Last Friday local singer/songwriter Sinead McNally released the new video to her hit festive song, Nearly Christmas.
Last year the Knockbridge woman released the track to huge acclaim but now she has taken a step back somewhat by bringing together 50 children from the area to sing the song from start to finish.
The ‘Nearly Christmas Kids’, as they have been dubbed, will be performing the track on Saturday at 4.30pm in the Marshes Shopping Centre, following the official launch 24 hours earlier.
A website, www.nearlychristmaskids.com has been launched and Sinead has encouraged everyone to get behind the song in the build-up to Christmas.
She said: “The project grew over the years from being just a song into an online global space for children to share music and activities and their own unique performances of ‘Nearly Christmas’.
“I hope to develop areas on the site such as resources for teachers and parents and the #actsoflove section. The song is available to buy from online stores such as iTunes and there is a backing track also available to purchase should people wish to use it in the classroom or Christmas events.”
You can listen to the track and view the video on YouTube above or download it now from iTunes.
Local singer/songwriter James Humston will host an EP launch party on the rooftop of the Garden Bar in Park Street on Friday August 15th.
The free event gets underway from 7pm, with his self-titled release available now on the likes of iTunes, Google Play Music, Amazon Digital, Nokia Music and 7M Music.
James will be joined on the night by bassist Paul Mallon and drummer Colin Berrill with support on the night from David Keenan and Finnian.
Broadcasting legend Jimmy Magee will perform his new charity single, These Old Eyes Have Seen It All, and talk about his determination to become the oldest singer to get to Number One in Ireland on tonight’s Late Late Show.
The Greenore native has covered the George Jones track for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and it can be downloaded from iTunes for €0.99 or bought for €3 from all 53 Heatons stores nationwide and on www.heatonsstores.com from April 11.
Jimmy has altered the lyrics to reflect on all the great and bad moments he has witnessed during his career and it includes the lines ‘Jack Charlton brought our football team to Euro 88, a Ray Houghton goal beat England and Ireland went ‘en féte’, Austerity’s bite caused many a good man to fail and fall, These old eyes have seen it all.’
Proceeds from the single will go to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, of which Jimmy – whose son Paul passed away from MND – is a patron.
Paul was well known in the local area as a PR executive for Boylesports and lived locally in Ardee.
Magee has said ‘I hope for all the families, friends and extended MND community in Ireland that we find that evasive cure and fulfil the vision held by the IMNDA that ‘Together, we will beat Motor Neurone Disease.’
It will be released on 11th April in all Heatons outlets and on iTunes.
Meanwhile, Cooley Kickhams’ An Audience with Jimmy Magee’ event will now take place on May 8th in their clubhouse at 8pm.
Tickets that were purchased for the original date are still valid while new tickets can be purchased from any commitee member or in the complex at Fr McEvoy Park, priced €10.
Also on the Late Late Show tonight is YouTube sensation Fr Ray Kelly, former South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar and Linda Nolan.
Broadcasting legend Jimmy Magee will be releasing a debut single for charity next week.
The sports presenter will be performing a cover of George Jones’ ‘These Old Eyes Have Seen It All’.
The Greenore native has altered the lyrics to reflect on all the great and bad moments he has witness during his career and it includes the lines ‘Jack Charlton brought our football team to Euro 88, a Ray Houghton goal beat England and Ireland went ‘en féte’, Austerity’s bite caused many a good man to fail and fall, These old eyes have seen it all.’
Proceeds from the single will go to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, of which Jimmy – whose son Paul passed away from MND – is a patron.
Paul was well known in the local area as a PR executive for Boylesports and lived locally in Ardee.
Magee has said ‘I hope for all the families, friends and extended MND community in Ireland that we find that evasive cure and fulfil the vision held by the IMNDA that ‘Together, we will beat Motor Neurone Disease.’
It will be released on 11th April in all Heatons outlets and on iTunes.
Meanwhile, Cooley Kickhams’ An Audience with Jimmy Magee’ event will now take place on May 8th in their clubhouse at 8pm.
Tickets that were purchased for the original date are still valid while new tickets can be purchased from any commitee member or in the complex at Fr McEvoy Park, priced €10.
Local singer/songwriter Sinéad McNally has released a special Lego animation music video for her track ‘Just For Today’.
