Skip to main content

Month: January 2013

Shortlist revealed for Meteor Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year 2012

Meteor and The Choice Music Prize are urging you, the Irichoicesh public, to have your say and vote for the Meteor Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year 2012.

The shortlisted songs have now been put to a public vote with the overall winner to be revealed at the Meteor Choice Music Prize live event on March 7th. The Meteor Choice Music Prize is brought to you in association with IMRO and IRMA.

Now in its second year, the Meteor Choice Music Prize- Irish Song of the Year 2012 celebrates some of Ireland’s favourite homegrown songs of the previous year and encourages people to show their support and get behind great Irish music.

You can get involved by casting your vote through Meteor’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/meteor or by texting ‘SONG’ to 085 7114444 for list of nominees.

The Shortlist

The shortlist features a formidable list of 10 anthems which have rocked the Irish airwaves in 2012. The nominations are decided by the Meteor Choice Music Prize judging panel and the Irish airplay charts for 2012. The 2012 shortlist is as follows:

The Coronas – Mark My Words (3U)

Delorentos – Care For (Delo Records)

Glen Hansard – High Hope (Plateau)

Heathers – Forget Me Knots (Warner)

Gavin James – Say Hello (Believe)

Kodaline – All I Want (Sony)

Le Galaxie feat Elaine Mai – Love System (Delphi)

The Script – Hall of Fame (Sony)

SOAK – ‘Sea Creatures (Self Release)

Villagers – The Waves (Domino)

Voting & Win Tickets to the Event

It is the public who will decide the winner by voting online at www.facebookcom/meteor or by texting ‘SONG’ to 0857114444 for a list of nominees. All voters are in with a chance to win one of 20 pairs of tickets to the Meteor Choice Music Prize live event on March 7th in Vicar Street and can vote once a day until voting closes on March 3rd.  

The winning entry will be announced at the live event and awarded the Meteor Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year Trophy along with a prize fund of €3,000.

The shortlisted songs will be profiled on air by Tony Fenton on Today FM from Monday 4th – Friday 8th February with two songs from the list played each day. Tony will also present the award at the live event on 7th March.

The Meteor Choice Music Prize will be broadcast live on the night on Today FM in a special four-hour extended programme during the Paul McLoone Show. It will also be live streamed on www.meteor.ie and www.facebook.com/meteor. Tickets for the Meteor Choice Music Prize live event are on sale from all Ticketmaster outlets and from http://www.ticketmaster.ie, priced €22.50 including booking fee.

Other Voices Derry February 2013

Line-Up Confirmed / Music Trail Venues / Other Room Acts Announcedother voices (2)

Other Voices spreads its wings and migrates to Derry / Londonderry on the 8th, 9th and 10th of February for the City of Culture 2013 celebrations.

Other Voices moves North from Dingle to the singing city of Derry this year, but the story doesn’t end there for the renowned music show. The East End of London will host a special recording at Wilton’s Music Hall in April, produced in association with the Barbican, completing the triangle and underlining the strong music and cultural links North, South, East and West across these islands. Like Dingle in December, Derry will be seen and heard across the world via social media and online streaming.

The Other Voices triangle will forge a new chapter in the musical narrative of these  islands, bringing together a swathe of musical genres and generations, from downright dirty rock’n’roll gangs to celestial traditional music-makers, cutting edge electronic kids to proud warriors of world sounds. Other Voices Dingle, Derry-Londonderry and London will continue to applaud originality and embrace divergence and in doing so, create three very special and authentic celebrations where music remains at the heart of the matter.
 
Exciting line-up additions for The Glassworks have just been announced and the Other Voices team are delighted to welcome James Yorkston, Daughter and Beth Orton to the Derry stage!

The full list of bands confirmed now looks like this:

Friday 8th February – Damien Dempsey, Savages, Soak.

Saturday 9th February – Bronagh Gallagher, Jesca Hoop, Marina and the Diamonds, Neil Hannon.

Sunday 10th February – Beth Orton, Daughter, James Yorkston, Two Door Cinema Club.
 
And don’t forget, Other Voices is a spontaneous affair conducive to creative collaborations, songs and tunes can and do happen at the drop of a hat.
 
The Derry~Londonderry leg of the Other Voices event will form an exciting part of the musical element of the City of Culture celebrations 2013, which kicked off last week with the BBC Sons and Daughters concert. The eclectic programme will go on to include musical takeovers such as the Music City which will include a Sky Orchestra of music playing from hot air balloons and Celtronic, Ireland’s premier electronic music festival. The city is delighted to see a host of homegrown talent returning to Derry for Other Voices, including Neil Hannon, Two Door Cinema Club and Soak.  
 
