Introducing Interview: Lindsay Ell

Having been wowing crowds playing guitar live with the legendary Shania Twain in the UK over the last couple of months, singer-songwriter Lindsay Ell is also a renowned artist in her own right. Not only did she win ‘Single Of The Year’ at the Canadian Country Music Awards last year for the twinkling emotion of last year’s catchy ‘Right On Time’, but – following playing with Shania’s band at BST Hyde Park a couple of weeks ago – she also sold out Omeara in London the following day for her own show.

We caught up with Lindsay to find out more about the experience of playing with her hero, what inspires her, being a woman in the music industry today, and more. Have a read and then listen to the awesome playlist that Lindsay has put together for us, of some of her favourite contemporary country artists!

Are you able to tell us a little bit about what initially got you into music, and playing the guitar?
I grew up in a really musical family – my parents and grandparents all played instruments, and my brother and I started playing piano when we were six years old. By the time I was eight years old, I thought the guitar was a lot cooler, so I asked my dad to start showing me a few things on it. The first guitar riff he taught me was ‘Stairway to Heaven’. After that, I never looked back! 

I just saw you playing with the legendary Shania Twain at BST Hyde Park on Sunday – you were incredible! And it was so lovely to see all the band members so in sync with each other and having such a great time on stage! It must have been such an amazing experience – how was it for you?
BST Hyde Park was one of the most memorable shows I’ve ever played, and also my favourite with Shania so far; Hyde Park seemed like the perfect ending to such a legendary run (getting to play Glastonbury as well!). There is something about that stage that makes a show feel larger than life and the energy in the heart of London is something that’s hard to describe in words. Shania has been the most wonderful human, welcoming me so brilliantly on her stage each night. I’m honoured to have been a part of her world this year. 

And how did the opportunity to play with Shania come up for you? Had you previously been a fan?
To say I’ve been a fan of Shania would probably be the understatement of the century. Shania is the reason I started singing when I was a little girl. It’s crazy to think the song that made me fall in love with Shania, ‘No One Needs To Know’, is now a song I get to play on stage with her every night. Life is truly wild and surprising in those full circle moments. I toured with Shania last year on the Queen Of Me tour, which was so incredible! Then, at the beginning of this year, when I got the call to see if I wanted to come out and play guitar for her, the offer was one I couldn’t resist!

As well as playing with legends like Shania Twain and artists like Maren Morris, you’re also a solo artist in your own right and write fantastic country-pop anthems – I love the catchy hooks and emotion-strewn power of songs like ‘How Good’! What are the main things you tend to draw inspiration from when writing songs?
I want to write songs from an honest place, because I think the more honest a song is, the better chance it has to connecting with someone else. I feel that we’re all fighting similar battles on opposites sides of the same war sometimes, so usually I tend to pull inspiration from my own life, or from stories I’ve heard friends tell me. As long as I can connect to it in some way, I can write a song about it. 

And you’ve also just played a sold-out show at London’s Omeara, which I was sorry to miss! How was that for you? Was it the first time you’ve played in London?
My sold out show at the Omeara was so incredible. This is probably the tenth time I’ve played London, but I’m always so happy to be back and see the best fans on the planet! I felt so loved as they sang all the words to b-sides off my last couple records, and I was able to preview some brand new songs for them. Overall, it was such a great night. 

You won ‘single of the year’ at the CCMAs last year for your song ‘Right On Time’, which is so fantastic – big congratulations! How does it feel being classed as a ‘country’ artist, and how much would you say you’re influenced by and fit into the genre generally?
Winning ‘single of the year’ at the CCMAs for ‘Right On Time’ was such an incredible night. Most of the time I don’t really see myself as country, and to be honest have been told so many times that I’m “not country enough” for the genre. I grew up loving songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Shania, and since I started writing music, my goal has been to create the most honest songs I can. When I moved to Nashville fifteen years ago, and got offered a deal from a country record label, I just figured that my music could cross over to many genres, and – because of the messages in my songs – I felt like country fans could relate. I’m so grateful for all of the amazing fans that I’ve met through country music, but if I were being honest, I don’t know if I’ve ever truly ‘fit’ into the genre. At the end of the day though, I don’t think fans care if they’re listening to a “country” song or a “pop” song, or a “rock” song, I think people just like to listen to the music they like to listen to. So at this point in my career, I see myself as more of a singer-songwriter than classified as a country artist, and truly, I just hope that I can keep making music that feels honest; that people want to listen to. 

