Entertainment

How a Dublin busker became the voice of The Celtic Social Club

WHEN Taylor Byrne first received an unexpected Instagram message from a French band he hadn't heard of, he ignored it.

“Initially I thought it was a scam, so I didn’t respond for two weeks,” he laughs.

Just a short time later, the Finglas native found himself standing on a festival stage in western France, singing in front of 2,000 people.

At just 24, Byrne is the Irish lead singer of The Celtic Social Club, a band formed in 2013 and led by French drummer and founder Manu Masko.

Byrne joined the group in 2022, becoming the only non-French member of the seven-piece ensemble.

“I literally went from playing to no one on Grafton Street in Dublin to playing a festival with 2,000 people in front of me,” he says.

“It was a bit of a whirlwind.”

Originally from Dublin’s northside suburb of Finglas, Byrne has been a professional musician for the past four years.

Before joining the band, he was busking around the city, having only started performing on the streets about six months earlier.

“As soon as I was earning enough money from busking, I quit my IKEA job,” he says.

Busking, he believes, was a crucial training ground.

“No one is actually there to listen to you; you have to make them stop. You have to make them engage with your performance.”

His first time playing in Temple Bar was a turning point.

“As soon as I took out the guitar and started playing, something just clicked. I entered a flow state, and I just loved it.”

One of those performances would unknowingly change his life.

Masko had come across a YouTube video of Byrne, performing the blues standard Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.

“Which is ironic,” Byrne says, given what followed.

The band had just lost their previous singer and had tours in France and England to fulfil.

“Manu went on to YouTube, saw the video of me, and just said straight away, ‘That’s the guy,’” Byrne explains.

“The French have this expression, ‘following your nose’. It sounds so outlandish, but I’m so glad he trusted his intuition.”

After finally replying to the message, Byrne met Masko for coffee while he was visiting Dublin.

“We met up, we liked each other, and I liked the idea of the project.”

Two weeks later, Byrne was invited to France for rehearsals.

Within weeks, he was on stage at his first show with the band in Saint-Palais, near La Rochelle.

Performing on stage (Photo by The Celtic Social Club)

Despite the excitement, the transition wasn’t without its challenges.

“I suffered from imposter syndrome for a very long time with the band,” Byrne admits. “It’s only really over the last year that I’ve gotten over that.”

Joining a group with over a decade of history and a global touring résumé that includes China, the US and all across Europe was intimidating.

“At the beginning I didn’t know what they saw in me.”

Now firmly settled into the band, Byrne describes the experience as “so wonderful and so life-changing”.

He credits his bandmates with teaching him what it truly means to be a professional musician and calls sharing a stage with them “an immense privilege”.

The Celtic Social Club’s connection to Ireland runs deep, despite being largely French.

Most of the band hail from Brittany, a Celtic region in northwest France.

“They’re very quick to remind me about that,” Byrne jokes.

“There is definitely a romanticisation of Ireland in France, but the guys have a genuine reverence and respect for Irish culture, music and history.”

Ironically, Byrne says he learnt more about traditional Irish music after moving to France.

“I didn’t grow up in a household where traditional Irish music was played, so it was quite ironic to have to travel to France to get an education on it.”

From Finglas to France (Photo by The Celtic Social Club)

His earliest musical love came instead from across the Irish Sea.

“The Beatles were my first love. I remember being dropped off at school when I was 12 or 13, and Help! came on the radio. I just looked at my dad and said, ‘What is this?’”

That moment led him to pick up a guitar, an influence that still shapes his songwriting today.

That songwriting takes centre stage on the band’s newly released album, You Should Know, which came out this October.

Byrne was deeply involved in the writing process, something he had been eager to do since joining.

“I wanted to prove it to myself and to the band that I was able to bring the goods.”

Last year, all seven members gathered in bassist Richard’s studio and began shaping the record together.

“I think it really comes across on the record, that communal energy of seven friends sitting around and making music together.”

The album was produced by English producer Nick Davis, known for his work with The Pogues, Genesis and XTC.

Byrne says he bonded quickly with Davis, noting that he too had been recruited by Masko in a similarly unconventional way.

Choosing a favourite track isn’t easy, but Byrne singles out Yes I Am as one that’s growing close to his heart.

“There’s a line in it that I love: ‘It’s now or never, and if it’s never, well, I’ll have that now, please.’”

The band is currently touring You Should Know, with dates across Ireland, England and France scheduled for February and March.

“We’re picking up the tour next year in Ireland, and I’m really excited for that.”

From Finglas busker to international stages, as he puts it, “If I hadn’t been so young and naïve, I probably wouldn’t have taken the opportunity. But I’m glad I was naïve and just said, “Why not?”