Month: March 2014

Irish singer-songwriter CARMEN is not one that’s unfamiliar to moving around. From moving to Silver Springs (US) to attend school in the early years of her life, she then joined the good people of county Cork further down the line, and has now resided in not one but two places to live – Dublin and London.

At 18, CARMEN won a place to study classical music at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music in London. But she’d always had an independent spirit and found herself increasingly frustrated in that environment. Her heart was elsewhere, so she packed her bags and left giving her the freedom to play the music she was really excited about.

CARMEN has recently been gaining steady industry support due to her distinct voice and writing style. Whilst ‘Take This Dance’ is the first track she is making available as a solo artist, she has toured, performed and recorded with many well-known acts including Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, Noisettes, The Kooks, Kate Ceberano and she’s even played Reading and Leeds with metal singer Serj Tankien. CARMEN’s songwriting has been compared on numerous occasions to that of the classic singer-songwriters of the 1970’s.

‘Take This Dance’ features prominently in Ridley Scott Associates film ‘The Phone Call’ directed by Mat Kirkby, which stars Oscar winner Jim Broadbent and Sally Hawkins. It premiered at the Los Angeles Film Fest in 2013 and so far has been shown at London BFI Film festival, Cork Film Festival and won the ‘Audience Appreciation Award’ at Leeds Film Festival. The song was produced by legendary Irish record producer John Reynolds (Sinead O’Connor, U2, Damien Dempsey).  ‘Take this Dance’ is a fragile heart laid bare for all to see, bittersweet yet full of hope…it’s the song you heard in your head when you first met at 21…the same tune you played when you tied the knot at 31…and the final tune you both danced to when you reached 101. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. – Mat Kirkby, Director, Ridley Scott Associates

Proceeds from the sale of ‘Take This Dance’ are being donated to CONSOLE the suicide and bereavement charity.  Established by Paul Kelly in 2002, Console provides a lifeline to those in crisis as well as to those who have suffered from bereavement. They have gained the support of other Irish musicians including Kodaline, Christy Moore and Frances Black as well as Brendan Gleeson and Miriam O’Callaghan.

The song is written and performed by CARMEN on vocals, piano and strings and features film composer Andy Wallace on harmonium and producer John Reynolds on drums.

Take This Dance will be available from 28 March for €0.99 through all digital platforms and iTunes.

For further info, visit www.carmenofficial.com

https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/take-this-dance/id807447735?i=807447784&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

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Ryan’s video for ‘Start Again’ has received over 373,000 hits on YouTube in less than a week and climbing.  The video has gone viral in the last couple of days.

‘Start Again’, was written to highlight some issues that are affecting young teenagers today by Ryan Dolan in the hope that he can offer them some inspiration. Ryan’s own teenage years were difficult as a gay ‘young Irish lad’ who was scared to come out and tell his friends and family that he was in fact gay. He was bullied at school because he was “different” and he often contemplated suicide.

Since Ryan’s huge success a year ago with his hit single ‘Only Love Survives’ which charted in over 32 countries globally, and made it into the top 10 single charts in Sweden, Finland, Ireland and Norway and top 40 in the Uk and Australia.    Ryan has been very busy recording with top producers in Ireland and London as well as writing with songwriters from various countries including the UK, Sweden, Norway and America. He has also been performing at festivals across Europe in countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, Belguim and Holland.

His new single which is titled ‘Start Again’ delivers the message that everybody should be who they want to be in life, be happy with themselves, and if you are not happy with your life, don’t end it – simply start again.

For further info, visit www.ryandolanofficial.com

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/start-again-single/id814512497

On the 20th of April 2014 award winning Dublin band Dem Fools embark on their first international tour of Milan and Northern Italy.

Teaming up with young Italian three-piece “Rumor” – themselves hailing from the shores of Lago Maggiore, Dem Fools are set to play 5 shows in Italy, and return where the Irish leg of the tour commences May 4th with 5 gigs over 5 nights in Dublin.

The brainchild of Irish singer songwriter Ray Heffernan, this is the birth of a very special new project “Gigswig”. A simple concept based on an army of singer-songwriters, bands and musicians all fighting the good fight, striving to carve out a living and dreaming of foreign stages. Gigswig is making this a reality, giving both bands the chance to gain crucial experience living as touring musicians. It’s an opportunity to play an international tour, to share and learn with peers and hone their craft playing to international audiences.

A limited edition double EP featuring three tracks by each of the bands will be released on April (Dem) Fools Day which will be available through the bands social media sites and at shows.