Are there any other contemporary country artists that you’d recommend we check out?
I am very excited for the genre of country music, and the wider tent it’s casting with artists like Noah Kahan and Zach Bryan. It’s really inspiring to see artists like Kacey Musgraves being true to herself and her sound, and letting it evolve compared to letting a genre tell her where she needs to go. I’m a huge fan of her latest record, Deeper Well. 

As we’re an organisation that focuses on promoting women and queer folk in new music, how would you say the industry is for them at the moment? And how has your experience been in what can often seem like a male dominated environment?
Thank you so much for all you do for women and the queer community! I will say that I think the industry is better now than it’s ever been in supporting these minorities. However, we still have a long way to go. The ratios are still very uneven, and although there doesn’t seem to be a linear solution to the problem, I think the best thing that women and queer artists can do is keep releasing great music. 

And do you have any advice for young women who might want to get into making music right now?
If you’re wanting to make music right now, I think the most important thing to figure out is who you are and what you want to say: why now? Anyone can sit in their bedroom today, write a song, and release it hours later… But you have to think, why should anyone care? When you can distill what you want to do down to a few sentences, I think the path on what you need to do and where you need to focus becomes really clear. It should all revert back to your reasons why. 

Massive thanks to Lindsay for answering our questions! Have a listen the awesome playlist that she put together of some of her favourite contemporary country artists here.

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Five Favourites: Bria

Whilst you may recognise Bria Salmena from working in Orville Peck’s world-conquering backing band, she is also an immensely innovative artist in her own right. Following the release of Cuntry Covers Vol.1 in 2021, Salmena has now collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Duncan Hay Jennings once again for Vol.2., set for release next month.

As a taster of the upcoming EP’s release, Bria has now shared her rendition of Paula Cole’s ‘Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?‘. Adding her own unique reverb-strewn scuzz and whirring danceable energy to the original, her rich, sumptuous vocals ripple alongside a soul-strewn groove, creating a dreamily immersive soundscape.

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of Cuntry Covers Vol.2, we caught up with Bria to ask about the music that has inspired her the most. Rather than pick five all-time top albums, she’s selected the songs she’s listening to the most right now – read/listen below and check out Cuntry Covers Vol.1 while you await the release of Vol.2!


It’s impossible for me to pick my favourite songs or albums, I’m just not one of those people. For me, it’s constantly in flux. So I’ve decided instead to share my top five songs of January 2023. And to be clear, these are not songs released in Jan 2023 but rather what’s been on repeat in my house, car, headphones etc. This list is extremely manic, I hope you enjoy it. 

Nourished By Time – ‘Romance In Me’
Nourished By Time is a new discovery – initially introduced through an NTS playlist. There’s a very obvious nostalgic quality to the track, but I really just think the vocal progression is something entirely unique. I love the production – there’s a really satisfying balance of tension between the keys and guitar, especially in the choruses. This song really builds extremely well, I feel as though I kind of get swept away in it. It’s the kind of song I find myself harmonising with vocally, however annoying that may seem. When I’m in the mood to feel heartbroken I’ll probably put this song on.

Kate Bush – ‘Pull Out The Pin’
I’m a long-time Kate Bush fan, and this song came back into my rotation this month. The intensity of this track lyrically and musically is so satisfying for me. I love Bush’s ability to tell a story, it feels like theatre. This song was written after she had seen a documentary about the Vietnam war, wherein they show Vietnamese soldiers putting little silver buddhas in their mouths as they approached the front line. I love hearing this side of Bush’s vocal range – her ability to sing-scream is so beautiful, it’s been somewhat cathartic to listen this month. I also feel as though this is an overlooked B-side of hers, so I’m urging you now to give it a listen. 

Deftones- ‘Change (In The House Of Flies)’
So technically, I started having this song on repeat in December, but there are no rules here. On Christmas day, I went to a very famous bikini bar here in Los Angeles called Jumbo’s, and one of the dancers did a very impressive pole dance to this song. I hadn’t heard it in so long and after that, I played it throughout my somewhat lonely holiday season. I think it might be the hottest song ever written – not sexiest, but hottest. The whole record is amazing, I don’t even know if I can say any more about it.

