Let’s just duet! Music producer hosting unique online music session series

A music producer and recording studio owner from Navan has started a unique online music session series that will give a platform to local up and coming singer songwriters.

The Ivory Sessions is a collaboration where artists from all over the world virtually join producer and arranger Mark Cahill from Crookedwood Studios at the piano for a live duet.

Mark was forced to reinvent a similar concept that was due to be filmed in his recording studio before the lockdown but says the response to this pared back version has been ‘phenomenal.’

An array of top talent has already performed in the sessions and it has even featured one of the Righteous Brother’s live from Las Vegas.

Mark explains the genesis behind the idea:

“We had initially planned to launch the Crookedwood Sessions, a kind of Jools Holland type of vibe where we were going to film one day a month in the studio and invite singer songwriters and put them on a scheduled diary for a full day of filming with a videographer.

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“Then obviously coronavirus happened and I just thought let’s see if we can do it online and I renamed it The Ivory Sessions.

“A new video is posted every Monday Wednesday and Friday. I just reached out to past clients that I had recorded albums and EPs with over the years, and said do you want to join me at the piano and we’ll do some quirky songs.

“I’m doing a singer/songwriter week at the end of every month as well where we showcase new talent.

“The response has been incredible, as of yesterday we have had 300,00 views and it is growing.

"We have a girl who was in the final of Amercian Idol on this week and have had the guitar player that played with Hughie Lewis.

"It’s not just a lockdown thing, this is something that I am going to keep going. I’m going to do concerts next year so you get to see the singers that took part online perform live in a show.

"I am sounding very judgemental here but I have seen some mediocre posts of musicians and singers online and I just felt that the punters are hungry for some quality and if you look at the sessions, they are either from Broadway or The Westend, they are professional singers in some shape or form.

The musician says it was ‘hugely important’ for him to focus on new talent as part of this concept.

“The song writing week is the one that has generated the biggest interest because people are getting to hear brand new songs from writers that they may or may not know.

“When lockdown is lifted I am going to try and do some live feeds from the studio and try and bring some of those artists in and take requests.

“As a producer I’m bringing in very new fresh songwriters and kind of doing workshops with them in advance and let’s say you are a good songwriter but you can’t sing which is very common, what I am doing is saying bring me a song and we will find you a singer from past sessions to sing your song because they get to showcase their song with an amazing singer.

“It’s a new music network that I’m building.

“Musicians that never met or never knew each other have met for the first time online which means will get to meet outside of the lockdown, there will be new acts and new bands put together from this.

“The general public are getting to see singer songwriters that they have never heard of because there are people who don’t go to concerts but they love music and all of a sudden these songwriters and musicians have been flooded into their kitchen on their phone and laptops.”