RTE Folk Awards nominee Padraig Jack will release his sophomore studio album in Spring 2024. A native of the the Aran islands in the Irish speaking Gaeltacht, a place that has produced the writers Liam O’Flaithearta, Máirtín Ó’Direáin and Breandán Ó’hEithir, Padraig is proudly bilingual both as a conversationalist and a songwriter and writes and sings meaningful songs on guitar and piano in Irish Gaelic and English. With influences from James Taylor and The Eagles to Van Morrison, Sinead O’Connor and Shane McGowan, Padraig appreciates strong songwriting with a distinct point of view.
Having demonstrated his songwriting bona fides with his critically acclaimed debut ‘Making Sand’, which was named ‘RTE Album of the Week’ and garnered an RTE Folk Award nomination for ‘Best Original Song’ (Making Sand), Padraig is again teaming up with renowned producer John Reynolds (Sinead O’Connor, Damien Dempsey, Indigo Girls) and his occasional co-writing partner Barry Ronan as well as former Waterboy and Saw Doctors member Anthony Thistlethwaite.
the UK as special guest to artists such as Miles Hunt of The Wonder Stuff, Damien Dempsey and Sharon Shannon, Padraig feels as comfortable on the contemporary music stage as he does when contextualising his own Irish Gaelic cultural background on multilingual tours of Wales and the Basque country.
Early 2024 will bring the new single ‘Atone’ in January as well as a joint headline show with Cuas at Dublin TradFest, dates with Miles Hunt and a tour in Wales.
SAL
SAL is a Cork City based singer-songwriter with a difference. Her music explores the many colours in the spectrum of pop music, always showcasing her own versatility as an artist, whilst maintaining her pop sensibilities.
Originally hailing from County Kildare, SAL has spent her recent years in Cork, creating and performing all the time. After signing a management deal with London based Charlie B Management, SAL was unveiled at Liverpool Irish Festival 2021, where she showcased a set of brand new material with her band. “I love connecting with other people through songs that I’ve written...”, says SAL. “...the connection with the audience is amazing when you’re on stage."
Two of her singles, ‘Bullet In The Heart’, and ‘Everything’, both received an extremely warm welcome from radio and music media in Ireland and the UK. In the world of live music, SAL has covered a huge amount of ground, from gracing stages in some of Ireland’s most prestigious venues and festivals, to regular shows in the UK and Germany. Along the way, she has shared the stage with some amazing artists, such as Declan O’Rourke, Aimee, Scullion, Hermitage Green, Mick Flannery, The Stunning, Luka Bloom, Wyvern Lingo, and many more.
This year SAL underwent her successful cafe tour of Ireland, as well as releasing her fourth single 'Red Wine' which instantly went to Number #1 in the Irish iTunes Charts and 'Kerosene' which reached to Number #5 in the Irish iTunes Charts. Prior to this, SAL's third single, ‘Merry Go Round’ also reached to Number #1 in the Irish iTunes Charts, SAL has reached to two Number #1 singles in the space of five months.
2023 is already a big year for SAL, following her two consecutive Number #1 singles, she then did a national tour of Ireland supporting the brilliant TOUCAN, performing sold out shows in venues such as Theatre, Royal Waterford and Whelan's Dublin.
After connecting with new audiences at shows in London during the summer, the artist looks ahead to supporting Declan O’Rourke in Cork and Killarney on his upcoming acoustic tour and also touring with Niall McCabe across Ireland. With lots more up her sleeve, SAL is only getting started.
David Hope
Clare singer-songwriter, David Hope kicked 2022 off with the two new singles, ‘Moon and back’ and 'Whiskey Mornings'. Both singles are from his forthcoming fifth studio album ‘...and the Sea’ which is out in September
2022. Having previously worked with Irish folk legends, Terry Woods and Declan Sinnott, Hope has collaborated yet again with legendary producer and drummer, Christian Best, on his new album.
…and the Sea’ is the fifth studio album release by Irish singer-songwriter, David Hope. Both lyrically and musically, this is the deepest dive that Hope has taken into his songwriting and recording. Through capturing a mix of raw emotional acoustic tracks and full band epics, this makes for his most complete album to date.
The album was recorded and produced by Christian Best at Monique Studios, Midleton, Cork. The approach taken by Hope and Best to the album's production was to try and capture the performance of each song in as much of a ‘live’ way as possible. This was in an effort to be as true to each song, but ultimately to have an overall ‘Album’ sound, rather than a collection of individual recordings: - “There are different styles and different inflections to the songs on this album, but there is definitely a thread that connects them from how we approached the recording process. I wanted a late night, close feel to the sound and I think between Christian’s recording style, the players who were part of the project and the songs themselves, we achieved that.”
Hope was joined for the recording sessions which took place in July - October 2019 and February 2020 by Steffi Hess from Switzerland on double bass and vocals. From Ireland, session musician, Kealan Kenny from Cork, features on electric guitar; alongside Darragh Keary from Limerick on piano and keys. Additionally, Chris McCarthy from Cork also makes an appearance on E bass. Christian Best lends his talents on drums
and percussion, just as he did on Hope’s previous album ‘Tough Love’ (2017).
“I have been extremely lucky to work with many great musicians over the years, both live and in the studio. While the recording sessions for this album were some of the most personally draining and hard to deal with, from a musical perspective, they were some of my favourite times spent in the studio. The excellence of the
musicians involved along with the mix of personalities and energies made for incredibly productive and genuinely fun recording sessions. I owe them a great deal.”
The first release from Hope in almost four years marks an evolution of his sound, of which signs were present on his last album, ‘Tough Love’ (2017). With the benefit of having time to flourish, both musically and lyrically, this collection of songs is Hope’s most accomplished work to date.
Hope has gigged and toured extensively in both his native Ireland and mainland Europe, averaging in excess of 200 shows per year. During this time, Hope has built a reputation as one of the very best live performers on the touring circuit today.
‘Tough Love’ (2017) built on the success of ‘Scarecrow’ (2013) which garnered extensive radio play and successive tours both in Europe and Hope's native Ireland. The first single from ‘Tough Love’, 'Christmas Day',
was chosen as the RTE Radio 1 song selected for the European Broadcasting Union Christmas Music Project and featured on a playlist across all member states.
