New version of 90s classic 'Walking in Memphis' released

As recording gets underway for the 2023 edition of TG4's long-running show  Glór Tíre, its 2021 winner  Emma Donohue found herself with another reason to celebrate in recent weeks. Now, the young country star has a new official title: Nurse Donohue!

Emma announced her arrival on the Irish country music scene back in 2019 with her version of  Rambling Man. That was followed by 2020's  Coat of Many Colours  and fan-favourite  I Fell In Love, before cutting her take on Isla Grant's  Love Me Tonight  during her successful  Glór Tíre campaign. And truth be told, there was probably only ever going to be one tribe that emerged victorious when the Galway girl was hand-picked by her Glór Tíre mentor, the 'Galway Boy' himself, Mike Denver. 

Now, having combined that challenge of performing on 'live' television with both her studies and working on the frontline during the height of the pandemic, the Mullagh native has earned the ultimate reward for her work-ethic and commitment: first class honours in her exams. 

And Nurse Donohue admits to breathing  a sigh of relief at the news! 

"Seeing those results in black and white at last, it was a bit of a sight for sore eyes alright, I won't lie",  laughs Emma.  "And it's not that I'd be the kind to doubt myself or anything, although I am a bit of a notorious overthinker at times! But during the last couple of years, between the music, and trying to study, and then working at the same time as well - and we have a farm at home too - I had a lot going on all at the same time. And there would have been moments along the way - when you'd just be so exhausted - that you'd think to yourself alright, God, will I ever actually get to the end of this road at all?"

Emma continued,  "So that's what getting those results meant for me. It was the end of that particular road. That very long road! [Laughs]. It was a very proud moment for me, and for my family who have supported me through everything, to finally get to that moment where I can officially call myself Nurse Donohue. No more than Glór Tíre, and having a career in country music, this is also something that has always been a dream of mine." 

While the demands of her studies and her nursing career have by necessity somewhat curtailed her musical adventures since winning Glór Tíre, fans will be happy to know that Emma has been back in the studio recently. Collaborating once again with her long-time producer Enda Dempsey, the follow-up to her last single, 2021's  Wrong Night, is well underway and the current work-in-progress might even make it onto our playlists before the year's end. But if the single becomes her first of 2023 as well as her first since  Wrong Night, that's fine with her too. Emma's work in the health service has provided the perfect perspective for dealing with some of the music world's inevitable delays.

~ You can follow Emma on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok by searching Emma Donohue or Emma Donohue Music. You can stream Emma's music on Apple Music, Spotify, and all major platforms, and find out when she'll be performing at a venue near you by visiting her official website,  www.emmadonohuemusic.com 

Halloween night  signals a busy October for Mick

For singer/songwriter,    Mick Citern  Walsh, 2022 has already been a busy year, with the prolific recording artist already having  no less than  three releases to his credit. And, true to form, the Waterford native who now lives in Kilkenny, is about to close out the year with not just one more single, but two! And both in the month of October at that. 

Mick's most recent single -  The Twenty-One Steps (The Butterslip Song)  - was only released in September. But as the autumn evenings began to make their presence known, his mind returned to a song he recorded a couple of years back, but never officially released  as a single,  Halloween Night. As Mick himself so sagely puts it,  "I suppose there's really only a small window of opportunity to bring out a song with a title like that!" 

"I did a few things with it when I wrote it first",  reveals Mick,  "but I didn't give it much of an official release or anything like that, although I did send it to radio and I seem to remember that it picked up a play on RTE Radio 1 around then",  he confirms.

"I think what  happened is that Halloween comes around and then goes again so quickly. And once  it passes, you'd tend to forget about it until the next year. But then next year, you might not think of it in time, and so it would be the same story all over again [laughs]. And over the last few years too, we've all had so much else on our minds that songs this specific might not have had the kind of room to breathe that you'd like them to have." 

He continued,  "As for the song itself, it's one that kind of has a special place in my heart. There's a certain drama to it, as you might expect given the subject matter, of course. But there's also a childlike innocence to the song too, especially in the chorus, I think. You might even say the chorus has hints of a lullaby about it. So I decided that this year the song deserved more attention on my own side first of all, and whatever happens after that - as always with any song - is in the hands of the Gods. Or the ears of the listeners, as the case may be!"

"So it's going back out to radio again, and it will be available on all digital platforms from Friday, October 14th as well",  revealed Mick, adding,  "And this time the song will actually be available to pre-add and pre-save too. That link is available on my Facebook page right now for anyone who would like to do that."

Halloween Night  will follow on from Mick's earlier releases this year, the aforementioned  The Twenty-One Steps (The Butterslip Song)  in September; May's poignant reflection on the war in Ukraine,  Outside The Daffodils Will Rise Again; and  The Seventy Nine to Ballyer  in July. 

Mick will release his fifth single of 2022, another original from his own pen,  Katie Rua Power, later this month. 

A man whose prolific creative output is matched by his love of performing, Mick also organises and oversees one of the longest-running music sessions in Ireland, with the Monday night event in Cleere's of Kilkenny being a feature of the Marble City's cultural landscape for thirty years now. And for those who might not be able to make it along there, there's also a chance to hear Mick perform his new single, a selection of releases from his back-catalogue, as well as some of his personal favourites from other artists on his regular Facebook 'Live' every Sunday night at 9pm (on his official Mick Citern  Walsh Facebook page).

