youbloom artist spotlight: Cousin Kate

25-Aug-2015 By Amy Van Daele Leave a Comment

Isabelle Cott shared with us The Cousin Kate Fairytale:

“Once upon a time there were 2 girls in a womb. With both their parents singing, they, too sang before they spoke. And they kept singing growing up. But then the twins went separate ways as one of them, Corinna, was meant to meet Brian at the other side of the world. Brian taught himself to play the guitar when he was 14 years old. Corinna partnered up with Brian to write Cousin Kate’s music. Corinna’s twin, Isabelle, reunited with her sister after a few years; following her to the other side of the world. The voice of Cousin Kate was redefined.

Haim, who became a drummer as a child, has been with the 3 of them since the beginning. Suzanne, on bass, grew up first playing the oboe and drums, until one day a band member left his bass at her house, making her realize that this instrument was her destiny. Tracie first played the piano before starting to play the Cello at 12. With extensive experience as composer and orchestrator, she beautifully harmonizes her Cello with the twins’ voices.” But, the story does not end there!

youbloom became part of their story when they joined us for youbloom@LA last year for both the festival and the conference. Up until this point, they were a band of four and would hire additional musicians when they were invited to play live. It wasn’t until our festival that Isabelle Cott, Corinna Cott, Brian Florian and Haim Russi decided they needed to complete the band. So, as fairytales go, they met their perfect complements in Suzanne Birrell and Tracie Turnball.

Aside from the musical talent of the group, what gives Cousin Kate such a magical quality is the meaning and the motivation behind the music. “The way we see the world is that our word and thoughts create our reality. Therefore, what we think about and hear (consciously and unconsciously) affect our experience,” explains Isabelle. Cousin Kate’s music is about connections, appreciation, and love. They incorporate positive messages into their lyrics and have even created a new genre called MAP—Melodic Alternative Pop with positive lyrics.

The majority of the band’s 100+ song repertoire was created by Brian forming a melody, Corinna creating the vocal melodies and lyrics, and Isabelle adding in the harmonies. Their sound has been likened to Sixpence None the Richer, The Cranberries, and The Beatles. Take a listen to their song “The Thinker” here.

Since youbloomLA, Cousin Kate has been working on their new album which is scheduled to release in November. What is most exciting for them about this album is that this will be the first album that will include Suzanne and Tracie. As with their last album, “Life Without Fear,” the songs will be placed in an order as to tell a story. In addition to the studio recording they are doing, the band plans to release some of their live music as well, either incorporating it into the album or releasing a live album.

Cousin Kate is also very enthusiastic about their first cover song. We tried to get it out of them, but they are being very secretive… However, they did say that it is a well-known song that coincidences with the messages portrayed in their own music. They will also be inviting a couple guest performers on the track (they aren’t giving any hints!).

If you would like to continue following this fairytale that is Cousin Kate, sign up for their newsletter on their website, friend them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.

Corner Boy Conquer Europe and do reality TV

23-Aug-2015 By Ciara Sheahan Leave a Comment

Cornerboy by Colm Kelly

“Four and half beards and a van “ is how Michael D’Arcy frontman describes his band Corner Boy. He’s so modest, this Waterford ambassador for the arts. It’s Friday night and we’re having a chat in between kit load in and soundcheck for a gig at the Clonmel Busking Festival. Their new single “Untie The Noose “ has just dropped. So far they’ve had over eight thousand views of the video in one day. Oh my, what a beauty it is. Directed by highly accomplished writer David O’Brien, he of the “Blood Red Turns Dollar Green” trilogy. The film has a distinct Tim Burton flavour, superb storytelling stylishly framing this stomping tune. Michael reveals the song was written under a bridge in Waterford, adding yet another layer of lyrical intrigue.

Now firmly formed as a five piece, the band have totally self funded all their releases to date. They invest all funds from playing back into the band whilst juggling jobs and weekday routines. Hitting the road on Fridays, they’ve played every county in Ireland. Except Clare for some reason. But there’s a gig planned for that one. Enjoying the freedom to make their own musical decisions, whilst building a massive fan base has ensured Corner Boy maintained their own artistic integrity. Unlike many other aspiring artists it’s not all about a label. Michael preaches the word of the independent music maker. He’s not seeking a magic formula. “We do it because we love it. We love travelling, meeting all kinds of other bands and musicians, artists writers and filmmakers. We’ve met people from all over the world touring Ireland. Yeah I’m sure the day will come when a label will be there but for us it’s not just about that.”

In a bizarre twist, the band found themselves with a top five in charts in Holland. They had taken part in a reality show about two Dutch guys made learning Irish folk music. They played with The Young Folk and other remaining members of The Dubliners as part of the show. It was aired in The Netherlands on primetime tv as the two fellas were part of the panel for The Voice. So, Michael comes in from the farm at 4 am, (it was calving season) only to find their facebook page had gone mad with new Dutch fans and top five hit in the charts. Hence the reason Corner Boy are hitting the road to Europe in September.