Clodagh Carthy (née Malone), and her family were behind the creation of the new video, taking ‘Lego Sinéad’, around with them for much of last year. Amongst the locations they filmed in was in and around their native Jenkinstown and on Slieve Foy Mountain.
Clodagh shot the video after taking inspiration from Sinead’s track ‘Just For Today’ – from her 10,000 EP – following the death of her husband Ciarán from suicide last January. Amongst those involved in the video were her children Donal (12), Aisling (14) and Eoin (9).
To mark the video’s release, Sinéad has offered to donate all proceeds of the song to anti-depression charity Aware.
Commenting on it, Sinéad said: “Exactly a year ago, through very sad circumstances I came to know a lovely young family who were fans of my music. They offered to make a Lego animation music video for one of my songs. Of course I jumped at the chance and throughout 2013, the children and their mum took ‘Lego Sinéad’ around with them filming her in different locations. The result is something really unique and so full of emotion.
“We all have times in our lives that we need to shut off from the world. I wrote ‘Just For Today’ when I needed to do exactly that. I never in a million years thought that a young family going through the loss of their Dad and husband would find themselves inspired to create something as beautiful as this video to accompany the song. It is these moments in a songwriter’s life that you are reminded of the power that music has and the amazing ability music has to help heal and soothe the most difficult and tragic times in life.
“I am donating proceeds of the song to Aware and I hope that their story, their video and my song will touch lots of you over the coming days.”
Clodagh said she recorded the video as a thank you to Sinéad for her song ‘Just For Today’, which helped her Ciarán’s death early last year.
“When I chose to make a video for this inspirational song, ‘Just for Today’, I chose it because I identified with every word. It verbalised exactly how I was feeling. I didn’t realise at the time that it would become such a presence in my life and in my kid’s lives.
“I lost my precious husband to suicide in January 2013, father of three kids aged 13, 11 and 8. Thankfully we were cushioned by the generosity, kindness and support of family, friends and neighbours. But all of a sudden my head was dealing with funeral arrangements, finances, legalities, doctors, not to mention my own complex emotions and those of the kids and our efforts to rebuild our lives.
“When I heard the song, the strongest emotion I felt was liberation because ‘Just for Today’ gave me permission to clear my head, to take time out, to be on my own for a while and announce that ‘I know what I’m doing. Leave it to me’.
“All summer the kids and I took our little Lego Sinead with us everywhere. The first scene is a dawn breaking, which symbolises hope for us in our new lives. The second scene was filmed at the Annual National Sand Sculpting Competition in Bettystown, a competition we enter as a family each year, but which took extra effort this year because our hearts weren’t in it. But little Lego Sinead encouraged us to take part because we needed a busy scene for the video.
“The creativity and ideas needed for ‘Just for Today’ kept the children’s minds active. The possibilities were endless, including training snails to act, and our vibe was upbeat. We wanted mountain-top footage to finish the video which brought us on journeys in the footsteps of my adventurous husband, spending time in nature. So when the children went back to school in September I was ready to ‘Clear my mind’ and spend a week in search of fluffy clouds and mountain tops, a week spent in solitude, clearing my mind, going over sweet memories and checking my internal barometer. Bliss.”
You can download ‘Just For Today’ from here for just 99 cents. A Lego fundraising event for Aware is also being organised.
Local singer/songwriter Sinead McNally has been getting a phenomenal reaction to her new Christmas single ‘Nearly Christmas’ since its release last week.
Chris de Burgh has been amongst those who have endorsed the track and this Saturday all other fans of the festive hit will get a chance to hear it live in the Marshes Shopping Centre.
Sinead will be performing the song alongside her band and all the children who feature on the track at 5pm in the centre, ahead of the firework show at 5.30pm and Santa’s arrival at 5.45pm.
She will also have CDs for sale on the day before heading for the Spirit Store later that night where she will play a headline gig. Tickets for the Spirit Store show are on sale now from www.spiritstore.ie or from McAteer’s Food House in Clanbrassil Street.
Dundalk singer/songwriter Rosie Bell is currently promoting her new single ‘Lately’, which is available now on iTunes.
The single sees Rosie team up again with Simon Todd, with whom she co-wrote her ‘Back to Here’ EP earlier this year.
