reason why I wrote the song, where it came from and seeing how people can relate to it is, I feel, one of the most rewarding things about song-writing and so to watch people sing along to “American Dream” or “Runnin’ Over Bridges” for example, is what gives me the greatest satisfaction.

How do you like to relax when away from work?

It’s pretty many sports, sports and more sports! Now that I travel so much and therefore my days of being part of a team are pretty much gone, I love nothing more than to get out and run! I believe there’s no better way to combine seeing new places or revisiting old ones and actually getting the heart pumping and positive endorphins raging through the body! 🙂

I also love to watch pretty much all sports, but the ones I try to never miss are Gaelic football (supporting either The Moy or Tyrone!), soccer (Manchester United!), basketball (- my beloved Boston Celtics) and American Football (which probably takes up most of my time these days and, most recently, I was honoured to attend my second Super Bowl and see my Denver Broncos take on the Seattle SeaHawks – we’ll not talk about the outcome of that game though! 😉

More questions for Ryan: What are your ambitions for the next few years?

Ryan Kelly
Ryan Kelly Q & A
Ryan Kelly on songwriting