These songs were written, arranged, recorded and produced over the course of the program, running from September 2018 to September 2019. The program was a great success, and the end result was way beyond expectation. The participants all deserve great credit for the hard work and dedication involved. Outlined below are the various stages undertaken to create the CD.
Songwriting Workshop
The program began with songwriting workshops lead by Steve Wall, lead vocalist with The Stunning and The Walls. Steve has written hundreds of songs and many of these songs are regarded as classics. In the workshops, the participants worked through different genres and styles of songwriting, and took part in various exercises to help familiarise them with different types of songs.
Eventually, they were split into three groups, each tasked with writing a song in a particular genre.
The groups were:
Pop; Jack Kennedy, Seán McGeary, Eoin Bermingham
Rock; Shane O’Loughlin, Eoin Hurley, Adam Kenny, Byron Kenny
Folk; Robbie Barry, Tommy Nunan, Luke Neylon
Arrangement
The next step was arranging and editing the written songs. Jon O’Connell came in at this stage to work with the groups. Many of the participants are proficient musicians and the groups collaborated on writing music and arranging chords and melodies for each song. Recently, CBS Ennistymon, with the help of Tomar Trust, has built a dedicated rehearsal space / recording studio at the school. The studio is fully equipped with school band equipment and a state of the art recording set up, which meant the groups were able to experiment with different instruments and sounds for each song. This was a great experience for the participants and also a highly creative process.
Recording
When the songs were arranged and everyone was happy with how they sounded, it was time to record them. Again, this was done at the school studio. This afforded a great opportunity for the participants to learn about the process of recording, using the latest recording equipment and software. Some members of the CBS School Rock Band were drafted in at this stage to augment the sound, and the songs were recorded and mixed by each group.
Production
Lastly, the songs were mastered and burned to CD in the school studio. Artwork designed and produced by Jack Kennedy, a participant of the program. The groups have recently been rehearsing live versions of the songs so that they can perform them in front of an audience.
The Musicians recently travelled to Dublin and performed at the Creative Engagement Expo, where they delivered highly acclaimed performances.
The song can be downloaded by clicking on the links below
Song Credits
When We Were Young
Written by: Jack Kennedy
Seán McGeary
Eoin Bermingham
Performed by: Jack Kennedy; vocal, piano
Colm Linnane; drums
Sam Toft; lead and rhythm guitar
Paddy Sheridan; bass
The End Of The World
Written by: Shane O’Loughlin
Eoin Hurley
Adam Kenny
Byron Kenny
Performed by: Shane O’Loughlin; vocal
Paddy Sheridan; bass
Cathal O’Holleran; drums
Adam Kenny; piano
Jon O’Connell; rhythm guitar
Kieran Meehan; lead guitar
Tommy Nunan; fiddle
Byron Kenny; accordion
Luke Neylon; mandolin
To Clare We Go
Written by: Robbie Barry
Tommy Nunan
Luke Neylon
Performed by: Robbie Barry; vocal
Tommy Nunan; fiddle
Luke Neylon; mandolin
Byron Kenny; accordion
Jon O’Connell; bass, guitar
