You’ll recognise Cormac Neeson as the frontman of Northern Irish bluesy hard rockers The Answer. Now his new band, California Irish, sees him donning hippie threads as he turns to the music he grew up on for inspiration.
“I remember listening to a cassette in our kitchen that was Joni Mitchell on one side, Cat Stevens on the other,” says Neeson, explaining how he became obsessed with the sounds of 1960s Laurel Canyon from his parents’ music collection. “That music ignited my imagination. Also watching documentaries about Woodstock, movies like Easy Rider; I loved the sense of freedom, love and beautiful energy that emanates from that music.”
