"Daily doses of Don Mescall as artist, as writer, will lead to good musical health” - Paul Gambaccini, BBC Radio 2

Born in the small hurling parish of Ahane, Co. Limerick, Don Mescall is the second youngest of eleven children

From those beginnings in rural Ireland, a love of music and an instinct for writing songs would eventually take him to London, Nashville and far beyond — and into a songwriting career that has quietly travelled around the world.

Don left Ireland for London in the early 1990s, determined somehow to make a life in music. One of his first significant cuts as a songwriter was Road to Glory, recorded by Eleanor Shanley. Soon afterwards, his songs began finding their way to other artists, including Frances Black, who would go on to record a further nine of his compositions.

THE TROUBADOUR AND A FIRST RECORD DEAL

One of the defining moments in Don’s early career came while performing at the legendary Troubadour in London.

Playing in the tiny club, Don was spotted by a record-industry A&R executive who approached him after the performance. Shortly afterwards, Don was signed to Curb Records, his first record deal, leading to the release of his debut album, Innocent Run, in 2006.

The album would prove significant for another reason. Five of its songs went on to be recorded by international artists, including The Backstreet Boys, American Idol’s Clay Aiken and French-Canadian star Garou — an early indication that songs Don was writing and recording himself could travel far beyond their beginnings.

It was a pattern that would continue throughout his career: songs written from a personal place somehow finding new lives, new voices and audiences in different parts of the world.

Over the years, Don’s songs have been recorded by artists including The Backstreet Boys, Rascal Flatts, Brett Eldredge, Lonestar, Ronan Keating, Sir Cliff Richard and Geri Halliwell, among many others.

Songs written by Don and recorded by other artists have accumulated tens of millions of streams and YouTube views around the world.

It begins and ends with the song.

THE PEPPER POT

Another long-held ambition became a reality during Don’s years in London when he established his own recording studio, The Pepper Pot, in Greenwich.

For a songwriter who had arrived in London years earlier simply hoping to make a life in music, having a recording studio of his own was a dream come true — a place where songs could be written, recorded and brought to life.

And one particular song would make The Pepper Pot part of a very special story.

HENRY McCULLOUGH & “LIVE LONG ROCK ’N’ ROLL”

Many years earlier, Don had co-written “Live Long Rock ’n’ Roll” with his close friend, legendary Irish guitarist Henry McCullough, whose extraordinary career had included Joe Cocker’s Grease Band, Wings and an appearance at Woodstock.

After Henry became seriously ill, Don returned to the song they had written together and began assembling an extraordinary collection of Henry’s friends and musical contemporaries to help bring it to life.

The resulting recording featured Sir Paul McCartney on bass, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason on drums, Albert Lee on electric guitar, Chris Stainton on keyboards, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum on lead vocal, Paul Carrack and Paul Brady on backing vocals, Fiachra Trench’s string arrangement and the London Community Gospel Choir, with Don playing acoustic guitar and producing the recording.

Gary Brooker’s final vocal was recorded at Don’s own Pepper Pot Studio in Greenwich.

Released in 2019 as “Live Long Rock ’n’ Roll” by Henry McCullough’s Fusiliers, the recording became something much more than an extraordinary gathering of musicians. For Don, at its heart it was a deeply personal tribute to an old friend — and to a song the two of them had begun together many years before.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

Recognition for Don’s songwriting continued along the way. In 2017, he received both a Lifetime Achievement Award and Songwriter of the Year at the ICMAs, followed in 2018 by International Songwriter of the Year at the Hot Country Music Awards.

2018 also brought another important chapter with the release of Don’s second studio album, Lighthouse Keeper, released through a German record label.

Following a nationwide television and radio campaign, the album launch at University Concert Hall Limerick sold out, with Lighthouse Keeper reaching No. 1 on the official Irish Independent Albums Chart.

Twelve years after the release of Innocent Run, it marked Don’s return to making an album as a recording artist, while continuing the songwriting career that had occupied so much of the years in between.

