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Tag: Folk

Debut Single from Cork Songwriter, Clare Sands

Written by Breffni Banks on . Posted in News.

Clare SandsClare Sands is a 20 year old musician, composer and songwriter based in the vibrant musical city of Cork. Having spent the summer of 2013 playing around New York City and making beelines into the NYC music scene, Clare is gearing up to release her debut single ‘Change Is A Comin’ on April 4th worldwide via iTunes.

With deep roots in Irish traditional and folk music her music emanates from these family traditions, combined with her love of Jazz and the Blues. ‘Change Is A Comin’ is Sands’ first single, and the song really captures Sands’ unique voice and gritty lyrics, which demand the attention of the listener. Accompanied by her backing band The Cranes, the song presents a unique texture which recognises Sands’ influences, whilst presenting them in a new and energetic way.

In support of her debut single Clare will be hitting up Ireland with a 15 date tour, accompanied by fellow songwriter and harpist Aisling Urwin. The quirky blues/folk duo have fifteen dates in venues around the country, followed by dates in Holland and Germany in the early summer.

Discussing the release of her brand new single, Clare said “I feel beyond excited and proud of it. A pleasure to play with such amazing musicians on it.”

For more see http://claresands.com/

Méav Set to Release New Album | “The Calling”

Written by Breffni Banks on . Posted in News.


MéavMulti-million selling world music artist Méav teams up with Grammy award-winning producer Craig Leon (Blondie, Talking Heads, Ramones, Pavarotti) on her latest recording, a folk-pop album The Calling, due for release this Friday, 23rd August.

Méav returns to her musical origins with The Calling, 12 tracks of newly written songs, folk ballads and fresh interpretations of timeless classics. Produced and co-written by the Grammy award-winning producer Craig Leon, responsible for iconic records by Blondie, Talking Heads, Ramones and Pavarotti amongst others, The Calling showcases Méav’s crystal clear voice, fusing her classical training with her folk roots.

From an early age Méav displayed an exceptional musical talent, immersed in Irish traditional music at her family home in Dublin. She went on to study classical voice, harp and piano while simultaneously studying Law at Trinity College. Her professional career was established with the Riverdance Choir, before going on to star in Lord of the Dance and embarking in three US tours with the Irish National Concert Orchestra.

This brought her to the attention of Celtic Collections who released three Méav solo albums including Celtic Journey with EMI, which debuted in the Billboard World Music top 10. In 2004, Méav was invited to be one of the five founding members of female supergroup Celtic Woman, who have sold six million records in the US and worldwide. It is remarkable that every album Méav recorded with Celtic Woman reached number 1 in the Billboard World Music Charts.

Méav left Celtic Woman in 2008 to start a family and resumed her solo career in 2010, performing to a sell-out crowd at New York’s Carnegie Hall. In 2012, Méav met legendary producer Craig Leon in Abbey Road Studios, London while working together on the score of a space film in collaboration with NASA. Despite their different musical backgrounds in pop and world music, they quickly realized that they shared a love of song-writing and ethnic music. This resulted in The Calling, a contemporary pop treatment of new songs and folk classics from Ireland, England, Scotland, Brittany, Galicia and America.

Signed CDs can be pre-ordered from Warner Music Ireland here : http://www.warnermusicirelandstore.com/product/meav-the-calling-pre-order.
If you prefer a digital copy, it is also available for pre-order on ITunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/artist/meav/id64924853

You can listen to two more song snippets on Méav’s website here:
http://www.meav.com/music/

 

 

Spirit of Folk Awards Semi-Finalists Announced

Written by Breffni Banks on . Posted in News.

MOXIE

The semi-finals of the inaugural Spirit of Folk Awards will be taking place at Whelans on Saturday 31st August.

Held in conjunction with the Spirit of Folk Festival, which takes place in Dunderry Park, Co Meath in September, these awards are a celebration of the very best of Irish folk music. An impressive 100 bands applied and nine have made it through to the semifinals, where they will be performing live in one of Dublin’s best music venues.

The nine semi-finalists were named today as: Moxie, Miriam Donohue, Mossy Nolan & Colm McGowan, My Fellow Sponges, Garr Cleary, Laura Ann Brady, The Cujo Family, Vickers Vimy and A Band Called Wanda.

‘Participating in the Spirit of Folk Talent search has been a real pleasure and has provided further proof to me that there is a very healthy and thriving community of music makers and creative artists out there. This SOFF initiative provides a great platform for these artists.’ Says Carl Corcoran of RTE Lyric FM’s Blue of the Night, one of four tasked with judging the awards.

The Spirit of Folk Awards Semi-Finals will also play host to storytellers from all over Ireland including Stephen James Smith, Ruth Marshall and Gemma McGowan. And the Dublin Storytelling Bus will move from their usual home to the boutique Parlor Bar for the night. The event, which runs all day from 3pm, includes a craft and hot food market and will finish with a massive céilí.

By the end of the night, 3 acts will be chosen to go forward to the Final, which takes place as part of the Spirit of Folk Festival on September 21. Established in 2011 by a small team of music enthusiasts, event managers and artists, this festival provides a valuable platform for Irish folk music. Set in the stunning Dunderry Park, other events include storytelling in a megalithic cairn, experimental archeology, druidic ceremony, a three course folksy feast, astronomy, archery and a whole games area with magic, carnival challenges and late night fires and parties.

Tickets for the Semi finals at Whelan’s are €10, Tickets for the Spirit of Folk Festival at Dunderry Park are €50 and include a three course meal. Both are available from www.spiritoffolk.com.

www.facebookcom/spiritoffolkfestival

@spirit_of_folk

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