I’ve been lucky enough to witness their True North and “Morning Morning” EPs live several times. From the energetic, uplifting, rousing “Morning Morning” to the romantic, ambling melody of “Move To Paris”. These guys are no one trick pony. There’s a big range of influences apparent, whether is blue-grass or alt-rock. We were lucky enough to have them for the finale of the youbloom Dublin 2015 festival in June. If they show up in your part of the world go see them. They will rise you like no other. In the mean time you can watch “Untie The Noose” here.

Running riot: Dublin band The Riot Tapes fire things up with new single and video. World appropriately sweats.

18-Aug-2015 By Shannon Duvall Leave a Comment

“Goodbye my faith, goodbye my heart.”

Ah, Elaine Doyle, c’mere, would you ever stop being such a fantastic ride? Look at you there, running around the countryside, looking winsome and windswept, not a bother on you as you purr lyrics in perfect time and stare down the sunset like some badass bog Madonna.

Are your legs tired? Cause you’ve been running through my mind all day.

Well then, at least put a scarf on, dear, you’ll catch your death of cold out there. Yes, even in August; this is Ireland, after all.

–
Just two months on from their ravishing show at youbloomDublin 2015, Reekus Records’ Riot Tapes are are off and running – rather literally, actually – with their latest release, a single called “Hello, Insanity”.

Recorded at Westland Studios in Dublin’s south inner city, and initially intended as a work-in-progress recording, the since-polished song has been receiving critical praise from fans and industry swingers alike; Joe Donnelly of TXFM has called it “…a thunderbastard of a song.”

Well.

You can see where he’s coming from. As Irish mainstream music goes, this is top stuff. The production is so clean and well-considered, it’s as if the group are aliens – seductively frank aliens – dropped off here to totally steal the show. And this is what they do, with cannonball drums and electro-effect guitar thrum burning up the reel. Donnelly goes on to liken the track to “Heads Will Roll”, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, quite the comparison, and by all accounts spot on, if the response from listeners of his popular radio show Cheer or Sneer are anything to go on. Riot Tapes, are, quite frankly, killing it right now.

So what does a sassy band of audio assassins do when they’re not busy slaying from the airwaves and the stages of Ireland’s best fests? Why, drive up the mountains and get up to all sorts of antics, of course:

“The shooting of the video (for “Hello, Insanity”) was unusual,” says vocalist Elaine.

“Myself and Chris (our guitarist) agreed on the concept which was basically me running up the Dublin mountains singing along to the song. So one cold sunny morning the two of us headed up to the mountains in Chris’s little Fiesta. We had a camera, a tripod, and some red rope. We put the camera onto the tripod, tied the tripod into the boot of the fiesta and began shooting. Chris drove as slowly as he could and I ran after the car whilst trying to sing. The whole point of the video was to do it in one take.”

“One minute in, we had a problem: my jeans were falling down quite rapidly when I ran. Chris cut off some of the red rope and made me a belt. You can kind of see it in the video if you look really close. We did four or five takes, and used the last one for the video. It didn’t take too long to do at all.”

Talented, tenacious, quite obviously full of creative energy; it must have been off to win over more listeners after the shoot, surely? Actually, uh, not quite:

“We spent longer looking for 50 euro that fell out of my pocket while I was running than we did shooting the video!” Doyle laughs. “We never found it.”

Check out all the pants (and panting!) -related mayhem right here in the video:

Riot Tapes play The Big Viking Picnic, a gig for charity, in Kells, Ireland August 29.

From youbloomLA to major management deal — Keith Cullen gets signed

21-Jul-2015 By Ciara Sheahan 1 Comment

It’s less than nine months since Dublin singer songwriter Keith Cullen graced the stage at youbloom LA last November. In that nine months Keith has been working the scene in Dublin, London and LA . He’s juggling time zones and body clocks to be in the right place at the right time. Thankfully, it all worked out. So far.

The big news from Keith is that he has signed a management deal with Phil Quartararo – Former CEO at Virgin records, Warner bros and EMI. Phil is credited with numerous musical legends like Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, Eric Clapton, Red Hot chilli peppers. He was the guy who was instrumental in breaking U2 into the American market.

Keith managed to get double Grammy winner Bob Cutarella to produce his new album. Bob has worked with musical heroes like Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson, Sheena Easton, Air Supply, Melissa Manchester, Whitney Houston, Michael Henderson, Diana Ross, Deborah Allen, Dolly Parton, The Police, Elton John, REM, Culture Club, Human League, ABC, Linda Rondstadt, Frank Sinatra to name but a few. This heavy hitter has produced records with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Joss Stone, Sting, Billy Gibbons(ZZ TOP), Allison Krauss, Joe Perry (Aerosmith), John Rzeznik (The Goo Goo Dolls), Keith Richards and Cyndi Lauper He won two Grammys in 2005 and currently is soliciting music for American Idol, X Factor, and the Voice.

