Songwriter Sessions: Workshop opportunity for emerging songwriters with Susan O’Neill, Síomha and Emma Langford.
Deadline for application is Friday 9 September by 5pm
In September and October, glór is offering a handful of songwriters aged 16-25 an opportunity to develop their craft in conversation with Susan O’Neill, Síomha and Emma Langford.
Please note that interested participants will need to complete the google form and due to the limited capacity of the workshops, submissions will be shortlisted.
Síomha, Susan O’Neill and Emma Langford will each lead a two-hour workshop in September and October for those selected (3 workshops in total). At each session, the emerging songwriters will play for one of these songwriters and for their peers, alongside a more general discussion of song-writing process.
At the end of the workshop series, glór will platform a showcase of the emerging songwriters’ original material on glór’s main stage.
Before completing the google form below, please read the following information:
For this series, glór is looking for emerging songwriters who
- Are actively engaged in writing songs.
- Are interested in the work of the workshop leaders: Síomha, Susan O’Neill and Emma Langford.
- Are older than 15 and younger than 26.
- Are available to attend the workshop in glór, Ennis, at 7pm on the following dates: Wednesday the 21st of September; Wednesday the 5th of October, and Thursday the 3rd of November.
- Come from Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, or Galway or currently based there.
If you are from one of these counties but currently live elsewhere, you are welcome to apply as long as it would be feasible for you to attend these workshops.
Please note: If you and another person regularly write songs together and would like to apply as a pair, please fill out a single form.
As the craft of song writing is the focus of these sessions, if you are the songwriter for a band, please list the name of the band, but if accepted, we will invite just you to the workshops.
- The google form below will ask for links to two songs that you have written.
- Please note we will listen to the music and lyrics, not sound quality.
- Home recordings are perfect. Recordings can be audio or video.
If you haven’t uploaded your music before, you can use Soundcloud, Vimeo or Youtube for free. There are different privacy settings depending on who you would like to view it. If it is not public, please grant access.
Please complete google form HERE
Síomha
Bilingual singer and guitarist SÍOMHA (pronounced Shee-uv-aa) dances the line between folk, jazz and neo-soul effortlessly taking audiences on an unexpected and unforgettable journey with her soulful melodies. Coming from a family steeped in music, Síomha grew up on a diet of musical greats with the sounds of jazz, trad, folk and soul creeping in and leaving an indelible mark on her musical tastes and influences.
Síomha’s music truly does defy any conventional genres. The influences of her musical background, her travels and musical explorations are audible in the music she creates. Always proud of her Irish heritage, she performs her songs in both the English and Irish languages. The beautiful landscape and rugged nature of her native West of Ireland are a huge source of inspiration for this proud Clare artist leading her to create a soulful and unique style of music that has enthralled anyone who hears it.
Susan O’Neill
Having wowed huge festival stages over the past few years as guest to various performers, Susan has simultaneously been honing her craft as a solo performer.
A songwriter of hidden depths, with a timeless voice that is equal parts balm and blowtorch, she is audacity personified, a free spirit; a real performer. As of now she is Ireland’s best kept secret, however with the success of ‘In The Game’ her 2021 collaboration album with Mick Flannery that is starting to change. Susan’s EP comes out September 14th, she will perform across North America, Europe and the UK this year.
Emma Langford
Emma Langford calls Limerick City in the West of Ireland home. Storytelling sits at the heart of everything this songwriter does; interweaving her live performances, and shining through her works. Hers is an inimitable, dreamy voice on the frontline of a new wave of Irish folk.
Langford was awarded the RTÉ Folk Award for Best Emerging Artist in 2018, and in following years was twice nominated for Best Folk Singer. She received the Music Network RESONATE residency, and Arts Council Agility Award in 2021 to support a continuing musical exploration of women in Irish history.
Since 2017 Emma has written and independently released two highly acclaimed albums, Quiet Giant & Sowing Acorns, laying the groundwork for a bright, busy future. She made the bold choice to release her new album, Sowing Acorns at the height of a global pandemic – the gamble paid dividends, and her sophomore record received huge international praise. The artist climbed the charts with her epic folk ballad Birdsong; collaborated with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra; was selected to perform at the prestigious Ireland Music Week international showcase and on RTÉ’s Ireland In Music which has been broadcast across the world to a huge global audience; and joined supergroup phenomenon Irish Women In Harmony.
Fresh off the back of her US tour, she’s on the road around Ireland this Autumn, sharing work from her eclectic catalogue, while continuing Arts Council supported research around Irish women in myth and history.
