A Rathfriland born man now living in Canada has just released a new song penned by himself and sung by a studio musician in Nashville. The catchy 'Being a Dad' was thought up when he was out for a walk and only one word had to be changed!
Mark Fitzpatrick left Drumlough, Rathfriland in the early 70's and now lives in Toronto. Before he left Mark worked in the dole office in Bridge Street, Newry and played in a Rathfriland band called 'Cript' which enjoyed success on the Belfast/Dublin/Limerick group scene. As he explains "When I decided to go to Canada, I recruited Mickey Loughran from Newry to take my place. I think he still plays in the area with a band called Taxi."
When he arrived in Canada the guitar was put away "under the bed" and Mark concentrated on raising a family, but after retiring from a career in IT he discovered that he could write songs and has been writing them ever since.
His new creation 'Being a Dad’ was recorded in Nashville and sung by a studio musician. As Mark explains 'I sent it down there to see what they would do with it and I was pleasantly surprised. I composed the song one day when I was out for a walk and subsequently only changed one word in it after I wrote it down. I’m sure many Dads of a certain age could relate to the lyrics."
Marks brother Tony lives in Rathfriland and his brother Paul and sisters Attracta Redmond and Kathleen Cormican still live in Drumlough.
You can listen to the song below and he is hoping that some of the local radio stations here will play it.
Check out his website at WWW.MARKFITZPATRICKMUSIC.COM