VETERAN Irish folk singer Christy Moore plays York for the first time since 2007 on Sunday.

The show sold out predictably quickly, just as happened three years ago, and once more he will be accompanied by musician and record producer Declan Sinnott, whose relationship with Moore goes back to their days in Moving Hearts.

Moore has been singing, writing and collecting songs for most of his life, making more than 30 albums, both solo and with Moving Hearts and Planxty, after first taking to the road in 1966.

The latest, Listen, was released through Columbia last year with versions of Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Ian Prouse’s Does This Train Stop On Merseyside and a stirring tribute to Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, Rory Is Gone, among its highlights.

Moore’s status as one of Ireland’s most important and influential artists was affirmed in 2004 when he was awarded the very first Irish Recording Music Association Lifetime Achievement award. Six years later, his Irish thunder still cracks on.

“I’ve been singing since before I could talk and performing since I learned to walk,” he says. “Songs have infiltrated every corner of my life.” Long may they continue to do so.