IRISH COUNTRY MUSIC GOLDEN BOY, DEREK IS SET TO RELEASE
MAGNIFICENT SEVENTH AND EIGHTH ALBUMS...'THIS IS ME' AND 'HAPPY MAN' ON THE
SAME DAY
Derek Ryan, the man with the musical Midas Touch for creating 24
carat gold country cuts, is back with not one, but TWO
fantastic new albums. (£25 Website Bundle)
Released Date: 21 Oct. 2016 Happy Man (Sharpe Music) Amazon UK
Released Date: 28 Oct. 2016 This
Is Me - The Nashville Songbook (Sharpe Music) Amazon
UK
Taking his cue from superstar
acts like Bruce Springsteen, Prince and Guns N' Roses who delighted their fans
with simultaneous separate album releases, multi-award winning Derek is scoring
a 'first' on the Irish country music scene.
The multi-talented
singer-songwriter follows up the consecutive No.1 successes of his albums, THE
SIMPLE THINGS AND ONE GOOD NIGHT with the brand new sets, THIS IS ME AND HAPPY MAN (out October
21).
Constantly striving to challenge
himself, 2016 saw determined Derek fitting in recording sessions in the USA,
Ireland and England alongside his hectic, ever popular live show schedule.
The remarkable results from that
blitz of artistic activity are the aptly titled This Is Me – recorded in
Nashville with Don Henley and Dolly Parton studio wizard, Jeff Balding - and
Happy Man – made with longtime producing collaborators, Jonathan Owens and Kai
McKenzie.
Delighted with the results of
both projects, trailblazing Derek decided not to delay the release of either This
Is Me or Happy Man. Instead he opted to release both sets of songs on the same
day!
“I am 99.9% sure that releasing
two new albums at the same time must be a 'first' in Irish country music. I am
the kind of person who wants to push and challenge myself and try different
things. That is the way I am always going to be”, laughed Derek.
And the Garryhill, County Carlow
hit maker has scored yet another 'first' with THIS IS ME. For the 11-track album showcasing a dazzling new
country pop rock versatility to his talents is the debut release on his own new
Ryan Records label.
Grammy Award nominated Jeff Balding whose superstar studio clientele includes Taylor Swift, Shania Twain and Celine Dion immediately said 'yes' to producing This Is Me – giving Derek a huge confidence boosting seal of approval.
The US production mastermind
assembled a crack team of Nashville studio players for mega selling country
acts such as Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood – with
recording completed during an intensive five day period last January.
Derek said that he had relished
the chance to work with Nashville royalty and labelled This Is Me as “the album
I always wanted to make”,
“This Nashville album gives me
the opportunity to show people what I can do, apart from the Irish country
music genre. It is something I always wanted to do. So I hope that people give
it a chance and see how we have tried to progress and take things further”, he
said.
Here's Derek's reflections on a
selection of choice cuts from THIS IS ME:
*This Is Me (co-written with A Woman's Heart
hit maker, Eleanor McEvoy): “I have been gigging since I was 13 and in the
music business professionally since I was 18. At the age of 33, I feel
comfortable with what I am doing professionally and in my personal life now. Eleanor
said 'let's write about you growing up and how you feel now'. So that's what we
did.”
*Tender: “I had always wanted to record a song
with a live feel with that big rock and roll kind of drive – almost like a
stadium opener. It definitely has a Bryan Adams influence. It is one of those
driving tunes to roll the windows down to. It rocks out and it turned out
exactly the way I wanted it. It is definitely one for a new single.”
*God's Plan (2016): “This was my debut single
in 2009. I wrote it when I was living in London. My career is where it is
because of that song. I wanted to do a new version of it in Nashville. But I
did it in a very, very raw bluegrass style this time. Now there are talks of
God's Plan being released as a single in the US.”
