After touring with Mary Coughlan and Jack L, Kildare singer Eimear Crehan has released her new single, To Be Loved. We asked her the BIG questions . . .
It follows her 2023 release I am Woman and her third album is in the work along with a national tour.
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Speaking about the new track, Eimear says: "To Be Loved is about reclaiming that time and giving a message to my younger self, and to people everywhere of all ages, that we are enough as we are and we don't need to do anything to be worthy of being loved.
"There is an incredible teen choir on the recording, the SUSO Focus Choir, and it was such a pleasure to record with them."
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I run a music school with my sisters and focus on the personal development side of creativity. I am just back from Zimbabwe where I was working with an incredible organisation called Beyond Stigma. This work is truly life changing - working with young people living with HIV in the area of self-stigma and shame, and my role is to teach music facilitation skills so that music can be used to help process emotion.
I have never met anyone I couldn't teach how to sing. Even the most 'out of tune' singers can be taught - it’s just about reconnection to the body and working through past experiences and figuring out what the missing piece is in the learning.
I grew up in a nursing home that my parents ran. It was an incredible childhood and one that has really shaped me as a person. I loved being a personal nurse to people and always adored singing for patients, both when they were alive and at funerals.
How would you describe your music?
My music is true, honest, reflective, soul searching and written from experience. Its purpose is to connect and to allow people feel seen and heard. I used to sing funk in a band and it was great fun and I adored the story telling and make-believe period of my songwriting, writing fun songs from a character perspective - it was so much fun. These days however, what I write is true and from my life experiences. It’s based on my understanding of what life is about, what I experience, what I process and what I see in others. I think that’s why it hits so hard - people know it’s true and real and connected to deep emotion.
Who are your musical inspirations?
At the moment, I’m loving CMAT, Wallis Bird, Nina Simone, Amy Winehouse, and MaMuse. I love powerful female vocals and strong story telling. I also love funk music and anything with a great bass line. I don’t get to listen to as much music as I like as with my work I’m teaching choirs all day or working with arrangements and singers all the time, so I like silence when I get home, but when I do those are my go-tos.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
My sister brought me to see Jack L in the Olympia and I thought it was so incredible, the whole show. I remember he had a cane and a feather boa and I was smitten - it was a dream come true to end up working with him years later. I also went to see his Jacque Brel show which was amazing.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Bad by Michael Jackson! My parents didn’t listen to pop music at all, it was all Irish music and ballads at home, so hearing Michael Jackson was amazing. I also loved Elton John and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack!
What’s your favourite song right now?
Soul Sister – MaMuse.
Favourite lyric of all time?
'I'd rather be lonely than happy with somebody else' - Nina Simone - Love Me or Leave Me.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
At the moment, I have soul sister on as a mantra every day, something about it really resonates but maybe Yes and More Please by Fia if I only had one to listen to.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Spotify and Instagram.
Alan Corr
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