Neil Hannon  said “As an alumni of Other Voices Dingle, it was lovely to receive an invite to appear at Other Voices Derry. Not least because Derry / Londonderry (the city that dare not speak its name) is the city of my birth! It is also the UK City of Culture this year which I am keen to show my support for.”
 
Jesca Hoop added “I am genuinely excited to play Other Voices this year and am so happy to be invited to play in Derry. I played OV in Dingle a couple of years back and I can honestly say that it was my year’s highlight!”
 
For those who don’t make it to the Glassworks to see the live Other Voices gigs, fret not, because courtesy of BT Infinity there will be access to live streaming to a number of venues around the City of Derry including: An Cultúrlann / Nerve Centre / Grand Central Bar / Derby / Tinney’s / Gweedore / Masons / Bound For Boston / Icon Bar & Grill / Sandinos / Bennigans / Live Screen in Waterloo Place.
 
The Other Voices Music Trail will also follow on from Dingle to Derry / Londonderry this February. Over 40 bands will play across city venues including the streaming venues above plus Café del Mondo / Foyleside Shopping Centre / Verbal Arts Centre / Apprentice Boys of Derry Memorial Hall / St. Augustine’s / Ebrington Sq / Legenderry Cafe / Craft Village.

So, no matter where you are in the city, you will only be a stones-throw away from the action and the unique events that make up the over-all Other Voices experience.
 
The IMRO Other Room will be filmed at Memorial Hall and some of the first acts to be announced are Riptide Movement, George Erza, Katharine Philippa, Ryan Vail and Best Boy Grip. As always, The Other Room showcases some of the freshest and finest new talent around at the moment.

Once again, there was an open call to bands to apply to play The IMRO Other Room and this year there were over 300 submissions!  

The Banter Salon at Other Voices made it’s debut in Dingle with great success and will travel to Derry next month. Banter, hosted by Jim Carroll, will feature a number of discussions (some heated!), conversations, performances and talks on the Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free, see www.thisisbanter.com for more details.
 
A number of tickets for The Glassworks will be made available through competitions on Other Voices social media (Twitter: @OtherVoicesLive & Facebook: ‘Other Voices’) as well as on national radio shows. Please see Other Voices website for more details: www.othervoices.ie.

IMRO Masterclasses & Second Showcase at Temple Bar TradFest

The second of two IMRO showcases at Temple Bar TradFest will take place this evening at The New Theatre with performances from whistle and flute player, Enda Seery, and jazz-inspired traditional group, JP Trio featuring Niamh Farrell.

The New Theatre is also the venue for two IMRO masterclasses tomorrow, Saturday 26th, with Cork songwriter and musician, John Spillane (11am) and traditional and classical composer and musician, Charlie Lennon (2pm).

This evening’s showcase is now fully booked but there are limited spaces available for both masterclasses tomorrow. For further details contact IMRO at membership@nullimro.ie or 01 661 4844.

Enda SeeryEnda Seery

Enda Seery is one of Ireland’s finest young whistle and flute players and composers. Enda’s critically acclaimed debut album The Winding Clock was released in 2010 and sees Enda sprinkle his own compositions amongst other well know session tunes.

The Winding Clock album with Enda on whistles and keyboard, John Byrne on guitar and Colin Hogg on bodhrán along with a guest appearance from Enda’s musical siblings: Ciarán (button accordion), Siobhán (flute) and Pádraig Seery (fiddle) has received great reviews from critics and musicians alike. Enda’s compositions are now being recorded by other artists with his cousin All-Ireland Champion button accordion player Colin Nea recently recording Enda’s composition Sam’s Delight (reel) for his new album Between the Jigs and the Reels.

Along with gaining a reputation as a respected teacher, administrator and adjudicator for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, and completing a Masters in Traditional Irish Music Performance at The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick with First Class Honours, Enda has featured as a performer on RTÉ, TG4, RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ Lyric FM and Raidió na Gaeltachta. He has appeared on broadcasts such as RTÉ’s Céilí House and Forefront Productions Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann series on RTÉ and Geantraí on TG4.

2013 will see Enda releasing his second studio album Síocháin na Tuaithe (Peace of the Countryside).

www.endaseery.com

 

JPTrioJPTrio & Niamh Farrell

JPTrio are brothers Ted (banjo, tenor guitar and vocals) and Jos (button accordion, keyboards and vocals), Paddy Hazleton (percussion and vocals), joined by Niamh Farrell for the main vocals. They came together while at Sligo Grammar school, where Jos is this year studying for his Leaving Certificate.

