Ireland in Music will be broadcasted on RTÉ tonight and will then tour festivals in 2021, to broadcast Irish talent to the world. Sharing the trailer on Instagram, the Ireland in Music account said; “The world premiere of a new platform for Irish music. Our aim is to promote Irish music globally with high quality projects.”

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The film was formed in May of this year with the creators of TradFest with the aim of showcasing Irish musicians to people abroad. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, artists couldn’t tour and felt they lost that connection to their fans. Tradfest decided to create this piece to bring people together and show the stunning landmarks Ireland has to offer.

The film was recorded throughout September and October with varying degrees of lockdown and social distancing rules. Producer and director, Donal Scannell spoke about the special saying that “in many ways Ireland In Music is a celebration of what’s possible even during the darkest days.” He also added; “This musical mixtape is a snapshot of Ireland as filtered through the ears, mouths, hearts and souls of the enlightened.”

Donal Scannell also said in a piece he wrote for RTÉ about his obsession with Irish music and television said; “Netflix, although still only a small percentage of the total TV market, has helped us all realise that TV has been globalised. This is a great opportunity for Irish programme makers to make shows not only for Ireland, but for the world.”

Ireland in Music will be broadcasted on RTÉ tonight, the 29th of December, at 8pm. It will also be available on the RTÉ player in the UK.

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Speaking to Hotpress about the song, band member Gemma Doherty said; “After a few attempts at an arrangement, it seemed like it should be quite free and driven by the vocals, possibly a cappella. We’re so used to singing as a duo and creating vocal harmony with two voices, but with three voices you can find a real sense of completion within the chords. When we started thinking of it in three-parts, the first voice that came to mind was Lisa’s.”

Along with the new song, the band released a music video, filmed in The Winding Stair bookshop in Dublin because of its relevance to the song, Gemma explained the origin of the song, saying; “I wrote this song while I was working as a Christmas temp in Dublin’s oldest book shop, Hodges Figgis. One day a friend, who I hadn’t seen since we had a misunderstanding, came in and caught me completely off guard.” She continued; “I was, all at once, angry that we hadn’t talked for months and that they had chosen now, to come to where I worked to make peace, but also undeniably relieved and happy to see them, to know we were still friends.”

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The song was recorded a year ago in The Meadow in Wicklow, Ireland, where it was performed for Ruby Sessions At Home in March in aid of the Dublin Simon Community, a homelessness charity. Speaking about the song on Instagram the band said; “We wanted to bring some of what made that night so important to us to this video, so with that in mind we are encouraging a donation to Simon Community. A lot of us have temporarily lost the place that we work but too many people live without a home, without a safe space at all. Mind yourselves and mind each other.”

The Place That I Work is out now on all platforms, the music video is down below.

The collaboration has also opened the conversation about female representation in the Irish music industry. Organiser and producer, RuthAnne took to her social media to say how proud she was to create this union, saying; “We felt it was time to raise our voices together in unity as the women in music from Ireland and come together to support the domestic abuse victims & survivors.” 

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Irish Women in Harmony ‘Dreams’ coming this Thursday 18th June in support of @safeireland #womensupportingwomen I am so excited to announce this. About a month ago I starting dm-ing Irish female artists & wanted to get a group of us together to do something special, remotely but together in spirit and before I knew it we had 32 Irish female artists & 7 Irish female musicians covering an iconic Irish song by legends @thecranberries #dreams and I produced it. From some of the female trailblazers in Irish music to the emerging female artists from this country. Go follow our brand new community @irishwomeninharmony for Irish female creatives & join us cos I know there are so many more out there & this is just the beginning. We felt it was time to raise our voices together in unity as the women in music from Ireland and come together to support the domestic abuse victims & survivors. During lockdown home has been our safe place but for so many home is a hostile, dangerous and violent environment with domestic abuse rates raising 25% since lockdown and we have to help. All proceeds from this song are going to @safeireland. You can swipe to presave the single now in my bio. Can’t wait for you to hear it. Stay tuned for premiere details. To donate €4 now text SAFE to 50300. Shoutout to @rionagh & @catherineroyle from @mcdproductions for this beautiful artwork!!

A post shared by RuthAnne (@thisisruthanne) on Jun 15, 2020 at 4:01am PDT

Contributer and singer-songwriter Stephaine Rainey spoke to Hot Press to say how in Ireland female artists are usually pitted against each other so this song shows the unity that should exist in the industry.“We need more Irish women headlining the 3Arena. There is absolutely no reason why it can’t happen.” She went on to say “Every other country is producing female superstars – when did Ireland stop doing that? There is so much talent – it just needs focus. We need support.”

Music duo Morgan McIntyre and Gemma Doherty, better known as Saint Sister, also talked to Hot Press and highlighted their experiences, saying; “It’s a shame we still have to shout for women’s voices and their instruments to be heard and recognised.” They went on to say how powerful media representation is and how we need to amplify female voices to achieve gender equality in music.

Other contributers to the song have spoken out on social media about their own anger, and about how they feel left behind by the Irish music industry as a whole. Singer-songwriter Orla Gartland quote tweeted a playlist from Eirewave.ie on the 22nd of May. Eirewave is an online only radio station which aims to play exclusively Irish artists. The playlist detailed the top played Irish music, which did not have a single female artist on it and said “hi just wondering if anyone at @eirewave has ever met or heard of a woman before.” 

Following the release of the song, Gartland posted to Instagram saying: “growing up in Ireland there were so few female musicians on Irish radio & TV, billed at gigs and festivals.. it’s hard to imagine yourself doing a job when you don’t see or hear others that look like you.”

 

 

 

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A post shared by orla gartland (@orlagartland) on Jun 19, 2020 at 10:14am PDT

As the conversation continues, it will be interesting to see the response from the big names in the Irish music industry and what we can do going forward to support Irish female voices.

Check out the Irish Women in Harmony’s cover of The Cranberries’ Dreams in aid of SAFE Ireland below. SAFE works to save women and children from domestic violence in Ireland.