The song came about at a songwriting week hosted by Boo Hewerdine and Karine Polwart in September.
Rosie told IMRO: “It practically wrote itself. As Simon was playing the melody, the words were just flooding into my head. Karine helped me with the transition from the verse to the chorus and sang in some beautiful harmonies.”
Mark Freegard of Kyotis Studios, who has worked with top artists such as The Strypes, Eddi Reader and Del Amitri, then recorded the track in a single take.
A video was then put together by Kate at Crab Apple Studios with Rosie deciding to release the song now ahead of some upcoming gigs.
Rosie is planning a songwriters’ circle tour for next February with Simon Todd, Cormac Burns and other special guests but will be playing The Secret Garden in Blackrock this Friday November 29th, The Wee Bar in Silverbridge on Saturday December 7th, The Iontas Theatre in Castleblayney on Friday December 13th and a downstairs acoustic gig in The Spirit Store on Saturday December 21st.
Local singer/songwriter Stewart Agnew will continue the promotion of his new EP ‘Candy Floss’ when he headlines The Spirit Store this Saturday night.
The new track, which has reached the top three of the iTunes charts since its release last week, has been receiving good airplay to date.
To coincide with his first release in two years, Agnew will be performing a select number of gigs this week, starting with a performance in the Workman’s Club in Dublin on Thursday, where he will be supported by The Voice star Katy Anna Mohan.
He will then play Kenny’s in Lahinch the next night before his headline performance at The Spirit Store in Dundalk on Saturday.
“I’ve had a great reaction to Candy Floss so far and I’m really looking forward to playing a few gigs now with the full band.
“The Spirit Store is the one I’m most looking forward to as it’s always great to play in your hometown and hopefully it will be a great night,” he said.
Stewart will have his full band with him for his three shows this week and will be supported in The Spirit Store by another local singer/songwriter Finnian Kelleher. Tickets for the show are on sale now from The Spirit Store, priced €10.
The Candy Floss EP is still available to purchase through iTunes or via stewartagnew.com. The track, priced at €2.99, features four tracks, including previously unreleased titles ‘For Annie’ and ‘I Won’t Let You Down’.
Local singer/songwriter Stewart Agnew will release his a new EP this Monday called ‘Candy Floss’.
The title track of the EP, which featured on his 2011 album Hello Bright Spark, will also be released as a single, with a video for it having been recorded recently in Bellurgan Park.
To coincide with his first release in two years, Agnew will also embark on a mini-tour, including a headline show at The Spirit Store on Saturday October 19.
The new EP will feature four tracks, including previously unreleased titles ‘For Annie’ and ‘I Won’t Let You Down’.
Speaking about the release of his first EP, Agnew said he was using it as a platform to build on ahead of his planned fourth album.
“It’s hard to believe it’s almost two years since I released ‘Hello Bright Spark’ so we’re just using the EP as a way of keeping things fresh.
“I’ve a new company called Collective Management behind me and it was them more than me who were pushing for me to release Candy Floss as a single.
“I’m really looking forward to it now and it will be great to play a few shows with the full band.
“This will be the last single from the album and I hope to record a new album then after Christmas, with the hope being to have something released in the spring.
Stewart will kick-start his mini-tour with a performance in the Workman’s Club in Dublin on Thursday October 17, where he will be supported by The Voice star Katy Anna Mohan.
He will then play Kenny’s in Lahinch the next night before his second headline performance at the revamped Spirit Store in Dundalk on Saturday October 19. He will be supported on the night by another local singer/songwriter Finnian Kelleher. Tickets for the show are on sale now from The Spirit Store, priced €10.
The Candy Floss EP will be available for download from iTunes from Monday, with a pre-order available through Stewart’s website, stewartagnew.com
The video for Candy Floss is expected to be released on Friday.
Local singer/songwriter Sinead McNally will release her new single ‘Ballad of the Tiger’ next Friday.
The new song from the Knockbridge woman will be available to download on iTunes.
Sinead is also putting together a video, which she wants the public to get involved with. She is asking people to write down any lyric from the song on any surface, in any style and email it to her at mcnallysinead@hotmail.com
You can preview the track and find all the lyrics here.
Talk of the Town 