Their three years competing in the Siansa Gael Linn competition for young traditional bands helped them evolve as group musicians (they were the winning group in 2009 as Spraoi) culminating in a 2011 performance at Celtic Connections where they won a best newcomer band award at the Danny Kyle open stage competition.

There are jigs and reels here but everything, bar the sean-nós rendition of ‘UnaDheas’, has a strong jazz influence and an emphasis on rhythmic innovation .Their EP includes two Niall Vallely compositions, one Padraig Rynne, one Gordon Duncan, one Colin Farrell, and two traditional songs (one Irish, one gospel).

Ted explains: ‘When I was in first year of college I lived with a bass player studying Jazz in Newpark [Music Centre in Dublin]. He introduced me to lots of brilliant jazz, and while I was there trying to understand bass lines in jazz/funk/soul music, Jos was learning Jazz piano from Kieran Quinn in Sligo. Oscar Peterson was a huge influence for Jos.

‘Paddy’s mum once said to me, He’s been banging pots and pans since I can remember. Paddy’s talent as a percussionist is pure and comes from his soul.’

www.jptrio.com

 

IMRO Showcases at Temple Bar TradFest Kick Off Tonight

This evening, the first of two IMRO Showcases at Temple Bar TradFest will take place in the New Theatre, Temple Bar. Traditional groups, Tremolo and Réalta, will be kicking things off. The New Theatre is the venue for the second showcase, taking place tomorrow evening, followed by two masterclasses on Saturday afternoon.

Almost all events are now fully booked. For further details contact IMRO at membership@nullimro.ie or 01 661 4844.

TremoloTremolo

Tremolo consists of four accomplished musicians from the Irish traditional music scene, brought together by their shared taste in melodic, transparent music. Whilst remaining at all times innovative and refreshing, their technical ability never stands in the way of them remaining true to their collective musical passion.

Donall Donnelly is a talismanic fiddle-player who adds a dynamism and drive to the unique sound of Tremulo. Since becoming ‘Fiddler of Dooney’ champion he has gone on to tour worldwide, supporting bands like Capercaille, the Michael McGoldrck band and playing festivals ranging from Womad to Celtic Connections in Glasgow. Guitarist, Donncha Moynihan, infuses subtlety and warmth into everything he plays. Donncha is Cork-based and was a founding member of the much lauded traditional group Calico in early 1998 who went on to release two award-winning albums- “Celanova Square” and “Songdogs”.

Stijn Van Beek (uileann pipes/low whistle) performs in an eclectic range of bands. He has featured as a soloist on an album with tango bandoneonist Carel Kraayenhof playing compositions by Ennio Morricone and has played at major Dutch pop festivals with rock group ‘Moke’.  Making up the four-piece, Karl Nesbitt (bouzouki, flute and bodhran) has performed with some of the best musicians in Irish music in various majestic settings across Europe, the UK and China. He has carved out a reputation for himself as a band arranger and for two years in succession in Brittany, he organised and orchestrated the music for a band representing Ireland at the Festival Interceltique in L‟orient.

www.tremoloband.com

Realta_webRéalta

Belfast based band Réalta have launched onto the Irish music scene with their lively, exciting and unique approach to Irish traditional music. Performing on dual uilleann pipes, whistles, guitar, bouzouki, vocals and bodhrán, this multi instrumentalist group make full use of the intricate melodies and driving rhythms that make Irish music so loved throughout the world.

Having toured Germany alongside Altan in 2011 and won the prestigious Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections 2012, these young musicians have earned a reputation for delighting audiences as they present an enchanting programme of dance music interspersed with the occasional story, air and song.

www.realtamusic.com

Free Talk By Robert Levine | Author of Free Ride

Robert Levine, the author of Free Ride, (http://freeridethebook.wordpress.com/) will be speaking in Hodges Figgis at 6.30pm on January 24th.  All welcome.robheadshot

Free Ride

How the Internet is Destroying the Culture Business and How it Can Fight Back

Robert Levine

 Do you read newspapers online? Own a kindle? Download television programmes so you can skip the adverts? Free Ride explores the implications for modern culture of all these activities and asks how businesses can fight back against the expectation that everything we value should be available for free.

‘Information wants to be free’ says influential technologist Stewart Brand at a 1984 hacker convention. These words became the mantra that shaped the Internet, and the conflict he predicted has led to a revolution in the way that our culture is funded and consumed.  We have come to demand free content online, mistaking the packaging of physical products for what we were actually paying for – the creative content. Newspapers are being pressurised to give their content away for free online; music sales have plummeted due to piracy; and Amazon is using its market power to drive down the price of e-books.

