Skip to main content

Month: May 2015

“Why Are Clouds So Blue” by Alicija Music

Alicija MusicOn its very first day, ‘Clouds So Blue’ received over 600 YouTube hits. The video for her new release was shot at Blessington Lakes near Poulaphouca in Co Wicklow late in Spring just before the leaves had lost their new green hue. They end result is a stunning portrayal of both the song and Alicija’s camera friendliness.

Continue reading

Sinéad White’s Debut Album “Finally” Lands this Weekend

Sinead WhiteKildare artist, Sinéad White, releases her debut album “Finally” on 30th May, with a launch gig on release night in The Sugar Club.

The first single from the album, “Better”, is already gaining Sinéad much attention among Ireland’s music media, with music magazine Goldenplec selecting her as one of their ‘Plec Picks’ for 2015.

Sinéad has been captivating audiences at Electric Picnic, Longitude, Knockanstockan and Vantastival among other festivals, with her unique voice and take on songwriting. Her debut release also follows support slots for Duke Special and Everlast from House of Pain.

This summer Sinéad White is ready to launch the release of her debut album “Finally” with her biggest headline show to date at the Sugar Club in Dublin on Saturday, May 30th.

Tickets are priced at €13.50 (including booking fee) via sugarclub.com. Doors are at 8pm. Support on the night will come from the fantastic Stomptown Brass.

For more follow Sinéad on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

 

SongCat™ Forges Ahead With New Alliances

Groundbreaking song demo and music production studio SongCat LLC, is amping its innovation of the modern music industry with a number of newly announced initiatives, alongside its latest customer survey—which continues to demonstrate its overwhelming satisfaction in the marketplace.songcat

 Founded in 2014, the firm offers burgeoning and established songwriters, lyricists, composers, musicians, performers and artists access to its hand-picked team of professional session musicians and audio engineers to produce full-bodied tracks—from arranging through mastering.

SongCat™ also provides such services as songwriter demos, music production, audio mixing & mastering, and session singers & musicians. It is the only online production studio to offer a money back guarantee, based on independent reviews.

NEXT UP: GRAMMY WINNING ENGINEER & GLOBAL ISC COMPETITION

Among new alliances, SongCat has forged a collaboration with five-time Grammy-winning Engineer Miles Walker, while it is now also integrally involved in the acclaimed annual International Songwriting Competition.

Walker’s exhaustive list of mixing and engineering credits includes countless hits and multi-platinum records around the world. He has worked with the likes of Ne-Yo, Beyonce, Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa, Iggy Azalea, Depeche Mode and Usher. Walker earned a Magna Cum Laude degree from the world-renowned Berklee College of Music. For SongCat, he will provide Grammy-standard mixes for its clientele.

We couldn’t be happier to have Miles on board as part of our prize-winning team,” says Chris Erhardt, CEO and member of the Irish Performing Rights Organisation IMRO. “Our productions are mixed digitally to the highest, radio-ready standards by our in-house audio engineers, however, some clients now need more than we have previously been able to offer. Miles is certainly among the leading industry pros when it comes to mixing.”

The International Songwriting Competition’s (ISC) partnership with SongCat gives the annual contest a valuable teammate in offering its five-dozen prize-winning acts the opportunity to have their demos and/or rough songs professionally arranged, engineered & mastered with pro musicians. ISC’s mission is to nurture the musical talent of songwriters on all levels and to promote excellence in the art of songwriting.

Erhardt adds: “We are excited to partner with such a respected leader among songwriting competitions. With ISC’s global reach, we now are able to help its winners reach the world with their songs, which already have traction in storming the global music charts, much like this year’s winner Vance Joyce.”

SURVEY SAYS…

SongCat has also recently completed its latest Client Satisfaction Survey, which it conducts every 6 months as a benchmark of its services. In May, it surveyed responses for 115 produced songs—garnering a stellar average rating of 4.65 out of 5. The survey also revealed that 96% of its produced songs were ranked “higher quality” than any of SongCat’s potential competitors.

While these ratings exceeded our expectations, we can always improve upon our services,” Erhardt says. “We’ve added new session singers and musicians so we can now create the same standard for country and rock as we have for pop productions. As we continue to survey the needs of our customers, we are only going to grow stronger as the go-to destination for complete production services.”

 

About the Author

Award-winning Arts & Entertainment journalist Chuck Taylor worked for 14 years as a Senior Writer, Editor and Single Reviews Editor with Billboard magazine in New York. He is also a Grammy voter with NARAS.

