SJ McArdle

We are delighted and very proud to present our new video, for the album’s title track, “Blood And Bones“.

Like the video for “Why”, the film was directed by the award-winning Darren Thornton and produced by Calipo Pictures with help from my amazingly supportive publishers, Jewel Music.

It features performances from – among others – Hollywood actor Colin O’Donoghue (The Rite), amazing singer-songwriter Shaz Oye, comedienne extraordinaire Yasmine Akram and my long-time musical muckers Garret Brady, James Mackin, John Ruddy, John O’Dwyer and Kevin Branigan.

Enjoy!

Two nice ways, in fact - 

Firstly, Blood And Bones has been long-listed for the Choice Music Prize, the biggest critic’s award in Ireland. The all-important sort-list will be released on January 11th.

Secondly, the album has been inlcuded among 2UIBestow’s top 20 Irish albums of 2011.

Nice!

Happy New Year, all.

As a thank you to all of you for your support, and as a way to get people to our new newsletter service, we are offering a FREE mp3 of an unreleased song called “Gold”.

“Gold” was recorded for Blood And Bones and features stunning performances from Bryan Sutton and the Love Sponge Strings among others.

Here’s how to receive your free song and stay up to date with all the news at the same time:

1. Go to the bottom of this page
2. At the very bottom of the page, enter your email address in the Email Subscription box and click “Sign me up!”
3. You will receive an email from WordPress, who host the site. After you click the button to confirm that you want to subscribe, you will receive a second email
4. Forward the second email to us at bigmedicinemusic @ gmail.com and we’ll send you a link to download.

Simple! Enjoy the song – it’s a beauty. And have a great Christmas!

Let me put this out there: I LOVE Christmas. It’s a major big deal in our house. But it’s not the easiest time for many people. There’s something about the season that stirs memories, and those memories can be sad as well as happy. All of this might seem pretty obvious. My only point is that it’s a good time to remember those of us who may not just be thinking of mistletoe and wine this year. Sorry Cliff.

It’s also a great time of the year to say thanks to all of you who have been so supportive over the past year. The album came out in June, we got fantastic airplay on radio and TV, great reviews in the press, and toured the length and breadth of the country. Rea and Adrian especially – this literally wouldn’t have happened without you.

I’ll leave you all with this gem from the vault: Jona Lewie via SJ McArdle.

This is shaping up to be a really great event. Jamie Lawson has become very well known in Ireland due to the huge exposure of his single “Wasn’t Expecting That”. A deal with Universal and a year spent touring (including slots at every major Irish festival) followed, cementing his reputation as a great writer and performer. It’s his first show in Drogheda.

For SJ it’s a hometown show to finish off a very exciting year – the release of the album Blood and Bones (to universal critical acclaim), two Irish tours, heavy radio play for the single “Chin Up”, TV appearances and a slot at Electric Picnic. It’s also a great follow-up to his sold out show at Drogheda’s Droichead Arts Centre during the summer.

Tickets are now on sale from the following locations:

McHugh’s, Drogheda
CD World, Drogheda and Dundalk
Finlay’s of Ardee.

If you can’t get in to any of the sales outlets, tickets can also be reserved by texting or ringing Adrian on 086 840 9090. Some tickets are expected to be available at the door on the night, but bookings so far have been good, so it’s worth booking to be sure to get in.

Click here for further details.

The new single – “At The Same Time” is out now on iTunes (Europe only for the moment). Click the image above to buy it.

To celebrate, here’s a live version of the song from Cologne, with James Mackin on drums and Tom Hollebach on bass:

And another one! This version, with Karen Dervan on viola, was recorded in the lobby of the O2, Dublin:

On Saturday December 3rd I will be sharing a bill in McHugh’s Venue in Drogheda with this man:

Jamie Lawson is a beautiful writer and performer and a lovely man. You’ve probably seen him do “Wasn’t Expecting That” on the Late Late Show. You’ve definitely heard it on the radio.

We’ll update this post with ticket details, etc as soon as we have them.

We’re very excited here at SJ HQ to announce that part of the upcoming autumn/winter tour in support of the new single (more on that in a later post) will be done collaboratively. That is to say that some of the shows will be in the format of a triple-bill round robin.

This is not a normal triple bill – all three performers will be on stage at the same time and will collaborate on each other’s songs.

It’s a bold undertaking, and who better to chance it with than my great friend and collaborator, piano maestro Josh Johnston and deeply talented Galway singer-songwriter Keith Mullins.

Three shows are lined up so far, in Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow, with at least one Galway show TBA.

These will be great, fun nights – check us out somewhere along the road! All of the live shows are posted here.

Well, the weather’s getting decidedly autumnal.

The summer tour in support of the album has gone really well, with special mentions to headliners in Wexford, Dublin, Drogheda and Dundalk.

We did a few summer festivals also – as you do. Sligo’s Temple House was a new experience, and very enjoyable. Le Cheile Festival in Oldcastle is always lovely, and the summer finished up with my first appearance at the legendary Electric Picnic.

After a stop-off in the Stage Inn in Ballymore Eustace with Stewart Agnew next week, the next major activity will be an Autumn Tour in support of the new single.

Bring it on!

ps – we also did some filming at Electric Picnic. All will be revealed!

With the album now out almost four weeks, we’ve been enjoying some great radio and TV coverage.

On Tuesday July 19th I was a guest on TV3′s Ireland AM for a chat and a song. You can view the clip here:

In Radio land, “Chin Up” has been playlisted by RTE Radio 1 and is currently enjoying its fifth week on the list. Meanwhile, the song was also chosen as Song Of The Week on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show on Today FM last week.

Remember, the radio edit of “Chin Up” is available separately as an iTunes single here.

Waiting to go on set, TV3