MUSICIAN Tommy Bonner has invoked the spirit of The Sopranos for his latest single.
The Ballybofey singer and songwriter releases ‘I Can Hear Dan Grimaldi Weeping’ on September 9, a reference to the actor who played twins Philly and Patsy Parisi in the hit crime drama.
According to Tommy he was inspired to write the song after hearing an interview in which Grimaldi was asked about the late James ‘Tony Soprano’ Gandolfini.
“I’m a Sopranos fanatic and have seen the series about a dozen times. The writing, the acting, to me it’s the greatest thing ever to appear on television.
“Since it ended I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts where they break down each episode and on one of these episodes from 2019, Dan Grimaldi who played Patsy Parisi was asked for his fondest memory.
“He said ‘If I tell you this I’m going to cry’ because it was about James Gandolfini, the lead actor who died in 2013. And he was inconsolable. Years after Gandolfini’s death and here was his co-star bawling his eyes out.
“That’s what sparked the song.”
After putting pen to paper to write ‘I Can Hear Dan Grimaldi Weeping’, Tommy contacted the podcast host and was granted permission to use a short section of the interview as the introduction to his song.
Tommy (centre), Kevin Halpin and Adrian Harkin who worked together on ‘I Can Hear Dan Grimaldi Weeping’.
From there he enlisted the help of fellow musicians Adrian Harkin from Letterkenny and Kevin Halpin from Wicklow but who now lives in Letterkenny.
“I’m a songwriter but the songs are developed by the three of us.
“Kevin and Adrian really buy into these projects and it’s a lot to do with them what goes where and how things turn out,” he said.
The single was fine-tuned in Valley Music Studio, run by Tommy’s long-time colleague and friend Terry McGinty.
Actor Dan Grimaldi whose interview led to Tommy Bonner penning his new single which is due out on September 9. Photo: Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com
“Between the four of us I think we’ve done something special,” the Ballybofey man added.
A video to accompany the poignant tune is being put together by Michael Gillespie with a release date of September 9 set aside.
It will be available to listen to via Tommy Bonner’s ‘StrawMan’ Facebook page or through his dedicated website http://www.strawman.ie
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