In celebration of International Women’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, rising young talents Meadhbh Walsh and Sina Theil have chosen the iconic Irish love song “Grace” to make their stunning and emotional duet debut. The song entered the main Irish charts straight at number 1, knocking Beyoncé and “Texas Hold ‘Em” off her throne. Furthermore, the spectacular music video for “Grace” shot at the Cliffs of Moher and other historic Co. Clare sites has received much acclaim and several thousand clicks in the last few days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg2mBf8voIw
Between them, the singers have stacked up over 200,000 social media followers, several music awards, a large number of Irish chart successes and a recent Irish Music Magazine front cover. However, this is the first time they record together.
When being asked how they met, the singers laugh. “We knew of each other for a long time before eventually getting to talk or meet in real life!” “During COVID we were both doing frequent live videos on our social media pages”, explains Meadhbh. “We’d both been on the cover of the Irish Music Magazine… it was bound to happen that we’d eventually meet.”
Sina adds, “People on my socials would mention Meadhbh to me, saying that I should check out her music. So I got curious. I really enjoyed her content but was watching from a distance and never in a million years would have imagined that we’d end up recording together!”
With their release of “Grace”, Meadhbh Walsh and Sina Theil intend to highlight the strong female story behind the song and also make their mark by releasing possibly the first all-female duet of this iconic song.
“I was delighted how effortlessly our voices blend together. From the moment I heard the first take, I knew that this was special and something I’d be proud of”, Meadhbh Walsh said.
Sina Theil explains the motivation behind their choice of song: “We loved exploring the story from a female perspective. Grace was a woman so loyal and deeply committed that she was willing to marry her love hours before his death; burying her beating heart alongside his.”
The emotion is certainly palpable on the track; a soft fiddle gently dances with the melodic sounds of whistle and piano while Theil and Walshes voices blend seamlessly. Taking space to tell the story from their personal perspective and unique tone and then, in perfect harmony, joining forces during the chorus.
When being asked if there is a music video, the answer is an excited “yes!”. “We’ve picked out some truly stunning locations in the West of Ireland that really showcase the amazing beauty of the Emerald Isle and are going to take the viewers breaths away. We wanted it to be special”, says Sina. “The video is shot by Cinetex Films and can be viewed now on Youtube”, adds Meadhbh. “We’d love to receive views from all over the world and not only showcase one of Ireland’s most precious songs but also attract tourism to the Emerald Isle”. Sina’s International Women’s Day collaboration from 2023 with Kerry native Caitríona O’Sullivan seems to be doing just that right now – their duet of “The Fields of Athenry” has so far received close to 800,000 views on Youtube.
Regarding future plans, there’s a lot coming up this year for the pair. While Sina Theil has been on tour with Irish folk sensation Dan McCabe for the past 18 months and will be making her US festival debut at Motor City Irish Fest this June, Meadhbh Walsh has just concluded several American headline dates and also a cruise of the Caribbean with Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones to great acclaim. Both will be releasing more music this year and can be found on all social media platforms. “We want to take a moment to give a huge thanks to our supporters, mentors and followers” says Sina. “Without them, we wouldn’t be here, living the life we love.”
“Grace” is out now on all major download and streaming platforms and at https://sinatheil.lnk.to/grace
Fiddle: Billy Condon (Ray Lynam & The Hillbillies, Daniel O’Donnell,…)
Whistle: Alan Doherty (Damien Dempsey, Declan O’Rourke,…)
Piano: Tony Corbett (Cork Academy of Music)