Golpe – ‘Non Piergarti’
Golpe is an Italian punk band whose first full-length record came out in 2021. Lots of Italian friends had told me to check them out and I finally did sometime last fall. ‘Non Piegarti’ might be one of my favourites of theirs – with ‘La Colpa E Solo Tua’ as a close second. I’ve spent most of January moving into a new apartment and sorting out my life here in Los Angeles, and the song title translates to “Don’t Bend Over” which has been a bit of a mantra of mine throughout a stressful month. I’m a big fan of the production of this song, and I love the vocal effect on this song and how well the guitars sit alongside. It’s heavy, but very well-balanced.

Florist – ‘Red Bird Part 2 (Morning)’
This song is extremely beautiful and EXTREMELY sad. You’ve been warned. When I’m searching for a sort of sad calm feeling, I will put this on. It’s a beautifully tragic song about the death of the singer’s mother. I’m drawn to the simplicity of the instrumentation, rooted in acoustic guitar and accompanied by a kind of dreamy ethereal electric guitar. I also am a big fan of the double unison vocals on this track – I myself love doing that, as I feel you can really round out the sound that way.


Massive thanks to Bria for sharing her five ‘favourites’ with us! Listen to new single ‘Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?’ now:

Cuntry Covers Vol.2, the upcoming EP from Bria, is set for release on 24th February via Sub Pop.

Photo Credit: Justin Aranha

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WATCH: CMAT – ‘Lonely’

Flowing with her trademark camp melancholy, Irish pop sensation CMAT‘s latest single ‘Lonely’ is a relatable lament about isolation and disconnection. Taken from her upcoming album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead, which is set for release through AWAL Recordings on 4th March, the track is a playful but poignant wish for company, delivered via CMAT’s witty lyrics and charming, country-tinged vocals.

“I started writing the song ‘Lonely’ in the Arndale food hall in Manchester when I was on my break from work,” CMAT explain about the track. “Anyone who has been there will know that it is as aesthetically unpleasant as it is bustling, at all hours of the day. There was something that always drew me to it though – people. I was very isolated during this period of my life and longed for a day when I could be sitting at a table of friends that I did not have. Instead, I found myself regularly sitting alone and watching strange families and friend groups, peering out from underneath a Taco Bell crunch wrap, for a false sense of comfort.

“It took me years to finish this song because I couldn’t figure out the point of it. Then the pandemic happened, and suddenly I realised that everybody was in the boat that I had been long accustomed to (my sea legs are beefy in this regard). I realised that the point of isolation is maybe to learn to cherish people more, and to not be so scared of them, or scared of how you are perceived by them. Ultimately though, I wrote this song to try and get Robbie Williams to notice me.”

Whether or not the ‘Rock DJ’ singer notices CMAT remains to be seen, but her heartfelt release is accompanied by another eye-catching video, shot and produced by Tiny Ark. The visuals show CMAT rollerskating her way through her emotions, proving once again she’s a multi-talented, musical prophet who effortlessly blends the silly and the sensitive sides of life together in her tunes.

Watch the video for ‘Lonely’ below.

 

Follow CMAT on bandcamp, Instagram, Twitter, Spotify & Facebook 

Photo Credit: Sarah Doyle

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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INTERVIEW: CMAT

“I’d rather drink piss than drink Pepsi Max,” Irish pop-star CMAT candidly (and rightfully) declared on her Instagram Live broadcast a few weeks ago. The songwriter was half way through eating 80 pieces of popcorn chicken from KFC at the time, a challenge she committed to after over 100 of her fans liked a social media post saying she’d film the endeavor. She washed down her meal with cans of diet coke, whilst simultaneously being hilarious.

Whether it’s competitive eating or releasing highly relatable pop tunes, according to her Twitter account, everything CMAT does is “for the girls and the gays and that’s it.” Her latest single ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!’ epitomises this, with its blend of witty lyrics and country-tinged melancholy guitar riffs. To date, CMAT has shared three singles, ‘Another Day (kfc)’ – which inspired the popcorn chicken challenge – ‘Rodney’ – an ode to Rodney Dangerfield – and this most recent offering, which is currently sitting at no. 11 in the official Irish Homegrown Top 20 Chart.

We caught up with CMAT just before the release of her new single to talk about the popcorn chicken challenge, her love for Linda Nolan and Jedward, TikTok life, Jason Derulo and more…

Let’s start by talking about your greatest achievement to date: eating 80 pieces of KFC popcorn chicken in one sitting on Instagram Live. Is this a world record?