 

AIC Presents: Flute Concert with Hanan Hadzajlic

The Association flute-bosniaof Irish Composers are delighted to announce the details of two concerts with flautist/composer Hanan Hadžajlić, from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hanan will perform a programme of music by Irish and Bosnian composers on the 28th of May in Sarajevo, followed by a concert here in Dublin in June. Composer John Buckley will travel to Sarajevo with the support of Culture Ireland and the Contemporary Music Centre to give a pre-concert talk on his own work and on Irish contemporary music. Hanan will also perform some of the selected Irish works in Croatia later in June.

Date: 28 May 2015

Time: 7.30pm

Venue: Bosniak Institute – Foundation of Adil Zulfikarpašić, Concert Hall, Mula Mustafe Bašeskije Street, Sarajevo

Performer: Hanan Hadžajlić

Presenter: The Association of Irish Composers/Institut za Savramenu Klasičnu Muziku/Culture Ireland

 

Date: 5 June 2015

Time: 7.30pm

Venue: 12 Henrietta St, Dublin, Ireland

Performer: Hanan Hadžajlić

Presenter: The Association of Irish Composers

Tickets: €10, available on the door

 

Programme

Rhona Clarke – Four Pieces for Solo Flute (2006)

– Begin

– As Kingfishers Catch Fire

– Elegy

– Take Time Out

Igor Karača – Retracing I (2015)

Fergus Johnston – Two Pieces for Solo Flute (1987)

John Buckley – Two Fantasias for Solo Alto Flute (2004)

Hanan Hadžajlić – Bellatrix Lestrange (2015)

Ian Wilson – Die Zwitscher-Machine for Piccolo (2011)

Dino Rešidbegović – Wreesky (2014)

Raymond Deane – Tekeli-li (2008/2009)

Ališer Sijarić – Dah for Bass Flute (2012)

Continue reading

Fiach Moriarty: The Revolution

Dublin singer 11114282_808177045926117_8405247865867285390_oFiach Moriarty returns with his second album “The Revolution” which was released April 17th 2015. Lauded by the likes of Chris White of The Zombies “I was rendered speechless by his voice and songwriting. There was nothing I could say to this artist. Lyrically and musically he is one of the best singer/songwriters around.” Paul Brady has said: “Fiach Moriarty is one of Ireland’s most talented singer-songwriters with a musical sophistication rare in the genre”. The time is now for the revolution to begin and Fiach Moriarty to claim his place as one of Ireland’s most impressive singers and songwriters.

Fiach’s second album, ‘The Revolution’ was heavily influenced by his childhood memories of taking to the streets of Dublin to march for various causes in the 80’s together with his family. The result is an album that tackles subjects such as The 1916 Easter Rising, World War 1 and Los San Patricios (the Irish brigade in the 19th century Mexican Army) yet is filled with a wide breadth of catchy hooks, clever lyrics and beautifully crafted songs.

Since the release of his debut record “So I”, Fiach Moriarty has toured through countless venues in his home country of Ireland, as well as Europe, Australia and North America. This heavy duty work ethic has paid off, garnering praise from a host of musical heroes of his such as Gilbert O’Sullivan and sharing the stage with Ray Davies of The Kinks and Fairground Attraction chanteuse Eddi Reader. The record was produced by former Edwyn Collins collaborators Simon Quigley and Peter Meighan and features a guest appearance from Meteor award winner Wallis Bird.

You can follow Fiach Moriarty on Facebook, Twitter or his website.

The above photo was taken by Bob Dixon.

Shortlist Announced for The Clancy Brothers Songwriting Competition 2015

Clancy Brothers songwriting logo NEWThe Shortlist has been announced for the 2015 Clancy Brothers Songwriting Competition.

The votes are in and the top three songs are…

(Drumroll…)

‘Make it Stay’ by Avi McGourty (Templemore, County Tipperary)

‘The Truth is Not Your Own’ by Jamie Mulrooney (West Coast of Mayo)

‘Southern Fire’ by Katie Carpenter, Gary Burke and Liz Madden (Dublin)

With more than 120 entries from the four corners of Ireland, and as far away as Canada and Jamaica, this year’s Clancy Brothers Songwriting Competition was hotly contested.

Now the votes are in, the top three are on their way to Carrick-on-Suir to play a in the beautiful, atmospheric Nano Nagle Chapel on Sunday May 31st in what is sure to be one of the highlights of this year’s Clancy Brothers Festival of Music and Art. The winner of the competition will be revealed on the night.

