Music City is the solo project of Conor Lumsden from Dublin band The Number Ones. Music City's debut album, Welcome to Music City, has just been released, and we asked the man himself the BIG questions...
Tell us three things about yourself...
1) I make puppets.
2) I once had a job as Bob Dylan's stand-in.
3) I have a baby called Jet named after the Wings song.
How would you describe your music?
Song Music for pub poppers.
We need your consent to load this Spotify contentWe use Spotify to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Who are your musical inspirations?
A mix between songwriters of the rock era like Elton John, Billy Joel, and Lindsey Buckingham, to the power pop stuff like Big Star and Badfinger, to country guys like Roger Miller and Kris Kristofferson, and then all the punk music I grew up on. Any time a writer refers to my music as "retro", I want to have their journalism degree revoked - but then I take a step back and look at what I listen to; it's basically just the soundtrack to Boogie Nights. "You got the touch. You got the power. Yeah!"
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Coolio at The Olympia was first, at which I had the incredible luck of getting tickets right beside my primary school principal, who was wearing leather trousers.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Legacy of Brutality by The Misfits and Born Under a Bad Sign by Albert King from Sound Cellar at the bottom of Grafton Street. The guy at the counter gave me a discount on the Albert King one with the advice that I might not like it right away, but eventually I would realise that it was a great album, and he was right!
What's your favourite song right now?
Jet Airliner (Steve Miller Band) is played every morning in our house recently. We just had a baby boy called Jet! Feels like the first sunny morning after a long winter.
Favourite lyric of all time?
"That untouched takeaway I brought home the other day, has quite a lot to say" on Lately I've Let Things Slide by Nick Lowe, or my favourite opening line, "I lay my head on the railroad tracks and wait for the EE. The railroad don't work no more, poor, poor pitiful me" on Poor, Poor Pitiful Me by Warren Zevon.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Here Comes My Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is perfect and sounds like everything I like about music. Those guitars! And then that piano in the chorus comes in, and it sounds like getting married.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Coming soon to a charity shop near you! Until then, Tower Records, Freebird Records, and Spindizzy stock it in Ireland. The best place to find it online is on Bandcamp. It's also available on all streaming platforms. And you can follow me on Instagram @music.city.conor.