Then, in 2019, came another memorable moment.

Don headlined the main stage at London’s Trafalgar Square for the city’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations, performing to an audience of more than 50,000 people.

For an Irish songwriter who had arrived in London many years earlier hoping simply to find his way in music, standing on that stage in the heart of the city was a particularly special moment.

It would also prove to be the final Trafalgar Square St Patrick’s Day celebration before the COVID pandemic brought large-scale events to a halt the following year.

COMING HOME

After decades away, Don eventually returned to Ireland and made his home in a beautiful 1800s church on a tiny island in Co. Cavan.

The painstaking restoration became a journey in itself, transforming the building into not only a home, but another creative sanctuary and recording space — Quivvy Church Studio.

In some ways, it brought Don full circle. The dream that had once led to The Pepper Pot in Greenwich had found an entirely new expression in an old Irish church.

The extraordinary transformation of the church and Don’s life there was recently featured on RTÉ’s Celebrity Super Spaces with architect Dermot Bannon, giving viewers a glimpse inside the unusual place Don now calls home — and where much of his writing, recording and creative life now takes place.

In many ways, the church has become part of Don’s story: a place to live, a place to write, and somewhere to begin again after so many years spent away from Ireland.

And it is from this chapter of his life that Don’s third studio album, Trip Around the Sun, has emerged.

TRIP AROUND THE SUN

Self-penned and self-produced, Trip Around the Sun represents perhaps Don’s most personal and independent record to date.

In contrast to his previous two albums, which were released through record companies, Don has chosen to release this album entirely independently.

Trip Around the Sun will not be released on streaming platforms.

For a songwriter whose compositions recorded by other artists have accumulated tens of millions of streams, the decision is deliberate.

Having witnessed first-hand the economics of the streaming era and the comparatively small financial return that can ultimately reach the songwriter, Don has decided to try something different. Rather than simply complain about a system he feels increasingly undervalues the song and its creator, he has chosen not to participate in that system with this album.

Instead, Trip Around the Sun will be available directly from Don through his own website.

For Don, it is something of an experiment: in the age of Spotify, can a songwriter still make a record, retain ownership and control of his work, and find an audience without a record company or the major streaming platforms?

Like so many musicians, Don is navigating an industry that seems to change almost by the day. His response is to follow his own moral compass — even when that means choosing a road less travelled.

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONGS

There is another, more personal thread running through Don’s story.

Don has spoken openly about his experience of living with depression and the impact it has had at different times on his life, career and relationships.

It has been a journey with difficult chapters, but throughout it all he has continued to write, create and somehow keep moving forward.

In many ways, all of these threads come together with Trip Around the Sun.

It finds Don at another turning point in his life and career — looking back at the journey that began in the small hurling parish of Ahane in Co. Limerick, and at everything that has happened along the way; looking honestly at where he finds himself today, and still finding reasons to write, create and look forward to whatever comes next.

From Ahane to London and Nashville; from a tiny stage at The Troubadour to Trafalgar Square; from The Pepper Pot to an old church on a little island in Co. Cavan; from writing songs for some of the world’s best-known artists to once again making a record entirely on his own terms — it has been quite a journey.

And after all those trips around the sun, Don Mescall is still doing what he set out to do all those years ago.

Writing songs.

SONGS RECORDED BY

Don Mescall’s songs have been recorded by artists including The Backstreet Boys, Rascal Flatts, Brett Eldredge, Lonestar, Ronan Keating, Sir Cliff Richard, Geri Halliwell, Nathan Carter, Frances Black, Sharon Corr, Aslan, Boyzone, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Christy Dignam, Daniel O’Donnell, Lulu, Garou, Richie Havens, Brian Kennedy, The High Kings, Marina Kaye, MacKenzie Porter, Clay Aiken, Theo Thams, Neal McCoy, Luke Dickens, Jaydee Bixby, Grant & Forsyth, Kirsty and many more.

Follow Don on Instagram and Twitter. You can find out more on www.donmescall.com