Author: Press Officer

Since the release of her stunning debut EP, ‘Glitter Skies’, Sara Ryan has gone from being one of Irish folk music’s hidden gems, to its ‘New Artist of the Year’ at the 2017 Irish Folk Awards. 

Such recognition is unsurprising to anyone lucky enough to have followed Sara’s career from the beginning. Extensive touring in Germany and Switzerland attracted growing audiences with each visit, and her veritable songwriting and storytelling talents have been lauded by fellow homegrown artists including Christy Moore, Sara has shared the stage with some of Ireland’s most commended artists, Mick Flannery, Luka Bloom, The Stunning, Wyvern Lingo, Jack L and Wally Page.

With that in mind, the creative maturity of Sara’s debut album, ‘Breathe‘, feels almost inevitable. The journey through it is a telling one; betraying at each turn the compassion and cleverness of its creator. Its first single, ‘Bright Blue Screens’, demonstrates a bewitching blend of folk, soul, blues and social commentary that is in play across the album. Sara is a songwriter with spirit, and ‘Breathe’ is certainly a record made in her image. It is at times a candle in the dark; at others, a fire in the belly.

In October 2019 Sara was awarded a scholarship with CIT Faculty of Business of Humanities with Cork School of Music to undergo a Masters in Vocal Performance, to further grow creatively and technically as a vocalist, songwriter and artist.

‘Breathe’ is out now across streaming platforms. On the 24th of April, Sara is releasing a track from her album titled ‘Human’. This is a piece highlighting the core of what connects us all as people – the fact that we are not that different, we are all human.

“she continues to progress through hard work , determination and, most importantly… pure talent and creative spirit” – Christy Moore.

‘A very striking performer with a folk voice that is high, carrying, soft and beautiful; but also eerie…’ – John Spillane

IMRO members Marion McEvoy, Owner/Engineer from Panchord Studio Dublin and multi award winning songwriter, performer and producer Phil Coulter share advice and tips on keeping your studio environment and musical equipment Covid-19 virus free.

For regularly updated advice and resources for music creators during Covid-19 outbreak visit:  https://imro.ie/music-creators/advice-resources-for-music-creators-during-coronavirus-outbreak/

Ahead of Aimée’s highly anticipated debut EP, ‘Confession’, comes the emotive fan track ‘I’m OK’. This deeply personal track was released to fans last week along with the official announcement of her debut EP, ‘Confession’, set for release on 27th March via Universal Music Ireland.

Today sees the release of the lyric video for ‘I’m OK’.

The lyric video hosts a nostalgic montage of family photos that include Aimée’s mam, who the song beautifully pays tribute to.

Of the track ‘I’m OK’, Aimée says; Losing my Mam was the hardest thing that has ever happened to me. I spent a lot of time blocking it out and not talking about it. I was pretending to be fine. But it turns out I was actually hurting myself more by doing this. Once I started opening up and sharing my bad days and struggles, it really connected me to so many people because so many people are dealing with grief or their own struggles, too. I knew that opening up and writing this song would be hard but knowing how many people this song could possibly touch was exactly why I did it.

Aimée’s eagerly awaited EP, ‘Confession’ is already gathering momentum, ranking a #4 spot on the iTunes Best Seller Pre-Orders last week, while ‘I’m OK’ was added to a string of prominent playlists including NMF UK, NMF Iceland, New Pop UK & A Breath Of Fresh Éire.

Prior to ‘I’m OK’, Aimée released her top 30 Irish radio hit, ‘Don’t Call Me Pretty’, the first track to be taken from her upcoming EP. The pop anthem has received global radio support with numerous stations including The Dominican Republic, Italy, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Nambia, Spain, Switzerland, and 125 stations across the UK.

Aimée has over two million combined streams, to date.

Live Dates

19th – 21st June 2020 | Sea Sessions, Bundoran, Donegal
19th – 21st June 2020 | Body & Soul, Westmeath
31st July – 2nd August 2020 | Indie20, Cork
31st July – 2nd August 2020 | No Where We’d Rather Be, Kilruddery House & Gardens, Bray
10th – 12th July 2020 | Sult Festival, Gweedore

Debut EP ‘CONFESSION’ Out 27th March

Pre-Save Here! // Pre-Order Here!

Pre-Order Limited Edition Vinyl from The Record Hub, Here!

A dance-pop song with rock and dubstep influences, ‘Curious’ is a lyrically playful track which challenges binary thinking in terms of sexuality, beckoning you to “stop paying so much attention to your labels” and embrace “a new world”.

‘Curious’ is Jack’s fourth single from his yet to be announced debut album. Expect more fun dancey numbers, and lyrics about sexual liberation and self love.

Dublin based glam-pop artist Jack Rua is a unique and original talent. A classically trained vocalist and musician who blends well crafted pop music with electronic-dance and glam-rock influences, Jack has established himself as an artist who strives to differ from the norm and do things his own way.

