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Declan O’Rourke began his career on the Dublin singer-songwriter circuit in 2000 and released his debut album under an independent Irish record label in late 2004.  Since Kyabram went straight in at fifth position on the Irish charts and very soon achieved Gold, Platinum and then double-Platinum status.  Even now, more than five years after its release, it continues to sell steadily.

His songs have gained him much interest with a number of the industry’s top names both in Ireland and abroad. Declan supported Snow Patrol on their 2006 European tour where he played Wembly Stadium and the Odyssey Arena among others.  He has also made a number of special guest appearances on stage with the band. 

In 2006, when asked by Q Magazine which song from the past twenty years he most wished he’d written, Paul Weller chose Galileo, a song from Since Kyabram.  Jonathan Ross, Britain’s top chat show host and foremost radio DJ, plays Declan regularly on his Saturday morning show.  Declan’s songs have been recorded by a number of artists, including Brian Kennedy and Maura O’Connell.  Eddi Reader’s latest studio album, released in April, 2009, covers Declan’s Love Is The Way, and is also the album’s title.

Declan’s long awaited and critically acclaimed second album, Big Bad Beautiful World was released in September, 2007, and reached fourth position in the Irish charts. In April 2007/08, Declan toured the recording, including a small Australian tour in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with great success. He returned to Australia for an extended tour of New South Wales and Victoria throughout March, 2009. Declan plans a more extensive tour of Australia in spring 2010.

He has also toured in England and mainland Europe, supporting such notable names as Paul Weller, The Cardigans, Paulo Nuttini, Paul Brady, The Beautiful South, and Nizlopi while appearing on the same bills as Planxty and Bob Dylan. In February 2009, he shared a Belfast stage with Nancy Griffith and in October/November 2009, supported New York songwriter Ari Hest on a nationwide U.S. tour.

Declan recently sang with Swedish singer Peter Jöback on a cover of R.E.M’s Everybody Hurts.  The Scandinavian sensation has also covered Declan’s song I Can See A Little Something and both songs are included in Peter’s newest album, East Side Stories, released in October 2009. This past December, Declan performed with Peter in Sweden and Norway in their largest indoor arenas to sell out audiences. Declan recently wrote a song with Midnight Oil veteran Jim Moginee.

Declan is praised for his heartfelt, intimate performances as well as his larger, energetic concerts.  His popularity continues to grow steadily, with a vast amount of sell-out performances in Ireland’s most prestigious venues. A third studio album is in the works and a Spring 2010 release is anticipated.

Currently touring in Ireland, check Declan’s website  for appearance dates and locations:  http://www.declanorourke.com/news.php

 Listen to Declan at his Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/declanorourke

Since Kyabram and Big Bad Beautiful World are available for download at:

Conor Mason, born August 27, 1981, is a singer-songwriter from Derry. Having learned classical piano from the age of 8, Conor soon progressed to a variety of other instruments including Guitar, drums and harmonica.

Conor followed a music production course at a local college where he began playing in bands and learning the art of recording. It was around this time that Conor played in a band called Gentle Ben. Soon after they split, Conor began recording songs for his first solo project.

It wasn’t long before people were taking notice of Conor’s music. His song ‘Circles’, was one of ten songs of the year in the BBC Across the line show in N. Ireland. More recently, Conor has also won both the XFM Unsigned competition and the monthy ’Your Sound’ showdown at the legendary King Tuts venue in Glasgow. This lead to a slot at the Hydro Connect Music Festival this year, where Conor played alongside artists like Elbow, Sigur Ros, the Coral and Gomez. At the end of last year, Conor released his debut album, ‘When it’s over’, on Antimatter music.

Conor is back in Derry working on his new album, and playing with a new live band, which he hopes to tour with after the summer. With his songwriting consistency, and the sheer warmth of every performance, we look forward to hearing (and seeing) what Conor does next.

Next Gig: IMRO Tour 2010 @ Masons, Derry – 15th April

When It’s Over is available through ITunes (click on album cover to go to ITunes) and also at the Antimatter shop http://www.antimattermusic.co.uk/shop.html

Visit Conor at:
his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/conormason
his facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Conor-Mason/119434200227
his twitter page http://twitter.com/conor_mason
his Lastfm pagehttp://www.last.fm/music/Conor+Mason

 “Hope to see some of ye in the very near future folks. Slan..”

The Druids are a four-piece Irish REBEL band made up of three Kildare men and a Wexford man… Paddy Mangan from Johnstown Bridge on banjo, mandolin and vocals; Gary Lawlor from Clane on acoustic guitar and lead vocals; newest recruit Darren Egan also from Clane on bass, a great musician, he will also be singing when he gets settled in; and the one and only Mick O’Brien originally from Wexford but now living in Newbridge on five string banjo, bodhran, tin whistle and vocals. The group has recently taken onboard a manager, Adrian Moran from County Westmeath, who aims to take them “to the highest point of their careers.”

