Many of Hozier’s friends are considerably talented and have creative endeavours that are worth highlighting. In this, our first Friends post, we shine the spotlight on:
Saint Sister
Morgan McIntyre and Gemma Doherty are Saint Sister. Their debut EP, Madrid was released in November, and was co-produced by Alex Ryan (Hozier/bass) who also contributed drum programming, bass, recording and mixing to the project.
With the end of year “best of” mentions pouring in, it’s been an impressive few weeks for Saint Sister. After supporting Wyvern Lingo and O Emperor on their Irish tours this past autumn and selling out their first headline show at Whelan’s in December, the buzz around Saint Sister over the last two-weeks was enviable for any band:
- They were given the nod as the band to watch in 2016 from Irish Post, Joe.ie and the Irish Jam.
- Madrid is getting airplay on BBC Radio 1 and RTE Radio 1.
- Influential music journalist Nailler9 called Blood Moon “simply one of the best songs of the year” and put it at #24 on his top 100 songs of 2015.
- Meanwhile Joe.ie included Madrid on their Spotify playlist of 15 Brilliant Songs You May Have Missed in 2015. And, Saint Sister was rated in the Top 10 best gigs of 2015 by HJCA.
- Hot Press interviewed Gemma about her highlights of 2015 and the Irish Independent quizzed Morgan on her favourite songs of 2015.
- Plus, Saint Sister had spots in Golden Plec and the Aer Lingus in-flight Magazine.
Gigs Announced:
- Saint Sister are playing Workman’s in Dublin on Friday, January 8th as part of First Fortnight
- They head to Paris for the Festival A Nous Paris Fireworks this February.
- In March, the duo will be at music industry showcases at SXSW in Austin, Texas, marking their first foray as a band to the United States.
With a fortnight like that, Gemma and Morgan deserved to celebrate on New Year’s Eve!
Bonus:
Here is Gemma Doherty singing backing vocals alongside Karen Cowley (Wyvern Lingo) with Alex Ryan on bass and Hozier on lead vocals in his last performance with the Trinity Orchestra.