For an up and coming songwriter, James Vincent McMorrow has already had an eventful few years in the music business. He picked up in a publishing deal with EMI in 2008, his songs 'We Don't Eat' and 'Follow You Down To The Red Oak Tree' have just been included on One Tree Hill series and as part of the children's charity Barnardos TV campaign respectively and he's already toured with Tracy Chapman and played shows with the likes of Bon Iver, Iron and Wine, Al Green, and Nathalie Merchant.

He's just released his first album, 'Early In The Morning', which comes on like a mix of Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens with a slightly poppy edge.

Was music what you always what you wanted to do?

I was in bands all the way through college, but there was never a conscious thing to go into music. I had an awful job in Dublin Airport pushing trolleys while I was studying marketing in college, which I was beginning to realise wasn't really for me and, I suppose, those things motivated me to take music more seriously; they pushed me to work harder.

Have you found your voice or is it still evolving?

It's always changing; the new songs I'm writing now are different and testament to that. My voice and my sound is an amalgamation of the things I love – old soul, old folk and great bands I admire like Band Of Horses – and, though it's nowhere near as good as my influences, I'm really happy with it.

Are all the songs on the album written around the time it was recorded?

Yeah it's pretty much a new album. Seven of the songs were written in the six months I recorded the album; the others I brought in from before that, but I changed them all somewhat. I think I carried those older songs in because I saw them as musical markers and a good reflection of the two years and more it took to get to that point.

Your album sounds like a full album, not a couple of big singles and fillers elsewhere.

It was a conscious thing on my part to wait until I knew exactly what I wanted to do. When I originally got noticed a few years ago I could have made an album. I had options, financially rewarding options, to do things differently, but I realised that I wanted to do things my way. It's nice to do something you're proud of!

So it's about doing things right?

Once I knew what I wanted to do, I put time and love into every single note, word and song. There was absolutely no compromise! James Vincent McMorrow plays upstairs in Roisin Dubh Thursday 18 March. Doors 9pm, admission free.

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