First Encounters: Finbar Furey and Don Baker

Finbar Furey is a musician whose bestselling records include 'The Green Fields of France' and 'When You Were Sweet Sixteen'. In the late 1990s he began acting, appearing in Martin Scorsese's 'Gangs of New York' and most recently, in TV drama 'Love/Hate'. He lives in Rathfarnham, Dublin with his wife, Sheila

I've known Don since he was kid in the early 1970s. Don mixed in the blues/rock scene, I was mostly in the folk scene from the 1960s. But I got to know Don in the 1970s as a very honest down-to-earth guy. As kids you'd meet in O'Donoghues or different pubs, all over the place. Gradually you'd sit down, discuss music. Don has a terrific knowledge of music in general. You have to understand the depth of Don – a lot of musicians are very shallow, wonderful technical players, but there's no smell off them. But you can hear Don's hands on the guitar, the feeling coming from his voice. He's a brilliant performer, and what a great songwriter.

I grew up in Engine Alley, right beside Vicar Street; Don grew up in the centre of Dublin as well, inner city Dublin was our playground. Later, my family moved out to Ballyfermot, and we travelled in the summer to the festivals and fairs. I loved that. We were Travellers, but we only went on the road in the summer and settled into Dublin for the winter when my parents put us back into school. I had a very good childhood. Times were tough, but we were as happy as you could be in the circumstances.

Me and Don have spoken about a lot of things we wouldn’t have spoken to other people about. I’ve a great trust in Don’s heart, when I’m with him I feel safe. There’s a lot of slíbhíns in the music business.

Don did In the Name of the Father long before anyone was doing movies and he was fecking brilliant. The next reading he had was for an ad and he phoned me, said, "I think you'll be perfect for that. I mightn't get it but you might." I did and he didn't. It was my first bit of acting. He'll put work your way, and I love him for that.

If a young songwriter needs help, I’ve seen Don take his guitar out on a freezing cold night in a car park, after doing a gig, and a kid coming up to him, asking, what’s that riff you were doing and he’ll put his foot up on the wheel of the car and say, it goes like this.

I think Don is like meself, he wears his heart on his sleeve. And he's a total gentleman in every way, that's the truth. I don't think he has an enemy in the world, everybody loves Don. I always say Don will always be my best friend because he knows too much about me.

Finbar Furey's album The Last Great Love Song is available now. He plays in Vicar Street, Dublin on February 6th, and in Ratoath, Limerick and Galway from February 7th-9th, finbarfurey.com

Don Baker is a rock and blues harmonica player, guitarist and singer/songwriter. He was sent to Daingean Reformatory aged 12, and learned to play guitar in Shanganagh Castle prison as a teenager. He began an acting career in the film, 'In The Name of The Father'. He lives in Trim, Co Meath, with his partner, Maureen

Finbar and I met in France, in Le Havre, around the mid-1970s. I'd been in Germany, busking. There was a dispute on the docks and the ship was delayed for three days. I ran into Eddie Furey, he introduced me to Finbar and we spent our time playing for the truckers on the docks.

Later, what really bonded us was when me, Finbar, Mick Hanly and Jimmy McCarthy went on the road calling ourselves Four For The Road. The roadies used to say there was like an umbilical cord going between me and Finbar. We have a lot of fun together, we're forever telling each other jokes. The fact that we're both from inner-city Dublin was a huge factor, we related to each other instantly. Growing up, we were poor; it was post-war Ireland, nobody had anything.

I grew to trust and respect Finbar implicitly. He’s really honest, doesn’t hide anything, so it’s very easy to get on with him. He’s one of the few people I know who can let the inner child out. He’ll turn his collar up and imitate Elvis, be silly like a kid, which is great fun. I also think that commercial success has always shadowed his greatness as a musician. If he were to record an album of how brilliant he is on the uillean pipes it would probably only sell a few copies. But he had to raise five children.

I have no feeling for traditional music but I have a great respect for musicianship and that’s the big link between me and Finbar, respect. I do like some trad music but when they play four triplets to the bar, after two songs, I go braindead. When I turned 50, I wanted to read music and I’ve been doing the classical piano for 13 years; I’m only at grade six. That’s my hobby.

We share emotions, experiences. I'll tell you a secret, Finbar Furey was the first man who ever hugged me. Because of my experience of being abused in Daingean [reform school], I couldn't stand the thought of a man putting his hands on me. He was the first man I ever allowed to touch me. He wouldn't have had a clue at the time, but he was a great help to me, inadvertently. Finbar's very protective, he'd watch your back, never let anyone say a wrong word about you. I couldn't nail one thing: with me and him, it's a combination of things, it's trust, respect, admiration, honesty, it's integrity, it's love, it's the spirit – all of those things.

Don Baker plays in Whelan's, Dublin on March 21st and around Ireland from March to July, donbaker.ie