Two tracks on Americana legend Steve Earle’s new live album are about Galway, one of them named after the Westend street where he spent time in living in the ‘90s.

The Texan singer songwriter’s track ‘Galway Girl’ became a global smash hit after being covered by Ed Sheeran and a national favourite when reworked by Mundy and Sharon Shannon.

Now he has released his trad tune, ‘Dominick St’, on ‘Alone Again (Live)’, featuring tracks recorded during his solo acoustic tour which came to the Galway Folk Festival last year.

Steve lived in a flat on Dominick Street for three months where he spent time writing by day and visiting music sessions by night, recalls the original Galway girl who inspired the ballad, singer and bodhrán player Joyce Redmond.

“I remember him writing that tune and he playing it around the bars of Galway. I love it, I find it very lively, lovely and catchy. I love that an American man, an American musician was so influenced by Irish music, so inspired by the music played in the likes of the Crane and Taylors in the late ‘90s.”

Mick Crehan, owner of the Crane Bar on Sea Road, also remembers his encounters with the 2020 inductee into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

“It was a great period of writing for him – at least that was the aim, that he’d come somewhere reasonably quiet, or so he thought. Sure, he ended up out every night. He used to come back to the Crane a lot. I wasn’t running it then, but we played a lot together,” he recalls.

Pictured: Steve Earle: Galway inspiration.