Month: May 2019

Caroline Reel recently launched her debut album ‘The Waters of Life’ which she recorded in her brother Ben Reel’s studio at Drumill Lane Studio, Silverbridge, County Armagh.

The studio is on the lane-way where she was born and raised so was a very special journey for her. The album portrays many aspects of life and relationships; the trials and tribulations. There are reggae and rock influences heard in this country/folk album.

Caroline enjoys playing at the smaller, more intimate festivals and singer-songwriter sessions around Ireland. She has also played in Amsterdam and Haarlem, The Netherlands.

The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), widely recognized as the most prestigious and respected songwriting competition in the world, is pleased to announce its 2018 winners. Created in 2002, ISC received almost 19,000 entries this year from almost 140 countries. Prizes include more than $175,000 in cash and merchandise.

For the first time in the competition’s 18-year history, the Grand Prize is awarded to an R&B song – as well as to artist/songwriters from Nashville, TN. It is with great pleasure that ISC bestows its highest honor to R&B artist Reginald Lamar Williams Jr., (aka R.LUM.R) and artist/producer Josh Hawkins (aka Super Duper) for their co-written song ‘Frustrated’. The Grand Prize includes $25,000 (USD) cash and over $30,000 in merchandise and services.

“With R&B being such a dominant force in today’s music landscape, it is exciting that an R&B song is the Grand Prize winner for the first time in ISC. We are thrilled to acknowledge R.LUM.R and Super Duper, two artists who exemplify the present and the future of songwriting in this genre,” says ISC Founder and Director, Candace Avery.

Having amassed more than 48 million streams on Spotify, the Grand Prize-winning song, ‘Frustrated’ was written at a time when R.LUM.R had some big decisions to make. He was contemplating moving from Florida to Nashville to pursue his music, and the uncertainty he felt during his relocation became the inspiration for his breakout single ‘Frustrated’. He did end up moving to Nashville, and it has paid off for this incredibly talented singer and writer. Easily recognizable for his sultry, soulful vocals and effortless falsetto, R.LUM.R has performed the single on Jimmy Kimmel Live and has been praised by media such as NPR Music,The New York Times, Vibe, Billboard and Rolling Stone (who called him “an artist you need to know”).

The co-writer and producer of the winning song is Super Duper, an up-and-coming electronic artist/producer. Touring with the likes of The Chainsmokers, The Glitch Mob and Big Wild, Super Duper spent the past year bringing his cinematic productions on tour with Petit Biscuit and Kasbo with festivals lined up such as Electric Forest. After writing and producing for others, Super Duper began to release music under his own moniker. One of the first singles ‘Angela’ hit #1 on Hype Machine and entered Spotify’s Viral 50 charts before being picked up by SiriusXM Chill. He also recently received a Clio award for scoring the trailer to Steve McQueen’s new motion picture Widows.

“Winning the Grand Prize in ISC is a huge honor for me, especially when you consider how many incredible writers entered,” says R.LUM.R. “I wrote ‘Frustrated’ at a time when I was privately going through some very personal things that I honestly wasn’t sure anyone would understand, so it’s amazing to think the song would be honored in such a big way.”

In addition to the Grand Prize winner, many other deserving songwriters also share in the prestige and kudos of winning their respective categories in ISC. These winners hail from all over the world (50% of this year’s winners come from outside the USA) and represent diverse cultures while ranging from talented amateurs to seasoned songwriting veterans. The 23 categories include all genres of contemporary music, from Rock to Pop to Jazz to Country to Hip-Hop, and more.

Ireland’s David Keenan was awarded second place in the Performance category for his work ‘Cobwebs’.

Winning ISC is a distinction that has propelled many artists to achieve greater success. Previous winners have included: Illenium; Vance Joy; Bastille; Gotye; Lindsey Stirling; Kimbra; The Band Perry; Kehlani; Gregory Porter; Passenger; Lupe Fiasco; Gin Wigmore; Missy Higgins; For King and Country; and many more.

For a complete list of 2018 winners and to hear the winning songs, go to: http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.

