Pleas bring Mundy to Wellington

Mundy's name may not  be familiar to many but his songs will be.

The Irish singer-songwriter is due to play a one-off show in New Zealand this weekend after owners of an Irish pub convinced the 35-year-old to fly in over during a break in his Australian tour.

The Dublin-based singer was born Edmund Enright but goes by his nickname Mundy, a play on his name and how he pronounces "Monday".

It's Mundy's first visit to New Zealand and he hopes it will lead to more concerts, which he is keen to combine with his already frequent tours in Australia.

While his fan base or profile in New Zealand may not be well established Mundy first gained international success with the release of his debut album Jellylegs in 1996.

A song from that album To You I Bestow was featured on the bestselling soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's film adaptation Romeo + Juliet.

But despite the success off the back of the soundtrack's popularity he was dropped by his label in 2000.

Mundy went on to set up his own label mainly funded by royalties from the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack.

His third album in 2004 entered the Irish album charts at No. 1 and has gone platinum.

However he is probably best known for his 2006 cover of a Steve Earle song Galway Girl, with Mundy's version becoming a download hit in Ireland and went on to become the biggest single in Ireland two years in a row in 2007 and 2008.

Mundy admits many fans only know him for Galway Girl and while he believes in giving fans what they want, he can get a bit tired of singing it.

"Nearly on every album I've made I've had one song do really well, then you get a bit sick of it for a while then another song comes along and you fall back in love with the other songs."

Mundy said he still gets an "amazing buzz" from writing songs which his audience sings back to him.

"It's quite addictive. My career has been very good to me and I'm not ready to let it go and as long as it's good and keeps feeding you then no point letting it go."

Mundy said fans at his Wellington concert can expect all the hits they know from his albums, but he'll be sneaking a few of his own into the line up.

Mundy
April 2: Molly Molone's, Wellington

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