It is a great pleasure for me to announce that, as predicted, my micro-label Shandon Reords actually released my fourth solo CD The Art Of Saving Lives at a concert in Dublin at the end of Friday 29th June. It feels great to get to this stage.
Many thanks to all of you who came to any of the gigs in Dublin, Wexford, Galway and Dingle or shared the details on social media. The support was felt and was appreciated.
The tour was a lot of fun. We had a 15 piece band in Dublin and a very enthusiastic audience both of whom greatly helped me get through the show. Most of the band members played on the record. All the co-writers of the songs were either in the audience or the band as well as the sound and mixing engineers. It was a pleasure to have them onboard. Supporters travelled from as far away as Virginia to be there, and Galway and Cork.
The tour that followed was fun but quieter. A smaller band – I couldn’t fit them all into two cars – was put together featuring Eoin O’Brien and Rob Molumby and we were joined at various stages by Carol Keogh, Tom Portman and Cormac Dunne at various points. Thanks to Mick for all the driving and roadieing. Eoin, Rob and I are looking forward to putting it together again for a variety of shows through September and October to promote the next single which will be the song Rain. We are always open to international touring – it’s just a matter of finding the right contacts to help me on the ground.
You can hear a few of the tracks from the album on Spundcloud
The second single, “Completely” came out in June and I’m pleased with the amount of airplay it got – thanks to all those who requested it, and the radio presenters who thought of playing it. The video was directed by Yalda Shahidi and features location photography around my house in Kilmainhan in Dublin. If you missed it, you can still see the video for the first radio single Lines – thanks to Christopher Merton who devised and produced the video.
Midsummer With Anja is another track from the album that it feels appropriate to be releasing now as a free download – !! It was written by Doug Kinch and I arranged it and put the finishing touches to the composition as well. Marco Francescangeli provided the haunting soprano sax solo in the middle. I love the conflicting counterpoint of Winter and Summer in this one.
The album is available on CD, vinyl and download. You can buy the CD from CD Baby or any of the formats on my new Bandcamp site which you can also access from this website on the Music page. If you prefer walking into a shop (I do but I seem to be in the minority) and live in Dublin, the vinyl records are available from Tower on Dawson Street and The Record Spot on Fade Street. Tower also has the CD actually. Digital downloads are also available from all the digital partners we have come to know and love – Itunes, Google Play, 7Digital, Deezer and all the others – and of course you can stream it from Spotify if that’s your thing. If you go the extra mile and order the physical product, I think you’ll enjoy the cover art which has been created by Limerick-based print artist Des MacMahon for a cover concept designed by Mark Conway at Born&Raised.
Please feel free to forward this email or the information contained herein far and wide. I’m excited about this music being heard and hope you enjoy hearing it as much as I’ve enjoyed making it.
I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, YouTube, Instagram – please come and find me. Thanks for your continued support.