Technology companies are making millions from content created and funded by others, reducing the value of culture in the process. How did the media industry lose control over its destiny? What are the consequences? And are we headed for cultural meltdown if the media can’t stop the free ride?

IMRO Live Music Venue Of The Year Awards 2012

The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) is delighted to announce that the fifth IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards will take place on Tuesday 26th February 2013 at IMRO HQ in Dublin.AWARDS 2012 a

The annual awards celebrate the dedication and passion of those who work in Ireland’s live music venues, providing the public with an exceptional live music experience, week in, week out.

More than 8,000 IMRO members considered hundreds of venues across the country for the shortlist. Venues were judged on their commitment to providing the core elements that make for a great live music venue – atmosphere, sound and lighting, staging, diversity of programming and most importantly, the staff and management of each venue. IMRO members also voted on Ireland’s music festivals, delivering a shortlist of their top ten festivals.

Live music venues and festivals play a pivotal role in the music industry in Ireland, giving international and homegrown artists a platform to engage with fans and build new audiences. They also play a central role in urban and rural communities across the country, providing a social gathering space for varied audiences, and contributing hugely to the domestic economy.

Of the Awards announcement, Victor Finn CEO of IMRO said A strong live music circuit is the lifeblood of a vibrant music industry.  It is important that we acknowledge those venue owners and festivals promoters whose commitment, passion and support for live music throughout the country enables music creators to continue making the music we all enjoy”.

At the ceremony in IMRO HQ in Dublin on February 26th, awards will be presented to the leading live music venue in each of the following regions: Dublin, Leinster (excluding Dublin), Connacht, Munster and Ulster (Donegal, Monaghan, Cavan).

The IMRO Music Festival of the Year and IMRO Best Small Festival of the Year Award will also be presented on the night. One overall award will be presented with the IMRO National Live Music Venue of the Year. This award is decided upon by the public, who vote for their live music venue of the year from the combined shortlist of all the regions. Live music fans should simply log on to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/imrovenueawards  and choose their favourite from the shortlist provided, by February 19th.  One lucky voter will win an iPod Touch digital music player.

The Hot Press Live Music Venue of the Year Readers Poll will also be part of the awards and Hot Press fans can vote at www.hotpress.com/readerspoll

“Ireland has a wonderfully vibrant music scene right now,” Niall Stokes, editor of Hot Press said, “with a whole new wave of fresh talent coming through. But they are facing into a very difficult environment, with sales of CDs and records having fallen dramatically. Which makes it more important than ever before that we have great venues all over Ireland in which our songwriters, artists and bands can build their audiences and their experience. “The votes from the public for our best venues have been flooding in on hotpress.com, confirming that live music is at the heart of the music business right now. That’s why the IMRO Live Music Venue Awards are so important, as a way of rewarding and nurturing excellence.”

The IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards have become an important badge of merit for venues across the country since its inception in 2008. Mary Hickson, CEO of Cork Opera House (IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year 2011) said “Any national award is a serious achievement, and one that is judged by peers and audience members means even more. Our IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Award was very simply the highlight of our year. As an industry award, for us it meant that all of our hard work was recognized and that judgement one which we are very proud of.”

 

IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards 2012 Shortlist

IMRO Dublin Live Music Venue of the Year 2012

Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin 2
The O2, Dublin 1
The Draiocht Theatre, Dublin 15
The Grand Social, Dublin 1
The Olympia, Dublin 2

IMRO Rest of Leinster Live Music Venue of the Year 2012

The Set Theatre, Kilkenny
TLT, Drogheda, Co. Louth
Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford
Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare

IMRO Connacht Live Music Venue of the Year 2012

Monroes, Galway
The Dock Theatre, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim
Roisin Dubh, Galway
Linenhall Arts Centre, Mayo
Roscommon Arts Centre, Co. Roscommon

IMRO Munster Live Music Venue of the Year 2012

Glor Irish Music Centre, Ennis, Co. Clare
Crane Lane Theatre, Cork
Cork Opera House, Cork
DeBarras, Clonakilty, Co. Cork
University Concert Hall, Limerick

IMRO Ulster Live Music Venue of the Year 2012

Allingham Arms Hotel, Bundoran, Co Donegal
An Grianan Theatre, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
An Poc Fada, Monaghan
McGrorys, Culdaff, Co. Donegal
The Abbey Hotel, Donegal Town, Co. Donegal