The panel of 2018 judges includes:

Recording Artists:Adam Lambert; Portugal.The Man; Tom Waits; Kane Brown; Nancy Wilson (Heart); Nicky Jam; Rodney Crowell; Sara Evans; Kristian Bush (Sugarland); Rakim (Eric B. & Rakim); Chris Lane; Keane; Danilo Perez; Jeremih; Peter Erskine; James McNally (Afro Celt Sound System); Nero; Sidewalk Prophets; Kenny Garrett; Krewella; Sara Watkins; Ted Nash; John Mayall; Joe Louis Walker; Nicholas Gunn; Kim Walker-Smith (Jesus Culture); Ashwin Batish; Lonnie Liston Smith; Micah Tyler; John Tibbs; and Gordon Goodwin.Industry Executives:Aaron Bay-Schuck (CEO/Co-Chairman, Warner Bros. Records); Jo Charrington (Co-President, Capitol Music Group UK); Mark Mitchell (Co-President, Parlophone Records); Daniel Glass (President, Glassnote Records); John Esposito (Chairman/CEO, Warner Music Nashville); John Burk (President, Concord Label Group); Ed Vetri (President, Wind-Up Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Nate Albert (Executive VP of A&R, Capitol Records); Jacob Edgar (Founder, Cumbancha); Craig Balsam (Co-Owner, Razor & Tie, Washington Square, and Kidz Bop); Josh Bailey (Senior VP of A&R, Word Entertainment); Gordon Kerr (CEO, Black River Entertainment); David Waxman (Senior VO of A&R, Ultra Music); Richard Stumpf (CEO, Atlas Publishing); Kim Buie (VP of A&R, New West Records); AJ Tobey (Head of A&R, Rough Trade Publishing); Cory Robbins (Founder / President, Robbins Entertainment); Julie Kertes (Editor / Manager, Hot Diggity Media); Laura Margolin (Publishing, Glassnote Records); Leib Ostrow (Founder / CEO, Music For Little People); Katherine Dines (Co-President, The Children’s Music Network); Claire S. Green (President, Parent’s Choice Foundation); Randy Frisch (Founder, LoveCat Music); Benjamin Groff (Founder, The Brill Building); Sas Metcalfe (President, Global Creative, Kobalt Music); Golnar Khosrowshahi (President, Reservoir Media Management); Tamara Conniff (EVP, Roc Nation); Carl Caprioglio (Founder / CEO, Oglio Entertainment); and Elena Epstein (Director, National Parenting Product Awards).

ISC is sponsored by: Art & Lutherie By Godin Guitars; Berklee College of Music; Celebrity Access; Eventric; Gig Salad; Lurssen Mastering; Merch Cat; Musician Wellness; Musicians Institute; oneRPM; PreSonus; Pro Tour Nutrition; Shubb Capos; SongU; Sweetwater; The Tracking Room; Tunedly; Vocal Eze; and Westone.

Entries are now open for the 2019 competition. For more information and to enter, go to https://www.songwritingcompetition.com.

Taken from their debut album, ‘Outside’, Yelling Bones release their first single ‘In the Moment’ and much like the body of work from which it has come, it slowly permeates the consciousness with multi-layered instrumentation and insightful lyricism. Unhurriedly setting a mood that stays with the listener long after the song has finished.

A robust mix of seasoned musicians and talented youth (including Whipping Boy’s Myles McDonnell) Yelling Bones is a meticulous studio project that has yielded one of the most interesting Irish soundscapes of the year. Lauded on its release, ‘Outside’ is far from an instant rush of adrenaline; its seductiveness stems more from its atmospherics, thoughtful pace and lyrics by Gerry McGovern that are more concerned about the human condition than anything simply immediate.

‘In the Moment’ encapsulates this perfectly:
‘Bleeding eyes
Voice of shock and horror
Shivering lights
Superhuman pain
20 years or more
Driving down this road’

Not the stuff of cocktails on the rooftop lounge more like looking over its edge. Sometimes catharsis and indeed, joy, can be found in the most shadowy and unexpected of places. Yelling Bones very comfortably occupy that space and a track like ‘In the Moment’ is a tantalising invitation to join them . . .

Zapho (Ele Breslin), from Rathfarnham, is a songwriter, singer, musician and producer.

In her current single ‘Water Me’, she builds a rich sonic landscape, layered with harmonies, hooks and, strangely, owl hooting. In an ecstatic live performance last March at the Grand Social, the song became an ode to the thirst for living, breathing and growing. We now see Zapho’s name beginning to populate our newsfeeds.

She now throws in one of Ireland’s leading songwriter/producers to the mix, Richey McCourt. Having recently worked with the likes of Pixie Lott, Will Young, Matt Cardle, Laoise and Aimee, McCourt gives us a moodier, grittier Water Me. Weird in all the good ways, this remix has the edge of Billie Eilish, while retaining the pop punch of Kimbra, Tove Lo, Broods, Sylvan Esso to name a few.

