CMAT Brings ‘Euro-Country’ & Irish Humor To ‘The Daily Show’

CMAT brought “Euro-Country” to The Daily Show on Wednesday, performing the title track from her 2025 album after sitting down with host Jordan Klepper. The Irish singer-songwriter’s first US television interview ranged from her experiences touring America to the humor and politics woven into her songwriting.

Klepper opened by recalling seeing CMAT at this year’s Newport Folk Festival. The singer praised American audiences, singled out Chicago as her favorite US city to play and shared stories from her travels, including a visit to Pioneertown, California.

Before performing “Euro-Country,” CMAT explained that the song grew out of her memories of Ireland’s 2008 economic crash, which happened when she was about 12. She connected those childhood experiences to the difficulties her generation faces finding work and housing in Ireland, while emphasizing that she wanted the song to leave room for hope.

“I wanted to make a song about it, but I really didn’t want to be ham-fisted in it,” CMAT told Klepper. “And I wanted to just be like, look, this was what I experienced as a kid.”

CMAT also weighed in on Ed Sheeran's response to the controversy surrounding Macklemore being dropped from his tour. “My hot take is that I actually feel bad for the guy, because I don’t think he knew what he was getting himself into,” she said, while arguing Sheeran could have insisted Macklemore remain on the bill. CMAT suggested Sheeran received bad advice and said his embrace of his Irish heritage meant surrounding himself with people who would hold him accountable over Palestine. She also called some of the criticism unfair, pointing to other stadium acts who remain silent without facing similar scrutiny.

Elsewhere in the conversation, CMAT described “funeral humor” as central to her songwriting, comparing the release of laughter during a devastating moment to the way she approaches difficult subjects in her music. “There’s something in the body and the human psyche that wants to get through hard times,” she said. “And I think humor is one of the routes.”

CMAT previously made her US television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live last September with “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me.” She followed that appearance with a performance of “When A Good Man Cries” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in February. Both songs also appear on Euro-Country.

Watch CMAT perform “Euro-Country” on The Daily Show below:

Watch her full interview with Jordan Klepper: