A native from Co. Monaghan and no stranger to the stage as she bends all the rules in her Debut album Nowhere to run.
‘Seven Dayz was a breakthrough in my writing as a country artist, I don’t know where it came from.. ‘Fascination’ rolled with it soon after’.
Lisas’ only cover on the album is her own rendition of Beatles classic ‘Eleanor Rigby’. “Loneliness is prevalent everywhere, something we can all relate to including myself! Eleanor & I go back a long way…
The Title Track ‘Nowhere to run’ – “was the song I had waited all my life to write”
This is a very intense track, and I like the dark, emotional quality to your work. Your phrasing is really interesting; only seasoned vocalists like Nick Cave can dance around rhythmically with their lyrics like that’ – James Moore, Independent Music Promotions Vancouver, Canada
The Niall Toner Band make a rare visit to the big smoke with a gig at Whelans on Saturday next, August 13th at 8.30pm, as part of the Blues, Roots and Brass Festival, and admission is free !
Niall, Songwriter Mandolinist and Guitarist who presents ROOTS FREEWAY on RTE RADIO ONE, has released five all-original Roots/Bluegrass Albums, and has toured extensively in the US and Europe.
Next Saturday’s Gig will provide an opportunity for Dublin Fans of Roots and Bluegrass Music to hear a wide selection of Niall’s original Songs, and also a chance to pick up an Album or two, and maybe even an exclusive NTB T-Shirt !
CISAC — the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers — has expressed today its concerns with the August 4 conclusions by U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) of the two-year review on the Consent Decrees that have been governing performance rights societies ASCAP and BMI. CISAC also announced full solidarity with the decision of its U.S. members ASCAP and BMI to challenge the DoJ conclusions.
The DoJ has ruled that modifications to the Consent Decrees were not warranted at this time. The DoJ is also requiring both organizations to offer “full-work” licenses to users of music (radio, TV channels, digital music services, etc.). The concept of “full-work” (or 100%) licensing authorises rightsholders to license all rights in a musical work, even if the rightsholder only owns a fraction of those rights.
The unique nature of the global collective management system means that both American and foreign authors rely on the effective operations of ASCAP and BMI. Instead of modernizing the Consent Decrees to improve licensing solutions for the digital age, the DoJ’s decision threatens to unnecessarily disrupt the efficiencies of collective licensing, thereby harming music creators and users alike. The decision to force 100% licensing is out of step with international copyright laws and licensing practices around the world.
CISAC Director General Gadi Oron commented, “The global community of creators and societies represented by CISAC is bemused and extremely worried by the consequences of the decisions made by the Department of Justice. These decisions have been made without taking into account the interests of creators and with total disregard for the international legal framework that authors’ societies operate within.”
Oron continued: “ASCAP and BMI have decided to jointly challenge these decisions. BMI will challenge the decisions before the Federal court and ASCAP will take the lead in promoting legislative solutions. We fully support and stand by their actions. We hope that their actions will lead to a fairer U.S. licensing system that would work for all stakeholders.”
To celebrate the launch of his debut EP, Rocstrong is back with his biggest headline show to date, showcasing new music on 12th August 2016 at the Grand Social, Dublin 1.
Limited tickets are available at the door on the night. The debut EP SOWYG (Show Off What You Got) is out on now on Itunes, Spotify and all digital outlets.
Bell X1 announce the release of their new album Arms which will be out on 14th October. Recorded in Dublin and Donegal, this will be their 7th studio album and the follow up to 2013’s much acclaimed ‘Chop Chop,’ which was their third Number 1, and their fourth consecutive album to be nominated for a Choice Music Prize.
Arms is a nine-song collection radiating with shabby grace and soft-focus elegance, but there’s also a bruised, bittersweet, romantic mood throughout. Melancholic and lovelorn in places but also spirited, determined and optimistic which speaks volumes about how the band has grown sonically over their storied career.
“As the world feels like it’s becoming a harsher place (maybe there’s just more damn noise?), we seek out the comfort of the familiar and familial…arms.” Paul Noonan
Produced by the band and recorded in Dublin and Donegal by Tommy McLoughlin (from the Villagers) and Glenn Keating (from Jape), ARMS was mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Jónsi) with Ross Dowling mixing the song “Out of Love.”
