Copper Kelly (real name Eugene Rowe) is a country musician from Wexford, Ireland. Having grown up on a farm, Copper has spent many days out in the fields with cattle and horses earning him the Clean Cut Cowboy nickname.
About to release his second full length studio album; Copper began playing guitar from a young age of 12. He played in many different rock bands over the years and began writing country music when, in 2017, he met the songwriter Dympna Walsh who handed Copper some lyrics. He composed and recorded what came to be "Don't Steal This Moment". The single received a lot of airplay on Irish radio stations. The success of this single inspired Copper to write and record his own album "Worthwhile Waste of Time" which was independently released February 2019.
Having studied sound engineering in college, Copper performed all instruments, recorded and produced the album himself taking inspiration from outlaw country musicians such as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams and Lynyrd Skynyrd while also retaining the sound of his Irish roots.
Since releasing his debut album, Copper has enjoyed radio airplay worldwide in countries including Australia, Canada, the U.K, Germany, the Netherlands and of course Ireland. He also appeared on Ireland’s biggest country music show Hot Country TV.
During the lockdown, Copper was busy live-streaming concerts regularly for his followers over Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. He began three different podcasts over the course of 2 years. The first being “Folk’n Around Podcast” where Copper interviewed Country Music stars and up and comers. Secondly; “Copper’s Corner”, where Copper talked about the history of a guest’s favorite country musician. Lastly, Copper co-hosted “The Art Saddle Podcast” with Kenan Flannery, a podcast highlighting music industry news with special guests as well as advice for the independent musician among lots of craic.
Copper met Kenan Flannery, Dublin folk musician, online during the lockdown and became fast friends. Copper joined Kenan’s Old Soul Collective and they released “The Art Saddle Podcast”. Other collaborations were quickly underway with Copper mixing Kenan’s “Wrong Side of The Road” EP, and each singer providing backing vocals on each other’s recordings.
Other major collaborations include work with Walker Tex, Scottish Country Singer musician based in Dublin. Copper provided lead guitar for Walker’s song “I Ain’t Playing Nice Tonight” and Walker provided backing vocals for Copper’s songs.
Copper also currently performs in a pub rock band called Party Hawks as lead singer and lead guitarist. Always drawn back to rock, you will see definite rock influences in Copper’s country music.
In 2021, Copper released the “Acoustic EP 2021” containing acoustic versions of brand new songs as well as covers of songs from Copper’s major influences including Sturgill Simpson and Roger Miller.
After releasing “Acoustic EP 2021”, work began on Copper’s second album “Clean Cut Cowboy”. Since then, he has been working hard on crafting songs and developing the sound that he envisioned for Copper Kelly even before writing his first album. The album is a collection of 8 original songs. Production of the album is now finished and release plans are underway, ideally aiming for a mid 2023 release.