This summer Zapho will be kept on her toes, hosting a rage of gigs across Dublin music scene and storming the gates of homegrown Irish music festival Knockanstockan with her characterful and energetic live performance and 7 piece band.

Next up will be her third single launch hosted in the Workman’s Club on June 17th.

KILNAMANA proudly present their first track of 2019, and the first track in their farewell procession: ‘Hola Amiga’.

Taking inspiration for their name from the area of Tallaght, Dublin, where the two musicians realised they had a common connection, KILNAMANA are electronic duo Enda Gallery and Miguel Garcia Soler, currently working from Berlin. KILNAMANA was always based on creating naturally and not pretending, staying true to themselves.

The working title of the first album was as in the song ‘Not To Pretend’. At the end of a very expressive tour supporting Kid Simius across Germany, Austria, and Poland last December, the pair felt that it the time to begin the end of the project and did not want to continue on simply because things were going smoothly.

Gallery says: “It was always about feeling right for us, it always did, and now it doesn’t. Now it feels like time to say goodbye with 4 final songs, so that the positive feeling around it will be preserved for eternity, we’re going out with 4 bangers. ‘Hola Amiga’ is the first of these songs.

We want to thank all the people who gave us a shot, an opportunity, and gave us their time and their love, those who shed a light on us, wrote to us, booked us and came to our shows, and listened to our music. You are all the ones who keep art alive, giving resonance to messages you intuitively feel are honest and true. Thank you deeply and eternally for that.”  

KILNAMANA copy and paste as they see fit, be it from dreams, Aladdin, real life experiences or Twin Peaks. Cut and paste your ears onto this track, and your eyes onto this video.

Despite having only released his debut EP ‘October Year’ in 2018, Dublin based Nealo has achieved an impressive amount. After being tipped asOne To Watch by several Irish blogs in early 2019, Nealo went on to support California rapper YG on the Olympia Stage, sell out two headline shows in Whelans and The Underground, and has recently announced main stage festival slots this Summer at Longitude, Sea Sessions and Knockanstockan.

Nealo’s latest single ‘Questions’ sees him collaborate with Rusangano Family’s God Knows and Dublin based instrumentalists INNRSPACE on a track which perfectly captures the feeling of being inside your own head. ‘Questions’ is a song about mental health and the intense nature of overthinking, addressing both the positives and negatives. 

Speaking on the factors which inspired ‘Questions’, Nealo attributes a lot of the song’s themes to big life changes: “I’m having a little boy in July, so some of the feelings I talk about in the song are related to that. Will I be a good father? Is Dublin a good place to raise a child? Is there a higher power listening to me? It’s just my stream of consciousness from brain to paper, and then edited into poetry so I can rap it over a beat.”

It’s no secret that Ireland’s rap & hip hop scenes are thriving. A quick listen to Spotify’s The New Éire playlist will cement that fact, with acts such as Soulé and Kojaque boasting over a million streams each and growing. One of the most exciting products of this growth has been the increase in volume of collaborations between artists:

“God Knows reached out to me and said that he liked my music and that we should work together on a song at some point. I was in the studio one night and the line, “and I’ve been up and down every road, I’ve got questions only God knows” just fell out of me. So I sent the song to God Knows and he loved it. He got back to me with an amazing, intricate and reflective verse two days later. Now here we are with this deadly song and I’m mad hyped about it.”

Naas resident and Country Rock Artist Sina Theil was awarded the title “Hottest Act in Irish Country Music” at the prestigious annual Hot Country TV awards. The event took place last Monday 29th of April at the Slieve Russel Hotel, Co. Cavan. The fabulous event was sold out with a crowd in excess of 1,400 people and featured many of Ireland’s top Country music Stars, including Nathan Carter, Cliona Hagan, Mike Denver, Derek Ryan, Johnny Brady and many more.

The local singer-songwriter, who was there accompanied by her manager Mike Gleeson, said: “We’re so incredibly happy and proud to receive this award. We’re working very hard to establish ourselves on the Irish Music scene and are so thankful for the support and recognition. A huge “thank you” goes to Hugh O’Brien and everyone involved, they are doing a fabulous job at promoting Irish Country music.“

The former BIMM student also performed two songs on the night, accompanied by Matt Wilson (3rd year bass student at BIMM) and Lee Murphy (lead guitar & mandolin) – her version of ‘These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ which to date has been played over 300 times on the Irish Radio and a very special version of ‘The Dutchman’ that will also feature on her soon to come Celtic & Irish folk album. The performance was televised and will be aired on “Hot Country TV” on the Keep It Country TV Channel soon (Sky 376, Freeview 87, Freesat 516).

