Two talented Galway teenage musicians aim to make someone’s dream come true – through the sales of their own debut EP.
Because all of the proceeds of this new release from 15 year old Martha Tuohy and seventeen year old Eric Flaherty will go to Share a Dream – a charity close to both of their hearts.
Eric’s little sister Davina was diagnosed with a brain tumour and Hydrocephalus in 2013 – and she was lucky enough to see her own Dream come true thanks to the charity in 2014.
Davina also received a Child of Courage Award.
And after seeing how much Share a Dream did to make one little girl smile during a very difficult time in her life, Eric and Martha wanted to do something to help raise funds for other ill children who deserve to have their dreams come true.
Unplugged for Share a Dream is the result of their efforts – a four track EP with two bonus tracks, created by the talented second-level students from Portumna.
Both Martha and Eric are talented musicians; Eric attends the RIAM for Piano and Martha is a receipt of the RIAM award for Vocal Performance – so the idea of recording a charity EP seemed natural to the two.
Familiar songs are stripped back and reworked with an acoustic leaning, firmly rooted in the piano and vocal talents of these two teens.
From the outset the sound was intended to be simple, raw and emotional.
“It needed to sound like we do when we play at home. It isn’t perfect but we wanted to create the idea for the listener that we were sitting down to play a gig just for them.
“This is how we play for our friends and family and we wanted to capture some of that feeling on the record,” said Martha.
The acoustic treatment is given to four tracks, all of which represent the varied musical tastes of Martha, Eric and their families.
The lead track is Kodaline’s All I Want – followed by Little Talks (Of Monsters and Men) which introduces fiddle and guitar to the mix.
On a more traditional twist the EP also includes a haunting version of Danny Boy – not the typical choice for teenagers but a song that they love performing and they felt the record wouldn’t be complete without it.
The EP ends with Rhianna’s We Found Love, stripping this dance track back to basics, but still maintaining the upbeat nature and sense of fun that these two teenagers love to bring to music.
The EP also has two bonus tracks – an instrumental version of You Raise Me Up which showcases Eric’s talents on the piano, and a jazzed up version of Royals by Lorde.
Martha and Eric are extremely proud of their EP and are very excited about raising money for Share a Dream.
The goal is to raise enough for at least one dream for a child – around €2,000.
Share a Dream is an entirely voluntary organization and does not receive any government or lottery funding and so we know that all monies raised will make a difference.
The EP was released last weekend and is available for sale in local Galway outlets and online via iTunes/Google Play.
For more information on the EP and to find out about sales outlets, see the Facebook page.
The post Teenage duo record charity EP for courageous kids appeared first on Connacht Tribune - Galway City Tribune.
