A musical tonic from Dr Colgan

Apr 21 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

TALENTED new singer-songwriter Eoghan Colgan comes to Perth this weekend determined to prove his worth.

The modest Northern Irish performer gave up his career as a doctor to go into music full-time and is hoping Fair City music fans give him a clean bill of health at the Twa Tams on Saturday.

Colgan, whose new single Dream Satellite is out this week, won the prestigious O2 Undiscovered competition in 2007, but he has kept his feet firmly on the ground.

“No one really played musical instruments in my family other than my brother,” he told Music Scene.

“He’s always been a massive lover of music and handed me down all his CDs.

“He’s the one that really kick-started my love of music, which in turn has made me the artist I am today.”

Eoghan (pronounced Owen) trained and worked as a doctor for the past 11 years while moonlighting as a singer-songwriter.

Raised in Newcastle, County Down, Colgan picked up the guitar aged 16 but it wasn’t until he studied medicine at Queens University in Belfast that he really discovered his passion for music and dabbled in various bands before putting his efforts into composition.

Eoghan contracted a near fatal dose of malaria while working in a hospital in Ivory Coast - an experience that was to have a profound effect on him.

“I was pretty isolated and I do recall my only comfort was my cassette player,” he recalled.

“I had a tape of Jeff Buckley’s Grace on one side and 1977 by Ash on the other.

“I played that cassette over and over. It’s hard to explain but it was slightly spiritual.

“I fell in love with Jeff Buckley’s album and it remains my favourite album.

“The whole experience influenced my music and shaped the way in which I would move forward with my writing.”

Eoghan says he struggled to combine his music with work on returning to the UK.

“In my first year as a junior doctor at the Ulster in Dundonald we would often work 80, 90, even 100 hour weeks,” he explained.

“I remember one incident of finishing work at five, driving 3-4 hours to play a gig in the south of Ireland then driving home in the middle of the night to be at work in the morning.”

Deciding enough was enough, Eoghan upped sticks and moved to Australia.

Alas, the bad luck was set to continue as he badly broke his finger while playing Gaelic football, putting paid to his touring ambitions.

Once healed, the troubadour gave the Melbourne music scene a chance but then decided he needed a base and chose to relocate to Scotland.

It was while he was working as a doctor in Glasgow and training to be a GP in Stirling that Eoghan started playing open mics and bars.

After slowly piecing together his five-band, he began playing bigger venues, including Glasgow trio King Tut’s, the Arches and the ABC.

In April last year Colgan released his debut single proper, That First Time, in collaboration with producer Iain Hutchison, vindicating the decision he took in 2005 to drop out of his final year of GP training.

“I just didn’t want any regrets in the future,” he added.

“I was immensely proud of what I’d achieved over the years but I wanted to release an album and tour.

“My medical job was difficult to give up, especially as I’d put my life and soul into studying, but the hours made it hard to devote as much time to the music as I wanted and something had to give.”

Eoghan also released two impressive self-produced EPs shortly after giving up practice, which helped earn him slots at festivals in Australia, Norway, Scotland and Ireland.

More recently, he played Wireless in London’s Hyde Park and put in an appearance at last October’s Q Awards Nomination Ceremony at the O2 Arena, alongside top names Athlete, Hard-Fi and Manic Street Preachers.