Lisa Loughrey, last year’s winner, will headline with her group The Mariannes, an urban folk band with strong Irish folk, blues and alternative country roots, and songs forged with hard hitting lyrics, beautiful melodies and harmonies, and powerful arrangements. They recently released an EP with Lisa’s winning song, ‘Lost With All Hands’, as the title track. Lisa used her prize from last year to help towards the cost of producing the CD.

With cash prizes of €500 for the winner and €200 for each of the runners up sponsored by the Clancy Brothers Festival of Music and Art and IMRO, no one will leave empty handed. The winner also receives a voucher for CD duplication from Duplication Ireland worth €215 and all three gain premium services from InMusik.co. Other competition sponsors are Music Matters Ireland and the Tudor Artisan Hub.

Doors open 7pm and tickets for the concert are €10 from the Tudor Artisan Hub, 42 Main Street, Carrick-on-Suir, Ph 051 640921.

For more see www.clancybrothersfestival.org.

Hozier recognised at Ivor Novello Awards & BBMAs

Singer-songwriter hozierHozier has scooped the award today for ‘Best Song Musically & Lyrically‘ at the 60th Ivor Novello Awards for his song ‘Take Me To Church‘. Contending against ‘Above The Clouds of Pompeii‘ (written by Andrew Davie and performed by Bear’s Den) and ‘I Forgot Where We Were‘ (written and performed by Ben Howard). The awards were presented by BASCA (British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) in association with PRS for Music.

Along with the highly prestigious award mentioned above the Wicklow native also picked up the award for ‘Top Rock Artist‘ and ‘Top Rock Song‘ at this year’s Billboard Music Awards on May 17th.

The awards come at the start of an extensive global tour which will see Hozier perform in the UK, US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand as well as upcoming Irish outdoor shows.

You can follow Hozier on Facebook and Twitter and keep up with his live dates on hozier.com.

Cowboys and Indies: The Business of Music

cowboysCowboys and Indies: The Business of Music

Dalkey Castle Town Hall – Sunday June 14 – 2pm

(as part of Dalkey Book Festival)

Tickets Eur10 from www.dalkeybookfestival.org

Following the recent publication of his lauded tome Cowboys and Indies:The Epic History of the Record Industry author Gareth Murphy makes a special appearance at Dalkey Castle Town Hall on Sunday June 14 as part of this year’s Dalkey Book Festival.

From the invention of the earliest known sound-recording device in 1850s Paris to the CD crash and digital boom today, Cowboys and Indies takes us on a fascinating and wildly entertaining tour of the ever- changing music industry, introducing us to the performers and self- proclaimed ‘record men’ of the UK and America.

Combining colourful behind-the-scenes stories with tales about the business of marketing and selling music, Cowboys and Indies covers all the most important recordings, events and chance meetings of the past 150 years and the companies that brought them to us.

Gareth draws on archival material and over a hundred exclusive interviews with the legends of the music business to bring us the riveting stories of how the industry crashed with the arrival of the radio, the British Invasion, the birth of disco, John Hammond’s discoveries of Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and much more.

Join the author in conversation with Hot Press’ Roisin Dwyer about Cowboys and Indies, its discoveries, and how they’re influencing today’s rapidly changing industry

 

For further information contact: Roisin Dwyer 0857129628 / roisin@nullhotpress.ie

‘If this book was a group, I would definitely sign them. It is that good.’ – Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade

‘It’s the text book, yet it reads like an adventure story.’ – Seymour Stein, founder Sire 

‘A fascinating account of the way recorded music has evolved, touched people and helped shape popular culture.’ – George Martin

 ‘A tour de force that makes you almost want to dance with that devil again.’ – Andrew Loog Oldham, manager and producer for the Rolling Stones

 

Screaming Parent – The Completist

Screaming screaming parentParent is the first solo misadventure from Dudley Colley, of Dublin’s The Dudley Corporation. While that band take an extended hiatus in advance of recording their 5th LP, Dudley decided to have a crack at a solo LP and grabbing precious seconds in between school runs and nappy changes managed to record 10 sure fire spare-room recorded bedroom classics.

‘The Completist’ is the debut LP by Screaming Parent. Joining the exalted ranks of stars such as Beyonce and Kanye West, the LP was surprised released on April 20th.

The album is available through Spotify, iTunes and Bandcamp

You can follow Screaming Parent on Facebook & Twitter

  • 1
  • 2

Keep up to date with IMRO news and events

Please select login