Robert Mizzell talks Kick Ass Country

It's a long way from America's southern states to the Irish midlands, but for country singer, Robert Mizzell who lives at Ballinagore, that journey began just over twenty years ago, when he fell in love with a Kildare girl.The year 1991 saw him first come to Ireland, and he recalls - in that Southern drawl that is always so attractive - travelling down the old Naas Road from the airport, a road that was a far cry from the major motorway it is today, every mile taking him further from the life he was leaving behind, and deepr into a culture that was new and unfamiliar to him."I had no money, I had no prospects, I had no formal education - only the equivalent of the Leaving Cert in America, and I arrived in this place that I hadn't a clue about," begins Robert."It took me a while to understand Ireland, I didn't understand the 'craic', and the craic is a big thing here. For instance, I was working on building sites and the lads were taking the piss out of me, I remember I got sent for a long stand, a glass hammer, a skirting ladder, I went through all of that as a young American," he laughs."Ireland is a great country, and I would never leave here or turn my back on the supporters that have followed me, but at the same time I would love in the last ten or fifteen years of my career I would love to get out and explore and see what happens."The impact of Garth BrooksMusic wasn't an obvious choice of career for Robert, he admits, but looking back at the many jobs he tried over the years, he realises now that none quite "fitted" the way country music did."Every job I had years ago I didn't stick at, I wasn't any good. I sold insurance, I sold mops and buckets, I sold microwaves but I was a very bad salesman. As it turned out I was quite good at selling myself," he says.Back in his school days, Robert had listened to the likes of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, while his parents listened to country sounds. He was however, a big fan of Luther Vandross, and loved the sound of big black southern voices."I got it from my mother who used to sing around the house, she sang songs like 'Kansas City' and all these bluesy type country songs, but then again she was a country singer and so was my father."That said, the idea of singing professionally himself didn't cross Robert's mind until well into his early days in Ireland. Strangely, it was seeing the success of Garth Brooks - who was selling out Croke Park at the time - that first started Robert thinking of singing as a career."Country Music only really came to me in Ireland, and that was because of Garth Brooks, he was huge!"I never thought he was the best singer in the world, I always thought that Ben Scales or Steve Warner would have been better country singers, but when I saw the impact that he had I thought, 'I can sing and people say that I sound like him so why can't I do it?'," he explains."Once I discovered I could sing and people wanted to hear me, I started singing in clubs around Naas, and we were playing for nothing most of the time, so I got a foot that way in so to speak," he explains. "So that's when I launched myself into country music."Mullingar and Tommy SwarbriggKnowing very little about the business but wanting to make his way as a singer, Robert got in touch with none other than Louis Walsh around the time Boyzone were launching onto to the music scene."I told him who I was and I sent him a few photographs. I never heard back from him, so I rang him and he basically told me in a nice way that he didn't bother with country music. He did tell me about a fella in Mullingar by the name of Tommy Swarbrigg however," says Robert."So one day I organised a big gig in Johnstown in Kildare, I invited Louis Walsh and Tommy Swarbrigg, and a heap of other people to it, but nobody came except family and friends."I got annoyed and got in the car one day, found Tommy Swarbrigg and knocked on his door, and basically said 'Where were you'! I told him I had spent all this money on this gig and I was annoyed. Tommy was looking at me like 'I don't know you, but come on in anyway' sort of thing," he laughs at the memory.As it turned out, Tommy ended up writing Robert's first hit "Kick-Ass Country", which was followed by a stint on an X Factor-type competition called "Let Me Entertain You" i the 1990s. Robert was up against the likes of Samantha Mumba, and went much further than her in the competition with a song called "You Have Me by the Heart", which Tommy also wrote, and which turned out to be another popular hit.Revolutionising the Country SceneEventually Robert went on to join the stable of Willie Carthy who managed the likes of The Conquerors. He was playing bigger venues, and he released his first album, off which the song "Say You Love Me" began to capture people's imaginations. After a time, Robert decided to manage himself.Sadly, his marriage broke down - but his career continued to grow in success."I'm not comparing myself to George Jones or Merle Haggard, but all of these fellas, when their careers were going well their relationships were failing, and vice versa. It is like that in a way, but I'm lucky now that I have a beautiful girlfriend that's way too good for me, and I think now I've finally struck the right balance. But it took a long time," he surmises.Robert has been working for years to disabuse people of the notion that Country music is for the older generation."Once Joe Dolan went off the Showband scene, Country Music sort of became this thing that old people go to, and that's what I've been fighting against for the past ten years; to try and get people to listen. Country Music is not just for your mother and your father, it's for everybody," he says.Back to LouisianaWith a big "Homecoming Tour" lined up for the States in October, Robert returns to his hometown of Shreveport, where he has fond memories of two very special people who formed his solid life values.The song "Mama Courtney" is a tale of a woman whom Robert holds in great esteem. She, along with her husband, who Robert fondly refers to as Papa Courtney, raised approximately 30 foster kids, of whom Robert was one."I could talk to you for an hour about Mama Courtney. This woman was just unbelievable," says Robert. "She couldn't have any children herself, but there's different generations of people scattered across America all because of this woman."My own home was one of mixed emotions: while it was a good home in ways, it could also be violent at times, but my foster parents - Mama and Papa Courtney - they were the ones who had dinner on the table at six o'clock, they took you to church twice a week and they gave me the part that is more settled within me, so it was a good mix I suppose."I still have my own parents who are very much a part of my life now and I'm thankful for that."While both Mama and Papa Courtney have both passed on, they've left a legacy behind them in all those children, which Robert has immortalised in this new song."The Louisiana Tourist Board got a hold of it, they thought this was a great idea. So many people in Ireland know the story about me and Mama Courtney and how we grew up together that it really captured people's imagination. I hope that it does too over there."Robert will travel to Memphis and Nashville, before going home to Shreveport, where he has just recently discovered he will be honoured in the town's Walk of Fame for his contribution to Country music.In the near future, Robert is to work with James Burton - Elvis's guitar player and the man behind the sound of "Hound Dog" and "All Shook Up", who will be writing music aimed at the Country Music scene in America.Looking aheadRobert has been very fortunate enough to have met and sang with some of the all time greats including George Jones, Merle Haggard and Vince Gill. He has sang with Charley Pride and recorded with Charlie Ray, and is looking forward to another great twenty years."I've been lucky in the sense that coming from Louisiana to Ireland, I created this career for myself, I'm hoping I'll get twenty more years, I mean I'm nearly forty now, so I'll be happy if I get twenty more years out of it. Country music suits older men anyway because when people meet me they say 'Oh I thought you were an old fella'," he smiles.Robert hopes to take his music back to America, where he will work on original material because in America, that's where the music is."The music business in this country is great because it opens up so many doors to you, if things go well for me in the next ten years, I see myself maybe working half a year back in the States, but continuing to stay on here because I love it here," he says.