Tadhg Cooke is an Irish musician, also known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

"Tiger Cooke". Born in Dublin, Ireland and raised in

Dunboyne Dunboyne () is a town in County Meath, Ireland, north-west of Dublin city centre. It is a commuter town for Dublin. In the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 censuses, the population of Dunboyne more than doubled from 3,080 to 7,272 inhabitan ...

, County Meath, he showed musical promise from an early age and began writing his own music in school. He obtained a degree in

Computational Linguistics Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the computational modelling of natural language, as well as the study of appropriate computational approaches to linguistic questions. In general, computational linguistics ...

from

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

in 2002, but chose to pursue a career in music. Sparks from his debut release, The Sparks EP, was A-listed on the alternative rock station

Phantom FM TXFM (formerly Phantom 105.2) was a Dublin-based radio station, founded in 1997 as a pirate radio station. TXFM broadcast under a contract awarded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). The station ceased broadcasting on 26 October 2016 ...

. Tadhg has supported the likes of

Damien Dempsey Damien Dempsey (born 9 June 1975) is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk contemporary lyrics that deliver social and political commentaries on Irish society. Damien sings in his native, working-class accent in the Eng ...

Damien Rice Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper (band), Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate succe ...

, and

Bell X1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a Rocket-powered aircraft, rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics–U.S. Army Air Forces–U.S. Air Force supersonic resea ...

over the past number of years and begun to establish himself on the Irish music scene. His single Know You Hate Me made it to number 88 in the Irish airplay charts. In addition, he has made several TV appearances on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

. He appeared at the 2006 Electric Picnic in Stradbally, Co Laois, with David Geraghty's

solo project which also featured renowned violinist

Cora Venus Lunny Cora Venus Lunny (born 1982) is an Irish violinist, composer, and singer. She is the daughter of Irish musician Dónal Lunny and German photographer Julia Buthe. Established as a classical musician since her teens, Lunny is active as a soloi ...

, vocalist Clare Finglass, double-bassist Dave Redmond, drummer

Kevin Brady Kevin Patrick Brady (born April 11, 1955) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1997 to 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes northern Houston, including The Woodlands. He reti ...

(both from the Kevin Brady Trio who have toured Ireland with Bill Carothers, Maria Tecce, The Phil Ware Trio, etc.) David's first solo album "Kill Your Darlings" was nominated for the Choice Music Prize. The follow-up, "The Victory Dance" was released on 28 August 2009.

''Wax & Seal''

He began work on his first full album in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, Germany in 2004, and the result, Wax and Seal, was released to positive reviews in 2005. The

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

described it as "Eminently likeable. (4/5)", whilst Hot Press described it as "a confident, impressive debut". Wax and Seal was released in Japan by Vivo Discs in November 2006.

''Fingertips of the Silversmith''

Cooke teamed up with bassist David Redmond and drummer

in early 2010 to arrange songs for what would become "Fingertips of the Silversmith". This album, produced by David Geraghty, was released independently in Ireland on 22 October 2010, under the new name of " Tiger Cooke". Tadhg found that as an independent act without a huge marketing budget, "Tiger" would be an easier name to use in foreign markets (and even at home), especially in an age when the internet and internet searches are so important. The new name is one less barrier between the music and the listener. "Fingertips of the Silversmith" was described as "a dreamy, understated collection of Americana-tinged folk-rock, marked out by Cooke’s poetic sensibility and keen eye for life’s absurdities" and given 4 stars by The Sunday Business Post; while GoldenPlec described it as "One of the strongest albums an Irish artist has come out with this year". The album was released under a

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licence (BY-NC-ND).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Tadhg Alumni of Dublin City University Irish Celtic music groups Irish male singer-songwriters Irish singer-songwriters Year of birth missing (living people) Living people