MUSIC and song runs deep in Damien Dempsey’s family.

Some of his earliest memories are of late night music sessions that were held in his parents’ house in Donaghmede, Dublin, when he was a toddler.

He may have got less sleep than the average youngster but he said those songs made him feel ‘warm and safe’.

Damien told Weekend: “They’d all come in after the pub and somebody would be called to sing a song, then someone else would sing and it would go on like that.

“There were no instruments. It was a capella. It was the same at all my family’s houses and neighbours’ houses. From being a kid it was magical to see people with their heads thrown back singing away and loving it. It made me feel warm and safe.

“At my christening there was a big sing song all night at the house

“I was upstairs in the cot and I’ve been told that I slept through it all but all that was going in from a very young age.”

By the time he was 12 Damien felt compelled to learn the guitar.

He added: “Phil Lynott had just died in 1986 and everybody was playing his music.

“I heard him sing Whiskey in the Jar and it just clicked with me because I was used to people playing it at house parties.

“So I got a guitar and once I had that I’d be called upon to back any singer in the house even though I only knew a couple of chords.

“It was a baptism of fire. Someone could be singing a Frank Sinatra song and after six months playing the guitar they’d expect me to play along.

“So it was bizarre for a good few years but I learnt what songs to give people backing for and what to avoid.”

Damien now sees his live shows as an extension of that upbringing steeped in music.

The 42-year-old will be at the Parr Hall for the first time on Sunday.

He said: “A big thing at my shows is to get everybody singing together because when you’re singing all your troubles are gone.

“It’s a lovely feeling of community and you put people on a high. It’s a little bit like praying for me. It’s almost like a religion.”

Damien will be playing songs by his favourite Irish artists like The Dubliners, The Pogues and Christy Moore as well as some of his own tracks.

He added: “There are not many people doing those songs anymore but there is still a desire to hear them.

“It’s hard for me to walk into a pub or a club and hear somebody singing a great Shane MacGowan or Luke Kelly song badly.

“I’ve sang with Shane, Christy Moore and The Dubliners. I know all the guys and they all vouch for me. They know I’ll perform the songs to a high level.

“I’ll be telling some great stories as well. These are legends with a bit of craic about them so it should be a lot of fun. The stories are as good as the songs.

“My father brought me to see Christy Moore, The Dubliners and The Fureys when I was young. They always had great stories so I try and be the same.”

It wasn’t easy for Damien to follow his dreams in a tough neighbourhood originally.

In his youth he trained as a boxer alongside his older brothers and competed as an amateur – but he said that was just for protection.

Damien said: “Boxing was really just so I could walk around the area with a guitar.

“There would be gangs of kids on the corner and I learnt how to box to fend off those kids from picking on me.

“You were a soft target with a guitar but back then I didn’t realise getting hit in the nose was no good for singing.

“I’ve had to have a couple of operations to get my nose right again so I can breathe.

“If you want to be a boxer and a singer I think maybe you should just do body boxing!”

Working his way up the hard way made it all the more rewarding – and surreal – when Damien was recognised by one of Ireland’s biggest stars.

He got his big break when he was championed by Sinéad O’Connor and got invited to support her on tour in 2002 and 2003.

Damien, who has also appeared in the Irish crime films Cardboard Gangsters and Between the Canals, added: “I was a huge fan of hers and I’d just recorded a few songs in London. I went to a party and met a guy, John Reynolds.

“I didn’t realise he was her producer and was married to her. I had no idea about the connection and just recorded a few songs and then went home.

“He sent me my CD with Sinéad singing on it. I couldn’t believe it. I nearly collapsed. It shows dreams can come true.

“On tour she’d get up on stage with me every night and sing which is unheard of really.

“It’s rare enough to get a huge main act to come out with an unknown support act.

“The crowd want a big entrance for the main act so they didn’t how to take it. She just loved my songs that much.”