An interview with Eleanor McEvoy

It was a distinct pleasure to sit with Eleanor McEvoy recently to discuss her career, her adoption to the internet, the start of her career and her change from classical music to becoming one of the most popular singer-songwriters in the country.

We also discussed the Irish music industry, the labels and media and her involvement in IMRO. We talked about the upcoming Tradfest in Temple Bar (on this coming weekend) and her upcoming Australian tour.

We also discussed her charity work - the background of her "Oh Uganda" video with Oxfam Unwrapped, her massively popular online, but commercially poor single "Sophie" and her anger at society and where she finds her inspiration.

The video is 35 mins long - you can minimise and listen if that's easier. It was, genuinely one of the most interesting and candid interviews I've had the pleasure to do, and it's Eleanor's only media engagement before her trip to Australia.



It was a genuine pleasure and I'd like to thank Eleanor for her time and honesty and Good Seed PR for helping arrange it.

Eleanor is doing one more gig in Ireland before Australia, according to her website - the New Music Club in Brazil’s Cafe Clonmel, Co. Tipperary on Wednesday 17 February and then her Australia dates kick off on Feb 26 with the Nannup Folk Festival.

You can follow Eleanor on twitter here, find her new YouTube channel her and visit her website here.

She'll be appearing at the Temple Bar Tradfest 2010 this coming Saturday giving an IMRO masterclass. Tickets are selling quickly so I'd suggest you be quick!

The day I interviewed Dustin the Turkey

From the Boards.ie blog:



Given the fact I talk to people a lot professionally, it's rare that I'm completely speechless in someone's presence. In fact, it's happened only twice recently - one when Terry Pratchett joined us for soup in Clare and the other was yesterday when Dustin started talking to me.

One of the cool things about my job with Boards.ie is what it allows me to do interviews like this. I find other people's questions are always much better than what I could come up with - especially if they have an emotional connection to the subject - it's how the soccer forum members came up with such great questions for John O' Shea and Damien Duff.

Setting up an interview with someone as busy as Dustin is a difficult one. Not content with everything he's done on TV, on the Eurovision, musically or politically, he's also just completed a trip to South Africa with UNICEF to entertain children affected by HIV/AIDS, unemployment and poverty and been in the recent RTÉ show "Dustin: Twenty Years A-Pluckin'" celebrating his own 20 years on Television. So, yes, it was a bit of an ordeal.

However I got to meet Dustin in Kite Entertainment's offices yesterday. I was nervous - I knew he'd go for me but it wasn't until he popped up from under the desk and started talking that I was completely awestruck.

There's me, as part of my job, getting to sit in an office, to look at Dustin, to see his beak, his eyes, to hear the click of his lower beak on his upper beak, the Louis Copeland suit, to just be in the presence of someone who has been on my screen on in my ears so much - magical.



The interview itself went as well as any of mine do - I'm trying hard not to laugh, I'm reading the next question to make sure I neither stammer nor stutter and I'm trying to act professional, rather than just laughing along. Poor Niamh had to hold the camera and put up with his amorous advances. It was a brilliant experience.



You know, there's times that I feel very very lucky. As does the lovely Niamho.



You can follow Dustin on Twitter here.

You can see what Boards.ie members are saying about the interview here.

You can hear Dustin's entire back catalogue of albums (and buy them) here.

A huge thanks to all the Boards.ie members, to Darren in Kite Entertainment and of course to Dustin. You legend :)

Chat with John Spillane plus live performance at Tower Records

I've just published my Culch.ie interview with John Spillane in Tower Records this morning. It was a brilliant chat - over 20 minutes! Spoke about everything from Cork to accents to Óró se do bheatha abhaile to Senegal to RnaG to ballet to more!



He was in Dublin to promote his new album So Far So Good, Like - The best of. It's a fantastic Irish album - I hadn't really known much about his music before I bought it yesterday (HMV, €14.99) but the authentic sound from the songs and the lyrics is quite something.

Some of the videos I shot of his performances today are songs from the album:

The Dunnes Stores Girl:



Passage West:



The Dance of the Cherry Trees:



Johnny don't go to Ballincollig:



There was a Man:



Will we be brilliant or what?





John's album is available in all good record stores now. The track listing is as follows: 1. Passage West, 2. The Dance of the Cherry Trees, 3. Lovers Leap, 4. All the Ways you Wander, 5. Johnny don't go to Ballincollig, 6. Everything’s Turning to Gold Cathy, 7. Will We Be Brilliant or What?, 8. Magic Nights in the Lobby Bar, 9. Hey Dreamer, 10. The Dunnes Stores Girl, 11. Buile mo Chroí (Beat of my Heart), 12. The Wounded Hero (Iníon Deichtine), 13. There was a Man, 14. Rise up Lovely Molly, 15. Beidh Aonach Amárach 16. Óró Sé do Bheatha Abhaile

The full, unedited interview can be seen on Vimeo here.

A huge thank you to Paula from EMI Music and Lorcan, John's manager, for helping arrange the interview, to Tower Records for the space and of course to John himself for being so great to talk with and listen to.

185 blogs walk into a bar...

There's some improv challenge! The Craic Pack, resident improv group at the Bankers in Dublin have to come up with the responses to a barman refusing to serve 185 blogs (or bloggers) who walk into a bar...

Watch the official new U2 video for Get On Your Boots here

UPDATE: I've been allowed to upload it to You Tube. So here it is, even before the Irish Independent's so called "exclusive"!



According to the guy who posted it on Facebook today, Jaime Andres Rodriguez:

Alexandre Courtez directs this visual explosion of a video that twists and turns with color, energy and abstract themes.

The first official video out of No Line On The Horizon, due in stores March 2, 2009.

Thanks a million Donna - you're a star!