MacD on Music: A Year In The Life

This past week saw a momentous milestone. Last Tuesday (29th November, for those who want to mark it on their calendars) saw the one year anniversary of this fine column’s first edition.

The last twelve months have seen a lot of artists pass through these pages, and this week, to mark the occasion, I’m going to look back at some of those featured.

Gemma Doherty (Saint Sister)

Ah, column one. The piece that started it all. The first ever MacDonMusic featured an interview with Gemma Doherty, half of Saint Sister, who were not long after a brilliant gig in the Nerve Centre on the tour to promote their second album, ‘Where I Should End’.

This past year has been a big one for Gemma. As well as being co-frontwoman of Saint Sister, recent months have seen her playing alongside Bono, on the tour to promote his book ‘Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story’.

The tour has seen her playing for audiences around the world, audiences featuring people such as Bill and Hilary Clinton (perhaps best known as parents of Chelsea Clinton, of ‘Derry Girls’ fame), Leo Varadkar and our beloved Micky D. Higgins.

Parker

The past year has seen the emergence of a number of brilliant local acts, acts that show the world why Derry is one of, if not the, greatest musical town in Ireland (Dublin comes close, but are they on our level?) One such group to emerge has been Parker (who’s new single, ‘Superhero’, is out today).

Speaking about the past year, they said: “I feel like we’ve had a really good first year of existence and a bunch of fun while doing it! We’ve released two singles, with our third coming out [today]. We’ve toured the UK and Ireland a whole bunch and we’ve got to open for some of our favorite bands like Fighting With Wire, New Pagans, Cherym and Wonk Unit!

“We also got to tour with our good mates in The Last Mile, which was a blast. 2022 has been a lot of fun for us!”

TRAMP

Another band who’s star has been rising over the past year is TRAMP, a group that regular readers should be very familiar with.

Speaking about the past year, they said: “The last year has felt like our first year properly In the music scene as TRAMP. Since our first single in April and recording in the studio, to actually writing more music together as a band and playing shows, even just spending time together at other shows has really brought us together.

“We have a lot to be grateful for out of 2022, despite it’s challenges. It’s been major for our confidence as musicians, I think, and we’re starting to really feel like we belong in the music scene. Aside from that ‘dear diary’ stuff, it’s been a big learning experience with releasing music, talking to blogs/radio stations/newspapers (like yourself) and talking to other musicians to make more live shows happen again.

“It was a big year of firsts – also our first ever tour happened this year; although it was a short one, it meant the world to us and showed what we want more of in 2023!”

The Barbiturates

Music and politics have always gone hand in hand. Artists from Bruce Springsteen, to Woody Guthrie, to Luke Kelly, have been singing songs about the struggles of working people for almost as long as we’ve had recorded music.

Closer to home, the Barbiturates are keeping this proud tradition alive. Talking about the past twelve months, they said: “Tories, war and poverty. 2022 has been a crazy year for everyone and we will be happy to see the back of it.

“Due to bad health and damaged equipment, we were unable to play any live gigs this year but thanks to Brian at Beechwood Recordings [See last week’s column] we were able to record our soundtrack album ‘Super Callous Fascist Racist Tories Are Atrocious’ and are very grateful for all his work and patience throughout the project.

“We were also very lucky to work with some really talented musicians who collaborated and played on the album. Fully completed, this album will be released very soon.

  “We are now getting ready to return to live gigging and we have already started work on two new albums which will be released next year.”

So, that’s year one finished. Hopefully it’s the first of many. Now, onto the promos. As mentioned above, Parker’s new single, ‘Superhero’, is out today. They can be found on Instagram @bandcalledparker.

TRAMP can be found @thisistramp and the Barbiturates are @the_barbiturates.