Music icon and former Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry was this week’s guest for ‘Back to Mine’, on the Tom Dunne Show.

Ferry has just completed a tour of the west coast in America, where he also played Coachella.

As ever with our ‘Back to Mine’ slot, this week’s guest chose gin as his tipple of choice.

Ferry explained during the interview that his current show is accompanied by a full orchestra. The RTE Concert Orchestra will join Ferry and his band in the National Concert Hall in Dublin on June 18th and 19th.

Ferry chose ‘A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall’ from his debut solo album, as his first song pick.

“It was the first song where we ever used strings, really...it was a very effective use of them I think,” he said.

Speaking about his decision to pursue a career in music, Ferry explained the difficulty that his father had with this. Initially he had wanted Brian to be a lawyer or a doctor. However, “when it all worked out, I think he was very pleased”.

One of the anecdotes which Ferry shared with Tom was the creation of the iconic sleeve of his ‘Country Life’ album. He had been in Portugal at the time, writing lyrics for the record.

“We went into this tiny bar and these two German girls came in and we thought they’d be great for the cover...the next day we did it and it worked out really well”.

In fact, it transpired that the two girls were actually part of the entourage of the avant garde band Can.

Ferry also chose Avalon as a song pick during the interview. This song was partially written in Ireland. Indeed, the album cover was shot in the wilds of Connemara, near Spiddal.

“It was a beautiful setting. We did the picture at dawn with the sun coming up over the distant hills,” he said.

Ferry plays the National Concert Hall on the 18th and 19th of June.