Tour dates include:

Italy – 22nd April – Essattoria, Arona; 24th April – Durty Nelly’s, Borgomanero; 25th April – Agorá, Cusano Milanino; 26th April – Il Kantiere, Verbania

Dublin – 5th May – Balcony TV Dublin, 6th May – Whelan’s; 7th May – Zodiac Sessions, Bruxelles; 8th May – The Gypsy Rose; 9th May – Ollies Place, Skerries; 10th May – Michael Collins, Rush

For further info, visit: www.demfools.ie

AUSTRALIA

Saturday 15^th March  Blue Mountains Festival Katoomba NSW

Sunday 16^th March Blue Mountains Festival Katoomba NSW

Friday 21^st March 12.45pm ‘Basement Discs’  Melbourne VIC  

Friday 21^st March 8pm Albert Park Yacht Club Melbourne, VIC

Saturday 22^nd March Harvester Moon 8pm Bellarine, VIC

Sunday 23^rd March  2pm St. Cuthbert’s Chapel, Menzies Creek, Mount Dandenong, VIC

Sun 23^rd March 7.30pm Northcote Social Club Melbourne VIC

Fiday 28^th March Illawarra Folk Club – Diggers Wollongong, NSW

Saturday 29^th March Petersham Bowling Club  Petersham

Sunday 30^th March 2pm St. David’s Church, Dee Why, NSW

Thursday 3^rd April South Australia Folk Club, Port Noarlunga, South Australia

Friday April 4^th HATS -Courthouse Cultural Centre Auburn South, VIC

Satruday April 5^th Barossa Regional Gallery, Tanunda, South Australia

Sunday April 6^th The Singing Gallery, McLaren Vale, South Australia

Thursday April 10^th Carrington Bowling Club, Newcastel, NSW

Sunday April 13^th Quarterdeck, Narooma, NSW

Thursday April 17^th National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT

Friday April 18^th National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT

Saturday April 19^th National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT

Sunday April 20^th National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT

Monday April 21^st National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT

Wednesday April 23^rd Rosie O’Grady’s Northbridge, Perth WA

Friday April 25^th Fairbridge Folk Festival, Pinjarra, WA

Satruday April 26^th Fairbridge Folk Festival, Pinjarra, WA

Sunday April 27^th Fairbridge Folk Festival, Pinjarra, WA

DENMARK

Wednesday 14^th May Portalan Greve, Roskilde, DENMARK

POLAND

Friday 1^st August Woodstock Festival, Kostrzyn, POLAND

IRELAND

Friday 19^th September Shorelines Festival, Portumna, Co. Galway IRELAND

GERMANY

Saturday 4^th October Werdohl, GERMANY

MORE IRISH EUROPEAN & AUSTRALIAN DATES TBC

 CHECK WEB SITE & FACEBOOK PAGE FOR UPDATES

www.eleanormcevoy.com

http://www.facebook.com/eleanormcevoy 

Hips the fourth single from swords album Lions & Gold.

The video published by Smalltown America Music, featuring Katie McGann and Barry Tallon, follows an ambiguous relationship between two people and hints at how sometimes people’s lives are on repeat…

Direction & production comes from Neil Hoare.

Swords support Ham Sandwich in The Olympia Theatre on Sat April 19th.

Hips is available on iTunes, Google Play and Spotify now.

For more see www.swordsband.com

‘A Country Life’ the 4th album by Ginnels will be released on the 28th of March by both Popical Island and Madrid based imprint Tenorio Cotobade. A launch will be held in ‘The Pop Inn’, a new BYOB space run by Popical Island on the above date.

‘A Country Life’ is also streaming now at both http://ginnels.bandcamp.com & http://tenoriocotobade.bandcamp.com

Ginnels is Mark Chester, Paddy Hanna and Bobby Aherne from Grand Pocket Orchestra and No Monster Club, with Squarehead’s Roy Duffy and Ruan Van Vliet. They describe their gloriously excitable and gorgeous music as “like your favourite Byrds and Feelies records being drowned out by your dickhead neighbour’s stoned ‘noise jams’. Except actually good”.

After releasing two acclaimed releases in 2011, the self titled album ‘Ginnels’ and the mini album ‘Mountbatten Class’ (Long Lost Records), In 2012, Ginnels decided with infinite wisdom to record a 20-song, hour-long, double mess of an album called ‘Crowns’. Following a fantastic reception for the (now out of print) double, with appearances on many end of year lists and many more glowing reviews, the band were approached by Spanish label Tenorio Cotobade in 2013 to put out an LP, ‘Plumes’ comprising a selection of previously released tracks from the first three albums.

‘A ‘Country Life’ is a bit of a departure in so much as it’s the first Ginnels release to involve ‘proper drums’ and also the first non-compilation LP release by the band. Meant from the beginning to be a focused ‘pure pop’ 37 minute album, a direct response to the supposed ‘death of the album’ and an attempt to try and make something shiny and unashamedly not lo-fi, ‘A Country Life’ takes its cues from classic songwriting and a desire to air grievances in public. That said, with absolutely no budget, the drums being recorded in a cupboard and everything else recorded in a 6’x6’ box room, some things haven’t changed.

‘A Country Life’ will be released on Vinyl and (very) limited edition Cassette.

For further info, please visit:

http://ginnels.bandcamp.com & http://popicalisland.com