Ireland Is On Fire With Great Music

This is one of those weird limbo moments that we sometimes find ourselves in. It is like a publishing version of the Bermuda Triangle. Here at Hot Press Central, we are in the furious last push towards The Music Show. Immediately this issue of Hot Press hits the streets, the event kicks off. 

For two days, ‘The Music Show Hits The City’ gigs act as a prelude to the main event, while the final, final preparations are being nailed down for the two days of hugely intense musical activity that takes place in the RDS over the weekend. From our perspective, until all of that is said and done, and the final words have been spoken and sung, and the last notes have rung out into the Ballsbridge air on Sunday evening, nothing else matters. The world might be burning from Aukland to Alaska but we will be focussed on making sure that The Music Show ship steers safely into harbour in Dublin.
Right now, we are all dreaming of waking up on Monday morning free of the load that doing something on a grand scale imposes. Then the world will start to spin again. Then what’s happening in Greece and the fate of the Euro will matter once more. We will turn our thoughts also, perhaps, to the US presidential election and muse on the madness of it all, not least the possibility that a man as socially and intellectually moribund as Rick Santorum might in fact end up in the White House as the self-styled leader of the free world. And we will ponder with growing trepidation the impact the battle for the presidency might have on the escalating crisis which is currently being engineered in Iran.
Many of you will not read this short piece ‘til after The Music Show. So what can I say now that both captures the sense of mounting excitement we’re feeling – and which yet remains relevant after the ball is over? 
Well, there is this. On the run-in to The Music Show, we find ourselves in the centre of a tidal rush of musical energy. During the day today, the judges have to press on to make final decisions in the Lift Off @ The Music Show competition. The volume of entries for the musical showdown was fantastic, with not far off a thousand contenders stepping forward. Over two stages they were reduced first to 40 and then to a final shortlist of ten aspiring greats.
Listening intently to the submissions makes you all the more aware of something that we constantly feel in our bones. Ireland is a phenomenal place for music. There are ten acts left in the running. There are reasons to fall in love with all of them, and with their music. Any one of the acts may prove to have what it takes to go the distance and to join the litany of great and successful Irish artists. The judges will use every ounce of their nous to pick the best of the bunch, the act that has the greatest strengths and the most potential to blossom and grow.
But it is heartening in the extreme to realise that the supply-lines are working so effectively that we know, as we embark on those final deliberations, that the choice is going to be an excruciatingly difficult one.
Look at the Live Stage line-up for this year’s event. In a sense, to start singling out one name over another is to risk diminishing the rest, when in truth – from Bell X1 to Whipping Boy and covering every alphabetical stop in between – they are all artists of real substance and standing.
But what we can say, as a matter of record, is that by this time next year the divine Ms. Lisa Hannigan should be on the cusp of conquering the world. That The Cast Of Cheers may have established themselves as one of Europe’s great rising bands, a collective capable of joining those enduring big ticket alternative rock acts, from Talking Heads through to Arcade Fire in the grand pantheon. And that The Minutes and Leaders Of Men should, unless the gods blight us in some unforgivable way, have emerged as two of the hottest new outfits on the European festival circuit and started to sell records in volume to boot.
The truth is that Ireland is on fire with great music. The challenges are immense nonetheless: how can we channel that music, so that our musicians and songwriters gain enough traction to earn their crust and a little bit more, where possible, from their creative endeavours?; how can we maximise the full-time employment levels, in a business which is hugely labour intensive but in which the rewards are not as evenly spread as they might ideally be?; how can we get musicians themselves to recognise that they are part of a wider community here and to work with Irish based companies and suppliers and retailers, so that the benefits of success, when it does arrive, can be spread across the spectrum of the local industry?
There is a need in music to be focussed on doing everything possible to make the most of your own talents as an individual and as a band. That can sometimes be interpreted as a need for selfishness. But that is to miss the point. Cynicism is last century’s thing. Solidarity, on the other hand, is for now. We can and should help one another as we go. Collectively we have far more strength than any of us can muster alone. This is why the launch of the Artists’ Charter is so important. This is why the ‘Shop Local’ campaign is so important. This is why The Music Show is so important. This is why the endorsement of Irish music and Irish musicians implicit in the appearance at the show by the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins is so important.
It is worth remembering this too: if we neglect or forget the community, the society, the people and the fans that nurtured us, in the long run we are the real losers. To give is good. Our cover stars this issue Bell X1 provide a perfect example, having written a cheque for over 20k to support a homeless shelter in Dublin. That story is told inside...
As you will see, the message implicit in that gesture is powerful: we are indeed in this together. Now let’s enjoy the journey...