Four years in Paris provided inspiration for Wayne Brennan's musical career

When he was 18, Wayne Brennan packed his guitar and moved to Paris. "When I got there, I started working in a cocktail bar," recalls Wayne. "It was also a live music venue that brought over acts from America. I was very lucky to get to open for many of those acts. It was great experience."

Having begun writing his own songs years earlier, Wayne quickly developed his own distinctive style. "You have to be open to keep learning all the time," he says. "I'm touring with Jack L and he's a craftsman. You can learn all the time from people like that."

Back in Ireland, Wayne spent a few years working in IT before deciding that he really needed to pursue a career in music. His first step was to record a single, And I Love, which achieved a modest chart placing.

Its success prompted Wayne to record his debut album In My Hands which looks like being one of the great slowburners of the year. Recorded with producer Martin Quinn, whose credits include Little Palace, Turn and the Celtic Tenors, Brennan's album features his Peace In Your Mind, which eBay Ireland have been using in their promotions. "They distributed 400,000 copies of the track, which was a nice boost to get," says Wayne.

When he had the album release planned, Wayne set about taking the music to live audiences. "Before I recorded the album, I lived in a dreamy fantasy world," he insists. "I just did an occasional gig and was hoping to get picked up by a label. But when I saw that wasn't happening, I said, 'I don't want to wake up in the morning and realise the dream had slipped by because I didn't go for it myself.'"

Just back from doing a few shows in Italy, he's off to Cork this weekend where he'll be opening on three nights for Jack L. "It's brilliant," he says. "We've done about 80 gigs since January all across the country."

Having written lyrics and poems since he was a teenager, Brennan had a rich repertoire to choose from when planning his debut. "The four years I spent in France are reflected in a lot of the songs," he says.

With his background in IT, Brennan is media savvy. His animated film for And I Love has received over 117,000 hits on YouTube.

"The new video for Make You Smile is our tribute to Charlie Chaplin," he says of the black'n'white romp that's prompting a lot of postings. With the album released in Ireland, Brennan is now planning to bring it back to Paris, where it began. "I don't want to go there until I have the proper infrastructure set up," he explains. "I want to maximise my time there when I go back. There are also a few things in the mix for the US as well. Right now I'm just holding my breath and hoping that they come through." - EC

Wayne Brennan's In My Hands is out now on Libere Records

- Eamon Carr