Nashville beckons for singers

Nashville beckons for singers

7 March 2018

TWO local singer songwriters are heading for Nashville later this month to perform in a showcase event supported by the Arts Council.

Cora Kelly, from Killough, and Downpatrick’s Lucy Bell will be joined by Belfast’s Owen Lamont and Owen Denvir at the world famous Bluebird Cafe in the capital of American country music. 

Before heading across the Atlantic, the quartet will be performing at the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, which starts tonight at the Clayton Hotel.

The aims of the event are to celebrate emerging talent from Northern Ireland on an international stage and also introduce local artists to Grammy-Award winning songwriters and producers to help develop their professional careers in music.

Festival director, Colin Magee, said that as well as offering performances of long-established artists, the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival aims to offer a platform to break new talent from Northern Ireland and showcase them on an international platform in the US to develop their careers. 

“I have every confidence that the four artists going this year will be well received by the famously discerning Nashville audiences,” he added.

Ciaran Scullion, the Arts Council’s head of music, said that to play at the Bluebird Café in Nashville was “an experience that few forget” and wished the travelling quartet every success in their trip to the country music capital.

The Belfast festival continues until this Sunday and features 30 concerts with 120 local and international songwriters, including Ashley Campbell, daughter of music icon Glen Campbell.