Crystal Swing are a new wave

Country and Western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or d ...

, and

Country and Irish A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or ...

showband The Irish showband () was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the 1950s to the 1980s, with its peak in the 1960s. These bands typically had seven to ten members, including a rhythm section and a brass section with various combinations o ...

, from Lisgoold, County Cork, Ireland. The family group is made up of mother Mary Murray-Burke and her children Dervla Burke and Derek Burke. The group rose to national fame in February 2010 when a video of "He Drinks Tequila" became a viral 'sensation' after their video was posted by several well-known bloggers including Irish drag performer Panti and comedy writers Robert Popper and Graham Linehan. A few days later the video was posted by Sean Moncrieff on the website of Irish radio station

Newstalk Newstalk (formerly NewsTalk 106) is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Aut ...

. The video achieved 80,000 hits in four days and as of 2 April 2010 the group's video have collectively received over 1,000,000 hits on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. "He Drinks Tequila" gained international recognition on 3 March when American chat show host and ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' judge

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American former comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on '' ...

sent a link to the YouTube video on her official Twitter page. Despite being offered to perform on

, Crystal Swing opted to perform on the

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

flagship show '' The Late Late Show''. On 17 March 2010 (

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

), US TV host

showed a clip of Crystal Swing on her show, ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

''. On 18 March 2010, the single "He Drinks Tequila" entered the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

at number 18.

2010

In 2010, Crystal Swing appeared on satellite television show, ''

Rural TV Rural TV was a rural lifestyle and culture television channel, broadcast internationally. It was launched on March 2, 2009, replacing Pulse +45mins. It merged with FamilyNet in 2013. Background Rural TV, known as "The World's Rural Channel", wa ...

''. A video of their appearance was then posted on YouTube, and immediately gained thousands of views daily. TV talk show host

tweeted about the group. On 12 March, they made their first live television appearance on Irish television on '' The Late Late Show'' with

Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973) is an Irish broadcaster. He currently presents the weekday mid-morning programme ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' on Virgin Radio UK, as well as a weekend programme on Sundays. His broadcasting career with RTÉ spanned ...

. On 15 March, they appeared on

106-108fm with

Seán Moncrieff Seán Moncrieff is an Irish people, Irish broadcaster, journalist and writer. He currently presents the weekday afternoon radio show ''Moncrieff'' on Newstalk and is a columnist for ''The Irish Times''. His television credits include his own R ...

, and on 16 March they appeared on ''

The Afternoon Show ''The Afternoon Show'' is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's former live flagship daytime show. It ran from 2004 until May 2010. The programme was dropped by RTÉ as part of its new season of television in 2010, to be replaced by two afternoon progr ...

''. Later in the month they made appearances on '' Xposé'' and ''

Ireland AM ''Ireland AM'' is an Irish morning television show on Virgin Media One. It airs live every weekday from 07:00 to 10:00, and weekends from 9:00 to 12:00. The program features news, current affairs, weather updates, showbiz, fashion, beauty, f ...

''. On 6 April, they flew to Hollywood to make an appearance on ''

''. The show was recorded on Thursday 8 April, and was broadcast in America on Monday, 12 April.

Since 2010

After their initial media exposure, the band undertook an extensive tour of the major venues in Ireland with a five-piece band and support acts. The band has appeared with stars such as

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen, Her accolades include a Brit Award, alongside nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivi ...

and

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer. Known for her distinctive husky voice, Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' and its ...

as well as most of the home-grown Irish stars of the music industry. Since 2010, Crystal Swing have continued to tour and have featured on many mainly Irish TV and Radio shows including Living with Lucy, Celebrity Bainisteoir, Driving me Crazy, Republic of Telly, Celebrity Head Chef, Charity ICA Bootcamp, Mastermind and many others. The band have also performed in London, Portugal and the Caribbean.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control Irish country music groups Musical groups from County Cork 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music 2020s in Irish music