At the tender age of 16 Tulsk native Jordan Mew had already established himself on the local music scene as one of the most promising bass guitarists in the region.
Three years later and boasting a CV which includes experience with some of the most impressive bands around, the talented youngster’s desire and passion to succeed in the music business remains as strong as ever.
Jordan has followed in the footsteps of his parents. His father Glen played in the well-known wedding band ‘Dave and Blue Tax’ when Jordan was little. At the age of 9 he first picked up the bass guitar, and by age 13 he began playing the drums.
Before long he was involved in his first musical project with the band ‘Slyde Symphony’, with school friends. “We did a few talent competitions,” explains Jordan.
“We played the Phil Lynott tribute night that Gerry Jago used to run in the Arts Centre. It was a lot of fun, we all had a great time,” he added. At the impressionable age of 15 the Tulsk rocker joined a pub band from Ballintubber called ‘Lynn’s Lemons’.
“I was on bass again,” he said. “That band opened a lot of doors for me. We had an absolutely mighty time playing all over the west of Ireland. We even had a few crackin’ gigs in Rockford’s.”
At the same time Jordan was also involved in an original band in Roscommon called ‘Intervention’, who won the ‘Our School’s Got Talent’ competition.
Two years later and the biggest break of Jordan’s music career was about to arrive when he got a phone call from one of the members of Castlerea-based band ‘NDEED’ enquiring about acquiring his services.
“They knew me from my time with Lynn’s Lemons and they needed a bass player so I joined them for about a year until the Leaving Cert took over. That was my first time to play with a real professional band, by which I mean we had our own crew cab Transit van and loud gear. We played all over Ireland and even did a mini-tour of London.”
Jordan’s father played in a very successful bluegrass band in South Africa called ‘Blacksmith’, while his grandad on his mother’s side was a Sean-nós singer.
“When it comes to playing live I love to play anything energetic and lively,” continued Jordan. “I like country, rock ‘n’ roll, jives, pop, anything a crowd will enjoy I enjoy. Personally I’m into a big jumble of genres. I love folk, rock, blues, soul, funk, anything that’s played with passion. I like unprocessed music, where the musicians do the work and not computers.”
Although Jordan is currently not involved with any band, he says his immediate plans are to find a good busy gigging band and ‘play away the weekends’.