Every interview I do now is so funny because it starts with this question. I’m absolutely not mad about it at all, because I am ready and willing to talk about eating 80 pieces of popcorn chicken. I don’t recommend it to anyone.

My housemate was at work all day, and when she came in she saw the aftermath. People had been texting her about it saying “do you know what’s happening in your house right now?” and she came home and I was flat out on the bed. I had loads of friends texting me during the broadcast saying “please stop doing this to yourself, please make yourself vomit like in Roman times because this is going to damage you,” but I thought that was cheating. When I say I was in pain for the next two days, I mean it. It was just not right or healthy.

It was so silly, I saw the sign for [80 pieces of chicken] and I was like that’s so gas. I put up a post saying if I got 100 likes I would eat it live on Instagram, thinking that I wouldn’t actually have to do it. But I got the likes, and I was like “you bastards, you absolute bastards,” but I brought it on myself, and it was actually really fun. I’m going to do another one.

I don’t think it’s an actual world record unfortunately. I thought it was, and that I was great and that I was a legend, and then I looked up actual competitive eating and I was like “I’m never getting into that world”. There’s a woman in England who is like “I’m the number one female competitive eater and no-one can beat me.” She does this thing where she grabs fistfuls of stuff, pushes it into her mouth, and pushes it so it just jams down her throat. It’s terrifying. She does it once a week and I’m like…girl…

I’ve decided that the precedent I’ve set for myself is that I’ll only do it when I want to promote something, and that’s it.

I think that’s a good decision. Your songs – particularly ‘Another Day (kfc)’ – describe quite painful events like heartbreak and loneliness, but you filter them through a humourous lens. How do you manage to make music that’s genuinely funny but also on some level, cripplingly painful?

That’s good, that’s what I’m going for! I think this is a thing that I have going on in my own psychological make-up, which is that I like to take the big things and make them small. And I like to take the small things and make them big and dramatic. For me, KFC has Godly importance, but it’s also important to take heartbreak and love and pain, and bring that back to KFC, and that’s my general rule of thumb.

A lot of songwriting today, especially in the money-making beast that is chart pop, where you get a lot of “band aid” type songs where they’re like “we’re gonna sing a song about something really important and dramatic, and we’re gonna make it sounds really big and important and dramatic,” and fit this massive thing into a song without even trying to look at it through a more focused lens. I think that’s where it comes from. I think I also do it in life as well. A lot of people say I’m kind of like a man and I’m very bad at talking about things seriously. I can’t have a serious conversation about my emotions, or how I’m feeling. I’m just like “Yeah I’m absolutely fine, totally grand, no worries,” I do that all the time. I think that’s just carried on into the song writing, but I think that’s pretty transparent.

Something that is transparent is your love for American comedian Rodney Dangerfield on your second single ‘Rodney’. Do people know who he is when you’re referencing him? What inspired you to write a song about him?

I don’t know, and I didn’t really care whether people knew about him or not, because I LOVE him. What I said before about not being able to talk about emotions, he’s the exact same. Everything he does is super self deprecating, he hates himself, and everyone around him hates him. Everything is a one-liner, and he makes the big things really small.

I’ve wanted to write a song about him for ages, The “one-liner” in the song is “I’m the Rodney Dangerfield of your ex girlfriends,” because his catchphrase is “I don’t get no respect!” and I’m like “omg same I don’t get no respect either!” I didn’t just pick him for his catchphrase though, I picked him because he is very representative of me. He’s a one-liner comedian, and I’m a one-liner musician, because I’m all about the song, and the song being in its own kind of universe. That’s just my own personal take on it. I don’t like relying on an album, or a body of work to give context to individual pieces, I like the song to be the beginning and the end of it. I don’t think all art has to be that prescriptive though.

My only focus with my music career at the moment is just to keep writing really good songs that are really fleshed out. Not just for myself, but for other people that I’m working with too. All these little co-writing jobs that have been popping up since I started releasing my own music, I have real tunnel vision for whatever the song I’m working on is, I’m like “this has to be the best song in the world”. I don’t really care too much about an album at the moment. There’s a couple of concept projects that I’d like to work on, where it might be an EP or a collection of songs. I had an idea to work on just pure country music duets, do a “CMAT and friends” type thing, but that’s the only way I’d be able to think about it. I wouldn’t be able to put my own songs into a collection and be like “this is cohesive and they’re all related to each other,” because they don’t at all. It’ll have to be a greatest hits album. I don’t think people will mind.

