Category: Uncategorized

Root Strings Signs “Black & White Motion Picture”

Published on by maryannhickeyy

Root Strings is very excited to announce that we are now working with Black & White Motion Picture. Black & White Motion Picture is a budding rock band out of Denver, Colorado; with its influences in classic rock, blues, and funk. These six fascinating individuals have come together to form a retro-rock sound. They dextrously balance tackling serious topics in their music, whilst maintaining a good sense of humour; about themselves and about life.

The core of “Black & White Motion Picture” formed in 2018, when frontman Josh met Tony, working at a brewery. Tony noticed Josh playing air guitar, and they bonded over wanting to cover “Gay Bar” by Electric 6. Josh was in a different band at the time, but that soon fell apart, mainly because they “sucked”; and he and Tony started (yet another) failed band. However, it was after that band split that BWMP formed. Simultaneously, Josh had plans to see an old school-friend of his, Bart, later that night for the first time in over a decade. They were briefly in a band together during high school but had fallen out of touch. They got to talking about music and “Gay Bar” come up – it was like fate. Bart asked, “do you guys need a drummer?”, and the core of BWMP was formed.

Black and White Motion Picture

They soon met Cory, Jules and Gus; who were all part of another band called “Upstairs Neighbor”. Once “Upstairs Neighbor” disbanded, the guys recruited Jules to sing; Cory to play guitar; and Gus to play bass. “Black & White Motion Picture” was complete. 

Perhaps the best way to understand the hilarious dynamics between these friends is to take a look at their recently released music video for their song “Mild Life” (linked below), which was written and conceptualised by Tony. In the video, we see Josh interview his fellow band members as guests on a fictional, cheap, public access talk show, “Late Last Night with Josh”; set against a shower-curtain backdrop of the red-light district, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Each band member takes on a persona for the show – Josh is the host, Bart his side-kick, Tony a magician, Cory a chef, Jules a disinterested actress, and Gus a taxidermist. The band’s personalities and antics are captured through this comedic lens, Josh gets sick of being the host, and they transform into the sensational musical act for the night, “Black & White Motion Picture”. Black & White Motion Picture’s new single “I Can Be Cruel Too” is out now on all streaming platforms. All updates can be found on BWMP’s social media pages and website, which you can find linked below.

Linktree

Catch Ian Delaney’s powerful new single ‘A Man’s Mentality’

Published on by karasheaobrien

“My name is Ian Delaney I am an independent Irish artist from laois. My single ‘A Mans Mentality’ was a song I felt like I needed to write for a long time but I didn’t feel like I was brave enough. The song talks about the struggles men face with mental health which is not always talked about. It talks about times of feeling so low and questioning everything you thought you knew. This song is so personal to me as since lockdown began I have struggled with mental health and I wanted to release this song and have others hear it to know that so many people are feeling the same way and I have always believed there is strength in numbers. Men’s mental health is something I have always been passion about and I have always wanted to try and break the stigma of talking about men’s mental health or mental health in general as I don’t want to grow up in a generation where we think mental health is a weakness or something that we shouldn’t discuss. Out of every song I have wrote this has been my favourite just as it brought me back into writing and releasing music as I took a break and I just love the message behind this song. My co op has started with root strings and the main things I would love to gain from this is more connections with musicians, more support on gaining gigs, and releasing more music for more people to hear! ”

Listen to Ian’s single ‘A Mans Mentality’:

Keep in touch with Ian:

 

Mary McLaughlin Releases “I’m Looking for Sanctuary” Music Video

Published on by karasheaobrien

RootStrings Management is delighted to announce the release of a new original song from Irish singer-songwriter Mary McLaughlin. “I’m Looking for Sanctuary” is a stirring reflection on the plight of refugees everywhere.

Mary says: “‘I’m Looking for Sanctuary’ was recorded at home in Ireland during the Covid lockdown of Winter 2020-2021. The song began its life twenty years previously in 2001 on the occasion of my visiting Ellis Island in New York and empathising with the hopes and fears of my ancestors who had emigrated from Ireland to the USA. The first slide in the video tells the story of how I came to write the song and why I have waited so long to actually release it. I recorded the guitar and all vocals on Garage Band and sent the files to producer Stu Wilson who added the keyboards and blended the vocals. Please wait until the end of the video to see details of charities that you might consider supporting.”

Learn more about Mary McLaughlin by visiting her website or on facebook.

RootStrings Co-Op Student Feature: Daniel Corcoran

Published on by Daniel Corcoran

My Name is Daniel Corcoran, I am a 20 year old musician from Laois that has been singing and playing music for the last 10 years. I first endeavoured to enter the music scene through Comhaltas and I am continuing this passion into my solo career. I am now currently in my 3rd year of study in Performing Arts in UL. My hobbies range from going on walks and wandering through the fields around my house with my brothers and dog. 

I want to continue to further my career within the music industry, as there are many areas of the industry other than performing that I haven’t encountered yet but have had the opportunity to find out more  through my work at Rootstrings, and gaining more interest in them like stage management and talent scouting. My passion for music comes from one of my first stage performances: the atmosphere combined with the crowd, the blinding lights and the audiences’ reaction to every note and word sung all collided to give me a powerful rush of adrenaline and joy that has stayed with me throughout all of my study. This was the moment when I wanted to pursue music as a professional career choice. 

In 2018, my brothers and I starred on TG4 Talent Show called Realta agus na Goalta and although we didn’t qualify past our initial first appearance, we got to visit the RTE headquarters in Dublin and see how pre-recorded TV shows are filmed and what the backstage areas of RTE’s set looks like, along with how audience interaction is co-ordinated by the stage crew before and during the recording. There can be a lot of retakes just for one line of dialogue! We also had the unique opportunity of being a part of one of the first youth choirs to play in Knock Cathedral as well as getting to play for President Michael D Higgins on four separate occasions. 

For furthering my career I have begun to focus more on songwriting and singing more in general through the use of my music page (@DanCorcMusic). I would like to be part of this industry through other practical means as well through stage management or sound engineer and currently I have had a great opportunity to experience more of these aspects through my Co-op at Rootstrings. Many parts of the music industry like research, record labels, copyright law and even general business practices for the sake of artists aren’t being taught to the artists that need them the most. I’ve learned so much more about the music industry through being a part of it at Rootstrings. 

RootStrings Co-Op Student Feature: Annabelle Buttery

Published on by annabellebuttery

My name is Annabelle Buttery. I am a Limerick based singer-songwriter. Currently I’m completing my co-op placement with Rootstrings Management as part of my Bachelors in Performing Arts in The University of Limerick.

As a musician I get a lot of my inspiration from Jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday as well as more mainstream artists like Lennon Stella and Orla Gartland. I started singing as a child but didn’t take it seriously until I began secondary school and had an amazing music teacher who saw potential in me and made me see the potential in myself. I have been part of many choirs and taken part in many competitions mainly to gain experience performing and those experiences gave me the confidence to really take my own music seriously. I use Instagram (@annabelleb_music) as my main platform for my music at the moment but hope to start releasing things to streaming platforms in the near future.

I am currently working on my debut single ‘Hindsight’. This song is the definition of a work in progress. I originally wrote the song at sixteen after a getting out of a toxic relationship. At the time I wrote the existing verses and a different chorus. However, at twenty that chorus had just a little too much teen angst for me. I still loved the verses and felt quite attached to them so I decided to replace the chorus and add a bridge that were what I would say to my sixteen-year-old self if I could go back in time.

I hope to properly record/produce this song eventually but for now I have this baritone ukulele version that I hope you enjoy.

Give me a follow here!