Frantic Jack

Frantic Jack are one the most exciting new bands to emerge from Ireland in recent years. The band consists of Daragh Fitzgerald on vocals and guitar, Mark Kelly on guitar and vocals, Pauric Hurst on bass, James Kearney on keyboards and finally but never least Ricky Byrne on drums and vocals. With influences ranging from Matchbox20 to Dave Matthews Band, they have seamlessly molded their own unique sound and captured the attention of audiences both at home and abroad.

Dirty Voodoo

I met with local band Dirty Voodoo (and yes thats the way they spell it) and we had a chat and talk about music the local scene and the aspirations of the band. The band consists of David (Dom) Mulcahy who has been playing guitar since he was 16. Dom met Sean in 2004 and through the love of the guitar and the music, they struck up a friendship. Tommy Collins knew Sean while they were in another band and another friendship was formed. The lads had heard of Colin and decided they needed a contemporary soulful singer to compliment their band, so they asked vocalist Colin Lee to join Dirty Voodoo. Colin, Sean. Tommy and David met up for a jam one night, where the final member to join Patrick Rusty Gleeson sat in on drums, Rusty decided to sit in with the lads on drums for a bit of fun and Dirty Voodoo was complete, since then they have never looked back.

Jaded

This week I had the pleasure of chatting with Jaded, a four-piece rock band from Youghal on my radio program, we got a chance to talk about music, their smash hit video and life as a young group growing up in East Cork. I started with the usual questions following on from their success with their new video on Youtube. In a little over 2 months the video Jaded - a story so far directed by an uncle to one of the lads, has amassed a little over 110,000 hits, now that’s a lot of likes and most of them from foreign countries. So what’s the secret behind the success of this group?

Flower

Local film makers Ger Thompson and Eileen McCarthy get to show their new film “Flower” on Friday September 14th at the prestigious Dun Laoghaire underground cinema film festival.

Ger Thompson and Eileen Mc Carthy met while attending a three year theatre studies course at Inchicore College Dublin. They worked on various productions together and individually, writing, acting and directing. They went to Australia for a year where Ger proposed and wedding plans, secure jobs, house and babies were on the menu. They moved to Co. Waterford where they managed to build a home, have 2 children and create a very happy home life. In October 2009 Ger was made redundant as a site foreman. With no prospect of work and depression setting in, his wife Eileen took him aside while out walking in the woods and asked him what he would love to do in an ideal world. His response, “I’d love to make a film”. She said “Ok, let’s do it.”

Ken Cotter

This week I also had the chance to chat with Ken Cotter, singer & songwriter based in Cork. Ken is noted for his strong voice, captivating melodies and astute lyrical composition. His live performances are steered by a confident guitar and a well-honed stage craft. Ken started playing guitar at the age of 12, and over the next few years found himself penning songs in the style of his heroes, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg. But it was in the songs of Jimmy MacCarthy, Paul Brady, Luka Bloom and many other Irish Singer Songwriters, that Ken began to feel most at home. These great Irish performers helped him shape his sound and acquire the confidence to sing in his own voice about his own experiences. As a teen Ken was also listening to The Jam, The Who, U2, Big Country, Echo And The Bunnymen, as well as Irish homegrown rockers, Something Happens, Light A Big Fire and Cactus World News. Radiohead became a big influence. However, gradually Ken began to discover his own style.

Darragh Lee

Darragh Lee from Youghal Co Cork was my guest this week, Darragh who was involved in the recent Sacred Roots all ages Busking Competition which took place on Saturday August 11th in conjunction with the Tag Rugby Festivities in Youghal Co Cork, where  14 acts took part and despite the rain showers, braved the elements and played some wonderful music for everyone. Bands, Magicians, rappers and singer songwriters partook in the event that boasted a €1500 euro prize fund thank to the Vintners of Youghal. There were four categories Overall winners were Colin Turner & Georgia Theresa from Co. Wexford, Best under 16 winner went to the very talented Daniel Ryan from Youghal, Best Group went to the dance gurus Synergy from Youghal and Co Waterford and Best Individual Performance went to Darragh Lee.