Louise, how did you and Johnny meet?

We met locally here in Tipperary. I was on the road with music, so I was gone a lot. The girls and I used to arrange to go out on Mondays for a bite to eat and a few drinks. We went to Cahir this one Monday night and Johnny was there. The girls knew him but I didn’t and it turned out that our parents knew each other very well. We got chatting that night and we’ve been together ever since.

Read more: Louise Morrissey on home life with husband Johnny, their wedding and his recent cancer battle

You’re in music and he’s in farming, how do those careers marry together?

They marry very well. I was raised on a farm and music was a big part of our lives growing up. It was very easy for me to fall in with Johnny’s life because I understood from my own dad and my brothers. It wasn’t alien to me at all. It was more strange for him because he didn’t come from a music background. It was no problem to him and he fell in with all my friends and I fell in with his. You have to respect what your other half does, and we do. That’s a huge thing.

Is that something you were conscious of when you started a relationship, that they understood your line of work and what it consists of?

There is a lot of travelling involved with my job. But I’m a homebird so I’ll come home most nights unless I really have to stay over. I love to come home to my own house.

You both have very busy jobs, is it hard with the farm and with your touring schedule?

It can be hard to get away at certain times of the year. December and January are the quiet time for farmers and a lot of them take their annual holidays around then. I look after my own bookings so I can keep time free once I know the plan in advance. There are times of the year where I’m off but Johnny is busy. There’s silage season and the calves are born and they need to be reared. I help him out with all of that. Johnny’s Mum would have helped him out up until last year and his Dad, who sadly passed away a year and half ago, did a lot too. He has always had great help.

You’re celebrating 35 years in music this year, does it feel like it has been that long?

It doesn’t, at all. I can still remember the first night I played with my band in Barry’s Hotel in Dublin, it was March 3 1988. It was so nerve-racking at the time but I loved it. I have made great friends along the way and I’ve been very lucky to have worked with great musicians. My career has been so much fun and I still feel like I’m 18, and I plan to keep it that way.

What have been the highlights?

I got to tour with Kris Kristofferson in Newfoundland as his opening act. I didn’t even think I would get to meet him because I’ve heard of singers being on these huge tours without getting to meet the star of the show. His wife was with him and they were so nice, they wanted to know all about Ireland. He sat on the side of the stage and listened to my gigs. I did a month-long tour with Charley Pride around the UK. He was another gentleman and I sat and watched his performance every night. I also toured with Jeannie Seely, who is the queen of the Grand Ole Opry, Billie Jo Spears and Lynn Anderson. One of my big highlights was singing at halftime during the 1988 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final between Tipperary and Galway. I had never been to Croke Park before and there I was being led out by the Artane Boys Band and a big Tipperary flag. I sang Slievenamon , which is a big anthem for us. I will never forget the crowd singing along with me. I represented Ireland in the Country Music Masters in Switzerland, but, sadly, that event doesn’t take place anymore. Sandy Kelly, Philomena Begley, Mary Duff and Susan McCann have all won it.

Often, the highs come with lows. Does anything stand out as being particularly tough for you?

There are nights where there isn’t a good crowd and that can bring you down and make you feel deflated. I was involved in a very bad car crash 30 years ago and that was a very hard time for me. I was able to bounce back though and I got to continue doing what I love. Losing my parents was very hard, my father is gone 28 years and my mother is gone nine years. Our eldest nephew died five years ago and that was a horrible time.

Does music help with grief?

Music brings out different emotions in you. It can make you feel very happy for the most part, but it can also make you feel very sad. You think “Mam would have loved that song” or it might get you thinking of your childhood memories. You can get lonesome. My nephew, who passed away, was in the band with me years ago and we always had great chats about music. I think about him all the time and we miss him very much. Certain songs or albums come out and I think that Jamie would love them. Then you instantly remember that you can’t tell him about them. He is always in my heart though.

What happened to him?

He suffered brain trauma and lived with it for four years. He had severe brain damage, so it was very sad and difficult to look at the way he was compared to who he was beforehand. He loved life and he fitted in as much as he possibly could in his life. It was very difficult for my sister as well, his mother, because he was her only child.

