Mahoney brings Irish sounds to BC

You can take the boy out of Ireland but you can’t take Ireland out of the boy.

For several years now, a popular face and voice in Boulder City has been Patrick Mahoney. From playing in venues around town and in Henderson, to the annual awards night for the chamber of commerce or simply volunteering to sing at a free Christmas dinner, Mahoney has made a name for himself locally as he mixes music from his homeland with popular sounds here in America.

“I’ve released some music in Ireland and performed at a lot of venues there,” he said. “I had an opportunity to basically travel the world and do my own show on a cruise ship, which lasted about a year. Performing abroad was something I had always wanted to do.”

As a young teen growing up in Dublin, Mahoney, who moved to the United States in 2016, performed in an all-schools musical competition that featured performers from around the country. He hastily put together a band with him as the lead singer, and to his surprise and delight, they won.

“I knew I had always loved music before that but that did it for me,” he said of the competition. “I knew this was something I wanted to do. All you had to do was sing well, dance a bit and show a shimmy and everyone thought you were great. I just thought that was phenomenal.”

That’s the good news. The bad news was that at age 12 or 13, most boys begin going through puberty, which tends to change one’s voice.

“My voice did change, which lasted about a year. I went from a male soprano to a tenor,” he said, smiling. “Then I got straight back into it. By then I was even more intrigued as to how I could use my voice and get better at it.”

Years prior to the cruise line, which allowed him to see even more of the world, Mahoney had already seen his fair share. In his 20s he performed in Spain, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Germany for about two years. And, there was no need for a translator since most of the locations he performed in were Irish pubs or venues as part of a tour of in Northern Europe.

While on that tour, he performed solo but along the way he’d meet people and there would be times they’d form an impromptu band and they’d take the stage.

“That’s where you learn to be versatile and really learn how to perform while learning your craft,” the 48-year-old said. “It was an amazing experience. I’ve been very blessed. I think I’ve been to nearly 60 countries, which includes the time on the cruise ship.”

Most successful entertainers, whether musicians, comedians or actors, have a point in their lives when they realize they finally “made it” in their profession. Mahoney said his is still somewhat a work in progress.

“The making it part for me is knowing that I can make great music and knowing I can perform,” he said, noting that he estimates he’s written 150 songs during his career. “I’m still growing as a musician and performer. I don’t know if I will ever have a No. 1 record in America. But the making part is that it’s something I can work toward.”

In addition, it’s the knowledge that he is able to make a living doing what he loves most. When not on stage, he teaches private music lessons in Boulder City and volunteers his time to teach music to those in Child Haven foster care facility.

“It’s unbelievable that I get to do this,” he said. “The fact that I’m in music every day is amazing. Doing something that you really love is the best feeling.”

When on stage, depending on the venue, he mostly covers popular songs with a handful of originals thrown in for good measure. This includes when he’s performing solo, as he does in Cleveland’s Lounge on the second Saturday of the month, or when he’s with his band, the Celtic Cowboys. When he’s playing acoustically, he’ll play songs from U2, Beatles and Oasis to even more modern performers such as Toby Keith and the Zac Brown Band.

Speaking of the latter, “Chicken Fried” from the Zac Brown Band is the current song that gets the crowd dancing and singing along the most.

“What’s amazing is that I don’t come from a country background but I’m now finding myself writing more country songs,” he said.

And like anyone else who enjoys grabbing the mic and singing karaoke, Mahoney had no hesitation when naming his go-to song …Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long.”

Despite being on stage hundreds, if not thousands of times, Mahoney said he will always have those butterflies churning in his stomach before he’s introduced.

“I will always get nervous,” he said. “But once I’m out there and I’m in it, there’s no going back. I can handle anything. As a professional, that’s part of your nature in that you have to be the best you can possibly be. It’s a love for the music and a love for the people you are performing in front of.”