Ronan in the Irish Voice [posted 9/25/2006] SINGER. Horseman. Physician. Motivational speaker. Irish mascot for the House that Babe Ruth built. You can use any one of these professions to describe tenor Ronan Tynan. And now with the release of his new CD The Dawning of the Day, you can add "Jesus’ understudy" to this mix of professions. Since the second coming of Christ is presumably a ways off, it is up to Tynan to provide the uplifting voice that parts clouds until the Man Upstairs comes back for an encore. On his first solo disc, the imaginatively titled Ronan, Tynan waded into the waters of John the Baptist with his moving "How Great Thou Art." He continues on that path with this collection of traditional hymns and newer songs that converge into a contemporary mélange or inspirational moments. To listen to Tynan sing "On Eagle’s Wings," a gripping read of "The Lord’s Prayer," and the title track is to be profoundly moved by sound. "I am a Catholic of course, but these songs should be able to touch everyone regardless of your religion," he tells the Irish Voice. "It should even touch you if you aren’t religious. That was my goal." With The Dawning of the Day, he clearly accomplishes this mission with stellar results. Though the album was produced by multiple Grammy winner Brown Bannister, the sound on The Dawning of the Day recalls the soundscapes made famous by Phil Coulter. Strings and flutes weave through pensive keyboards to make a definitive Celtic stamp to the orchestral music underneath Tynan’s mighty tones. For the most part, the production works to frame his voice beautifully, but this contemporary flair is not without its pitfalls. Tynan engages in a gamey duet with country crooner Vince Gill on "Morning Has Broken," and one wonders how he backed himself into this unfortunate show tune cul-de-sac on his way to the chapel. With this genie out of the bottle, can shows like The Phantom of the Vatican and Avenue Christ be far behind? His patriotic tunes at Yankee Stadium have made him an unofficial Irish mascot in this town, but musically speaking, the effect of tacking on a sappy, string-laden rendition of "God Bless America" at the end of so many inspirational moments is akin to spreading Cheez Whiz on the Holy Eucharist. "It’s okay if you don’t like the Vince Gill duet," he says with a laugh. "I do! I sung that song the whole time at Mass, even though it was a Cat Stevens tune. "Vince Gill is blessed with the most beautiful instrument. He’s a fantastic guy and an everyday friend. He’s a smashing person. "I wanted to sing ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ but then we had a chat about it. The greatest people who sung it (Simon and Garfunkel) wrote it. I thought we could do it in a style that would really rock the world. Vince said, ‘Can we do something else?’ I was taken aback but I agreed. "‘Morning Has Broken’ came out of the blue. We can do this one and no one could make a comparison." With his own voice clearly established as a separate entity from the Irish Tenors, the pressure is on his big shoulders to top his first successful solo CD. Ronan debuted number two on Billboard’s Classical Crossover Chart, just behind Josh Groban, and was the eighth best-selling classical crossover album of 2005. It also reached number two on the World Album Chart and peaked at nine on the Contemporary Christian Chart. Dawning of the Day is an artistic triumph that will surely build on the momentum of what looks to be an unstoppable career. I recently spoke to Tynan about the new CD and his love of Harleys. Here’s how it went. I thought of you on the anniversary of September 11, because it seemed like your voice was lending comfort to so many during the benefit concerts and funeral performances you did at the time. What were your thoughts on the fifth anniversary of the attacks? The sentiments and emotions are still very much the same. The first event I did was the NYPD memorial concerts. They are phenomenal people and everyday people. Everybody pulls together in a circumstance like that and it makes everyone just people. Kindness and benevolence can come through people and you see it in volumes after an event like that. I can still see it. We can put our wants aside and be delighted by what we have. It was poignant. Five years since we had that awful atrocity. I think we display tremendous hope and strength five years on. With all of the police work you did and your singing at Yankee Stadium, is it impossible for Ronan Tynan to get a speeding ticket in Manhattan? It makes it impossible because I don’t drive yet (laughs)! I did my driving test this year and a motorbike test as well. I am a mad fan of Harleys and I bought one this year. It’s a 2007 Ultraclassic. You’d think I have sense having had a motorbike accident and being an orthopedic. But listen, life is for living. I have an expiry date like anyone else and I want to make sure I do everything I want to do. Why follow up your first solo album with a theme album? I think we should do a faith album because my fans will be delighted with it and I was well capable of going into this area. The Man Above has never run away from me. I love songs like "Faith of Our Fathers" and the "Our Father." With this album, I wanted it to be not only about how I interpreted the song as a singer, but how it was arranged. You did a great job on that. The way you did these arrangements allowed you to take the songs out of the church and give them a more contemporary feel. Thanks. Before we did the arrangements I met the arrangers. We sat down and went through the pieces. We discussed them in detail. I had definite thoughts. I can honestly say that this album had a floor plan on every aspect of it. Like Feng Shui on each song. I wanted to make a real moment for the listener for the first time they hear it. I thought the simple arrangement on "The Lord’s Prayer" was beautiful. I wanted to make sure it was done simple with no orchestra. I wanted to give it the classical church feel and veneration it deserved. I wanted the choir to be right there with me on it. I was thrilled with how it came out. That and "Psalm 23," the arrangements just blew me away. That’s not the first time you’ve used the word "veneration" to describe these songs. Was that something that guided how you made this? The Man Above has been good to me and I wanted to be respectful to him as possible. So I was approaching it with veneration, I suppose. The depth of what the song is about almost demands this kind of veneration. I know you do a lot of motivational speaking. Does that influence your artistry at all? It does. I think the motivational aspect of what I do comes from my parents. My folks grounded me so well as a child. I never became complacent. I never thought I started from a place of "woe’s me." My parents always instilled a positive attitude. You don’t realize that until you’re much older. I won the lottery in the parents’ department more than anyone could ever imagine. Are you approaching the promotion of this album any differently than what you did for the first CD? Yes and no. From a media standpoint, there are some stops at the Christian networks planned as well as Nashville. I also want to take it to the churches. I did five of these songs in concert recently and people loved them. I am not approaching it different in that regard. I’ve always sung the songs I’ve loved, so that has not changed. I am doing a Christmas tour to do seven of the pieces. There is no season for these spiritual songs. Have you given any thought to what your next album should be like? With all the singing you do on sporting events, you might want to consider Queen’s "We Will Rock You." I bet you’d tear that up! I don’t know about that (laughs)! The desire is to do a good Irish album. We’ll see. Whatever happens happens. I don’t know what’s around the corner for me but I know I’m going to get there. (Reprinted with permission)