Johnny Duhan
Photo: IMRO.ie Claire Fitzpatrick
Irish folk musician Johnny Duhan [pictured] has revealed that he feels unable to speak openly about his Faith with fellow musicians in the industry.
The spiritual world and the music world “don’t go that well together”, he said in an interview with the Christmas edition of Intercom.
“Most of the people in the music business in today’s world aren’t sympathetic towards faith,” he said.
Mr Duhan described feeling alienated from music culture because of his beliefs, and that the alienation he has experienced has led to his disillusionment with the business.
Importance
He also reflected on times he was told his songs would not be successful because of the Faith-based values they presented, like with his song ‘The Voyage’, which he was told would not be successful because the importance of family “was a dying or dead institution”. The song went on to be a hit for Christy Moore and has rarely been out of the iTunes folk top ten.
However, Mr Duhan also believes his Faith may have held him back.
“Someone in the business once asked me if I realised that the reason I hadn’t become successful in the Irish music scene is that I’m openly Catholic. Prior to that, I sort of knew there was some prejudice, but he was adamant that that was the bottom line,” he said.
However, this has not deterred him. “I’ve benefitted so much from my Faith,” he said.