Rua Rí - Tell Your Mother I Saved Your Life Rua Rí

Cobh singer-songwriter Rua Rí, aka Seán Damery, continues to build momentum around his acclaimed debut album Tell Your Mother I Saved Your Life since its release in May. Following a summer of live shows and festival appearances, Rua Rí now heads into his first Irish headline tour, with renewed focus on album opener “Johnny Workman”.

Rooted in childhood memory, “Johnny Workman” began with a game Damery played in his family home in Cobh, where he would stand in front of the fireplace and announce, “I’m Johnny Workman looking for some work,” before acting out different professions for his family to guess. Years later, during a period of unemployment and while handing out CVs, the phrase resurfaced and became something of a mantra.

Rua Rí describes the track as “a book full of pictures being flicked through really fast – just flashes of memories, all out of order.”

That collision of memory, place and everyday life runs throughout Tell Your Mother I Saved Your Life. Produced by Kean Kavanagh, the album is deeply rooted in Cobh and Cork City, tracing familiar streets, fields, friendships, drinking, boredom and the seemingly insignificant moments that take on greater meaning with time.

Warm, witty and quietly introspective, the record captures the tension between wanting to move forward and remaining deeply connected to where you come from. Across its ten tracks, Damery turns the ordinary into something deeply personal, creating a coming-of-age portrait grounded in the places and people that shaped him.

Since its release, Tell Your Mother I Saved Your Life has drawn support from Hot Press, The Irish Times, Nialler9, Clash, KLOF, So Young, Why Now? and more. Having previously supported Amble, Joshua Burnside, Kean Kavanagh and Sam Amidon, Rua Rí continues a breakthrough year with a run of autumn dates across Ireland, including his first Irish headline tour, culminating at Dublin’s The Workman’s Club on 18 November.

“Blending an awareness of the Irish folk tradition with a distinctive and pervasive sense of originality.” 
Clash Magazine

“Damery’s voice floats, whistles, hums and tumbles, taking his audience on a tonal journey as much as a lyrical one.”
Hot Press – 8.5/10