We certainly wouldn’t mind a CMAT Greatest Hits record. Let’s talk about your recent online interactions with two iconic Irish pop groups – The Nolans & Jedward…

The Jedward thing I don’t think is that special to me as an individual. They seem to know who I am now, because they sent me this really specific DM where they called me a “glowing princess” and told me to keep doing what I was doing, they’re so funny. They do seem to be messaging everyone though, saying “keep on keeping on, love John and Edward.” I’m obsessed with them, I think they’re great.

They must be independent now, I don’t think they have any relations with a label because they’ve been so political and outspoken on really meaty topics, and doing an amazing job of it. It’s almost as if they’ve been waiting to do this for ages, and now they’ve been set free they’re like “fuck you Jim Corr!” and they’re dead right. Fuck Jim Corr, what the fuck is he doing? [Jim Corr is a member of the Irish folk/rock band The Corrs.] We can take the conspiracy theories thing, maybe he has weird opinions about the events of 9/11, but the far-right weird movements that are popping up over here in Ireland – Jim Corr is substantiating their views with his weird fucking twisted conspiracies, and also just not wearing a mask during a global pandemic. So for Jedward to be the ones stepping up to the plate and just telling him to go and fuck himself is so sweet. It’s exactly what you want from a popstar, in my opinion. I want to feel like someone has my back if they’re a popstar, and I feel like Jedward have everyone’s backs at the moment.

The Nolans thing is a much longer story…
I don’t think anyone is more important or less important in terms of the Irish musical pop canon, but, for me, I’ve been obsessed with The Nolans since I was about thirteen. My teenage years were spent watching re-runs of Old Grey Whistle Test and Top Of The Pops and BBC4 on the weekend until about 3am. I love music television and I love old music television. So from that era I’m obsessed with Bob Harris [presenter of Old Grey Whistle Test] and he loves country music. So Bob Harris and The Nolans are kind of the same level of importance for me in terms of music discovery. I was always tweeting about them, and then all of a sudden The Nolans just started seeing that happening and Linda Nolan started DMing me, and Maureen would retweet me when i released a single and be like “listen to this, it’s fantastic,” and I was like “what is going on?! This is the most exciting thing in the world! (for me, personally).”

Then, I found out that a lot of people in England really don’t like them, because they were much more famous in England and they have more negative associations over there? I dunno why, I guess people still have that mindset of “it’s manufactured pop music, therefore it’s bad.” I noticed that people were slagging them off, so I would get really defensive and be like “Fuck you! Don’t talk to The Nolans that way, how dare you!” They’re Queens. Linda sends me DMs from time to time just giving me advice about the music industry, and what to watch out for. She was also telling me that The Nolans were one of the first Irish acts to play the USSR, and they were having a party because it was Colleen’s 18th birthday. They party got shut down because guards came into their hotel room and held them up with AK47s and were like “you have to go to bed!” So they waited for an hour before sneaking back into each others rooms, and kept drinking for the rest of the night. It almost sounds made up, but I’ve actually read it in a couple of interviews with them, so it’s real! I’ve also read Linda’s autobiography and she mentions it in there too.

I also did a tweet that said “Who would win in a fight: Jedward or The Nolans?” and then Linda DMd me and was like “obviously we would. Lemmy from Motorhead used to be scared of us and said we were the most aggressive girls that he’d ever met,” and I was like…where am I? She’s a fucking legend and I love her so much. I’m also so receptive to anything she tells me, I’m just like “YES! TELL ME MORE!” I think I might be the number one Nolans fan in the world. Also, on a genuine level, I love their music.

A place where you seem to have a lot of fans is on TikTok…in Poland? Talk us through how that happened?

I don’t really understand how to work TikTok, I had to get my 8 year old cousin to show me how to do it. They showed me how to check which videos are using the same song, and the first time I checked there were 50 videos using ‘Another Day (KFC)’ as a background song, and they were all from Poland. I have no idea why. I get streaming stats on my phone from Spotify so I can see which countries stream me the most, and Poland is not up there. There’s this gardening lady who’s all about houseplants and my song is just playing in the background of all of her TikTok videos. It’s weird, I don’t really know how the internet works, it’s terrifying.

