CIGF17 & FAI PRESENT: IN THE ROUND..’ FEAT: WALLIS BIRD, JOHN SMITH, LISA O NEILL, MICK FLANNERY
WALLIS BIRD:
Ireland’s Choice Music Prize Nominee 2017
Germany’s Deutscher Musikautorenpreis Winner 2017
Wallis Bird is steadily becoming a household name, and not only in Ireland. Nominated for a Choice Music Prize at home this year, she’s also been making big waves in mainland Europe. Wallis won a Deutsche Musikautorenpreis – a national prize chosen by composers and awarded to their peers. Wallis was the only non-German up for an award – a huge and rare achievement.
Wallis released her fifth studio album ‘Home’ in September 2016 on Mount Silver Records / Caroline International, and has been touring relentlessly all over the world since its release. The ‘Home’ tour encompassed over 70 shows, with Wallis playing to rapturous audiences across Europe, Japan and Australia. On the Australian leg of the tour, Wallis gained a new fan in American artist Amanda Palmer, who tweeted repeatedly to her million-plus followers to go and catch a show. Palmer subsequently invited Wallis to join her on stage for a duet during one of her festival appearances, and Wallis reciprocated by having Palmer sing at one of her own headline shows.
Wallis’ energy on stage is one of her trademarks; even the Irish Times once noted it could ‘kickstart an entire economy’. In 2016, she played a 12-hour free gig in aid of refugee charities in Berlin, even finding enough strength to play an encore. Never your average troubadour, Wallis already has two Meteor Awards to her name, as well as a previous Choice nomination, and has recorded for Island Records and Columbia Records, as well as touring with the likes of Rodrigo y Gabriela and Billy Bragg. Though you might not catch another 12-hour show anytime soon, you can be sure that few can enrapture an audience the way Wallis Bird can.
“Home is an eclectic pop record that ticks every box. It also might just be her best yet” **** Irish Times
“Wonderfully eclectic and unpredictable…easily Wallis Bird’s most accomplished album to date” 9/10 Hot Press
“The energy, the emotion…it’s all there…the new album ‘Home’ is out. Get it.” Nicky Byrne, 2FM