Glasgowbury presents ‘Live in the Loft’ featuring Draperstown and Magerafelt artists

The showcase is part of an ongoing award winning Rural Key programme which aims to deliver a community based education offering everything from basic tuition to artistic, multi-media and business development providing access-progression routes into the creative industries.

The event will showcase Draperstown based Gemma, fresh from her performance at Indigo at the o2 London. Gemma is NI’s only finalist in the Big Music Project 2015, received amazing feedback from the industry judges in the competition (VirginEMI, RCA records and Rizzle Kicks).

Gemma has had a lot of previous success with her single Wicker Men, winning the under 18 section of the City of Culture Resonate music video competition in 2013. The song was voted best song by the judges at the Irish Youth Music Awards in 2014. This is the first performance of the EP with a full support band.

Gemma’s EP Firewalk is about a teenage journey of discovery, figuring out who you are, who your real friends are and your place in the world.

Gemma has a very unique voice with an equally unique style which is hard to pinpoint to any one genre but has been described as upbeat pop fused with a sprinkle of soul, reggae and rockabilly.

The gig will also star Magherafelt based instrumental band, Men of Mountains. The band have been together for less than a year and have a musical chemistry that converges and consolidates many influences to bring their feel good, ambient post rock vibe to new audiences.

Fresh on the scene they were recently selected by the team at BBC Radio Ulster’s ATL for review in their ‘New Tune Disco’ segment. Their sound is described as a “melodic kind of post prog rock” by Rigsy from ATL. He described them as “a young band with big ambitions.”

Chris from ATL said: “They’ve definitely got the right influences and they’ve got a good sound, and it sounds like there’s a lot of potential there. It’s promising stuff.”

The ‘All Ages’ and ‘Over 18’s’ gigs will be supported by other Rural Key students, including young indie folk band ‘Southstone’ and a solo performance from Finn McMahon. Other participants will get real time experience on the event management, sound production and filming elements of the show, putting their training over the last couple of months into practice.

Paddy Glasgow said: “we are very excited that our first gig in our own venue will be showcasing the talents of young people from the Mid Ulster district.

“It’s a great opportunity for the young artists and the young people of the area, getting the chance to experience live music and support local music.”

The Cornstore is located in the ‘Back Road’ adjacent to High Street Draperstown. Parking is best on High Street, a short walk to the venue.

The ‘all ages’ event is from 5pm–7pm on Saturday, March 28 with tickets costing £2 with the over 18’s beginning 9pm–11pm and tickets costing £5. The event is bring your own booze, with strictly no glass.

Tickets for the shows are available from: Glasgowbury at The Cornstore, Draperstown and PING Music Shop, Magherafelt. There is the option to pay at the door depending on availability.

For more information go to, www.glasgowbury.com, or their facebook at facebook.com/glasgowbury or get them on twitter at @glasgowbury.

In Glasgowbury’s own words, this weekends set to be “small but massive!”