Lorraine Nash spoke to David Hennessy ahead of her London debut show at an upcoming Shoreditch music showcase.
The Irish Independent named her as one of their acts to watch in 2022 and the Kerry singer- songwriter Lorraine Nash is about to play London for the very first time.
Lorraine plays the Breaking Sound showcase at the Roadtrip & The Workshop on Tuesday 10 May.
It will be her first performance outside of Ireland.
At home Lorraine has been steadily building her audience since the release of her debut EP Wildflower is 2020.
She has shared stages with the likes of Jack O’Rourke, John Spillane, Paddy Dennehy and Niamh Regan.
Lorraine told The Irish World she is excited to be coming to London.
She said: “It’s such a nice way to ease into it as well because it is a showcase with different artists.
“I think it is a nice stepping stone into playing abroad.
“Because it is run by Breaking Sound, everything has been taken care of so it’s nice to be able to just show up and do my set, meet some of these people that maybe I’ll be able to work with in the future.”
Still only 23, Lorraine has yet to even finish college but she has her debut album in the bag.
From Lyreacrompane, Kerry and based in Cork, Lorraine will complete studying English in UCC in the coming weeks.
“The recording process is basically done,” she says of the album.
“In the coming months, I will have new releases so it will be nice to focus on that for the summer as well.
“The plan is before the end of the year to have the whole album released but I will have a couple of singles leading up to it as well.
“There’s stuff coming in near future.”
So what was it like to see herself hailed as one to watch by The Irish Independent? “Yeah, that was amazing.
“I was kind of shocked to be honest, I didn’t even know that I was going to be in it and then one of my relatives said they had seen me in it and I still didn’t even know what it was until I opened it.
“It was really nice to be mentioned in the same kind of bracket as people like John Francis Flynn and Ye Vagabonds.
“That was great.
“It feels good to have that kind of stuff behind me before I’ve even released the album.
“It’s nice to feel like it’s not just going to be released into the wind.
“Things like that have been good.”
The Irish Examiner called her “a bright young vocal talent and versatile multi-instrumentalist” while Hot Press described her as “a compelling new presence in Ireland’s thriving scene” when Lorraine announced herself on the folk/americana scene in 2020.
She would follow this with singles such as Winter Sun, Sing with Her and her most recent release Snowflakes with Ireland’s radio stations supporting her from very early on.
“I think I probably could have released this album sooner if I wanted to but I think spending this time on building this body of work is really going to benefit me when I actually am releasing the whole thing.”
Lorraine probably never planned on releasing music in a pandemic but has it been a case of making the most of it? “Yeah, for sure.
“Obviously it’s only now that I am able to play the songs but it’s good that I had the time to actually write them in the first place.”
Lorraine will be joined at the London showcase by Yasmine Gill who blends influences from contemporary artists like Snoh Aalegra and Lianne La Havas, Deva St. John who fuses classic rock with modern production, slick writing and impressive vocals and GESHIE who takes a ferociously independant approach to her music.
“I’m looking forward to it.
“I know that the artists that I will be sharing that bill with all seem quite different as well so I think it will be an interesting show.
“It’s a mixed bag, I think.
“I think it’s the same case at all of these showcases. It’s not really a specific genre. It’s just whatever, which is nice. It will be interesting.”
It won’t be Lorraine’s first time in London as her sister Anita is based here and works with Toureen Mangan.
“It will be nice to be there for an actual gig.”
Lorraine Nash plays Breaking Sound at Roadtrip and The Workshop on Tuesday 10 May.
For more information and tickets, click here.
For more information on Lorraine, click here.