It is a bit, but lots of artists seem to get number one hits nowadays purely from uploading music to TikTok…

I think it’s fantastic in a way. Curtis Waters had a single that was out for about a year, and then people started using it on TikTok and he now has a career out of it. Listen, I know we all work with music labels and music promoters, but the rebel in me is obsessed with user-made, user-directed applications where it doesn’t matter what PR you’re doing, or what label you’re on, it all gets overtaken by people power or people who are just obsessed with things. But then it gets weird, because you get artists who are specifically making things for TikTok, and that’s grim. That’s no good at all. Jason Derulo is making minute and a half long songs, sampling songs that have already gone viral for other reasons, and you’re just like “Jason, stop. Cut it out.”

He does seem to have had a massive “comeback” recently actually, he is everywhere…

I think that’s because he was in Cats as well. I’ve seen the film five times. It’s horrible and gross and disgusting and I love it. His character in particular is one of the most offensive characters in it. He does have some really great songs in his back catalogue though, and he works with a co-writer a lot who I love called Lindy Robbins. I think Jason Derulo is just one of those people who’s like “I can do anything, and there’s no way you can stop me” and I kind of like that about him.

And he does have that unforgettable trademark of introducing himself in the beginning of all of his songs…

I actually like that about him! I like people who keep a thing like that going throughout their whole career. It’s a very country music type thing to do, where you have a tag somewhere in the song so that people know it’s you, but his is just his name.

Speaking of country music, your next single ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!’ is due out in a few days. Talk to us about what inspired it…

The visuals for the chorus are based around this VINE that was really popular from a couple of years ago of a load of guys drinking cans outside in a playground saying “I wanna be a cowboy baby!” I always loved it, but I had a bit of a deep thought about it which was like “that’s so indicative of male freedom in the world, that they can just do things like that”. The song is basically about a time when I was extremely, extremely isolated. It was the end of my time living in Manchester, I was living alone after going through a breakup, and the breakdown of the band that I had been in for years. Because I was in Manchester, I didn’t really have any friends there, so the old fashioned way of curing loneliness in the cowboy/western films is that you just go to a bar, hang around the bar, and wait for someone to be friends with you. I was like, “why can’t I just do that?” I feel like it’s this weird, unwritten thing where women are just afforded a significantly less amount of freedom than men in the world. I guess we’re addressing it now, but I legitimately want to be a cowboy. I want to walk around by myself, and have no fear and just have the freedom to go wherever I want and meet whoever I want without fear of literally getting murdered for doing it.

That’s kind of what the song is about, but it’s also about general urban isolation. It doesn’t have to just be about gender, I think there a lot of people out there who have really bad social anxiety, and it seems to be really quite relevant now because when you spend a significant period of time alone in your bedroom, or on your phone or your computer, it gets harder and harder to leave. I feel like that’s another thing I was trying to address, that the fear is put into you the more that you stay alone. It gets harder to leave, and it gets harder to become the cowboy. I don’t know what’s going to happen after this lifting of the lockdown, but I have friends who have got anxiety about things so badly that they still haven’t left the full lockdown mode. There are people who’ve been staying inside the whole time. It’s about a lot of things, but it’s mainly about the loneliness that comes with living in a capitalist, heteronormative, misogynist society.

We certainly resonate with that. Something a little more positive though, are there any bands or artists who you’d recommend we listen to right now?

Pillow Queens! There’s loads actually. Limoncello are a great folk act from Dublin, Maija Sofia released an amazing album last year. There’s an artist called Rachael Lavelle who’s released one single, but she’s incredible. There’s a rapper in Ireland at the moment called Denise Chaila who I’m obsessed with, there’s so many! Ailbhe Reddy is about to release an album and it’s fucking class.

There’s bountiful women in Ireland who are releasing really good music right now. I think women in Ireland have definitely had a bit of a rough time in the music industry, because I think there’s a notion of if you’re not a man with an acoustic guitar writing songs then nobody cares – but I am literally just a woman with an acoustic guitar, there’s basically no fucking difference. The perception is that the music is not authentic if it’s coming from a woman and she has even a lick of make-up on her face. So we’ve all been let loose and we’re doing what we should’ve been doing a few years ago. I love them all.

And we love you CMAT!
Follow her on bandcamp, Instagram, Spotify and Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Sarah Doyle

Kate Crudgington3 Comments