Author: Press Officer

Songwriter and novelist Brendan Graham is the first songwriter to be presented with the Cong Hands of Fame Award. Along with those of television’s,  Mary Kennedy, a cast of the hands that shaped such classic songs as Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids, The Voice, Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears and You Raise Me Up, will be unveiled in the historic village of Cong on 14^th Nov.

Graham writes his songs in splendid isolation from behind the half-door of his home in Mayo’s mountains. As the songwriter himself says ‘songs always travel hopefully…and sometimes, they arrive’. Indeed – and his songs can be heard from London’s Albert Hall to Sydney’s Opera House, New York’s Radio City, Superbowl, Olympic Games,  White House, Nobel Peace Prize…the list goes on…and in more than fifty languages across the world.

His 1994 Winning Eurovision Song Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids, has consistently been voted Ireland’s favourite Eurovision song ever, while The Voice, his winning song from 1996 was, earlier this year, announced by Prince Charles to be one of his all-time favourite songs.

His You Raise Me Up has become one of the most successful songs ever written. Last month it was performed in the United Nations General Assembly Hall, as part of United Nations Day. In September it was featured in significant 9/11 Commemorations across America.

At Dubai’s Expo 2021, as part of ‘’You Raise Me Up – Ireland’s Gift of Song to the World’’,  Graham’s inspirational anthem will be performed by the Expo World Choir, conducted by David Brophy and comprised of singers from other participating countries at Expo.

Earlier this year his Lullaby for the World, in support of climate change, was a centre-piece song for Earth Day, 2021 and was streamed to every corner of the world. His songs like Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears, Crucán na bPáiste, Orphan Girl and Ochón an Gorta Mór, have all been used in National Great Famine Commemorations both in Ireland and abroad. This led to the Irish Heritage Trust/Strokestown National Famine Museum and Quinnipiac University, to create two video documentaries around his songs of events in Irish history – Songs of the Great Hunger and Songs of the Irish American and Irish Canadian Diaspora.

‘’Musical Midas” – Irish Times:

“Touched by genius” – Evening Herald – Con Houlihan.

‘’One of the greatest and most acclaimed Irish songwriters…a towering figure in modern music’’ – Hot Press.

‘‘Outstanding services to the Irish Music Industry’.’  Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD.

His best-selling ‘documentary novel’ on Ireland’s Great Famine, The Whitest Flower (Harper Collins) was translated into a number of languages and listed as support fiction for Ireland’s Leaving Cert History Syllabus – as well as being the subject of study at Boston’s MIT.

‘Important addition to Ireland’s National Story’ – Sunday Times, Canberra

Currently, Dervish’s Cathy Jordan is completing a solo album of his songs for release in early 2022, while former ANUNA singer/Decca recording artiste, Róisín O’Reilly will release a newly-written song Hush Be Still as a Christmas single.

Photo Credit: Michael McLaughlin 

In Brisbane on Saturday, Nov 6^th the Queensland Pops Orchestra and Choir honoured the work of former IMRO Chairman and founder member, Brendan Graham. The QPO included six of Graham’s works, including two world premieres, in its annual Celtic Spectacular Concerts at the 1,600-seater, Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

Under the direction of Patrick Pickett the QPO with soloists Sarah Calderwood and Gregory Moore performed the Irish songwriter’s works including Orphan Girl – Graham’s tribute to the Irish Orphan Girls shipped to Australia under the Earl Grey scheme during Ireland’s Great Famine.

The Fair, Fair Land – Graham’s anthem for RTÉ’s BIG MUSIC WEEK, based on the traditional melody Mor Chluana (1852) attributed to Scottish piper, Lewis O’Brien – an ancestor of the songwriter’s wife Mary O’Brien – was also performed, in an arrangement by RTECO’s, Joe Csibi.

The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun (Graham/Downes) and You Raise Me Up (Graham Lovland) also featured in Saturday’s Spectacular.

Word Premiere Performances

The Watchman (Graham/Quinn) the single from Eimear Quinn’s ERIÙ album with the RTÉCO, and arranged by Gavin Murphy, received its World Premiere Live Performance, while Alana’s Waltz – an instrumental piece written by Graham for his daughter, also received its World Premiere in a specially commissioned arrangement by Australian, Graham Lloyd.

The Irish songwriter’s work continues to reverberate around the world, with You Raise Me Up part of  September 11 commemorations as in the documentary from the  Mormon Tabernacle Choir ‘’9/11 – Coming Together 20^th Anniversary Special’’ and the streamed  USA/Canadian, International Association of Fire Fighters – Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial Service.

Last month at New York’s 11^th Annual Tibetan Fund Gala Dinner, co-chaired by Richard Gere, Kenbem/You Raise Me Up was performed by Haitian/American singer and actor, Malou Beauvoir, in a bilingual version of her native Creole…and English.

You Raise Me Up was also recently performed by opera star Youngmi Kim, with the Goyang Philharmonic Orchestra in the UN General Assembly Hall,  to mark United Nations Day, 2021.

Cork based recording collaborative, The Grey Merchant, return with details of a new single release, ‘Mondegreen Blue’ which goes on release November 24 2021 on Spotify, iTunes, and the usual digital platforms.

‘Mondegreen Blue’ is their latest single taken from a forthcoming EP due for release in early 2022. It is a rousing dynamic track about  recovery and realising how far one has come from, moving on from a cinereal place

PRESS:

 ‘a rousing first look at what to expect from the Grey Merchant… …It’ll get the juices flowing and the blood boiling’ –thepointofeverything.com

‘Once you let yourself succumb to the crisp edgy sting and moody undertone you become swallowed and consumed in the tireless relentless onslaught of the meandering entwining coil of The Grey Merchant’s unique and fantastic masterpiece.’ -Indiebuddie.com

‘the group takes a vivid and spellbinding rhythm section and gives it a raw and human energy that’s hard to resist.’-analoguetrash.com

‘a wonderfully powerful tune and if this is the taste of things to come then The Grey Merchant will be worth looking out for in 2017’ -Bobby Green musician.ie

‘Artfully encompassing elements of rock, post-punk and grunge’– littleindieblogs.com

The third single to be released under Cabin, ‘Dull’, was actually the first song he had ever written and recorded independently. Born out of solitary jams, and early recording experimentation, ‘Dull’ fully embraces the intense, raucous and dream-like psychedelic rock sounds that were an early inspiration for the project. The track is both lush & loud, while dynamic & melancholic. While ingrained with the naturalistic and lo-fi qualities it was conceived in, ‘Dull’ is presented with careful production to emphasise its weight and gravitas.

On the track, Cabin says; “In my mind, It’s a soaring, forceful, and expansive song, designed precisely for when I had felt the opposite, grounded, timid, and inhibited. I took those feelings, and flipped them.”

Cabin (aka Adam McCabe) began crafting his songwriting and production skills as part of post-punk outfit Brass Phantoms, and has had his music featured on the likes of BBC Radio 6 with Steve Lamacq, Spotify’s Hot New Bands, Clash Magazine, Hot Press, The Last Mixed Tape, Golden Plec and more, along with production credits for the likes of Fangclub.

In producing, writing, recording, and mixing his work, Cabin offers a singular artistic voice, yet attempts to push beyond individual limitations into grander compositions. Drawing influence from the classic songwriters, his psychedelic sound is glittered with the palpable anxiety of Post-Punk, and exuberant tenderness of Soul music.

His focus is for his music and lyrics to imbue the aspects of modern-day disillusionment and existential dread with a defiant sense of radical optimism and to try to see the colour through the grey.