IT STARTED back in the family pub in Doon. As a young fella, he would sneak a peak from the kitchen through the serving hatch to the lounge outside. Impromptu sessions, organised gigs, you name it, he lapped it up. Meanwhile, as others of his age listened to passing fads, pop music and other such pap, he was glued to Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins and, most importantly, Elvis Presley.
In a lengthy conversation with Jimmy Buckley, you get the feeling that the Country and Irish singing superstar has modelled the latter stages of his career on the iconic Presley. Except with one crucial difference; it has taken Buckley nearly 17 years to get to the position he is in now, and he is certainly not going to allow it to slip away.
Some of the younger generation might find it easy to dismiss an artist such as Buckley as nostalgic and unprogressive. In fact, they would be tempted to casually dismiss the entire adult dancing scene that provides Buckley, and many others like him, with his regular food and drink. But, long after the showband era has passed, in a time when it is difficult to get anyone to go to gigs at all, particularly in the current climate, hundreds of people turn out weekly at the different social nights held around county Limerick and nationwide, eager for a glimpse of their favourite band or singer, who provide the soundtrack to their weekly night out.
When the Limerick Leader speaks to Jimmy, it is in advance of one of his monthly appearances at the Greenhills Hotel, renowned as one of the most popular social dancing nights in the region. There are a ton of others, such as Sunday's night in the Rathkeale House Hotel, or in OB's Lounge in Kilross or the Times Hotel in Tipperary for example, similar to such nights that Buckley plays around the country. You'll see them advertised in Leader2 every week.
He won't leave any of these venues until the last punter has left, happy to stay and chat with each of them and get some feedback. He says many come every week and are like friends to him at this stage.That is just one of the examples of his seemingly tireless work ethic. A cursory look at his website reveals he has a gig nearly every night between now and Christmas, not to mind the upcoming tour to Spain, where he will take a large group of people and entertain them every night. He has worked hard to get where he is, and has big plans for the next stage of his journey.
"Yeah, we're busy all the time, but it is great, you know?" he says earnestly. "It is great to be as established as we are now, because even in the height of the recession people seem to want to go out and forget about it and enjoy their music."
There is a number of reasons why Jimmy is so popular. One is because he puts so much effort into the show he presents, not just the music, but the band he has alongside him, to the sound they produce, to the lighting and backdrops they use. Every detail is carefully deliberated and managed.
"The one thing I have learnt over the years is that preparation is absolutely vital," he explains. "Everyone's standard of music nowadays has to be very, very high, even on our show that we put on the road every night we have our own lighting crew, trussing, backdrops, machines and so on. To have the longevity you have to move it up a notch all the time."
He is now about to enter a new stage in his career. As he lays the foundations for a large nationwide theatre tour in March of next year, he is preparing to record a live DVD in the University Concert Hall early next month. This is his second such recording, but the preparations have stepped up a notch for such a large venue.
"It has to be up to a certain standard, it has to be top class TV quality. We did the first one over two years ago now and it sold really well. I put an awful lot of effort into it, we had a seven camera shoot and a 15 piece band, so we are going for more or the less the same kind of scenario this time, but it's in the UCH, which is a much bigger theatre than the one we did it in before."
Jimmy explains that he has done a deal with PBS television in America to show the DVD, as well as several other international agencies, a fact that is guaranteed to bring him huge exposure. He says the show will feature traditional Country tunes, as well as Irish ballads, rock and roll and "stuff from across the board" as he branches out from the dances, which he explains that he loves and will never leave behind, but this is the direction he can feel himself moving in as time progresses.
"I'll never leave the dances because I love doing them and there is a great buzz with people out dancing in front of you and it is great craic, but I'm hoping that our dancing followers will come to a concert and it might be a novelty to see us in a different light, and the DVD will give people the idea of what we are like."
He adds, with a tone of seriousness: "What I strive to be is as professional as I can possibly be and I would be very protective of it. You get people who will slag you, for your music or whatever, but I don't mind people slagging if you are not keeping your end up, or if it is constructive criticism, I don't mind that, but I suppose you get knockers no matter what you do."
A self-confessed Elvis fanatic, Jimmy has visited Graceland, even taking a tour of people there and entertaining them, but he was recently in Nashville to record a duet with another legend, George Jones, who Buckley describes as "amazing". Concerts, DVDs, duets with Country legends - all of this is a far cry from when Buckley started out in the industry, toiling on the circuit playing to a handful of people in venues around the country.
At the young age of 18 Buckley was playing two hour shows in pubs around the county and had a short-lived spell in local band 'Nitefall'.
After an appearance on Gerry Ryan's show "Secrets" in 1991, he decided to go into the business full-time, but it wasn't long before he realised what he had taken on.
"I thought all I have to do now is put a band on the road and go out and there will be crowds everywhere. How wrong I was. I went on the road with the band and the first night I had in Doon it was absolutely jammed, there was never as big a crowd in, but it was an absolute disaster. The sound was terrible. I went up the following night to play somewhere in Roscommon, and there was about 18 people there."
Things continued that way for a few years, before the tide started to turn in 1999. A couple of songs Buckley recorded made their way slowly into the Country music circuit, and he was able to get a decent band together. Manager Henry McMahon made the big difference, and wrote 'Your Wedding Day' for Buckley, which was released in 2003 and was the fastest selling single all over Ireland and is a phenomenal hit still for Buckley.
"Before that we were doing really well, the flow was going but that really pushed things over the top and since then things have been great. The good thing is, when things start going well, you can start doing the type of material that you wanted to do all the time. It went from there then and we built it up and up, and we are still going from strength to strength. Every night is a big production and that is the way it has to be."
He comes across as content but fiercely determined to succeed, a trait no doubt gained from toiling at the coalface every night for the last decade or so. It appears his rise is only beginning, starting with the DVD, and he acknowledges the satisfaction gleaned from this before he departs to entertain the masses in the Greenhills.
"To be honest with you, I've a very happy home life, I'm very happy in myself and my music," he says. "I'm very serious about my music and the way I approach it, I've learned that over the years, you have to be as professional as possible and at the end of the day you have to know your limitations, and most of all you have to understand your audience. I've built up a friendship with people all over the country and there will be people down for the DVD from all over which should make it a great night because they really enjoy their music. I'm just hoping it will be great night."
Jimmy Buckley records his Live DVD this coming Thursday, September 4, at 8pm in the UCH. A limited number of tickets are still available on 061-331549.