IMRO Live Music Festival of the Year 2012

Castlepalooza
Electric Picnic
Live @ The Marquee Cork
Westport Music & Performing Arts Festival
Forbidden Fruit
Vantastival
Templebar Trad Festival
Festival of the Fires
Galway Arts Festival
Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann Cavan

 

Traditional Music Seminar at the Ark | Dublin | 25th January

Performing Irish Traditional Music for Child and Family Audiences with Cormac De Barra and Sinéad Madden. Presented in partnership with Music Network.cormacdebarra_highres_the_gathering

Date & Time Fri 25 Jan: 12.15-4pm (including performance, lunch and workshop)

This professional development workshop, facilitated by traditional harper Cormac De Barra and fiddle player and singer Sinéad Madden, will support professional musicians to develop performance skills for child and family audiences.

The workshop will begin with an opportunity to attend The Magic of the Harp – a traditional music performance for schools taking place at The Ark at 12.15pm. Following this, musicians Cormac and Sinead will then lead a practical two-hour workshop which will introduce approaches to interacting with young audiences, stage communication skills, audience management, creating engaging music sets and addressing particular challenges that musicians may encounter.

For full details and bookings visit: http://ark.ie/events/view/professional-development-for-musicians

Sundernix ‘Brasserie’

Sundernix is the moniker of Dublin based artist Liam Trappe.sundernix

His debut eponymous album ‘Sundernix’ is due for release in 2013.

Sundernix began writing songs for the album in 2008 and commenced recording in 2009.

The five year project was recorded with engineer Sean Corcoran (engineer: Super Extra Bonus Party / Le Galaxie) and features  guest musicians including Stephen Fahey (SEBP) Gavin Elsted (SEBP / We are losers), Sadhbh O’Sullivan (SIVE), Patrick Hopkins (SIVE), Claire Prendergast and Niall O’Sullivan (Trumpet).

SUNDERNIX, Brasserie, is available to download for the price of a tweet or a facebook post from www.sundernix.com,

or to buy for €1 from http://sundernix.bandcamp.com/track/brasserie

Brasserie can be streamed from www.sundernix.com

 

New Festival to Showcase the Work of Irish and European Composers

New Music DublinNew Music Dublin is a major new festival that gives voice to a broad range of musical creativity from our time by showcasing the work of major international and Irish figures to the public, and through the involvement of many Irish artists.

NMD is a new partnership initiative of The Arts Council, The National Concert Hall, RTÉ Orchestras and the Contemporary Music Centre. It will take place in the NCH on March 1st, 2nd and 3rd 2013 and is the first event arising from a planned five-year partnership. The Arts Council is providing significant funding to New Music Dublin (see below for further background information regarding each of the partner organisations).

NMD offers audiences the opportunity to immerse themselves in many different types of new music. The 2013 Festival includes the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, directed by virtuoso trombonist Christian Lindberg in the world premiere of Lindberg’s new work ‘Kundraan and the Arctic Light’; the RTÉ Concert Orchestra performing the Irish premieres of Arvo Pärt’s ‘Symphony Number 4’ and Louis Andriessen’s ‘De Staat’; Garth Knox bringing his ECM project ‘Saltarello’ to Dublin; the serene voices of the Hilliard Ensemble paired with the haunting music of Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannson; Crash Ensemble with European voices new to Ireland including Heiner Goebbels and Michel van der Aa; Callino Quartet with a world premiere by Kevin Volans; late night events including the cosmopolitan duo A Winged Victory For The Sullen and more.

In addition to the programme of concerts taking place over the festival weekend, NMD has a busy schedule of workshops, masterclasses and other events. The festival forms part of Ireland’s EU Presidency Cultural Programme, and at a time when our relationship with Europe is undergoing much discussion, is an opportunity to celebrate the diverse creative nature of the current generation of European and Irish artists.

For further information on the festival schedule and updates see www.newmusicdublin.ie

Debut Album from Valerra

ValerraLightboxNew Irish band Valerra unleash a turbulent torrent of infectious hard rock on their self-titled debut album.

Formed in 2012 Noel Kenny, Sean Walsh, Paul Newell and Joey Kennedy spent most of last year in the studio writing and recording with producers Chris O’Brien & Graham Murphy at the helm.

With thundering guitar riffs, soaring vocals and anthemic choruses, this quartet of twenty somethings deliver a sound that will evoke the inner rock star in you.

The band’s album “Valerra” and first single “Living in Stereo” are released on Stereoplex Records and are available to download now on iTunes.

Keep up to date with IMRO news and events

Please select login