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You probably haven't ever heard John McDermott on top 40 radio but the fact remains, he's one of the top-selling artists in the country.
"I'm very fortunate because I don't really think I'm all that great a singer," he states matter-of-factly, despite the fact that his popularity boasts what he will not.
McDermott recorded his first album, Danny Boy, as an anniversary present for his parents. He wanted to give them a collection of their favorite Celtic songs, but couldn't find anything that fit the bill. So ...
"I made one myself. It took off. I never expected it, really."
With luck on his side, McDermott, once an employee of The Toronto Sun, now an inspiration to paperboys everywhere, suddenly found himself in a new, self-made career.
"The Sun has been very good to me over the years. I owe a great deal to them.
"But I have no great love of the industry. They haven't really done me any favors, so what are they going to do ... stop?"
His new album, Love is a Voyage, is filled with ballads old and unique. He covered Natives - translating it into French as well - his own statement about Canada's diversity.
"Is it political? Well, of course it is - I can't deny that. We live in a country where we speak so many languages and yet we can't communicate. It's ridiculous, really. I took a shot at the obvious."
He also covered the Beatles' Here, There and Everywhere, and paid tribute to his recently deceased father Peter by putting his version of The Last Rose of Summer at the end.
And though radio stations are as yet unaware of the folk explosion to come, McDermott is right on top of things.
"I wouldn't say I'm surprised by my success. I mean, these songs I'm doing are so wonderful, I think they sell themselves. There's not a lot of room for adult music on the radio, and it's a shame because our records sell so very well, you think there'd be an audience. But such is the wisdom of the radio stations, I suppose."
John McDermott will get things in the Celtic spirit, opening for Ashley MacIsaac (whom he far outsells, by the way) tonight at the Jubilee Auditorium.
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