Music from the Heart

There are songwriters known for their honesty. Dubliner Luke Clerkin is one of them. Award-winning musician who played 250 gigs in the year 2015 is also known to be a mental health activist. He's back releasing music after more than a year, started with Stones (originally being his debut single back in 2016), he now brings the latest single Nocturnal which shows a new direction of his songwriting. The new direction can be clearly noticed in the full band sound but one thing remains, the focus on the words and the message. This is the second single from Clerkin's upcoming EP called What Little Time We Have.

We need to make our way through the deep, thick, Scandinavian forest, into the wilderness until we reach A Choir Of Ghosts, fingerpicking the guitar to folksy vigorous tunes to long for. The front person, Sweden-based James Augers’ musical foundation: the soil, is through the reminiscence of Kurt Cobain, topped with the water, sun and air of The Tallest Man On Earth and Hollow Coves, making ACOG give you a feeling of all shades of nostalgia.

Belfast-born Owen Denvir has established himself among the most interesting acts emerging on current music scene.Now he's back with second of his trilogy of EPs, Stones. When complete, this trilogy will form his debut album. Each of the EPs has it own theme. As Denvir says, the EP trilogy idea is based on Sigmund Freud's theory that personality is a sum of 3 parts: the Id (acting on raw impulse), the Ego (being terrified of consequences) and the Superego (the balance between the two). The first EP ("Sticks") deals with loss and delusion and the impulsive decisions we make while in the spell of 'love'. The second ("Stones") being a more confident but brash take on love, and finally the last EP ("Bones") is when you have the balance between the two, which mostly leads to more healthy relationship.

Coming from Dublin, Elena Duff’s musical career began late in life, as she formerly concentrated solely on visual art. The beginning was the day she picked up a ukulele and taught herself to play. Pretty soon she began to write her own songs. Her influences include jazz, 1920s music and folklore and torch songs.  She  got endorsed by a ukulele manufacturer in Korea and joined a large, gigging ukulele ensemble for a year. After leaving the band, she focused on writing and performing her own songs on soprano and baritone ukuleles and more recently guitar. Sailing on the Sea of Love started life as an acoustic number played on baritone ukulele and was written for Valentine's Day 2019.

A collective of talented singers and musicians with a love for that authentic soul and R&B sound. The Manukahunney brand, from Bangor, Co.Down, Northern Ireland,  has developed since 2012 and now promotes TWO bands offering different types of soul to lovers of soul music.  Manukahunney, a 7-9 piece Soul funk band that offers high energy soul, funk  music particularly from the 60s and 70s and fresh takes on the songs of great artists like Aretha Franklin and Wilson Picket,  interweaving recognised hits with classic Motown and hot Northern Soul.  Manukahunney BLUE (MH Blue)  is the second band to emerge out of the Manukahunney brand.  MH Blue is the smaller soul collective that offers more laid back vibes, with fresh takes on artists like such as Roy Ayers,  Jill Scott,  Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill & Booker T. They combine soul  with blues, jazz and gospel, as well as original music of their own.

Stolen City are a Dublin-based three-piece who pride themselves on their fun, energetic performances.Since the release of debut E.P ‘Stolen City’ two years ago, the young band have worked tirelessly to make their mark on Ireland’s independent music scene, with their upbeat pop-rock sound. Their main mission is to bring change to the music scene. In their own words "We see a big disconnect between bands and their fans nowadays, It’s as if once people get famous they can forget where they came from, We want to make sure that never happens to us and hope if we lead by example people will follow."

Stripped were formed in 1998 in Northern Ireland, released many successful EPs and featured on many popular compilation albums. In 2012 they released a retrospective collection Out of My Head featuring best of the early recordings from 1998-2001. Since then they have released two further popular EPs My Fear of Heights and The Carnival EP and in 2018 produced two covers, David Bowie's Heroes and Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl. 2019 saw the release of Moving On album. And this year they're back with the latest single.

Featured in video game tracks, film scores, and alternative music, Nella’s voice has reached around the world. Nella’s EP Revolution was released in 2015 and quickly hit the number one spot on iTunes in preorder sales. She has been recognised for her soaring lead vocals on World of Warcraft Legion, scored by Russell Brower. Nella toured with the Video GamesLive series across the globe. She has a fan base that spans adult alternative fans to avid video game players that connect to some of their favourite storylines with Nella’s emotional throughline. She has been collaborating with a number of Grammy- and Emmy-award winning artists and composers, and there will be more from her in the months to come.

Frank Vestry is considered one of the finest vocalists in the AOR/melodic genre. My collection is a fitting name for an album that summs up three decades of Vestry's career.