Paddy Casey playing at Navan Races

Paddy Casey is to perform in Navan Racecourse as part of the The Boyne Valley Racing Weekend, a new racing festival on 13th and 14th July, created to celebrate County Meath’s historic relationship with the horse which has been an intricate part of the county’s culture for thousands of years. Saturday 13th sees a meeting at Navan Racecourse, with Paddy Casey performing live after the races, with a meeting in Fairyhouse on Sunday.

Casey is just finished making his new double album. Born in Dublin, he got his first guitar when he was 11 or 12 and left home and went busking and gigging for about 12 years. At 24, he was approached by Hugh Murray, an A&R scout from Sony, and spent three days in Sun studios, Dublin, working with producer Pat Donne, recording 11 songs. He signed with Sony and released the demos as an album, ‘Amen (So Be It)’ 1999 . After this, he toured with The Pretenders, REM, Ian Brown, Blondie, Tracy Chapman.
In 2003, Casey recorded a new album, ‘Living’, with a French producer named Fred DeFaye, which went on to become one of the biggest selling albums ever in Ireland ever - about 15 times platinum. 
He toured the album extensively for the next few years. This led to supporting slots with U2 and Pearl Jam.
In 2006, he went to LA to record with George Drakoulias, who had worked at the Def Jam label with Rick Rubin, mostly recording Dave Blanco’s Studio in North Hollywood with great musicians like James Gadson and Steve Ferrone.
“I came back to Ireland to finish the album in my kitchen,” Casey explains. “I worked on the rest of the album with Pat Donne. We released the album in 2007 calling it ‘Addicted to Company (Part 1)’. After this album I decided that it was time to part ways with my record label. 
“For the next few years I began writing and recording at home, I decided when it began taking shape that my next album would be tracks recorded on the day they were written, to keep them raw and natural. 
“In no hurry to have a new album out and I waited till I felt I had about 12 quality songs recorded. Pat Donne began mixing the recordings, which I released in November 2012 as ‘The Secret Life Of .... ‘ in July 2014.
A new single ‘Out Of Control’, was released on 25th July, with Kim Hayden, a co-write and co produced track, mixed by Pat Donne.
“I have since released two singles to be included on the new album, ‘Everything Must Change’ and ‘Turn This Ship Around’,” Casey adds.
The new racing festival in July will also celebrate ‘all things Meath’ including the county’s rich culture in sport from the surrounding historic Boyne Valley hinterland with horse racing being one of the county’s most popular spectator sports with just over 107,000 people attending race meetings in the county last year.
The long history and heritage of the horse in the county has led to Meath having the second highest number of horses in training in the country after Kildare with 787 who battled it out for just over €7.7m in prizemoney in the county’s four racecourses last year. There will be delicious hospitality options on offer with perfect summer food from the region being served. A special family day at Fairyhouse Racecourse on Sunday 14th July sees specific emphasis placed on making the day enjoyable for all the family with great flat racing featuring the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes and ample free entertainment laid on for the kids so the parents are sure to be able to relax and enjoy some family time with a great day at the races.
“What we can say overall is that horses were an intrinsic part of life in Meath and the Boyne Valley for over 2,000 years. 
“They formed part of the rituals and ceremonies of Celtic Ireland, and feature heavily in the great Irish myths centred in the Boyne Valley. Horses continued to be important for work and warfare with the Vikings and English knights and gradually, as Ireland stabilised politically and socially, they began to be used for sport more frequently, especially from the 18th 
century onward,” she continued.