Limerick born singer-songwriter and guitarist Donnacha Toomey has just finished recording his eagerly awaited second studio album entitled “Level Crossing”. The first single “Duty Free” will be released on August 15th. Donnacha has had a busy year recording the album at Sonas recording studios based in Killarney.
The album is currently being mastered in Los Angeles. He has just returned from playing to a new audience in London following appearances at numerous well known venues at home. Last summer his solo acoustic performance was well received at the “Electric Picnic”. “Level Crossing” will be available on general release in January 2012.
On Carnival of Colours (2009):
“‘Dappled jazz inflections, razor sharp melody, delightfully intricate guitar & trumpet set this collection apart from its attention seeking peers”
IRISH TIMES
General:
“Approaches each tune with the grace and confidence of a master craftsman”
IRISH EXAMINER
“Possessing about the smoothest and most pleasant voice heard for some time, Toomey is one artist going places…ghostly yet sublime”
MAVERICK MAGAZINE
“A richly honeyed voice that he applies with loving care to his judiciously crafted songs, thoughtful arrangements & top drawer musicianship” “We can’t really afford to ignore talents like Toomey”
HOTPRESS – Jackie Hayden
If you have not already done so, IMRO invites you to submit details of all your live performances during the period 1st January to 30th June 2011.
Royalties for performances falling between these dates under the Tours & Residencies Scheme will be paid as part of payment run 11P121 in December 2011.
Online submissions must be completed by Wednesday 31st August 2011. You are encouraged to submit your live performance details and set lists online on an ongoing basis at www.imro.ie.
When making your submission, please take note of the following:
• Due to a change in PRS company policy, please provide the post code for all venues throughout the UK (including Northern Ireland) in which you performed. While IMRO makes every effort to safeguard the interests of our members, we cannot guarantee payment from PRS if we cannot adhere to their performance notification guidelines.
• IMRO requires a Representative (Average) Set List of the works you perform during a typical performance. Please include works you perform that are composed by other writers and ensure all titles written or arranged by you are registered with IMRO prior to submitting your set list. You can view your repertoire online as a registered website user.
• It is essential that you submit both gigs and a representative set list.
• Remember to register your works with IMRO prior to making your submission. You can register your works online at www.imro.ie
• We only require one submission per band. Please be sure all band members agree on the information provided.
• Royalties are generated by live performances played and paid out according to the set list submitted.
If you require further information or have any questions regarding the above please contact submissions@nullimro.ie.
The Yearbook features:
* Over 300 pages of essential information about every aspect of the Irish music industry
* The essential Who's Who of the music business
* The complete industry directory: comprehensive listings for Ireland & Northern Ireland
* An insight into the future of music from the biggest names in the Irish & international music industries
THE HOTPRESS YEARBOOK 2011-2012: THE MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY DIRECTORY
To pre-order over the phone, call Liobhán at Hot Press on +353 (0) 1 2411 500 / liobhan@nullhotpress.ie
RTÉ Radio in association with Recorded Actors Artists Performers (RAAP) is offering emerging musical performers the opportunity to kick-start their careers by winning part of a €20,000 bursary fund and having their music played across RTÉ Radio’s four FM stations: RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ 2fm, RTÉ lyric fm and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.
The RTÉ Radio/RAAP Breakthrough 2011 is a series of bursaries which will be awarded to emerging musical performers across a wide range of genres.
The Breakthrough 2011 panel are looking for musicians and/or musical acts that display not only musical and technical skill, but also real audience appeal. The award aims to reward performers and, as such, is aimed at performance rather than original composition.
To be in with a chance of winning, applicants must have their entries in by Friday, 26 August 2011.
The competition is running to coincide with RTÉ’s annual Big Music Week (10 – 16 October 2011), which, in addition to the €5,000 bursary per genre, will give each winning entrant the opportunity to perform on RTÉ Radio as part of the event.
The aim of the RTÉ Radio/RAAP Breakthrough 2011 Bursaries is to celebrate music performance in Ireland and to offer entrants the opportunity to break through to the next level of their music career via the awarding of a bursary of €5,000 per winner, and exposure and airplay across the four channels of RTÉ Radio.
RTÉ 2fm’s Dave Fanning says: “Ireland is awash with exceptionally talented performers of all musical disciplines. It’s great to see RTÉ Radio join forces with RAAP to offer emerging acts this opportunity to get their career off the ground. Who knows, the next U2, Chieftains, Glen Hansard or Colm Wilkinson could be out there waiting for the opportunity to show the world what they’ve got; Breakthrough 2011 could be their chance.”
www.rte.ie/breakthrough
Miltown Malbay song writing contest 2011 is being held over the October bank holiday weekend in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare. The contest is open to songwriters of all ages and all genres.
First prize is €1000 plus a day in a recording studio. There will also be prizes for second and third place runners up.
This year all songs must be relevant to Miltown Malbay and or the surrounding area.
The contest will be held over the 28th 29th 30th October and the deadline for entries is 5pm, Thursday 29th September. All qualifiers will be notified by 15th October.
Co. Mayo Vocational Education Committee invites applications for the position of
CO-ORDINATOR MUSIC GENERATION MAYO
A Co-ordinator will be appointed by Co. Mayo V.E.C. and will be responsible for managing an extensive music education programme on behalf of the Music Education Partnership in Co. Mayo.
Co. Mayo has recently been selected for participation in Music Generation – Ireland’s National Music Education Programme which is funded by U2 and The Ireland Funds. Music Generation aims to help children and young people to access vocal and instrumental tuition in their local area.
