Joe Philpott has continually found joy and solace in song, with a history that has taken him from the U.S. Billboard charts and making the rounds of American talk shows to finding camaraderie and community with The White Horse Guitar Club.

A Cork native and longtime troubadour of the Irish music scene, Philpott isn’t just a musician. He’s a soulful melody-maker and one of the founding forces behind the 11-man band that began in a pub of the same name 10 years ago.

“I’m from Cork City, Ireland — a place where music isn’t just culture; it’s currency,” Philpott explains, painting a picture of a city steeped in rhythm and rebellion. “The city gave me a sense that music could lift you out of whatever corner you were born into.”

And lift him it did. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Philpott came up through Cork’s underground scene with the band Rubyhorse, a group that would eventually make the leap to Billboard Top 20, chase the American dream and even share studio space with the legendary George Harrison.

“Hearing Rubyhorse’s Sparkle on the radio across America, recording with George Harrison, touring coast to coast, from New York to L.A., those were peak moments,” he reflects.

With the success came challenges, however. “The grind. The lack of financial security. Trying to hold onto your sense of self.” Despite this, Philpott’s evolution as an artist continually deepened. “I’ve gone from trying to break America with a rock band to quietly playing for someone in a hospital bed. That’s a more lasting kind of spotlight. The ego has softened.”

Philpott’s initial foray into the music scene was instinctively about escape and ambition.

“Now it’s about connection, healing and memories,” he says. “Feet on the ground, head in the clouds” is how he characterizes his life now, dividing his time between the countryside and stages across Ireland and beyond. At 52, his voice and guitar have found new resonance through The White Horse Guitar Club, a collective of musicians who share a mission to honour song, soul and the people in the room.

“We started in The White Horse pub in Ballincollig over a decade ago. There was no master plan, just a hunger for authenticity and harmony.”

From those informal pub sessions grew a group that now performs across Ireland and abroad, always carrying and communicating the raw matter of their musical roots.

The band name derives from the venue where, with a little bit of magic and myth, it all began. “It started as a gathering of like-minded men who loved music and songs with weight. The White Horse Pub gave us shelter and space. Over time, the name started to feel symbolic – like an old soul carrying a new message.”

What sets the White Horse Guitar Club apart, however, isn’t merely their harmonies but their mandate. “We’re here to honour song and community,” Philpott explains. “To bring heart, harmony and stories into the room, whether that room is a theatre, a festival field, a venue or a small-town hall. It’s not about perfection; it’s about presence.”

Philpott’s framework for songwriting also reflects his respect for relevance. “A good song tells the truth – even if it’s dressed up in metaphor. It doesn’t try too hard. It usually has a line that makes you stop and say, ‘Yes. That’s exactly it.’”

Predictably, such authenticity carries over into the band’s live shows, with Philpott asserting that “the audience doesn’t want spectacle – they want honesty.  Music helps me make sense of the past and stay present in the moment. It’s less about chasing something and more about offering something.”

Philpott’s preference for keeping it real also extends to his views on the current state of music in Ireland, which, while optimistic, references the increasingly algorithmic criterion that invariably governs the entertainment world today. “Ireland’s music is rich, diverse and full of wild talent. But the industry still favours the few. There’s a risk of everything becoming too polished, too predictable, and processed. The rawness, the misfits and the truth-tellers need to be protected. Thankfully, Ireland still breeds them.”

Protecting their own truth-telling is part of the plan for The White Horse Guitar Club in 2025. “There’s an album in the works, our first U.K. date at the Tung Theatre in Liverpool on May 31 and a massive project yet to be announced,” he reveals. “But more than anything, we want to keep the fire lit. Keep the music honest. Keep showing up.”

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