Sina Theil is signed to Naas based record label Downda Road Productions and sponsored by ISS Recruitment & HR Services, and will be releasing her new single ‘East Bound And Down’ on the 8th of May on all major download services. The song is also the theme to Irelands’ Biggest Truck Show “Full of the Pipe 2019” which takes place at Punchestown, Naas, from the 7th-9th of June.

To date, Sina’s music has surpassed 6.25 Million Radio Listener Impressions and 2,300 radio plays in Ireland. Herself and her band will be performing at a series of festivals and gigs over the summer, including My Old Hometown Gurteen (4th of May), the Newbridge Junefest (14th of June), the Naas Wild Food Festival (5-8th of September), as well as other festivals to the likes of Cowboys & Heroes in Leitrim (1st of June), Bloom in the Park in Dublin (June 3rd), etc.

For more dates and information, visit www.sinatheil.com or find Sina Theil on social media.

Ruth Brosnan is a singer, songwriter and musician from Cork, Ireland. She completed her BA in Popular Music at CIT Cork School of Music where she graduated with First Class Honors in May 2018. Upon the completion of her studies she went over to LA on a Graduate Visa to learn more about the music business. While she was there, she entered ‘The Great American Song Contest’ and was recently chosen as a finalist with her debut single ‘Good Enough’ which launched on April 26th. Ruth writes songs of the pop/rock genre and has a unique quirky style & personality which shines through in her own songs and performances. Her influences include Kesha, Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani and Sigrid.

Ruth wrote this song to help and inspire people.

“We all go through tough times where we feel down and feel like we’re not good enough whether it be at work or at school/college or at home. We care so much about what other people think of us and as humans we crave acceptance. This causes huge anxiety leading to negative feelings and sometimes depression across the world and across all age groups. Social media has magnified this problem for people and we need to find a coping mechanism. I believe that self-love is the core of it all. I knows sometimes that can be very difficult to master but sometimes we set such high standards for ourselves and with my song I just want to help people to believe they are good enough because we all are good enough and that’s a starting point.”

A subject that is so close to the bone for Ruth, she wrote this song through her own life experiences.

“I lost my mother when I was fourteen and several close friends to suicide. Mental health and wellness are really important and I want to increase awareness. I think my song and video have a very important message and I think if younger people particularly had this song/video on their phone to listen to and to watch it might encourage them to think before they act. It could be a resource for people as sometimes we don’t talk but we look and listen”.

Ruth is launching her single at this time when there is a huge build-up of pressure among students both in schools and colleges. Darkness into Light events are also due to be held during the month of May and she hopes the song and music video will help people to pause and spread awareness.

Her debut single is set to launch the 26th of April 2019. The song will be available on various different platforms such as Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play, Tidal, Deezer and Apple Music .

For more info please see:

https://www.facebook.com/ruthbrosnanmusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ruth_brosnan/
https://twitter.com/ruth_brosnan

Tanjier have just released their latest single ‘Crave’

While their last release, ‘Crave’, explored toxic relationships, ‘Days’ is a sharp contrast. Lead singer, Tommy’s girlfriend moved to Abu Dhabi in 2017 while Tommy stayed in Ireland to forge a career in music. The lyrics describes the first time his partner came home after being away for a few months.

“As I’m currently in a long-distance relationship, it’s hard sometimes not to write songs about that. This song explores how great it is to spend time with your partner when you’ve been apart for months, but, on the flip-side, how awful the goodbye moments are.” said Tommy.

“It’s probably the loneliest I’ve ever felt in my life – the first couple of hours after the first goodbye,” said Tommy. The track was produced, mixed and mastered by Diffusion Lab (Soulé, Jafaris, Flynn).

Video Blue has just shared his latest single ‘Guts’. Recorded between his Hackney flat and SARM studios in Notting Hill.

‘Guts’ is about commitment & throwing it all on the table. The part where the head & the heart collide, and all you’re left with is your guts; however wrong or right.

Video Blue is Dundalk-man Jim O’Donoghue Martin. 

Embracing ambient electronica, guitar-driven alt-pop & spoken-word, all of the music is recorded in his east London bedroom.

The debut album ‘Love Scenes’ came out self-released on Download, CD & Cassette in Spring 2017.

Performances at Electric Picnic, Castlepalooza & Hard Working Class Heroes, along with support slots for Razorlight, Delorentos and whenyoung have meant the live schedule has been busy!

Currently in studio at work on the follow up release.