Inspired by some of the most ambitious and creative artists of the last fifty years, Jack spent his formative years studying the work of icons such as David Bowie, Madonna, Lady Gaga & Prince; analysing their every move and how they used their art forms to innovate and rebel.

After striking up creative partnerships with fellow BIMM Dublin alum Porridge and visual artist PureGrand, Jack began releasing his music in 2019 with three singles that racked up over 85,000 streams on Spotify and received radio airplay on RTE 2FM, Spin 1038, Classic Hits 4FM, BBC Introducing and KCLR to name a few. ‘Ego’, his house-pop banger with producer LOGUOS was placed on Spotify’s “Out Now” Pride playlist for queer artists, and ‘Rise’ (featuring Cork rapper Darce) was added to New Music Friday UK on Spotify.

After a successful year which also included an array of headline, support and club gigs across Dublin, Jack is set to soar even further in 2020 with even more boundary pushing music, visuals and live spectacles. The playful and bombastic ‘Curious’ came out on March 13th and was added to New Music Friday UK on Spotify. It is the fourth instalment from a project geared up for release in the first half of 2020.

“Jack blends the sensual flamboyance of Prince with a sassy Madonna- esque boldness while still creating something that summons your soul to the dancefloor with his infectious and lovable tones, beats and melodies” – Indie Buddie

“Jack Rua has developed a brand of music that can dance across the entire pop spectrum” – Jessica Maciel, Spin 1038

“Jack doesn’t hold back his shine. The Dublin queer artist is not afraid to soar as he preaches the power of acceptance” – Aupium

“The feel-good factor is a prevalent aspect of many a pop song however Jack Rua likes to take it further than this. A quick listen to his back catalogue tells you that hedonism takes front and centre” – Anna Buckley, Golden Plec

COLUMBIA MILLS release beautiful new single ‘You’re Not The Answer’ (13/03) with a Live video shot in Yellowdoor Studios ahead of CCTV Album Release (17/04) and Button Factory Headline Show (24/04)

2019 saw COLUMBIA MILLS release two singles from their highly anticipated sophomore album ‘CCTV'(17/04); ‘Strange Game’ and ‘Who Am I Supposed To Talk To Now?’ garnered huge radio support here and in the UK including John Kennedy Radio X, RTE Radio 1, Ed Smith (Today FM) choosing COLUMBIA MILLS as his Play Irish Artist of the week and ‘Recent and Decent’ on Today FM, Dan Hegartys (2FM) Track of The Week, and heavy rotation on Paul Mc Loones Today FM show, as well as heavy airplay across all national and regional radio stations. 2020 has already seen the release of ‘UNDERSTAND’ (31/01/20), the third single from ‘CCTV’ which received huge radio support. Following a string of multiple sold out live shows to date, Columbia Mills have just announced they will headline Dublin’s Button Factory on Friday, 24th April with special guest Christian Cohle, presented by Aiken Promotions. Ahead of their headline show they are releasing the beautiful single and live video, ‘You’re Not The Answer’ on March 13th

“The song was written after a conversation I had with my mother late one night. She had just lost her 3 best friends that year, all to cancer. We talked about the hopelessness of watching it happen and about being left behind. As we grow up we go through a lot with our friends, birthdays, weddings, the births of our children, hard times, good times and then inevitably death. The cruel cyclical nature of life and the indiscriminate nature of cancer” – Fiachra Treacy .

Constant musical development has marked the journey of Columbia Mills since the band’s inception in 2014. Brothers Fiachra and Uisneagh Treacy found like minds in Ste Ward, Paul Kenny and Mick Heffernan in Bray, Meath and Dublin.

Their mission statement was to merge electronica, dance and pop while fostering a spirit of inclusion always evident at the long-gone club in Dublin’s docklands from where they took their name. Never Gonna Look At You The Same and other songs on their debut EP Factory Settings smelled like prime Mary Chain but 2015’s EP The Perfect Day found them transitioning from the Reid brothers’ influence to more beat-driven cacophonies on its title track and the quietly epic History.

On 2017’s debut album, A Safe Distance To Watch, they transitioned again. One of its stand-out tracks, This City Doesn’t Feel Like Home To Me, reflected the disappointment lead singer and principal songwriter Fiachra felt with Dublin after arriving from Bray in pursuit of a musical career; a city that was said to prize its artists, now prices creativity beyond its boundaries.

With new member, Ken McCabe on keyboards/electronics, Columbia Mills’ burgeoning fanbase will be in no way surprised that the tracks on their sophomore album, CCTV (due for release in 2020) sees continuing evidence of that constant music development. The new songs reveal a band who have truly found their voice but also the hands to fashion the sound to which they’ve aspired. You will sense that and soon cherish what you hear. They, meanwhile, will be plotting their next move. Words by Danny McElhinney (Mail On Sunday)

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Button Factory, Dublin Headline Show – April 24th