Matthew Crampsey

Matthew Crampsey, who sings lead and plays guitar with Ceol, was selected by country star Nathan Carter after he spotted him during a Covid-era gig.

The player was performing in a bar in Omagh during public health restrictions. “Literally no one could get up and dance, so it was just hours of a seated gig,” Matthew says.

Nathan happened to be in the pub with a stag party. “He sat and listened to me for two hours. At the end of the gig he came up to me and said he had the idea [for Ceol] and asked if I’d be interested.”

Read more: Country music legend Sandy Kelly talks Johnny Cash, best friend Philomena Begley and her new book

The 28 year old reveals he was actually quite hesitant to join the group at the start, as he didn’t know what lay ahead. He asked Nathan to give him a day or two to consider the offer.

The following day, Nathan rang him and gave him more details. “I said yes and agreed to meet the lads to see how we got on.”

It is no surprise that Matthew’s talent was spotted by the Wagon Wheel singer. He grew up in a very musical family in Culdaff on the Inishowen peninsula in Co Donegal.

His father is Shunie Crampsey, the music star and songwriter who has written tracks for the likes of Daniel O’Donnell, Philomena Begley and Mick Flavin.

“My Mum and Dad were always very supportive, but they didn’t push me into it either. I was able to find my own way,” Matthew says.

He has been performing professionally since he was 15. “I was very very lucky that I knew straight away music is what I wanted to do.”

The people of Culdaff and Donegal have been incredibly supportive of Ceol and Matthew, something he says he is extremely grateful for. “The community is so supportive, they always said I would do something with music. Since Ceol, people have been so great. And it’s not just me, it’s the other lads as well - they have great local support.”

The band gelled immediately and they have since become best friends, despite an initial accent barrier, with Matthew joking the other members of Ceol found it difficult to decipher what he was saying. “After about a month together, they joked that they could finally understand what I was saying, I thought that was so funny.”

Matthew says the four lads are lucky. “We were just four random lads put into a room… we are best friends, it’s not just a cliché. We have WhatsApp and chat every day, we’d often be on the phone to each other chatting and heading to the same gig. We then hang up the phone and keep chatting in person.”

Working with Nathan has also been a dream, with Matthew saying it is hard to put into words how much he has done for the group. “Nathan is such a big deal, I grew up with Wagon Wheel being played in pubs and nightclubs. To go from seeing him as Nathan Carter to just Nathan, who rings me to ask how I’m getting on and asking if I want to meet up… he’s been very very good to us.”

Nathan has never tried to control the band. Liam McKenna, former member of Irish pop group Six turned manager, has been the same. “Ceol has been directed and guided by the four lads that are in it. I think that is why it’s going so well. We have freedom, we aren’t boxed in.”

His biggest achievement so far is appearing on The Late Late Show. Ceol has also performed in the London Palladium, Belfast’s Waterfront and the 3Arena in Dublin. Matthew says they have dreams of taking on America too.

However, a much more intimate gig is the standout for Matthew. The band played the Greencastle Regatta, which is a festival he grew up attending, as his mother is from that area. “The stars aligned that night. The weather was phenomenal, it was dead calm. We were on the stage, one side was the crowd, the other side was the water, and there was a proper full moon, the lighting was amazing. It was one of the ones where I stopped and took it all in.”

Cathal Dervan

Cathal, from Rathfarnham in Dublin, is the baby of the group at 24 years old. “I am very proud of being the youngest, despite looking the oldest as they all say,” he jokes.

He was always involved in music from a young age, but says he didn’t start taking it seriously until he was 12.

A sixth class teacher introduced Cathal to the piano accordion. “I really got bitten by the music bug then.”

From fourth year in secondary school, Cathal knew he wanted to have a career in music. He chose to study secondary school music teaching in Trinity College Dublin. “This was the sensible career I went for.”

While in college, he joined the popular Trinitones acapella group. “That was my introduction to regular gigging. I did all of my studies and teaching hours on top of this.”

While touring with the Trinitones, Cathal received a call from his Dad. He had heard about open auditions for Ceol, and advised Cathal to try out. “I would have missed the deadline only he contacted me about it. He said he had a good feeling about it and I should go for it.”

So, in August 2021, Cathal auditioned in front of Nathan and Liam. It was a nerve-wracking experience. “It was quite X Factor-esque. All the auditionees were sitting up in the crowd and watching everyone go.”

Cathal performed two songs, saying he just tried to be himself. “I was lucky enough to be successful. It was the perfect timing for me coming straight out of college.”

As part of their first rehearsal, the four musicians were put in a room and asked to perform Whiskey in the Jar and The Auld Triangle. They worked together to make the songs sound unique, and created their own arrangement. “We all leaned into the harmonies, which has become a staple for us,” says Cathal. “I really enjoyed organising the harmonies through my acapella background. I was delighted with it.”

Both Cathal and James have trad backgrounds, so they play the instrumental parts of the songs. Matthew and Darragh play guitar for rhythm and do lead singing.

From the moment Ceol formed, the four lads bonded. “We are all from very different backgrounds musically and from different parts of Ireland. The fact we all get on so well, it’s great. We all work toward a certain goal and have a passion for music, we are all of a similar mindset and are prepared to put in the work.”

Cathal says the lads want to spend their spare time off gigging together too. They have even booked a holiday together.

They also have great support from both Nathan and Liam. “Nathan is on top of his game, and the fact he trusts us, is a nice feeling. He knows we can go into the studio and respects our decision, and he can weigh in when he needs to. Liam trusts our instincts and is happy to let us do what we feel is right for the band.”

