'Breech Birth' 2004-2009

In 2004 Dublin somewhere between Dun Emer and Donnycarney, Grosvenor square and Pigeon house road and various night shifts at The Salvation Army 'Cedar' and 'Granby' houses Gavin wrote the songs that would become his first album 'Breech Birth'. The songs came out of a papier-mâché of home recordings and demos, promissory notes written in his early twenties, encounters with people and musical situations that he was experiencing post university and post family home where he had grown up in suburbia south Dublin. They took on a story-like narrative, a form he had observed in the song writing styles of Rickie Lee Jones, Ron Sexsmith, Richard Thompson and Loudon Wainwright III. International grass roots grown troubadours who would make their annual one man show visits to the city.

Gavin met and befriended local veteran musos Michael Carass and Lucy Johnston (she once of late 60's harmony folk group The Johnstons) and every Sunday for a year they met in Lucy's house in Harolds cross and went through Gavin's song repertoire with two guitars and two vocals the most natural way to bring out the flavours of each song. Later that year Michael and Gavin collaborated in the making of 'Breech Birth'. The title alludes to giving birth but needing support in the process. It was inspired by Julie (Miss Betty Boop) his sister and mother who were both nurses and former mid-wives. Michael was the ideal collaborator for this album. He knew the songs inside out and was able to provide his toy instrument orch touches to Gavin's finger picking tunes in such a way that you would keep coming back to those songs again and again and hear something you hadn't spotted before. Whether it be the tuba on 'Not an Irish pub house in sight' or pump organ on 'Cheekbones' Michael added a brass band Trumpton town like atmosphere to the album.