The KC dream team is ready. Keith, Bob, Phil and the woman behind it all Jennifer Cullen. Jennifer is Keith’s sister and manager. They both ran a highly successful commercial business back in the boom, they have both given it all up to follow the dream to see Keith succeed as an artist. Keith lists off his highlights since youbloom LA as having his song “ Say Something” placed into the film “High Strung”, signing the management deal with Phil, working with Bob and his longtime sonic companion JJ Daly and hanging with Hozier during Grammy season in LA.
“It’s really weird hearing your music on a film, like sitting there watching the movie, then your song comes on. It’s amazing, don’t get me wrong but it takes time to actually take it in, when it materialises. I still can’t believe it when I think about it”. Keith found himself in the artistic company of Jayne Seymour and “Inception” and “Batman” actor Andrew Pleavin, both of whom starred in the film.

2015 has been really productive for Keith so far, but it didn’t happen overnight. Keith has been chasing his musical ambitions since 2010. He quickly realised that the music scene in Ireland was too small for him to succeed. Controlled by a few key players with a significant challenge to get airtime on Irish radio, it’s a story many Irish artists will relate to. Keith and Jennifer began sussing out the scene in LA and London.

Funding trips to conventions, meetings and festivals they both networked every opportunity. Wading through the swamps of bullshit to eventually find key people and big chances to make an impression. The impression seems to be working, but as Keith will tell you “ we treated it like a business. We quickly understood who could deliver and who was bullshitting. You can bluff all day, but it’s the ones who deliver to make the grade”. And the grade has been made. There’s no big label news yet, but I get the feeling… it won’t be long now.

If you have a musical niggle that won’t go away, take a look at the apply to play form for #youbloomLA2015. You never know, it might be you we are writing about in 2016.

Keith with Hozier in L.A.

youbloom artist spotlight: Jamey Geston

19-Jul-2015 By Amy Van Daele Leave a Comment

Jamey Geston is another successful artist who was chosen to play at youbloomLA last year. Based in Santa Barbara, this teenage singer/songwriter was no amateur to performing at festivals prior to coming to ours. Just last year, in addition to youbloomLA, she has played at BandFest (Carpinteria, CA), Fusion Music Festival (Paramount Ranch, CA), Los Olivos Arts Festival (Los Olivos, CA), Meiner Oaks Summer Solstice (Ojai, CA), and the Santa Barbara Int’l Women’s Festival (Santa Barbara, CA)… just to name a handful.

Jamey began playing guitar at ten years old and then self-taught herself the piano, ukulele, and bass. She began songwriting at eleven, inspired by artists such as Elliott Smith, King Krule, The Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, and Mac Demarco.

For having such a short career, she has been incredibly successful and noticed by industry professionals like Bob Leggett of the LA Examiner who calls Jamey “a dynamic performer and a prolific songwriter” or Judy Collins who says “Jamey is a darling and so talented, a beautiful young artist and singer.”

Jamey has shared the stage with talented artists including Jeff Bridges, Kenny Loggins, and Will Champlin as well as opened for award-winning folksinger, Judy Collins, legendary musician, Peter Frampton, and Grammy-winning guitarist, Albert Lee. She has played in venues across California and Arizona, some notable venues include the world-famous Roxy and Whisky A Go Go.

Already by 2013 she was a featured artist in Santa Barbara Band Guide as one of “The 805’s Next Great Music Makers.” Two of her songs have been chosen to appear in films, earning her two IMDb composer and music credits and she is currently endorsed by Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, Steve Clayton Guitars Picks, Shubb Capos and Capturing Couture Guitar Straps.

This year has been no less eventful for this young musician. She was invited back for the third consecutive year to play at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA. She was also selected to work with Mary Amato, an award-winning children’s book author, poet, playwright, and songwriter, on an audio/video rendition of her book, Get Happy. Jamey will be the voice of the main character as well as a contributor on the six ukulele songs included.

She also worked this year on creating a teen band for a ‘Notes for Notes’ fundraiser sponsored by Seymour Duncan. At the show this past June, the band opened for Peter Frampton and featured her original song, Malibu. Within the same month, a Bob Dylan compilation cd (Dylan, By A New Generation) Jamey contributed on was released.

Now that school is out for the summer, Jamey is able to focus more on her music and on the EP she hopes to complete within the next year. When she isn’t recording, she will be playing various different shows and festivals. Take a look at what she has scheduled so far:

More details and music over here.