Tag: Co-Op

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:

 

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: Michaela Benson

Published on by michaelabenson

Hi! My name is Michaela Benson.  I am 20 years old and I am from Limerick, Ireland. I am commonly known as Kayla, which also happens to be my artist name, ‘KAYLA’. I am a singer-songwriter who plays several musical instruments. 

I was one of those children who could sing before they could talk! When I was young, I would sing songs that I loved from my favourite movies, such as Dirty Dancing, Grease, Mamma Mia, etc. However, as I grew older I fell in love almost every style of music, such as Soul, Jazz, RnB, Indie-pop. These would be the genres that would inspire me to want to start writing my own music.

 I began writing my own songs somewhat seriously in Spring of 2018. I gained the courage to finish a song I had started to write when I was 15. I realised that writing songs was a way I could get whatever I wanted off my chest without having to say anything, I could just sing it!

In December 2019, I released a demo of an original song named ‘space’, which can be streamed on Spotify and YouTube. The song was written and recorded in a single day after finding a beat I loved on Youtube. The upbeat ‘Bedroom-pop’ style song was a fun, light-hearted way for me to write about how its ok to be overwhelmed and need some time to yourself. It was incredible experiencing the love and support from friends and family. Almost a year later, ‘space’ is an extremely appropriate song about social distancing!

I am hoping to release my debut EP in the near future, and my latest original ‘Bitter’ will be featured on it. I want this EP to tell the story of who I am, what I have experienced and I want people to connect with each song. I wrote ‘Bitter’ at a really stressful time, when I really needed to let my feelings out the only way I knew how. Even though each of my songs have a story behind them, I want people to give my songs their own interpretation. Please enjoy this stripped back, acoustic version with my questionable guitar skills!

Social Media

Instagram – @kaylabensonmusic

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!

RootStrings Co-Op Student Feature: Alison Hayes

Published on by karasheaobrien

My name is Alison (Ali) Hayes and I am a 19 year old singer-songwriter and instrumentalist from Co. Clare. My musical journey in terms of instrument playing began in primary school where I was first taught how to play the tin whistle as part of the school curriculum. I took so much joy in it that I wanted to take extra lessons outside of school. My teacher at the time, Michael Grogan, also played the fiddle which I then picked up and further went on to be classically trained on the violin by Bryonie Hopper. I played classical music for 6 years and completed grades 1-5 in ABRSM. Since 2017 I have learned how to play banjo, guitar, piano and a few others in between. My journey to becoming a singer was never really as prominent as my journey to becoming an instrumentalist. I was always part of the school choirs and musicals growing up but I never really wanted to be a solo singer. It wasn’t until I entered into the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance that I realised I had such a passion for singing. I initially entered first year wanting to play trad music but towards the end of the year I decided to swap over to the voice class. I sing mostly Irish and pop songs but I can adapt and suit my voice to other genres if I put my mind to it. 

The soul purpose of my musical journey is to share my stories with others and hopefully heal people in the same way other artists and musicians have healed me. I want to combine my knowledge of and ability to sing and play multiple genres to produce music that will bring me to the fullest joy imaginable. I have always said that artists shouldn’t be confined to create or perform one specific genre and I am going to live by that statement. My ideal performance would be a mix of me singing and playing instruments rather than just doing one or the other. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with Rootstrings thus far. I feel as though it is giving me a really good foundation and preparing me to tackle the business and financial aspects of having a career in music. In my opinion it’s helpful to have some bit of knowledge before you go jumping in the deep end signing contracts and having no idea what you’re getting yourself into or what they entail.