The Druids played their first gig on 9th May 2009 and since then have toured Ireland and Scotland where they play again in April. They are supporting the Celtic band Charlie and the Bhoys in the famous Barrowlands Glasgow to a sellout crowd of 2000 Celtic fans and returning  to the Brazen Head in Glasgow where they perform on regular occasions. On St.Patricks Day The Druids are playing in Belgium and have ten dates in Santa Ponsa in Spain for the annual Celtic Convention in May. Over 30,000 Celtic supporters will be there. They have had enquiries for American and Australian tours for late 2010 and early 2011. Currently they are working on their second album which should be available in early March, 2010. Writers as well as singers and musicians, The Druids have already written four of their own Rebel songs.

The Druids can be seen and heard at:

BEBO:   www.bebo.com/druids32

MySpace:  www.myspace.com/thedruidsirishrebelband.com

Youtube:  www.youtube.com/thedruidsband

You may have seen the term Indie scattered throughout the site but you may not really understand what it means. Indies are Independent artists who put out their music themselves without going through a major record company. I am a big proponent of Indies. The more middle men there are between the artist and the audience, the more people get a say on the material and, of course, a cut of the profits. The final result is often pap that some committee has decided will appeal to the most listeners. These days radio stations, record labels, distributors and even the largest retail outlets are owned by huge corporations – often the same corporations. The bottom line is generally more important than the quality or variety of the music. This makes it almost impossible for a new artist or act to get a foot in the door unless they are practically a carbon copy of one of the corporate generated mega-stars. Even acts that do get signed can find out that they no longer own their music, have any say in where or when the tour and often they see very little profit even from a cd that sells fairly well. New acts will not be well promoted by record labels, distributors or tour companies. If there is any publicity at all the act often has to provide it themselves.

The alternative for musical acts is to put the music out themselves. This means that they have to come up with front money for studio time, pay any extra studio musicians that they may need, pay a producer, pay for the actual manufacturing of the cd, pay to store it and figure out how to distribute it. The internet and small run or even publish on demand cd companies have made it a little easier. Most acts also sell cds at their gigs, at festivals and specialty or local music and book shops. The more successful Indies write their own songs or do traditionals that are in public domain, this saves them the expense of paying for the rights to record someone else’s songs which is fine by me because heaven knows there are way, way too many covers around anyway.

The Indies are pretty much the last bastions of original music that actually has something to say which has not been “approved” by someone higher up the corporate chain. There are indies in every genre of music out there fighting the good fight. They deserve our full support and encouragement to keep the voice of the artist from being stifled by corporate interests. I will list a few that are from the genres we cover – Celtic, Irish and Folk. I will spotlight Indies in future posts also. Here are few we haven’t mentioned before.

Uisce Beatha is Irish for Water of Life but it is not referring to H2O It is pronounced ish keh ba ha and was anglicized into the word Whiskey. It is also the name of a great band from Glen Allen, VA. They can be found gigging in pubs in the greater Richmond area particularly at Rare Olde Times http://www.rareoldetimes.com/ and at festivals. For more info check out their website http://www.uiscebeatha.com and their myspace page http://www.myspace.com/uiscebeatharichmond Their cd is currently out of stock at cdbaby http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/uiscebeatha but is available at Itunes?

Switchback is a duo from Chicago made up of Brian FitzGerald and Martin McCormack. They bill themselves as having American roots and Celtic soul. It as a great combination. You can hear samples of their music at their myspace a page http://www.myspace.com/switchbacksince1993 or their own website http://www.waygoodmusic.com/ Tour info is also available in both places. Their latest album Ghosts of the River Folk is available at cdbaby along with their other cds and dvds. http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Switchback

J Minus is a great band out of Seattle, Washington. They have both acoustic and rock versions of the band. I came across their acoustic page at myspace http://www.myspace.com/jminusband there is a link on the page to their rock page. They are a band made up of people with diverse interests herded into a slight cohesion by their founder Dylan Fant. Their music is great. You can hear it at the myspace page and their website http://www.jminus.com/ They are one of the best bands I have come across in awhile and you really do need to go and give them a listen. This isn’t Celtic music but it is excellent and I’m sure you will like it. They gig in the Pacific Northwest and both their cds are available on cdbaby. http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/JMinus

Kevin Milner is a folk singer from Dayton, Ohio. His songs remind me of Dylan back in his hayday only with a bit more sense of humor and a better singing voice. You can hear a sample at his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/kevinmilner He gigs in the Dayton area so be sure to keep a look out for him there and he asked me to have my friends friend him so please do. The life of a folk singer can be a lonely one

Badly Drawn Boy is a folk/rock singer from Manchester, England. If you read his bio on my space you will find that he also has great sense of humor. You can hear samples of his music at his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/badlydrawnboy There are links on the page through which you can purchase his cd Is There Nothing We Could Do. It is also available through ITunes

Mick Duffy is a Rock/Pop indie from Dublin, Ireland. He goes by Mick at myspace http://www.myspace.com/mickduffy Mick’s first album Awakening is available at cdbaby http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mickduffy. A second is either in the works or recently released but is not yet on cdbaby. The highest compliment that I can pay anyone is this: “He reminds me of the Beatles”. I don’t say that lightly but it is certainly true in this case.