Application Form and further details of the post can be downloaded from www.mayovec.ie or are available from the Personnel Section, on receipt of a stamped addressed envelope (A4).
Closing date for receipt of completed Application Forms for the above post (hard copy only) is 12.00 noon on Friday, 29thJuly, 2011.
Co. Mayo V.E.C. is an equal opportunities employer. Canvassing will disqualify. Shortlisting may apply. Late applications will not be accepted.
IMRO has many systems in place to track and make payments on performances of your work(s). To provide you with the maximum benefit from these systems, it is essential that you provide us with information about your works and their performance (when known). To improve the efficiency of the royalty distribution process there are a number of things you can do:
1. Remember to register your new works with IMRO. You can do this online through the Members Only Area of the IMRO website www.imro.ie.
2. Inform IMRO of new music releases.
3. Notify IMRO about television performances, use of your music in advertisements and movie/theatre performances.
4. Inform IMRO on a regular basis about all live performances of your works.
5. Keep us informed of your international activities.
6. Advise IMRO of all pseudonyms which you use, and bands/groups in which you are involved.
UP File Explained
What is the UP-File?
As IMRO’s process for matching Performances to Works is a computer automated one, there are several reasons why member’s works may appear on the UP-File. These usually are:
• Work not registered at the time of matching
• Title incorrectly spelt
• Composer incorrectly spelt
• Composer not given
• Artist incorrectly given as composer
Any works that fall into this unmatched category after each distribution are placed on the UP-File.
The UP-File is a database made available to members and other societies to research and hopefully identify works belonging to them & collect any royalties due.
Online UP File
Members can access online details of broadcasts and performances that IMRO has been unable to use in royalty distributions (generally due to insufficient details from the broadcaster or the absence of a registration for the work involved). The easy-to-use interface enables Members to claim performances as theirs by linking them to musical works in their repertoire (providing, of course, that the works have already been registered correctly with IMRO!). When you submit a claim for a performance, IMRO is notified of the relevant details and will make any relevant royalty payments.
If you have yet to register for online access we would encourage you to do so now at www.imro.ie and avail of the many new benefits.
These include:
• The ability to access your current repertoire details, as registered with IMRO.
• The online Works Registration facility is a major new feature where Members can now register works directly online, eliminating the need for paper. This new service significantly enhances and streamlines the works registration process for members and the vast majority of new works registrations by members are now being made online.
• We have extensively changed the process of how you enter details of all your Live Performances, both national and international. We encourage you to supply details of these performances on a regular basis.
• Your Distribution Statements are now available interactively allowing you to see more detail regarding performances along with VAT settlement vouchers etc.
Martin Sutton has been in the music business for nearly twenty years as a songwriter, producer, session musician and mixer. He has sold over seven million records worldwide for artists including Celine Dion, The Backstreet Boys, LeAnn Rimes, Olivia Newton John, Mike & The Mechanics and pop idol winners around the world. He works in a variety of styles from R&B, Pop and Rock to Country and has written with Gary Barlow, Pixie Lott, Duncan James, Mike Rutherford and many of the world's best songwriters.
He has also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kim Wilde, Andrew Roachford, Des’ree, Heather Small, Beverley Craven, Mica Paris and has composed special commissions for film & TV.
Martin is currently signed to Universal Music Publishing and works from his home in Buckinghamshire where he has a recording studio, but also spends time writing in Nashville, Los Angeles, New York and across Europe.
Since 2010 he has become personal songwriting coach and mentor to many writers and regularly hosts masterclasses for societies such as PRS and IMRO as well as his own Songwriting Weekend Workshops.
BOOK NOW!
IMRO members looking to reserve a place at this seminar should send an email to membership@nullimro.ie
(limited availability – no admission charge)
It's been a busy year musically for Dennis McCalmont.
Last summer, he Co-Wrote and Composed a number of songs for the Terry Reilly/Tommy Marren Musical Production 'On A Wing And A Prayer' the Story Of Knock Airport, which was a huge success, selling out shows at 'The Royal Theatre' Castlebar, and raising much needed funding for the Mayo /Roscommon Hospice.
Earlier this year Dennis's song 'Carousel' was Short-listed for the Final of 'The Irish Daily Mail' 'Fighting Chance' for Unsigned Artists.
'Carousel' is featured on his new album 'Nature Of Life' which offers 14 original songs, that McCalmont Wrote/Recorded/Mixed and Produced. Think 'Neil Young' jamming with the 'Fleet Foxes' and you will get a flavour for these Acoustic driven songs, coloured with Vocal harmonies.
PLAY, a summer music festival for all the family kicks off at The Ark today. And if you’ve ever wished that you could bring young children to hear great live music, then this is the festival is for you!
Running Wednesdays-Sundays until 21 August, PLAY features five weekends of entertaining afternoon concerts for families, offering a chance for you to join in and make some music with outstanding musicians including Julie Feeney, the “pop genius” (Hot Press) behind the hit song Impossibly Beautiful, fiddle player Zoë Conway (described as “incredible” by RTÉ’s Gay Byrne), the hilarious Size2Shoes – of whom Stephen Spielberg is a big fan, the Grant/Kelly family ensemble, and many more.
You can fill-up summer-break weekdays with The Ark’s jam-packed programme of music workshops, which let children aged 2 to12 experience all the excitement and fun of making music, even if they’ve never picked up an instrument before.
There are also free electronic sound installations. Perfect if you’ve ever wondered what a can of baked beans sounds like or fancy playing a real drumkit without touching it!
Book now at ark.ie or call 01 670 7788
Tickets €10 (€8 concessions)