The band have been busy this summer with headline shows at the Iveagh Gardens, Galway Arts Festival and Indiependence with Australian dates for later in the year just announced.
The song written by Ireland’s Brendan Graham and composer Rolf Lovland is pivotal to a film that tells the story of the empowerment of women throughout the world.
You Raise Me Up, by Irish songwriter Brendan Graham and Norwegian composer, Rolf Lovland, has been chosen as the theme song for Shoulders, a new documentary on US Democratic Party presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.
Shoulders is written and directed by EMMY winner and long-time Clinton friend, Linda Bloodworth Thomason and narrated by triple Academy Award winner, Meryl Streep. It focuses on the 250-year journey of American women and their struggle toward equality and social justice.
“Rolf and I have always been protective of ‘You Raise Me Up’ being used within the political arena or in a divisive way,” songwriter Brendan Graham said. “However, in seeking permission, Linda and her husband, Executive Producer Harry Thomason, were respectful both to the song and to the concept of intellectual property rights.
“Their film embodies the message of hope, acknowledgement and gratitude, a theme that is central to You Raise Me Up,” he added. “So, it is a privilege to see our work used in this positive and uplifting way, charting the lives of all these extraordinary women, who were exemplars to those who came after them.”
The documentary contains a segment on the Northern Ireland Peace Process, with Monica McWilliams, leader of Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition saying of Hillary Clinton’s involvement: “She talked about human rights and justice and the really important role that women make to peace-building. It really was setting the floor on which the rest of us could start to walk.”
Shoulders also features the story of Hillary Clinton’s mother, Dorothy Rodham. In spite of being born to sixteen-year-old parents and suffering an impoverished childhood, Mrs. Rodham went on to give birth to and raise the woman who is the first female nominee to be president of the United States.
The film illustrates how all people advance by being ‘raised up’ on the shoulders of others. In it, young female descendants of some of America’s most extraordinary women – aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart; civil rights activist, Rosa Parks; First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt; astronaut, Sally Ride and triple Olympic Gold Medallist, Wilma Rudolph – hold up pictures of their famous ancestors, in tribute, as ‘You Raise Me Up’ plays.
The film has multiple performances of the remarkable song – by young Afghani women; by the women of a Senegalese village saved from drought; and, in a specially made new recording, by US singer-songwriter, Rama Duke.
Describing ‘You Raise Me Up’ as a deeply moving song, writer and director of Shoulders, Linda Bloodworth Thomason said: “There is no other piece of music that we feel even comes close to the spirit of the film.”
“As an Irish person I have always felt deeply grateful to what Bill and Hillary Clinton initiated – and then stuck with, on behalf of the American people, to bring peace and stability to our country,” Brendan Graham reflected.
‘”t was not an easy task, but with the Clintons, you never felt it was just ‘lip service’ or the ‘warm wishes’ of a friendly nation. Sleeves were rolled up and shoulders put to the wheel. They both were present and ‘on the ground’, throughout the process and I specifically remember a very powerful, impassioned and supportive speech, which Hillary Clinton made to the women of Northern Ireland.
“In the wider sense, it is an honour that ‘You Raise Me Up’ was chosen to be part of the narrative of these women and of Hillary Clinton. In these turbulent times, it is not just America but the world at large, which needs wise counsel and a steady hand at the wheel of Washington.”
The Burren Summer Festival is proud to announce a new partnership with IMRO to enable 5 Irish composers to take part in the ‘Composing a New Island’ Music Marathon on 28th August in the Burren College of Art.
The IMRO ‘Composing a New Island’ Bursary will give each composer €100 plus free accommodation in Ballyvaughan.
IMRO are also supporting ‘Stories from the Old World’ a literature themed event at the Burren College of Art on Saturday 27th August at 1pm. Composers Anne-Marie O’Farrell, Dave Flynn and Vyvienne Long arefeatured alongside renowned traditional musician Brendan Begley and Irish Memory Orchestra members Mick O’Brien, Aoife Ní Bhriain, Niamh Varian-Barry, Ciara Ní Bhriain, Cormac Ó Broin, Róisín Donohoe and EimearMcGeown.