Johnny was diagnosed with cancer in the early stages of lockdown, how is he now?

He was well looked after in hospital in the Bon Secours in Cork and thanks be to God he is at the right side of it now. There was a bit of a delay with getting into hospital and getting the surgery done because we were in level five lockdown, which was a bit of a worry. The virus came out of nowhere and everyone was figuring out how to deal with it. Once the restrictions eased he was brought in and looked after.

There has been a huge country music resurgence over the last decade, has that injection of youth lifted everyone’s careers?

It’s great that there’s a new generation of singers coming along and you need the likes of Nathan Carter, Derek Ryan, Olivia Douglas and Claudia Buckley. They are fabulous singers and entertainers and they look fabulous. You need that to keep the scene alive, it’s the same in any genre whether it’s country, rock, or whatever. The new generation brings in a new audience all the time.

Is there ever a divide between the rising stars and the established artists?

I don’t see it and I hope it doesn’t exist. I never saw it in my own career, everyone was always very nice to me when I started out. I had great mentors to give me advice on what to do and what not to do. We all had to start somewhere and it was great to get help along the way. I’ve given advice to up and coming singers. In the future, they will be advising someone else. I help them in any way that I can and I would hate to think there are people out there who wouldn’t.

What’s the best advice you received?

Don’t be afraid to listen. 99.9 percent of people you meet will be nice and the odd one you meet that isn’t, just let them off, you don’t need them and you don’t need to be around them. That can upset you, if somebody says something negative about you and your music. Also, never get carried away with your own hype, keep your head on your shoulders and your feet on the ground and you’ll be okay.

Have you any regrets?

I have to be honest, I don’t. My parents always let me do anything I wanted to do in life. They never stopped any of us and we were involved in music from a very young age. Music didn’t do me and my brothers any harm and it taught us to take the good along with the bad.

Did you and your brothers play together growing up?

There are six of us in the family, three girls and three boys. Noreen and Marie are the two eldest then there was Billy, Norman, me and John. Everybody in the family is musical and they can all sing a song and play a tune on a guitar. My nieces are musical as well. There was always a sing-song at Christmas time and our night together was always called ‘Nana’s Christmas Concert’. If you didn’t sing a song you had to tell a joke or do a magic trick. It’s sad now she’s passed on.

Is life in music a lot easier now because venues are more accessible?

The roads are an awful lot better for starters and there are sat-navs. I don’t know how we found some of the venues, we had to stop at garages and knock on people’s front doors. Some of the signposts on the road were twisted so you would be sent off in the wrong direction. Then you had to get back home from these places [laughs]. We did it and we got through it. The dressing rooms and facilities were interesting, you could be in a glorified cupboard or changing behind a makeshift curtain. The rising stars have great platforms now with Hot Country TV , Opry Le Daniel , Glór Tíre and all the festivals and tours.

They also have social media platforms with Instagram and TikTok, does that add pressure on you?

Oh no, I just put my posters on Facebook and tell everyone that I’m going to be here or there. TikTok is for the younger generation and their followers, the same with Instagram to a point.

Is the plan to stay going for another 35 years?

I might not be looking my best in 35 years [laughs], but my plan is to stay going for another few years, for as long as I can. I’m lucky to still be gigging and I enjoy it. I love the banter and craic in the dressing rooms.

There’s great age positivity in country music, age is no barrier. That doesn’t exist in every genre of music or in every industry.

That is the great thing about the country music scene. There’s no age limit and you can stay going for as long as you want to and there will be an audience there for you. The people who started following me from day one, they’re still there and they’re loyal fans. In certain genres of music you have to look a certain way.

Louise Morrissey’s 35th Anniversary Tour continues all this year. Check out her Facebook page for venues and dates.

This interview first appeared in the June 2023 issue of RSVP Country

Interview by Mikie O’Loughlin

Photography by Pawel Nowak

Hair by Rachel Murphy, for The Cutting Edge

Make-up by Aideen Cleary,
@aideenclearymakeup

Louise’s wardrobe is from Uptown Girl, Cashel

Johnny is dressed by Mr Mister, Cashel

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