~  halloween Night, from Mick Citern Walsh, is out now, available on all platforms and radio. 

Deirdre's going 'Downda  Road' with her take on a nineties classic

Singer  Deirdre Keane  is going 'Downda  Road' with her new single, her take on a stone-cold nineties classic! The Galway native, now based in the Shannon-side town of Banagher in Offaly, is teaming up with  Mike Gleeson  and his  Downda Road Productions  team to release her version of Marc Cohn's Grammy nominated signature song  Walking In Memphis,  which went on  general  release this very week, and topped the Irish iTunes country chart in the process.

The song, which has also been covered by global superstar Cher and American country legends Lonestar, is Deirdre's first release with Downda Road, and it's a collaboration - and a return to the airwaves - that has the former Glór Tíre contestant excited about what's to come...

"The thing about this song",  shares Deirdre, "is that it's always been one of my favourites. I love Cher and Marc Cohen. Mike and I had been talking about maybe doing a collaboration, and when he suggested 'Walking In Memphis', I just thought, aaw yeah, I'd love to do that. To put my own twist on it would be amazing." 

"I'm of the age - unfortunately - that I can remember this song when it first came out",  laughs Deirdre.  "And then when Cher's version first came out, in 95, I think, it was one of my favourite songs at the time, I remember we were all singing it. It's a classic now. Part of that, first of all, is down to Cher, because everything she does is amazing really. And it has a kind of Elvis vibe to it as well. I'd be a big Elvis fan. It was a very different song to anything else that was out at the time. And it's stood the test of time."

So with Deirdre now on the Downda Road team for this version of  Walking In Memphis, what can fans expect from the collaboration? 

"Well, there's some fiddle in it, that's different for a start",  observes Deirdre.  "We tried to stay as close to the original as I could without making it sound exactly like it was just a straight-forward cover. I suppose my voice on it is what makes it that bit different. I wanted to keep the song's main feel, but bring my own style into it as well. Now, if you ask me what my own style is",  she quickly adds,  "I couldn't really tell ya [laughs]. The song really grew in the studio as we worked on it, and I'm delighted with how it came out."

Walking In Memphis  was the lead single on Marc Cohn's self-titled debut album in 1991, peaking at #13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and giving the Cleveland-born Grammy winner (Best New Artist in 1992) his only Top Forty hit. The song also earned Cohn a Grammy nod in the Song of the Year category in 1992. 

~  Walking In Memphis, the brand new single from Deirdre Keane - and her first in collaboration with Downda Road Productions - is out now on all platforms and radio.

Molly's new single a double celebration

If her first two singles gave Irish country fans every indication that Tipp woman  Molly O'Connell  might well be a voice they'd be hearing from for a long time to come, then her new record is certainly going to confirm that belief.

The Kilcommon native has just  released her third single -  Don't Judge The Book By Its Cover  - dropping everywhere earlier this month, on October 10th. And it's not just her velvet vocals that are turning peoples' heads. It's the songs that Molly is lending those vocals to, because her new single will also be her third original to hit the airwaves. 

Like  Crazy Crazy Baby  and  Waltz A Lifetime With You  before it,  Don't Judge The Book By Its Cover  comes from the impressive songbook of Stephen Hamilton. This immediately catchy number sees Molly pick up the pace again after the beautiful and unabashed celebration of love that was  Waltz A Lifetime With You. And that fact is something  that's sure to delight those who always have their dancing shoes ready to go! 

"It's definitely a floor-filler of a song, so it is",  declares Molly.  "The first time Stephen played it for me, I even remember thinking how much I'd love to dance to it myself, so that was a good sign straight away",  she laughs. "After having a great uptempo number as my debut single with 'Crazy Crazy Baby', and then following that up with a very different kind of song in 'Waltz A Lifetime With You', both of which gave me a chance to show contrasting sides to who I am as a recording artist, we always knew that we'd want to pick up the pace again with whatever came next. And 'Don't Judge The Book By Its Cover' is the perfect song to do exactly that." 

With  Don't Judge The Book By Its Cover  marking Molly and Stephen's third collaboration, and with big plans developing in the background for what 2023 will bring, there's every chance that the pair could be on their way to nailing down a unique position for themselves on the Irish country scene where covers still dominate the landscape.

Well it's very important for me to try and find a place of my own as an artist. Because for one thing, there are so many amazing female voices out there. I couldn't even start naming them all or I'd be talking all day! But to really stand out for who you are as an artist in your own right, no matter who you are, I've always believed that you need songs that are 'your songs'. That way, when fans think of one of those songs, they think of you. There's no question or confusion about whether it's the version of a song by this artist or by that artist that  they  like best. If you record original material, then those songs are linked to you and you alone. So for that reason, meeting Stephen was a blessing for me. He's such a wonderful songwriter, and we get on so well. It's always exciting when he gets in touch and tells me he has another song that he thinks I'll like, and he's usually right!"

~  Don't Judge The Book By Its Cover, the brand new single from Molly O'Connell, is out now on all platforms and radio.