*Some Days: “It was a hot summer's day and I
was having a writing session at home with a friend of mine, Gerry Carney. An
ice cream van was outside and the kids were going crazy. I remarked that 'some
days, do you wish you could go back to when you were excited about ice cream
and had no stress in your life whatsoever?'. Then the song took a country twist
with heartbreak. So it gets a bit deeper than ice cream!
Work on This Is Me was completed
at the end of March. But shortly afterwards, Derek admitted that his “constant
creative buzz” inspired him to head back into the studio to record a whole new
batch of more traditional style Irish country songs.
Hooking up with regular
collaborators, Jonathan Owens in Granard, County Longford and Kai McKenzie in
Ashford, Kent, a second new album, Happy Man is the result.
“I probably started the first
track back in March and we finished Happy Man in mid-September. It all went for
mastering just a few weeks ago. So, it was tight!”, laughed Derek.
Here are his thoughts on a
selection of songs from the 14-track HAPPY
MAN set:
*City Of Chicago: “This is a Christy Moore
song, written by his brother, Luka Bloom.
It came on when I was listening to Christy songs on YouTube one day as I was tidying up the house. I listened to the lyrics over and over again and I thought how even though it is a sad song, there is something uplifting about it too. It struck me how haunting it was. It works as a jive as well and the reaction to it already has been absolutely brilliant.”
It came on when I was listening to Christy songs on YouTube one day as I was tidying up the house. I listened to the lyrics over and over again and I thought how even though it is a sad song, there is something uplifting about it too. It struck me how haunting it was. It works as a jive as well and the reaction to it already has been absolutely brilliant.”
*Sax, Drums & Rock 'N' Roll: “This was
one of the last songs to go on the album. I am sure that if some people listen
to it quickly who haven't looked at the track listing, might mistakenly think
'he is singing about sex'! But we tried as much as possible to pronounce it
's-a-x'. It is uptempo and catchy and a bit of fun.”
*Sixty Years Ago: “It was sent to me by a
writer called Seamus Doran. When I heard it, I knew that it was a beautiful
song and that it had a Johnny McEvoy folk feel to it. That is a style which I
feel is one of my strongest areas. I think it is a very, very special song and
is going to touch a lot of hearts. It is also going to be a single.”
*Carry Me Home (co-written with Marc Roberts):
“I remembered an old guy sitting beside me on the London underground. He was
elbowing me every so often. He was lifting his arm to drink a naggin of whiskey
out of his jacket pocket and then he started singing Irish songs. We imagined
how that man got to be where he was and we came up with a traditional Irish
country waltz. I think it is a touching song.”
Derek will be popping up on a variety of radio and TV shows and making a number of in-store appearances to promote This Is Me and Happy Man. He will also be keeping fans of his electrifying live shows happy too with regular dancehall gigs and UK and Ireland theatre tour dates in late 2016 and the first half of 2017.Look what arrived in Adare tonight! ... #2albums happyman #thisisme #outfriday 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀 pic.twitter.com/wxWeV8i1qs— Derek Ryan (@derekryanmusic) 16 October 2016
But the modest man with the
terrific talent doesn't take his success or his fans for granted. For his
future plan is to keep pleasing everyone who has supported his music and live
shows to make him one of the brightest stars on the Irish country music scene.
Said Derek: “You know what I always say when I get asked what my ambitions are? I
just say it is 'to keep working'. We are very lucky with the position we are in
at the moment. The shows are going great and so many people are coming out to
see us.
“Now it is a case of keeping at the top of my game, keep working
hard and to keep trying new things to show what I can do – with all aspects of
my creativity.”
*Derek's new albums, This Is Me
and Happy Man are released on October 21 – available on CDs from music stores
and also on digital download via iTunes.
Digital
downloads of the new singles, This Is Me and City Of Chicago are also available on iTunes.
The
singles ‘This is Me’ and ‘City of Chicago’ are available on iTunes:
This Is Me: goo.gl/NEh4KX
City Of Chicago: goo.gl/Df0Q6v
This Is Me: goo.gl/NEh4KX
City Of Chicago: goo.gl/Df0Q6v
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