NI singers follow in footsteps of Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks

Three emerging singer-songwriters from NI are to play a St Patrick’s Day gig in a venue famous for launching the careers of Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift.

Emma Horan, Reuben Agnew and Donal Scullion will perform in the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee and will also have the opportunity to network with music professionals in the home of country music.

Their visit will follow their performances at this year’s Panarts Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival from March 11 to 13 across the city.

Emma Horan started making music at the age of 15 creating online videos, singing unique ‘mash-up’ style cover versions of her favourite songs. Now 21, she has three million views across her various channels and has performed for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Reuben Agnew is part of Northern Irish trio Cup O’ Joe, touring extensively throughout the UK, Europe and Ireland with them.

Donal Scullion has an eclectic background of styles which has led to a very open and flexible approach to both writing and performing, but still anchored in his folk music roots, with a desire to tell stories through songs and sounds.

Panarts Belfast Nashville Festival director, Colin Magee, said: “As well as offering performances of long established artists, the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival aims to offer opportunities to break new talent from Northern Ireland and showcase them on an international stage in the USA to develop their careers.

“I’m hugely excited and proud to showcase the three artists going to Nashville this year where I know they will be well received by the famously discerning Nashville audiences.”

As well as Panarts, the trip to Nashville, which will see the trio spend time fine-tuning their song writing skills with Grammy Award winning tutors at Belmont University, will be supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Ciaran Scullion, head of music, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: “The Panarts Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival not only celebrates the art of song writing and brings international talent to Belfast, but it also offers an important platform to showcase and develop the skills of our younger, emerging artists.

“To perform at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville is an experience that few forget and I wish all the songwriters every success in Music City.”

Panarts Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival celebrates the art of song writing and features a series of concerts, song writing workshops with Grammy Award winning writers Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, as-well as the Song Writer of the Year 2020 competition. See www.belfastnashville.com