Champion drum major Alan McBride is making a new name for himself as a classical singer.
David Roy spoke to the Kilkeel man about making the switch from pipe band leader to crowd-wowing crooner
FORMERLY a star of the pipe band scene, Kilkeel man Alan McBride has been showing there is no end to his musical talent through his recent singing success.
The five times world champion senior drum major has already performed concerts at the Grand Opera House Belfast, The Ulster Hall, The Lyceum in London and Dublin's Helix - as well as in the Aras an Uachtarain for former president Mary McAleese.
At last year's Belfast Tattoo in The Odyssey Arena, McBride duetted with acclaimed Ballymena singing star Sylvia McBride in front of a 10,000 strong crowd.
Their rendition of The Prayer, originally made famous by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, was one of the show's highlights.
Not bad, considering it was the first time the pair had sung together. "It was amazing and sort of surreal as well," remembers McBride. "I'd never performed as a singer in front of so many people before. "I wasn't trained as a singer in any way, so Sylvia was able to give me some advice on how to look after my voice, as well as how to keep each other right and not be nervous on the night. I really enjoyed it."
The popular pair will be reunited as part of tonight's concert at The Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen, when they'll be backed by a four-piece band. Fans can expect showtunes, popular light opera arias and some traditional tunes, drawing from a diverse selection of artists including Frank Sinatra, Kenny Rodgers, Michael Ball, Il Divo, Roy Orbison, Simon & Garfunkel, and Eric Clapton. "Sylvia and I are going to do a couple of duets and she'll also do a couple of solos as well," reveals McBride, who took up singing in his teens thanks to a love of musicals. "My main focus would be on classical songs but you can sing quite a lot of contemporary songs in a classical way too: stuff like Vincent by Don McLean works really well. "That's a good way of drawing in
people who might not necessarily like opera but who do enjoy the more ballady type of songs. "Hopefully, there will be at least someone there who likes everything that's covered."
Having racked up Ulster, All-Ireland, Cowal, Scottish, British, European and Australian drum major titles along with his world-beating exploits, McBride finally retired in 1999.
It was then that he rediscovered his other lifelong musical passion. "I started singing in musicals when I was at high school," says McBride, who comes from a music and sports-mad family. "My sister Violet and I used to duet together years ago and we actually released a couple of albums of gospel music. "The pipe band fraternity knew about my singing and asked me to sing at a few concerts. It all sort of spiralled from there, really."
Although increasingly in demand because of his impressive voice, McBride has not lost touch with his former vocation: he's now a teacher, passing on his majoring skills. "There's one girl, Zoe McDowell from
Rathfriland, who is the current junior world champion," he enthuses. "It's great to still have a finger in the pie, to see young ones coming on and to be able to put back into something you got so much out of."
Having rehearsed hard for tonight's concert, it seems Alan McBride's singing career is set to continue at a pace: plans are afoot for more live shows plus an album based around his eclectic set.
McBride reveals: "On May 22 I'll be performing with The Blind Boys of Alabama at The Waterfront Hall and there should be some other shows in the pipeline after that too.
"We're hoping that when we go out to do these shows they'll give us an idea of which songs get the best reception. Hopefully, we can then create an album from the ones that people really like."
In other words, be sure to clap hard for your favourites tonight.
* Alan McBride, with special guest Sylvia Burnside, tonight, The Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen. Tickets £15 on 028 6632 5440 or via Ardhowentheatre.com.
*THE RIGHT BEAT:Sylvia McBride and Alan McBride