Some of Cathal’s highlights include playing the London Palladium with Nathan and performing at the Rose of Tralee. “That was pretty mad as it’s such a big festival down there. To be on TV in our first year of playing, we are so lucky.”

Collectively, the band want to gig in America. “I think the type of music we play is really appreciated over there, especially among the second generation Irish community. It would be great to get over there and show them what we are doing.”

James O’Sullivan

25 year old James from Piercestown in Co Wexford started playing music at seven years of age. The fiddle was his instrument of choice. “I had an older sister who used to play the concertina. She used to do well in the Fleadhs.

“My grandparents used to throw her a few bob when she placed well, so I thought I need to get in on this,” he jokes. He entered the Fleadh each year as a child and always performed well.

He credits his music teacher, a man called Dermot Wall, for showing him how to play the fiddle when he was a child. When he got a bit older, he attended a Ceoltas group in Wexford called Danescastle School of Music.

Around 14, he joined an originals band called Cornerboy. “We spent a couple of years touring worldwide, all over Europe, we went to America, we were in Dubai, we went to some crazy places.”

Also during this period, James connected with Nathan Carter’s brother Jake. He began playing the electric guitar for him at gigs. “That is how I knew Nathan before Ceol started.”

A friend of James texted him about Ceol, saying he heard Nathan and Liam were putting together a band and were holding open auditions.

Unfortunately, James was already performing at two other gigs down the country on the days of the auditions, so he couldn’t make them. “I knew they still needed a fiddle player, and I got a phone call the weekend after the auditions. Nathan asked me to come up and have a jam with the other lads and see how it went.”

This was the moment the four met for the first time, in a studio in Dublin. “None of us knew anything about each other, we were thrown into a room. We were a bit nervous.”

The connection was instant, according to James, who says they all complimented each other’s sound and had a mutual respect for the music. They also connected on a friendship level.

“We have a similar type of humour so we all instantly became very good friends, which can be strange for that to happen in a band that’s put together. We are lucky.

“We are like brothers, I love the lads to bits and we’d do anything for each other.”

James feels that their friendship translates to the audience. “When we are having the craic on the stage, it’s genuine. The audience then have the craic with us and it becomes a feel-good circle, the crowd feeds off the band and vice versa, it becomes a magical night for everyone.”

As for Nathan and Liam, James cannot speak more highly of them. “Nathan is a really nice guy. He supports us. Him and Liam have given us space to take the music in our own direction.”

A stand-out show for James took place last year in the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, London. There were just 120 people in attendance. “They were a theatre going audience. They were attentive and listening to everything going on on stage. We had a slower, more intimate set that night that you wouldn’t play at festivals. It was a really magical atmosphere.”

James agrees with the rest of the lads that their goal is to take on America, echoing their sentiments that they are breathing new life into old Irish folk and traditional songs while still keeping them authentic.

James says they are all so thankful to people who come to shows, leave comments on social media and buy their music. “We are so happy and so lucky to be here.”

Daryl Phillips

29 year old Daryl Phillips says initially, he was worried he’d be too old for Ceol. “I had been one of the oldest at the auditions. I obviously didn’t know who the lads were before we met. I was expecting 16 year olds,” he jokes. “I saw we were all mid 20s and we just instantly clicked.”

The singer and guitarist from Newbridge, Co Kildare, says he isn’t sure where he developed his love of music from, as his family weren’t involved in the scene. “It was always in me. I remember writing poetry as a kid.”

He played guitar, but he never sang in public until he was 15. “I was in third year of secondary school. I had a free class and the substitute teacher was the choir teacher.

“I remember putting my hand up and saying ‘Sir, I am actually a decent singer, I sing at home’, I was a bit of a messer, the teacher was like ‘Go away now Daryl and stop annoying me, do your work.’ Then I auditioned for the choir.”

As part of this, Daryl had to sing in front of the whole school for a school mass. He chose the song Hallelujah. “Even the guys who were considered ‘cool’, the older guys, they were sort of impressed. I thought then maybe I was good and could do it from now on.”

What ensued over the next ten years was a whirlwind of various jobs. Daryl gigged in pubs and bars, joined a stage school, and did cabaret shows with comedian June Rodgers. He was also in a boyband called Taken at 18, supporting The Wanted, JLS, and Kodaline on their tours. He also appeared on The Voice of Ireland when he was 20, he went on Germany’s Got Talent, played with wedding bands, and was a backing vocalist and dancer with Celtic Women.

During lockdown, Daryl began posting videos of himself performing songs as a one man band. He would record him singing and playing all the different instruments and then edit the clips together. “I think that is where Nathan saw me.”

At the time, he was doing a course in counselling and psychotherapy, and was strongly considering doing a degree in the field. “I was thinking, have I given everything I can to music? But then I got the call about Ceol. That style of music wasn’t something I had pursued before so I wasn’t sure.”

Daryl believes it was fate he joined the band, as it was a promoter he met 11 years previously who put his name forward to Nathan and showed him the one man band videos.

The chemistry Ceol has is a rare gift, according to Daryl. “Sometimes I feel like people don’t believe me when I say that, but it’s genuinely the best craic I’ve ever had in my life. The lads are also phenomenal musicians too.”

While appearing on TV is a big highlight for Daryl, he says a recent gig in the Palladium in London was one of his favourites. It happened to be his birthday that day, and the other three members of Ceol got the crowd to sing happy birthday to him.

He adds that Nathan and Liam are very trusting. “We aren’t a manufactured boyband, that is why we work.”

Get the latest RSVP headlines straight to your inbox for free by signing up to our newsletter

Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this LINK to receive your daily dose of RSVP Live content. We also treat our community members to wonderful competitions, promotions, along with great stories. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice