After Kevin Nolan released his debut in 2014, he lunged straight back to work and now after five years of gestation is just about to unleash the first single from this new forthcoming album. This single entitled ‘Human Story (stet)’.
‘Human Story (stet)’ follows a fragmented story of two lovers, fugitives from themselves, running through the history of literature, philosophy and art and features on lead guitar none other than Mik Pyro (former front man of Republic Of Loose), Nolan simply saying about Pyro, “The man is just dripping with Duende, beyond talent, he could supply the electricity for a whole city with his playing.”
Nolan’s debut ‘Fredrick & The Golden Dawn’ was a solo project in the stoic sense, he wrote, performed, recorded, mixed, produced sang everything. Having explored this approach fully, he decided for this second album to open up, just a little, and let in a select few artists to sit in on the recordings. Besides Pyro, Nolan was lucky enough work with Vyvienne Long, Alabaster DePlume and Susanne Wawra who each added their parts.
The single is released Friday 15th November 2019 on
iTunes and many other web platforms. Shortly after Nolan will open
for Vyvienne Long at her new album launch ‘A Lifetime of High Fives’
on the 29th November 2019 in Dublin City’s Lost Lane. To learn more visit www.kevinnolan.info
The Legendary Prester John is back. On November 11th, 2019, Prester John will release the first song from the upcoming album ‘We Found Prester John’. The song is entitled ‘Abelard And Heloise’.
Drawing on the tragic 12th century love affair between Peter Abelard and Heloise d’Argenteuil, the song is a story of fading memory, despair and repeating history that owes its musical influences to everything from Al Green to Grizzly Bear.
‘We Found Prester John’ features a number of Irish musicians from various musical backgrounds including Bazz O’Reilly and Aidan Mc Kelvey (The Gandhis), Caimin Gilmore (Sun Collective), Jethro Pickett, Aaron Mc Grattan (Strike Action/Disco Participation Matrix) and Leigh Duncan.
‘Abelard And Heloise’ is the opening track and first single from the album.
The album has been six years in the making. Beginning as a full band rock album, ending as an orchestrated strings piece Prester John hopes to have created music that links genres rather than comfortably fitting into them.
Brian McGrane is heading for Dublin this spring with his first ever headline show in Whelan’s on Friday April 3rd. Following the success of his previous single, ‘Take Your Time’, the young Navan based Singer-Songwriter has just released a brand new single ‘When Were Were Young’ on Friday November 8th). This was his 7th single in 12 months, with each surpassing the last.
The song talks about personal childhood memories and experiences that never leave us. “I remember my parents making our breakfast, cleaning our shoes and making sure our school uniforms were clean and respectable for the week ahead. On a frosty winters morning, the bus would pull up and we would run out, hop on and wave goodbye to our mother in the bay window.”
The song is really simply produced, with organic acoustic guitars surround with atmospheres and tight punchy percussion. Brian wrote & produced the song at his home studio in Navan Co. Meath and left the mixing in the capable hands Malahide based producer Billy Farrell. Coming into the winter, Brian is writing more material and will launch his 2nd EP at his headline show in Whelan’s in Dublin on Friday April 3rd 2020. Touring extensively with the likes of Celtic Woman, Brian Kennedy, and more recently the Celtic Tenors, he has been given the opportunity to perform solo in-front of thousands or people around the world. “It is an opportunity which I am extremely grateful for, and it allows me to grow my own audience while touring with a high profile Irish act.”
The latest single from Sina Theil and Sabrina Fallon ‘Good To Be Back Home’ is now available for purchase on all major download services such as iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, etc (not on Spotify).
The much anticipated duet released on Downda Road
Productions charted at #1 in the Irish Country Download Charts and has been
getting airplay on radio stations all over the country ever since.
“We were so excited to release the track and even
more excited to see that it’s being so well received! Thanks to everyone
who purchased the song and all the DJ’s who are playing it on their shows! And a big ‘thank you’ of
course also to my manager Mike Gleeson and sponsors ISS Recruitment & HR
Services and Black Sheep Guitars Thailand” Sina Theil
“I
loved the track from the moment I first heard it. It’s so catchy and just
makes you want to get up and dance. Thanks to everyone for their
support!” Sabrina
Fallon
‘Good To Be Back Home’ was written by Davie Furey, recorded and produced by Brian O’Mahoney at the Golden Egg Studios and mastered by Richard from WAV Mastering.
It also features Billy Condon on fiddle, Ronnie Kennedy on accordion and Aine Fingleton on the whistle.
The official video, which was shot between Thailand and Co. Galway is now on Youtube.
This is Sina’s twelfth #1 single in the Charts, further to her debut album ‘Under Cover’ which also charted at #1. She is currently preparing the release of an Irish and Celtic Folk Album which is expected early next year and will feature her already released track ‘The Dutchman’. Sabrina on the other hand, is currently very successful with her version of the all-time favourite ‘Waxies Dargle’.
There is no doubt that there’s lots in stall for this power
duo: with Sina winning “Hottest Act in Irish Country Music” this past
April and Sabrina being awarded “Best Duet of the Year” for her
collaboration with Midlands 103 radio extraordinaire Joe Cooney early November.
Both performers will be making an appearance at next years’ Hot Country TV
Awards on the 27th of April 2020 at the Slieve Russell Hotel, Co. Cavan.
Tickets at: https://www.ticketmaster.ie/hot-country-tv-10th-awards-concert-co-cavan-27-04-2020/event/1800571D920D16EC
With their biggest headline show to date in The Button Factory just a few days away (November 15th), Gypsies On The Autobahn release a beautiful, heart wrenching version of The Stone Roses classic ‘I Wanna Be Adored’.
About recording the cover, lead singer James said, “I heard the song for the first time in years in the car coming back from practice and couldn’t get it out of my head. I worked it out on piano and played it for the guys in the room. We experimented with it until we had something that felt like us. It was daunting taking on such an iconic song that defines an era in music but it was a lot of fun to do.
The video shows an aspiring musician, played by David Crean, struggling to have his songs heard. That is until his talents are recognised by a fan, played by lead singer James Smith, who makes it his life mission to witness his performances. His devotion is noticed and he gets a fan of his own played by drummer Dan Smith and the torch of adornment is passed on.”
Worldwide royalty collections for creators of music, audiovisual, visual arts, drama and literature reached a record €9.65 billion in 2018, according to the 2019 Global Collections Report published today by CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers). Royalties from digital sources jumped 29% to €1.64 billion, thanks to rapid global expansion of music and subscription video on-demand (SVOD) services. In the last 5 years, creators’ digital income has nearly tripled, now accounting for 17% of collections compared to 7.5% in 2014.
The increase in major markets’ digital collections – notably the United States, France and Japan – are the biggest drivers of global growth. This growth is helped by new and extended licensing deals between societies and digital platforms, from dedicated content services like Spotify to social media platforms such as Facebook and video on demand platforms such as Netflix and Amazon.
Global collections for music repertoire, accounting for the majority of the total, rose 1.8% to €8.5 billion, driven by a 29.6% growth in digital income and the continuing surge in subscription streaming revenues.
Total collections up 1% in 2018
Total collections in 2018, for all repertoires, grew 0.9%, the fifth consecutive year of growth. Over the five years since 2014, global collections by CISAC societies are up 25.4%. Digital growth, combined with resilience in the two other major uses (TV/radio and live/background), are continuing to offset declining income from physical media.
TV and radio, the largest collections source, declined 2.4% in 2018, while live and background revenue grew 0.5%. Combined, these two sectors have substantially grown since 2014, adding €653 million in revenue.
CISAC Director General Gadi Oron said: “This Report provides many reasons for optimism about our sector. Digital revenues show an impressive increase, have nearly tripled in the last five years and have enormous potential for further growth. More markets are seeing digital income taking the top position of all revenue streams, which is an extremely positive sign. In a landscape of fragmenting income sources, the role of authors societies in generating monetary value for millions of creators has never been more vital.”
Digital shows its growth potential
The Report shows other key indicators of the shift to digital: Asia-Pacific is a digital leader, with an online share of 26.3%, twice that of Europe at 13.3%; and Australasia, Sweden, South Korea, Mexico and China are in a growing group of “digital champions” where online revenues are now the top collections source. However, the Report also highlights the need for legislative action to bring fair creators’ remuneration, calling on governments to follow the example of the landmark EU Copyright Directive, adopted in April 2019.
Jean-Michel Jarre, CISAC President, said: “Digital is our future and revenues to creators are rising fast, but there is a dark side to digital, and it is caused by a fundamental flaw in the legal environment that continues to devalue creators and their works. That is why the European Copyright Directive is so momentous for creators everywhere. The Directive has sent an amazing, positive signal around the world, building a fairer balance between creators and the tech platforms”.
Other key highlights of the 2019 Report include:
• Global collections broken down by repertoire, type of use and region. • Ten individual market case studies (Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, India, Italy, Malawi, Mexico, Poland, Senegal). • Analysis of key legislative developments affecting creators’ remuneration in music, audiovisual visual arts, drama and literature.
Dún
Laoghaire-Rathdown (dlr) County Council is now inviting applications for the
position of Music Generation Development Officer.
Job reference: 008488
A Music
Generation Development Officer will be appointed by dlr County Council and will
be responsible for managing an extensive performance music education programme
on behalf of dlr Local Music Education Partnership.
Music
Generation dlr is part of Music Generation – Ireland’s National Music Education
Programme, which is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of
Education and Skills and Local Music Education Partnerships.
Temporary
five year fixed term contract (Salary range: €47,588 – €58,157 per annum)
Application
form, job description and person specification available online at – www.dlrcoco.ie
Closing
date for receipt of completed application forms: 4pm, Thursday 28 November
2019.
Late applications
will not be accepted.
Based on the
volume of applications received short-listing may apply. Short-listing will
take place on the basis of the information provided in the application form.
Depending on the qualifications and experience of applicants, short-listing
thresholds may be significantly higher than the minimum standards set out.
dlr County
Council is an equal opportunities employer.
The Shruggs: Kees Hendrickx and James
Downing have just released new Singles ‘Feel This Way’ and ‘West Cork’ with an
accompanying video for the latter.
The video stars Pascal Scott from ‘The Young Offenders’ and ‘Killinaskully’ and is shot around West Cork taking in the towns of Kinsale, Bandon, Clonakilty, Rosscarbery, Skibbereen and Bantry.
Shane H released brand new track ‘Untouchable’ on Friday 1st November. In the space of a week, it amassed over 10,000 streams on Spotify, and was included in four Spotify curated playlists.
The new track is a change of direction for
Shane, with a heavier beat and more of an R&B- infused-pop inspired sound.
The track details what it means to lose love in this day and age, and is the
brainchild of Shane Hourihane and Eoin Cronolly.
The track has gained traction across the
globe, admired by Skeet Ulrich of Riverdale, a number of Irish influencers and
more. Shane is now hoping to get radio play for the track, and for its
inclusion in even bigger Spotify playlists, in order to keep the momentum and
traction going from its first release.
Shane can be found most Wednesdays at Bruxelle’s Bar, playing the famed Zodiac Sessions, helmed by Barry “Jazz” Finnegan.
Following the news of their sold-out show on 4th January, Lankum has added a second date due to phenomenal demand for 5th January 2020. Tickets €30 on sale this Friday at 9AM.
Made up of brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat, Lankum have gained worldwide acclaim for their first two albums and captivating, often euphoric live performances. ‘The Livelong Day’, recorded and produced by John ‘Spud’ Murphy in the Meadow and Guerrilla Sounds studio, through March and May of 2019 successfully blends alternative folk and psychedelia. Lankum have fully cemented their reputation as one of the most unique and talked about groups to emerge from Ireland in decades. One of the best Irish albums of the year.
Lankum honour the sacredness of traditional Irish tunes, but allow them to metamorphose, to grow and breathe like the heavy, ancient breath of the Uilleann pipes which seethe beneath the tracks of their third studio album (and second with Rough Trade) ‘The Livelong Day’. “Drone is a big part of traditional music because the Uilleann pipes are indigenous to Ireland, so we’re ramping up that history and taking it as far as we can.”
This is the idea found at the core of the universe created in T’he Livelong Day’; expanding and emboldening, that which is already playing out in history. Alongside the traditional songs on the record, there are two originals, the haunting ‘Young People’ and the tragic beauty of ‘Hunting The Wren’. The latter was composed by Ian as part of a writing challenge with Lisa O’Neill, in which Ian gave Lisa the subject of Violet Gibson, an Irish woman who went over to Rome and skim-shot Mussolini on the nose (it features on her album ‘Heard A Long Gone Song’), while Lisa gave Ian the song subject of the Wrens of Curragh. Mirroring these marginalized women, who were described as, “free-thinkers, prostitutes, alcoholics, vagrants, ex-convicts and harvest workers,” and created their ‘nests’ out of furze in the rough plains of Curragh, County Kildare, is the wren – a bird hunted and tyrannized in Irish folklore.
It is effortless to connect with the songs of ‘The Livelong Day’ because it is an album devoid of ego. Despite the intensive historical and musical research that goes into selecting, writing and arranging these songs, the rare knowledge that they may have or their intricate musical skill, these songs are never indulged or overfilled. There is an understanding that If you can play one note, just one note and let it drag its feet with the weight of feeling, it can make a song even more affecting in its sparseness. “In this album compared to last, we wanted more percussive elements, more rhythm, more movement but at the same time we were more confident just going into the studio and seeing what happens,and leaving space open for experimentation.” While there isn’t a theme or concept as such, there is a tone that runs through it: “it’s a combination of being desperately depressing and hopeful at the same time.”
Don’t miss this extraordinary live show this 5th January live at Vicar Street, 5th January 2020.
