Davy Carton (born 10 April 1959) is a singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist from

Tuam Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bronz ...

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. He is best known as a core member of the Saw Doctors, the folk-rock band he co-founded with Leo Moran and others in 1987.He likes Tuam stars he is the man in the moment xx

Biography and musical career

Born in Islington, London, Carton moved permanently to

with his family in 1966. As a teenager he attended Tuam CBS, where he formed the punk band

Blaze X Blaze X (1979–1981) were an Irish new wave band. The band was formed in Tuam, County Galway by friends Paul Cunniffe and Paul Ralph. They released a single in 1980, "Some Hope" which became Larry Gogan's 'hit song of the week' on 2FM. Its ...

with fellow students Paul Cunniffe, Paul Ralph, and Ja Keating. He began work in a local textile factory after leaving school, but continued to play with Blaze X until the band dissolved in 1981, the year Carton married his girlfriend Trisha. Working full-time in the textile factory throughout Ireland's economically bleak 1980s, Carton largely put his musical career on hold to support his wife and three young sons. In the late 1980s, Carton got together for a pint with Leo Moran, formerly of Irish reggae band Too Much for the White Man. Carton and Moran began gigging around Galway with a handful of their own rootsy-rock compositions.'Saw Doctors set for craic at Assembly'
, ''Leamington Observer'' (Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England), 26 February 2010. The duo adopted the name Saw Doctors—travellers who earned money by sharpening saws in old Ireland—until they could think of something better. As the band grew, the opportunity to find a better name never arose. Carton finally gave up his day job in 1989, when the Saw Doctors rose to prominence and began touring with bands including

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

, The Hothouse Flowers, and The Stunning. Carton's achievements with the Saw Doctors have included six studio albums, two live albums, a concert DVD, several compilation albums, and extensive tours throughout Europe and the United States. Noted for his witty, rapacious lyrics, Carton has co-written almost all of the band's songs, including " I Useta Lover", Ireland's all-time best-selling single. The Saw Doctors' lyrics tend to stay out of political issues. "I'm not a politician, and I never will be a politician," Carton told the website PopMatters in 2003. "What I like to do is go into a room of people and make them sing along and whatever. I'm not going to tell them how to vote - there's enough people doing that already. I'd rather talk about girlfriends and football. We don't like to write about things we don't really know about. We know about rejection from girls and all that, so we can write about that."Christoper, Michael (15 April 2003)
''Play It Again, Sham!'' Interview with Davy Carton of The Saw Doctors
PopMatters.com,.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carton, Davy 1959 births 20th-century Irish male singers 21st-century Irish male singers Living people Irish male singer-songwriters Irish rock singers People from Tuam Musicians from County Galway Irish rock guitarists The Saw Doctors members

Biography and musical career

See also

References